Free domestic flights for foreigners

The government is preparing to offer foreign tourists free domestic flight tickets to encourage trips to less-visited provinces. SOMCHAI POOMLARD

- MOLPASORN SHOOWONG

The Tourism and Sports Ministry plans to offer free domestic flight tickets to 200,000 foreign arrivals to enhance tourism nationwide over a three-month period, aiming to generate 8.8 billion baht in revenue with a budget of 700 million baht.

Tourism and Sports Minister Sorawong Thienthong said the campaign dubbed "Buy International, Free Thailand Domestic Flights" should encourage foreign tourists to travel to less-visited destinations, similar to a Japanese strategy that provided free domestic seats to tourists this year.

He said foreigners holding an international flight ticket can redeem one round-trip domestic flight ticket with 20 kilogrammes of baggage for free on six Thai carriers: Thai Airways, Thai AirAsia, Bangkok Airways, Nok Air, Thai Lion Air and Thai Vietjet.