Thailand’s cabinet recently approved more stimulus measures to support domestic tourism to recoup some of the losses from the absence of global travel after the coronavirus pandemic shut borders.
The government will increase benefits contained in an earlier package including subsidies for hotels and flights, deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said.
A 40 per cent discount will cover 10 hotel nights for each traveller, up from 5 nights earlier, while a subsidy on flights will double to 2,000 baht ($63.53), she said.
The tourism-reliant country has had no foreign tourists since April due to a travel ban.
Thailand expects to receive 8 million foreign tourists this year, down 80 per cent from last year’s record 39.8 million visitors whose spending accounted for 11.4 percent of GDP.
The cabinet also approved keeping valued-added tax at 7 per cent for another year to September next year to help reduce living costs and lift business confidence, Finance Minister Predee Daochai said in a statement. The VAT will be reviewed yearly.
“That will help economic recovery after the COVID-19 outbreak situation eases,” he said.
Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy shrank at its deepest annual pace in the second quarter since the 1998 Asian crisis due to the outbreak.
