The national oil and gas conglomerate PTT Plc has set aside 18 million baht for 5,000-baht travel subsidies for its employees, to boost local tourism in the fourth quarter.
PTT president and chief executive Auttapol Rerkpiboon said the PTT board had approved the programme in principle.
The subsidies, to be used for domestic tourism, would be valid during the October-December quarter.
PTT proposes to allocate 5,000 baht to each of its 3,800 staff, and the cost would be about 18 million baht, he said.
Mr Auttapol expected the benefits to the economy in general would be 4-5 times the budget set aside for the company's programme.
Conditions would be set for travel on weekdays and staying overnight and travelling on weekends and public holidays, and destinations must be at least 300 kilometres from employees' homes.
Employees could claim reimbursement against receipts for accommodation, travel expenses, meal costs, entry fees and other related expenses. PTT would pay half the cost.
Any amounts left over could be used on subsequent trips, but no more than 5,000 baht in total during the three months, he said.
For now, only PTT Plc is offering the programme but its subsidiaries could make their own decisions on whether to follow suit, said Mr Auttapol.
Companies in the PTT Group are have more than 18,000 employees in total.