12 hours Ago
Hotel operators have applauded the idea of reviving the co-payment scheme for hotel expenses as it could help encourage domestic purchasing, while related stakeholders raised concerns over 1,400 unresolved fraud cases from previous phases of the scheme. Tourism and Sports Minister Sorawong Thienthong said he discussed this issue with Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Wednesday, and the premier agreed in principle to reintroduce this stimulus programme, which was initiated during the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration. Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun, president of the Thai Hotels Association (THA), said hotel operators welcomed this programme, but would like it to start after the Songkran festival next year.
However, he said the THA wants the government to talk with the private sector first before initiating the stimulus scheme, as hotel operators found obstacles during its implementation. During the meeting with Mr Sorawong on Wednesday, the THA also called on the government to seriously address unregistered hotels, which are widespread across the country. Somradee Chitchong, deputy governor for domestic marketing at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said the co-payment programme, similar to the “We Travel Together” scheme, would definitely benefit domestic tourism.
However, in terms of implementation, she said the TAT learned lessons from the previous two phases, with around 1,400 fraud cases left unresolved, causing 1,400 hotels to be put on a blacklist. Ms Somradee, who was in charge of this project as deputy governor for administration, said if the government wants to reintroduce this project, it should carefully design mechanisms to prevent fraud. She said taking legal action against those found guilty would burden the police as they have limited manpower.
There are almost 8,000 plaintiffs and defendants to be interrogated, and the police could close only 10 cases from the previous phases. Ms Somradee said she would only implement this type of stimulus during a crisis of the same magnitude as Covid-19. If the government wants to stimulate domestic tourism during the upcoming high season, it should considerreducing travel costs such as airfares and fuel, which remain elevated, she said.
Promoting special airfares in collaboration with Thai airlines during the low season and the 9.9 promotional campaign this month were effective projects that generated more than 1.5 billion baht, said Ms Somradee.
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