Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak has instructed the Finance Ministry to consider the possibility of providing a tax deduction to tourism operators in secondary provinces or those that bring tourists to these provinces.
Tourism helps improve the income of people living in local communities, he said. The country's economy has already bottomed out and the rural economy needs to be reformed, Mr Somkid said.
Even though economic recovery momentum is gaining speed, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and low-income earners are still struggling and the government wants to help these groups, he said.
"Now is a good time for us to shift focus to poverty reform," Mr Somkid said. "From now on, we will prioritise local development with all agencies. I believe in the power of state enterprises and I ensure they will be used to gradually decrease poverty."
He urged state enterprises to help develop local areas.
For example, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand's Mae Moh project in Lampang province can use its engineers there to train local people in job skills, while jointly developing Lampang as a tourist destination, Mr Somkid said.
Some 8-10 million tourists visit Chiang Mai province per year, and income in Lampang would be boosted significantly if just 2-3 million of them took a side trip there, he said.
Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong said the Finance Ministry next year will offer tax breaks on tourism expenses in secondary provinces to help develop them.
Mr Somkid said the government is also focused on creating "smart cities", following Singapore's lead. All state enterprises are required to adopt big data technology next year as part of this policy, particularly to strengthen local development, he said. Progress in using this technology will be part of state enterprises' key performance indicators.
Smart utilities will connect information among utility-related state enterprises to facilitate bill payment and repair notification at a single point, Mr Somkid said.
The State Enterprise Policy Office recently said it would offer big data on three platforms: SME Intelligence, Smart Utility and Travel Port.
