Tourism bodies seek Bt10 billion government assistance
Five tourism associations have proposed that the government provide Bt10 billion in financial assistance to help entrepreneurs get their businesses ready for the reopening of Thailand, Adit Chairattananont, secretary-general of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), said on Friday.
The other four associations who joined ATTA’s petition were: the Thai Hotels Association, the Thai Transportation Operators Association, the Association of Domestic Travel, and the Thai Spa Association.
“Loans totalling Bt10 billion will help tourism entrepreneurs who have been affected by the lockdown measures during the Covid-19 situation so that they can resume providing services after the country reopens,” he said. “The loan should also have special conditions to facilitate borrowers, such as waiving non-performing loan checks and allowing the use of unencumbered vehicles and property as collateral.”
Adit added that the ATTA will consult its members and those of other associations regarding the obstacles in applying for previous government-sponsored loans and will present the findings to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports as well as the Fiscal Policy Office to help design an appropriate loan programme.
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Meanwhile Chote Trachu, permanent secretary of Ministry of Tourism and Sports, has said that the ministry has discussed the proposed loan with the Government Savings Bank and Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand, who said that they can allocate the loan amount of Bt10 billion, but other loan conditions are yet to be considered.
“The ministry is gathering names and details of entrepreneurs who wish to apply for the loan and will present it to the Fiscal Policy Office next week. The loan conditions will be announced by Ministry of Finance once it has considered all related details,” he added.