Stickman Posted October 22, 2001 Report Share Posted October 22, 2001 The following article from The Nation states that visa fees may increase. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/page.news.php3?clid=2&theme=A&usrsess=1&id=633 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanukdee Posted October 22, 2001 Report Share Posted October 22, 2001 Tripling the visa fees. Ouch. But an easy and popular means of increasing tax revenue for the Thais I'm sure. Also in the same article... ""The ministry claimed that a scarcity of lotteries was causing great problems for both the lottery-buying public and ticket sellers."" That's strange, seems to me to be more then enough lottery tickets around for sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 22, 2001 Report Share Posted October 22, 2001 I have been reading "Guns, Gambling, Girls, Ganja" (not sure about the order). There is a whole chapters on lotteries --- underground lotteries. Sounds like a huge industry, according to the book. Perhaps that is what the gov't is really worried about? JG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 22, 2001 Report Share Posted October 22, 2001 I strongly recommend this book,but as the government is supposed to get money only from the legal lottery I doubt it was meaning the illegal ones BTW a guy who's been pretty succesful in Thailand liked to tell me:"U know why we call it Amazing Thailand?Because with money U can do anything" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 22, 2001 Report Share Posted October 22, 2001 Does anyone know the current url to the visa price increase story? I've tried the Nation's search engine without success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 23, 2001 Report Share Posted October 23, 2001 Found it.... Visa fees could soon triple Published on Oct 21, 2001 The Thaksin shinawatra government is considering a new way to raise public revenues. It is considering tripling visa fees and introducing new lotteries. At Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, the Finance Ministry will first seek approval to increase the visa fees sharply to raise an additional Bt3 billion a year in tax revenues. The Interior Ministry will be asked to issue a new ministerial regulation to put the new rates into effect, a source close to the Cabinet said. The current visa fees have been used for 23 years and need to be adjusted to fit the current economic situation and exchange rates. There are eight types of entry visas: transit, tourist, non-immigrant, diplomatic, official, immigrant, non-immigrant and courtesy visas. The new fees will be used for three types of visas: transit, tourist and non-immigrant. According to the proposal, the visa fee for tourists would increase to Bt900 from the current Bt300. Transit visas would rise to Bt600 from Bt200. The fee for non-immigrant visas would increase from Bt500 to Bt1,500 for single entry, and from Bt1,000 to Bt3,000 for multiple entry. In a related development, the Government Lottery Office and the Finance Ministry will also seek Cabinet approval for the introduction of new lotteries to subsidise the cost of certain public projects. The lottery revenue is earmarked for social, educational, religious and public health schemes. It will also be used for contingencies including natural disasters, for which there is no regular expenditure budget. To receive extra funds from the lotteries, government agencies must indicate a clear objective as to how the money will be used by them. They must propose the spending plans through their respective ministries. A committee will be set up by the Finance Ministry to evaluate the merits of each project. The ministry claimed that a scarcity of lotteries was causing great problems for both the lottery-buying public and ticket sellers. The proposed two-year plan is expected to generate revenue of Bt8 billion to boost the state coffers amid the economic downturn . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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