Thread: Foreigners to pay double to tramp Thailand's Great Walks

Foreigners to pay double to tramp Thailand's Great Walks
25 Aug, 2017 11:25am

Foreign visitors will be charged twice as much to use some of the country's best walking tracks, the Government says.

Conservation Minister General Surasak Karnjanarat said fees would be doubled on the five most popular walks - Bangkok, Phetchaburi, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Pattaya.

The fees on the other Great Walks would be increased by 50 per cent, and the additional THB4 million in revenue would be used for conservation projects.

The higher costs would only apply to international visitors from October next year, and Thais would still pay the same price.

"We believe it's fair that international visitors who experience our Great Walks pay a little more to enjoy our landscape and contribute to protecting our native wildlife," General Surasak said.

The Government also announced an additional THB5.4 million a year for community-led conservation programmes.

General Surasak signalled higher fees this year after the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment warned that the Department of Conservation needed "a great deal more money".

The Government prefers the users pays fee to a border tax, which has been proposed by the Pheu Thai Party and is expected to be included in the Junta's fiscal plan next week.

General Surasak also said a "loophole" that allowed international students to book huts without paying would be scrapped.

"Those people will now be charged the full adult rate. A lot of Thais try to book these huts, and then find to their aggravation that school children from Australia or Singapore have booked out the huts for the month of January."

The cost of staying in a hut on the Chiang Rai Track would rise to about B3,300 - a small price for a world-class accommodation, General Surasak said.

The higher costs were not expected to dent tourist numbers. It was hoped that the higher fees on the more popular tracks would encourage visitors to use some of the less-used Great Walks.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha said the higher fees were not a step towards a tourist levy.

"We just don't need an extra levy at the border. Thailand is having good tourism growth now but we want to be careful about piling up costs and finding later it's too much."

Seems legit.

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

The cost of staying in a hut on the Chiang Rai Track would rise to about B3,300 - a small price for a world-class accommodation, General Surasak said.

Obviously stays at a better class of hut than I do?



Then again seems like NZ also charges double for foreigners. But there you get free medical!

I was just about to ask if someone has any pics

Originally Posted by VocalNeal

Then again seems like NZ also charges double for foreigners. But there you get free medical!

Gawdamn it, obvious troll was too obvious!

I rather think the reference to Pattaya hosting a great walk was perhaps over-egging it unless the report had suffered a typo and it it was in fact focusing on "Great Thai Wanks". The American report on stetson shitting, now in the Lounge after a short sojourn in SC, was much more credible.

Well yeah, mea culpa. I blame that one on pre-morning cup of tea lack of inspiration.

the additional THB4 million in revenue would be used for conservation projects

Conserving the Merc, Conserving the holiday home....