CESA approves 40% travel discounts for 1 million seniors
Senior tourists will be handed extra benefits under two new programmes approved by the Centre for Economic Situation Administration (CESA) on Wednesday.
The new “Tiew Thai Wai Gao” (Seniors Go Travel) programme and upgraded “Rao Tiew Duay Kan” (We Travel Together) programme are designed to stimulate the economy during the virus crisis.
The existing Rao Tiew Duay Kan scheme will funnel Bt5 billion from its Bt20-billion budget into special subsidies targeting 1 million older people.
The scheme covers 40 per cent of travel and accommodation costs for Thais over 55 years old who travel Sunday to Thursday. They must pay at least Bt12,500 for a trip of two nights or more outside their province arranged by a travel agency.
“The government will pay 40 per cent of their tourism expenses up to a maximum of Bt5,000 through travel agencies,” said Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). “Travel agencies can accept 3,000 tourists per company and must register before January 1, 2021."
CESA also approved extending the “We Travel Together" 40-per-cent discount from 10 nights to 15 nights per participant and increasing the number of nights available from 5 million to 6 million. The discount is paid via e-vouchers at Bt900 per night from Monday to Thursday and Bt600 from Friday to Sunday.