Travel service 'Half-Half Thai' encounters issues on its debut day, prompting apologies from TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand).
The much-anticipated 'Half-Half Thai Travel 2025' scheme, a government initiative offering 500,000 co-payment travel subsidies for hotel stays across Thailand, faced significant technical glitches during its registration launch on July 1, 2025.
The issues, which affected both the Amazing Thailand app and registration website, included error messages, failed identity verification, and discrepancies between the room rates submitted by hotels and those displayed in the booking system. These problems prevented many users from successfully registering for the benefits and forced several leading hotels, such as Amari Hua Hin, to suspend accepting reservations under the scheme.
Despite the major setbacks, the vast majority of the 500,000 entitlements remain unclaimed—as of early July 2, only about 1,959 had been claimed with nearly 498,041 still available for use across primary and secondary tourism provinces. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has expressed apologies and is actively working to fix the registration system glitches.
However, as of July 2, the technical setbacks had not yet been fully resolved, and the suspension of hotel bookings continued to affect the smooth rollout of the scheme. TAT is urgently working to restore the system to allow Thai citizens to register and claim their entitlements.
Approximately 498,000 subsidies remain available, split between 298,891 for 22 main tourism provinces and 199,150 for 55 secondary destinations. Thai nationals aged 18 and over remain eligible to register and claim these entitlements once the system is stabilized.
The travel period for the scheme runs from July 4 to October 31, 2025. The TAT has confirmed that the 'Be My Guest' Campaign, aimed at highlighting Thai soft power on the global stage, will continue during this period.
In other news, the 2nd Army Area chief has urged Thais to visit archaeological sites along the Surin border, and the TAT has launched the 'Thailand Safe Travel Stamp' to restore Chinese tourists' confidence. Additionally, Divana has tapped Thai BL actors as brand muses to attract Chinese tourists.
The TAT has also confirmed that the registration for the 'Half-Half Thai Travel' co-payment scheme will continue through existing channels once the system is functioning normally again. People can register and claim travel subsidies via the website [www.เที่ยวไทยคนละครึ่ง.com](http://www.เที่ยวไทยคนละครึ่ง.com) and the Amazing Thailand mobile application.
[1] Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) press release, July 1, 2025. [2] Bangkok Post, July 1, 2025. [3] Nation Thailand, July 1, 2025. [4] Pattaya News, July 1, 2025. [5] The Phuket News, July 1, 2025.
In the unsettling technical debacle of the 'Half-Half Thai Travel 2025' scheme, many tourism businesses may be affected by the glitches afflicting both the Amazing Thailand app and registration website, as well as the suspension of reservations for participating hotels (business).
On July 2, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced that only 1,959 subsidies out of the 500,000 allocated have been claimed, with the vast majority of the entitlements (498,041) yet to be mobilized across primary and secondary tourism provinces (politics, economy).
The ongoing glitches and suspension of bookings are hindering the smooth rollout of the scheme, urging TAT to expedite the restoration of the system for Thai citizens to register and claim their travel subsidies (general-news).
The travel period for the 'Half-Half Thai Travel' scheme runs from July 4 to October 31, 2025, coinciding with the TAT's confirmation that the 'Be My Guest' Campaign will continue, meant to showcase Thai soft power on the global stage (lifestyle).
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