Tourism Minister Surasak has approved launching the "Thai Teaw Thai Plus" project, using a co-payment system to provide equal subsidies nationwide without dividing major or secondary cities. He also embraced the Tourism Council’s proposal to introduce a "Community-Based Tour" package.
On 11 August 2026, Mr. Surasak Pancharoenworakul, Minister of Tourism and Sports, revealed in the evening of 10 August after chairing the Joint Public-Private Committee Meeting to Drive the Tourism Industry (Tourism Ministry's committee) that the meeting concluded key measures to present to the full committee. They resolved to advance the "Thai Teaw Thai Plus" project using a government co-payment (Co-Payment) scheme to stimulate the economy and assist operators.
Regarding the subsidy strategy—whether a 50:50 or 60:40 split—the meeting agreed to apply a uniform rate across all provinces nationwide without separating major or secondary cities. This approach aims for easier, faster management and fairness, following guidelines from the Cabinet and Ministry of Finance. The measure targets reducing costs and assisting small operators to ensure funds effectively circulate into the grassroots economy.
Additionally, the meeting received a proposal for the "Community-Based Tour" project from the Tourism Industry Council of Thailand (TICT) together with the Office of Sustainable Tourism Development (OSTD) to use tour companies as mechanisms to directly distribute income to communities. They plan to discuss and push this initiative forward. Meanwhile, to stimulate the international market, the meeting intends to invite tourism associations, online travel agencies (OTA), and airlines to jointly develop market-specific strategies. The goal is to build a sustainable tourism framework and drive stable growth in Thailand’s economy.
