Theme park incentives urged

Source: Bangkok Post, ThailandOct.self storage 14--The government is being asked to work out new tax incentives to promote investment in amusement and theme parks, as existing measures are proving inadequate to lure investors."Thailand has set a lofty plan to boost tourism income to 2 trillion baht by 2015," said Suwat Sidthilaw, the tourism and sports permanent secretary."The government needs to improve in many areas including support for tourism-related facilities, easing visa extensions for long-stay visitors and better safety measures."The Board of Investment now offers tax privileges to amusement park start-ups that invest more than 500 million baht.The privileges include import tariff waivers for machinery and a corporate tax exemption for five years in zone one (Greater Bangkok), seven years in zone two (12 other large provinces) and eight years in zone three (remote low-income areas).The private sector has long pressed the government to modify conditions for cmini storagepital investment, saying the 500-million-baht requirement as too hefty.Mr Suwat said the Finance Ministry should also consider cutting import tariffs for playground equipment and toys, now at 25%.The government has already told relevant agencies to study the possibility of extending visas for long-stay visitors from the current six months to put it on a par with countries such as Malaysia, which offers a 10-year visa, but nothing has come of it.Mr Suwat said revenue from foreign visitors in the first nine months of this year reached 863 billion baht, up by 23% year-on-year, with foreign tourists numbering 19.7 million, also up by 23%.The Tourism and Sports Ministry expects the number of inbound tourists to hit 26 million by year-end, outpacing the previous forecast of 20 million by 30%.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Bangkok Post (Bangkok, Thailand) Visit the Bangkok Post (Bangkok, Thailand) at .bangkokpost.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉