Hundreds of tourism operators face fraud charges for allegedly cheating subsidy scheme
Hundreds of tourism operators face fraud charges for allegedly cheating the government’s “We Travel Together” subsidy scheme which was intended to help tourism businesses financially hit by the coronavirus pandemic and stimulate travel.
Instead of lowering prices to draw in more travellers, some hoteliers and restaurateurs allegedly raised their prices to get more subsidies. The scheme paid 40% of room rates for travellers and offered e-vouchers worth 600 baht to 900 baht for a traveller’s daily spending. Apparently, there were even fake hotel bookings, including from hotels that were no longer open, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, or TAT.
TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn filed a complaint against 312 hotels and 202 shops as well as a few customers. He met with deputy national police chief Damrongsak Kittiprapat to report evidence of fraudulent transactions and ask police to prosecute the tourism operators. The government is preparing a second phase of the “We Travel Together” scheme and Yuthasak says legal action needed to be taken before the second phase is launched.
The Crime Suppression Division will investigate the case, Damrongsak says.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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