The cabinet acknowledged the Treasury’s findings and insisted they would not affect private contracts.

Radklao Suwankiri, deputy spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office It was revealed that the off-site official cabinet meeting (Royal Cabinet) held in Nakhon Ratchasima approved the guidelines for promoting Thailand as a tourism hub and utilizing the tax incentives of bonded warehouses to sell import duty-free shops to entrepreneurs. We asked the operators and found that they were happy to stop operating.

This is preliminary and the Cabinet has instructed the Ministry of Finance to take appropriate action. A timetable for when this will begin has not yet been determined.

Currently, three legal entities have been approved to set up inbound duty-free shop-type bonded warehouses at eight international airports:

1. Suvarnabhumi Airport
2. Don Muang Airport
3. Chiang Mai Airport
4. Phuket Airport
5. Hat Yai Airport
6. U-Tapao Airport
7. Koh Samui Airport
8. Krabi Airport

According to statistics from the customs department, sales of duty-free products in imported duty-free shops totaled 3.02175 billion baht in 2023.

However, Deputy Spokesperson, Prime Minister’s Office At present, people enter the Kingdom through international airports. Generally speaking, you can buy products with duty-free rights. According to the following criteria:

1. Goods purchased by travelers entering the Kingdom for personal or professional use. The total value does not exceed THB 20,000.
2. The number of cigarettes shall not exceed 200, and the weight of each cigar or tobacco shall not exceed 250 grams. Or the total weight of several types shall not exceed 250 grams. However, the number of cigarettes shall not exceed 200.
3. No more than one litre of alcohol

The Ministry of Finance is currently conducting the following research on the benefits and impacts of ceasing the use of sales tax incentives for bonded warehouses of inbound duty-free shops.

1. Foreign tourists spend more in the country. Expenditure and consumption of domestic goods and services are widely distributed. If import duty-free shops stop selling products for 1 year, the average tourism expenditure per person per trip is expected to increase by about 570 baht.

2.Thai travelers can choose to purchase duty-free goods from their country of origin to replace or purchase more of the same type of goods in the country. This depends on different decision factors.

3. Duty-free shop bonded warehouse operators. The sale of products in stores will result in a loss of import tariff revenue, but if sales operations are stopped for a year, it is expected to affect store operators and tourism-related personnel. Like grocery stores, they will receive up to 3.46 billion baht of additional new liquidity each year, creating opportunities and having a positive impact on production, investment and employment.

4. Impact on government revenues More money will be circulated and distributed to shop owners in a wider area. And expand the government tax base. Especially income tax and value-added tax

5. Impact on the overall economy If inbound duty-free shops stop using the bonded warehouse sales tax incentive for one year, it is expected to lead to an annual increase of 0.012% in gross domestic product (GDP).