Tourists booking air travel to Thailand could win free round-trip domestic flights, enabling them to visit the Southeast Asian country’s lesser-known gems, thanks to a new scheme proposed by the Tourism and Sports Ministry.
Yet to gain cabinet approval, the so-called “Buy International, Free Thailand Domestic Flights” campaign is set to make 200,000 complimentary round-trip flights available to travellers who book international flights to Thailand between September and November 2025, either directly with airlines or through travel agencies.
Six of the country’s major carriers, Bangkok Airways, Nok Air, Thai AirAsia, Thai Airways, Thai Lion Air and Thai Vietjet have so far confirmed they will participate in the deal, which amounts to 1,750 baht (€40) in money off a one-way ticket, or 3,500 baht (€80) towards a round-trip journey. Checked baggage is also included to a value of 20kg.
Aimed at spreading tourist footfall beyond Thailand’s best-known destinations such as Bangkok and Phuket, the free domestic flights would allow visitors to discover other parts of the country, its temples, tropical beaches, mountains, rivers, and culinary scene.
The free flight giveaway is also part of a drive by Thailand to increase tourist arrivals during the low season in an effort to meet and beat pre-COVID-19 tourism levels, which reached up to 40 million arrivals in 2019 – a figure the Kingdom has so far failed to match in the six years since the pandemic. Despite a boost from TV series such as The White Lotus, arrivals have been consistently below target throughout 2025.
As a result, after setting an ambitious goal to hit 39 million arrivals in 2025, the Bank of Thailand has twice revised down its forecast, which now stands at only 33 million visitors, a reduction of seven per cent drop compared to 2024. The situation has not been helped by political unrest in the shape of anti-government protests in Bangkok in June 2025, and a number of border disputes, including with Cambodia. The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against all but essential travel to parts of the south, where there are regular attacks near the Thailand-Malaysia border.
Visitors from China were also put off in early 2025 by the high-profile case of Chinese actor Wang Xing, who was reportedly kidnapped and forced to work in a scam centre. The Thai Foreign Ministry has also chopped and changed its short-stay visa policy in a bid to address illegal short-term rentals and illicit working and business operations, with the toing and froing between 60-day visas and 30-day visas adding to visitors’ uncertainty about choosing Thailand as a destination.
Against that backdrop, the new air travel promotion is anticipated to generate as much as 8.8 billion baht (€200 million), a whopping 1150% rate of return for a THB 700 million (€16 million) investment.
