Thai govt owes 100 million baht to hospitality industry
An MP from the Democrat Party revealed that the Thai government owes about 100 million baht to hundreds of hotels across Thailand that joined the tourism-boosting campaign “We Travel Together.”
The We Travel Together campaign was launched two years ago to boost Thai tourism affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The initiative offered a 40% discount on hotels, flights, or food coupons to Thai nationals.
The campaign had four phases, and many businesses in the hospitality industry joined in the hope that the enterprise would help draw more customers.
As reported in the media, each business had to cover the discount given to the customers in advance and then submit documents to claim their money.
On Monday, September 26, the Democrat Party MP from Krabi, Pimrapee Phanwichatikul, shared the problems that local accommodations faced, under the We Travel Together campaign, including on Koh Lanta Island in Krabi.
She said…
“The We Travel Together campaign affected tourism on Koh Lanta Island. Many small resorts and local restaurants couldn’t claim their money from the government. The official owes them hundreds of thousands of baht each. Local business owners were informed that there were some problems with documents, but no one knew which documents. The officials just refused to pay the debt. Thai tourism, out of the frying pan, into the fire.”
Pimrapee informed the media that this problem isn’t only in Krabi but in other provinces all over Thailand as well.
The MP said each business had to cover the discount provided to each customer in advance but they couldn’t claim their money back.
Pimrapee added that the campaign lost 100 million baht and urged the Tourism and Sports Ministry to solve the problem immediately.
SOURCE: Thairath | ดร. พิมพ์รพี พันธ์ุวิชาติกุล
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