Free packages including transport and accommodation will be offered to foreign and local tourists to help revive the flagging domestic tourism sector.
Gen Pawarit Jamsawang, director of the Royal Thai Army’s tourism office, said it was planned to allocate 450 million baht to spend on urgently stimulating domestic tourism.
About 150 million baht of the planned budget would be for tourists to visit attractions including over 1,000 royally initiated projects, self-sufficiency projects and historical sites nationwide.
It was expected that around 100,000 visitors would benefit from the scheme, that would be implemented between July and September.
The tour packages would be two-day and three-day, with transportations both by air and land and accommodation at three- and four-star hotels.
The army has outlined its plan in cooperation with Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau and the Association of Domestic Travel (ADT). The proposal will need final approval by the National Council for Peace and Order.
The ADT president Yutthachai Soonthornrattnavate said the association proposed a 300 million baht fund to give 10,000 baht each to civil servants who will retire at the end of September to spend on travelling.
It was expected about 30,000 senior officials would travel under this scheme and they would each have at least two or three people accompanying them on the trip.
The association would also propose allowing a tax deduction for people spending on domestic tourism. Tax payers should be able to present the receipts from their trip, up to 30,000 baht, as a deduction from taxable income.