Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports plans to give 200,000 international visitors free domestic flight tickets in an effort to encourage them to explore lesser-known destinations across the country, local media reported.
The Bangkok Post quoted Tourism Minister Surawong Tienthong as saying the campaign will be branded “Buy International, Free Thailand Domestic Flights.” He noted that Japan implemented a similar initiative earlier this year, offering free domestic seats to foreign travelers.
The new program is scheduled to run from September to November and will operate through a government subsidy of 1,750 baht ($49) per one-way ticket or 3,500 baht ($98) per round-trip ticket per tourist. Six Thai carriers are expected to participate: Thai Airways, Thai AirAsia, Bangkok Airways, Nok Air, Thai Lion Air and Thai Vietjet.
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A plane lands at Mai Khao Beach, Phuket in Thailand
(Photo: PinkBlue Studio /Shutterstock)
The Thai Cabinet is expected to approve the plan, which is projected to generate 8.8 billion baht ($246.4 million) in revenue from a budget of 700 million baht ($19.6 million).
According to aviation and tourism outlet Simple Flying, the free domestic flight initiative marks Thailand’s latest attempt to revive its tourism industry, a critical engine of the economy for decades.
In 2019, about 40 million international tourists visited Thailand, but the sector has struggled to fully recover since the pandemic. The Bank of Thailand recently revised its forecast for 2025 to 33 million arrivals, down from 39 million earlier this year — a 16% decline. So far this year, 20.8 million foreign visitors have arrived, a 7% decrease compared with the same period last year. The largest source market is China, with 2.9 million travelers.