Column: Cheap flights to Thailand? Write it on your belly!
In the future, flying to Thailand may only be possible for people with a very broad budget. Even before the flight tax has been introduced, the cabinet is already calculating whether the flight tax can be increased from 7 to 15 euros per passenger.
This is stated in a government response to the provisional Climate Agreement that was presented on Friday, sources report to the AD. If this plan is implemented, a family with two children will soon have to pay € 60 more for a plane ticket to Bangkok and that is only the beginning.
In addition, it is expected that the flight tax will be further increased annually, because too many Dutch people opt for the plane and that should be punished, according to the environmental fetishists. The green goat wool sock mafia led by supreme god Jesse Klaver, who himself especially does NOT set a good example with his very environmentally unfriendly house, is clear about it: Everything that is fun for the hardworking Dutchman must be punished with strong tax measures. Because everything that is fun is also bad for the environment.
Bullying the Dutch from the plane with tax measures is not very effective if you consider that China alone will build 216 new airports in the next fifteen years….
There is no end to the green wave that has hit the low countries. The government is rubbing its hands because another cash cow has been found to burden the citizen with even more levies. What's left for us is to work, pay taxes and die.
Fortunately, we still have the pictures of those beautiful Thailand holidays.
“What remains for us is to work, pay taxes and die.”
Looks like Belgium.
The flight tax is just a rare solution. It would be more logical to levy excise duty on kerosene so that the more you burn, the more expensive you travel from A to B. That would be fairer compared to other transport whose fuel is taxed. However, no, less or more tax on kerosene and other fuels should at least be done at European level. Just like the alternative 'solution' via the flight tax.
Only at national Dutch (or Belgian) level is there no progress. Then people will move to neighboring countries. If the flight tax really costs more than just over a tenner, then, just like with the failed flight tax of a few years ago, people will see that they will circumvent the measures.
I don't see making flying more expensive at European level with taxes or excise duties on tickets or fuel. At best, agreements on maximum pollution in order to increasingly prevent flying, sailing or driving rust buckets. But only punishing polluters does not help, cleaner alternatives must be made possible and promoted. Jan average should also be able to live. Making long-distance transport something of the rich would not be solidarity (social).
Or are those 'environmental fetishists' you speak of? You can be in favor of a cleaner world without kicking your average back a century or so in time. The parties would also lose many voters. A parliamentary majority 'goat wool sock mafia' is not in the cards. I wouldn't even label Groen Links as such, that label belongs more to the PvdD. Although you will also find them in other parties (PVV Dion Graus is the first to come to mind when thinking about extreme pro-animal positions).
That flying to Thailand, it will undoubtedly become a bit more expensive, but a priceless thing that only the elite can afford? I don't believe that. That there will be climate measures that we will all feel? Certainly, we can't escape that when you see the widely recognized (almost unanimous) climate predictions. We have to if we want to have a Benelux or Thailand where there is still room to live.
It is mainly about us being chased off the plane, while in Asia there are only a huge number of planes and airports being added. Naturally, environmental measures have no effect whatsoever. So it's just a method to rake in more tax. In an X number of years we will no longer go to Thailand, but Thailand will come to the Netherlands on holiday, haha. And then we can go to the campsite around the Veluwemeer. Also nice.
'My neighbor down the road sets his waste on fire and runs a diesel generator all day long, so I would be crazy if I had my waste processed properly and generated green electricity'. Then I prefer to do my bit and keep talking to my neighbor and the rest of the street that although pollution is inevitable, the disproportionate damage from the gross polluter will screw us all up.
And my glass is half full, if that sour Telegraaf is right, then the men no longer have to hunt in Thailand, but you can dive into the tent here with a Thai... 😉
If you really want to do something about the environment, you have to become a vegetarian, you also do something about animal suffering. That has more effect than a flight tax.
The earth isn't going to shit, by the way. Don't be fooled. We have heard those doomsday scenarios before: acid rain (all forests would disappear), the hole in the ozone layer: the earth would become uninhabitable. Well, that turned out to be all right.
The environment is just big business, the green gold. There is a lot of money to be made. Most of the scientists receive big sacks of grants for scaring the public. There are plenty of scientists who make a different sound, but they are silenced. Just ask documentary maker Martijn Poels: https://www.climategate.nl/2018/09/marijn-poels-links-en-toch-niet-politiek-correct/
Poels' conclusion: the climate hysteria is mainly a hype of politicians and lobbyists. “For example, it has still not been proven that man-made CO2 is to blame for global warming.”
Levying excise duty only at European level does not seem to me to be a good idea, given competition from companies from outside Europe. In my opinion, this could lead to job losses in aviation and supply companies.
In addition, it seems impossible to me to achieve 1 rate for the whole of Europe. When the flight tax was introduced a few years ago, many people moved to Dusseldorf, for example. Seems like the government has learned nothing from the past.
The Netherlands wants to lead the way again in being green, but forgot to look at examples that have already been mentioned in responses to this topic. Overall bad idea.
Beats. When I am in the Netherlands, I live in the Eindhoven region. Been avoiding the Amsterdam Schiphol region since at least 2008 (stopped working in Beverwijk).
From the Netherlands you have a lot of choice to fly to Bangkok and often at lower rates than in Amsterdam.
For the east and south of the Netherlands I always think of airports such as:
Hamburg, Munster-Onsnabruck, Weeze, Dusseldorf. Cologne-Bonn, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Brussels, Charleroi and Paris.
Is too far? and too expensive?
IC bus Eindhoven Dusseldorf, 7,90 euros, Euroliner, 11,20 and Flixbus, 6,99,
Eindhoven Brussels airport with Flixbus 16,98
Oh tickets only Dusseldorf Bangkok mer Eurowings 199,99 and return 219,45.
This is impossible from Amsterdam
In the Netherlands, 7 companies are responsible for 75% of the emissions. In Germany, lignite is still being fired here just across the border, so what is the point of our measures? And Jan the worker ant has to pay for all this!!
As a family you have already lost so much more, because it is tied to the school holidays.
My first reaction was: then go to Pension Boszicht in Lochem. But if I can drive to Lochem, then D-dorf or Zaventem can also take the sting out of the bill: the more expensive the flight tax, the more people board and disembark elsewhere. These kinds of things have to be done in an EU context, otherwise they won't work. And the EU has no use there because it never gets a majority.
I read that a Walloon minister has chartered a PRIVATE JET on his way to that environmental conference in Poland. Why? Possibly because mister's schedule did not allow a liner. Let the hotemots first set a good example before they come to pick my wallet.
Not so negative people because it is one of the measures to prevent the earth from being warmed up by no less than 0,00007 degrees (!). 😉
Incidentally, the 50 Plus party has also been done for me because it has also agreed to the climate law, which will cost us a lot of money in all kinds of future (tax) measures, so that their views on an increase in the state pension, back to 65 years, etc. may never take place. because there is no money left for that.
On the other hand, the fact that flying to Thailand is becoming unaffordable is also an exaggeration…
I predict that in a few years an economy ticket to Thailand (directly from NL) will cost more than € 1.000. It's not just the flight tax, almost half of a ticket price already consists of taxes and those will also increase. A family then spends € 4.000 on tickets alone, which is unaffordable for Jan.
Jan Modaal is currently on the payroll of politicians for €36.500. That is €2.816 gross per month and exactly €1.982,82 net. This is expected to rise to €2018 p/y in September 37.500. (source Plusonline.nl)
Well Handsome Jan Average if he and his family of 4 people can afford those "Cheap" flights of at least 600 euros per person in the high season. Only if Jan & Jannie Modaal work together would they be able to do that, but Jan & Jannie Modaal just go to France, Spain or the German Neighbors.
Jan Modaal also receives 1700 Euro holiday money, and 1200 Euro end-of-year bonus or holiday money. So they can really pay for those tickets for 4 people. The only question is whether they choose that or that new car, that new bathroom, the mortgage of +1000 euros…..
550 Euro per person return Bangkok is in my opinion really crazy, much too cheap. But….. I am not complaining and will be leaving in a few months for the 3rd time in a year and a half. (Yes, I am that Jan Modaal with 30 hours in care, wife 30 hours in care, and 2 children studying)
10, 20 years and even longer ago the tickets were unaffordable (read: unthinkable) for Jan Modaal who went to Drenthe, France, Spain or even Schwarzwald….
Then switch off the influence of inflation for a while because that raises both prices and salaries, Peter. That price of 1.000 e per economy flight will also come without crazy tax measures and those higher salaries too. The possibility of boarding in another country prevents flying in the Netherlands from becoming just as much of a cash cow as that thing on four wheels…..
If I remember correctly, there was a period in 2004 (or thereabouts) when the ticket price was above 1000 euros.
True, afterwards it became cheaper on average, but many again started complaining about too little legroom because more seats were added to the available space and the worst thing was that beer was no longer served unlimitedly. 😉
By the way: officially it is not yet a 'law' but a 'climate agreement', it will first have to be piloted through the 1st Chamber, but given its composition, that will be no more than a formality.
Correction, decisions will first have to be taken by the cabinet on the basis of the climate agreement, then the Council of State must issue an opinion on it, it will have to go through the second chamber and in the last instance only have to be approved by the first chamber. the expectation that the current coalition will lose its majority after the elections to the Senate in the spring of 2019 is far from over.
Good to know that French correction and indeed it indicates that the race is not yet over and that politics is complicated, we wait and see.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXRmcumPL3k
Flight taxes, and what about the energy costs, which are continuing to rise.
Wait for the moment of revolt against this madness
Forests are being cut down in Canada. Tree trunks are transported to the Netherlands in heavily polluting cargo ships (17 ships pollute as much as all the cars in the world). Then with polluting diesel trucks to the processing power stations. That is called 'we are doing wonderfully green'. By the way, have you seen the photo of the house of our Dutch Al Gore, Edje raketje Nijpels? Who, an advocate for the industry, is currently shouting (at Pauw yesterday) that he does not understand that more people do not have solar cells on their roofs. While he himself…0!! has on the roof of his estate.
Or our GL Jesse Ferras (Klaver) who also knows it so well. With a large wood stove in his room….
Yes, yes and you can vote for these nice people. Will cost you down to your last penny.
“17 ships pollute as much as all the cars in the world”
Where do you get that nonsense from again? Any idea how many seagoing vessels there are and how many cars are driving around?
Colder? Don't be so quick to express an unfounded opinion. See here. In the left-wing rag NRC
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2014/09/08/co2-uitstoot-zestien-grootste-schepen-die-van-a-1417819-a1033607
You do realize that this article indicates that the claim is false?
“It was said on Radio 1 that the sixteen largest ships in the world emit as much CO2 as all the cars in the world. It seems that sulfur emissions have been confused with CO2 emissions here. For sulfur emissions, the statement would be correct, but for the emission of the greenhouse gas CO2, the statement is nowhere near correct. We therefore rate the claim as false.”
And then the largest seagoing vessels take how many containers in one go? Have you ever calculated that? That is about 1 trucks per seagoing vessel. And how would you like to transport all the transport around the world without ships? sometimes with a truck from China to Amsterdam?
think before you just take over statements from some research.
Sorry there were 16. Another proof of my point. Thank you.
https://www.groen7.nl/containerschip-net-zo-vervuilend-als-tot-wel-50-miljoen-autos/
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2014/09/10/de-zestien-grootste-schepen-stoten-evenveel-co2-u-1417001-a558324
Come and see me a 50 km north of Uttaradit. In a municipality as large as Eindhoven, there are 3 wood processors per day, 7 days a week, grinding 100 to 150 tons EVERYONE per day.
A tree of 30 cm and about 7 meters yields 300 bath.
Houstnippers go to Europe.
Furthermore, the result here is that there are many bare surfaces on the mountains and in nature. Also because there is no replanting. Too many bananas, coconut and rice around here. Yields little to nothing. The area is aging in terms of population and because of the logging and no canopy, the temperature is rising here. Is on average around 36 to 40 degrees already in the months of November, December.
Landslides are also a problem here when it rains. But yes Jesse must be able to diesel and stoke at home
There is a group of committees constantly looking for where to get money from. This is another thing, it starts and gets higher every year. An ordinary way to make money.
Yasser half-satisfied will soon be presented with the bill if it turns out that people "MUST" take out a loan to participate in that climate madness in our country, which does not do anything about CO2 around the world.
If the flight tax is increased from 7 to 15 Euro, you will lose 2 Euro more with a family with 32 children. So it is not such a world amount on a holiday to Thailand.
Has anyone ever heard anything about the acid rain that fell on us, it was all doom and gloom, was it something about the environmental movements, just wasn't true, the trees just died and we just died to go.
Well Peter….
Unfortunately nothing new under the sun.
This environmental cash cow has simply been taken out of the stable again, cleaned up a bit, that's all folks.
In the early XNUMXs (almost XNUMX years ago) this deceitful cow was successfully used to combat acid rain.
The proof, according to the goat wool sock brigades, was that the moss would be moribund.
Lived in the woods at the time.
Of course my attention was drawn to the ups and downs of moss in the forest.
To be clear, not only in the forest where I lived at the time.
It turned out that also in the following years or decades things continued to go well with the native moss.
The reason why we never had / have heard anything about this !!!
Our unjustly extorted environmental tax money was (S) left eagerly sacrificed to the many left-wing hobbies.
Zum KOTS…..
Moderator: Please don't play the man.
Well, then differently:
It is said by many people here that acid rain was nonsense.
However, see here: http://www.weer.nl/nieuws/detail/2011-05-28-zure-regen-geen-mythe-uit-het-verleden/
Solved thanks to measures.
And the hole in the ozone layer still exists, but is getting smaller, thanks to measures.
https://www.scientias.nl/gat-ozonlaag-is-zich-aan-herstellen/
Global warming is also a serious problem.
And what is against driving electrically? At least I can breathe fresh air on my bike.
Fossil fuels are running out, perhaps at the end of this century?
So we have to switch to solar energy, etc. Why not introduce something that will inevitably happen as soon as possible?
Personally, I would also prefer to see environmental measures taken in a European context, and so would the distance, etc., of the route to be flown. I myself think the article is very exaggerated because if you go on holiday with a family of 4 people, you have already lost 3200 euros for tickets in the high season and 3 weeks hotel 1050 euros (21x2x25) and then accommodation 2100 euros = 6350 euros and then the flight tax is less than 1%.
I think this reaction to the report is very premature. There is still a lot of consultation and calculation to be done before a political proposal can be made. We will then be two years further and then elections will be in sight again. It can still go either way.
Apart from that, tourists will not let a holiday to Thailand pass by an increase in their holiday budget by a few euros. We must remain realistic.
Moreover, if a levy leads to fewer flights, the knife cuts both ways and Schiphol may not have to expand. So let's wait and see what the politicians will come up with.
If all airlines really passed on all costs to the customer, the flight ticket Amsterdam-Bangkok vv would have cost 1000 Euro for a long time. All companies are subsidized in some way or their losses are paid by all taxpayers. So be happy with all those governments instead of angry.
I would recommend to the expats who fly back and forth to their homeland twice a year to stay insured against medical costs and thus save hundreds of euros a year to stay in Thailand all year round if 4 (tickets) * 15 euros is too much.
For the alcoholics among us: 60 Euro = 2200 baht, so 1 good bottle of whiskey. I know it's hard to put down a bottle but it's only for one day a year.
I would like to advise the expats who transfer thousands of Bahts to their Thai sweetheart every month to tell their sweetheart that from now on they will receive 200 Baht (60 Euro = 2200 baht; 2200: 12 = about 200 baht) less per month because of the flight tax. She certainly understands that. If not, there are plenty of women in this country.
20.000! so-called environmental fans flew by plane to Poland for an environmental conference, what more can I say...
There is only one cause for the problems. There are too many people in the world. . The solution is fewer people. This can be done by fewer births and by not letting people grow too old. (This is not politically feasible
but the only solution).
I'm 75 myself and plan to continue for another 20 years if I stay healthy (ha ha)
Ah, we pay like a dime on the globe, but more and more, but you have to look first in other countries (Germany Ruhr area) is 1 major polluter of factories, take a look France garbage on the side of the road every week 1 large gang everything mixed up (furniture, oil, plastic and car tires) look in Hungary and Romania there they have no environmental rules you have to look in the garages or at gas stations all on floors.
But if we as Dutch people pay a lot it will all get better yes yes!!!!!!!! (in The Hague, the SP, Green left and the other alternative parties believe) that we can change the world like a dime on the globe.
Those who believe in fairy tales should definitely embrace Climate Accord.
If you really want to do something about the climate together, you have to ensure that the biggest polluters (factories and shipping are more obliged to change), but no, in the Netherlands they always target the small, hard-working Dutchman.
Dear Peter (formerly Khun),
About 45 years ago people paid +/- 2000,00 guilders for a return trip from AMS – BKK (YC)….!
I'm still for 40 495 years ago!!! guilders (= approx. euro 220) flown back and forth to Los Angeles. (Continental Airlines). On the flight I was still annoyed that the neighbor next to me had paid 20 guilders less. I even still have my ticket and invoice! So really not more expensive than now!
That's right. I then traveled regularly with Thai or KLM via BKK to Hong Kong. The seats were anything but comfortable. A little later SQ and that became the best. In those days people were on the road for a long time due to stopovers. The connection to Hong Kong was usually missed. They were then accommodated in a hotel not far from BKK airport and picked up early again for the first flight at about 10 am to Hong Kong.
The first time I flew to Thailand was in 1979, you had the choice between KLM for 1800 guilders or Biman for about 1100 guilders, I earned about 1600 guilders a month then, so don't tell me that flying is expensive these days.
I am amazed that there are still people who deny global warming, when 98% of academics agree.
If those few euros contribute even a little to slowing down global warming, then I would be happy to participate, I have grandchildren whom I love and wish them a future too.
None of this has anything to do with left or right, although even now there are right-wing political parties that bury their heads in the sand.
The VVD also denied global warming 10 years ago, but they also understand that if things go wrong, money and shares are worthless.
I don't think anyone is denying global warming. The only question is whether people can influence that. There has also been an ice age on earth and even a period when it was so warm that no ice existed at the north and south poles. There weren't even people on the earth then. The sun has the most influence on the climate, not humans.
Humans can influence the climate.
That's what we do, by cutting down all the trees and diverting and pumping rivers empty. (the Aral Sea drying up, with all the consequences for the local climate)
By scattering chemicals high in the atmosphere, we can temper the sunlight.
The only question is how this works out in practice.
Perhaps the cure is worse than the disease.
And yes, the climate can also change on its own.
The sun can end up in a large cosmic dust cloud, causing less sunlight to reach the earth and making it colder.
Maybe as early as tomorrow, although I assume astronomers would have seen that cloud by then.
So that will take a while.
sorry but the climate on earth is 99% determined by the sun, our distance to it and the angle of incidence. The amount of solar flares also plays a role. Still the sun remains.
Furthermore, 75% of the surface area consists of water. The oceans, together with the sun, determine the weather.
The environment in which we live is something else, often the terms climate and environment are used interchangeably.
In short climate is a global data as explained earlier.
The environment is a local fact that we have a VERY small influence on in terms of the world. We can influence our own living environment at home and in our garden. Then it stops.
When I read the responses, I see that an environmental measure is often written about the flight tax. Initially, the plan for a flight tax was intended as an environmental measure. But now it turns out that the money simply disappears into the Treasury.
The answers are again really Dutch, if a farmer is not complaining, he is ill.
If you look at per km, flying is very cheap and yes if we want to leave a beautiful world for our children, the price will have to go up considerably.
Greetingssssss
What a lament here. Compared to the past, I once paid 2400 hard Dutch guilders for a ticket to Thailand, economy, in 1991, flying is actually dirt cheap now. If you were to increase this with inflation, you would exceed 1900 Euro in 2018. So complainers have no need.
What populist chatter. If you fly to Thailand as a family with 2 children, you have already lost more than 3.000 euros. Add to that the costs of a few weeks in a hotel, and then still be pathetic about 60 euros? Just be normal with that political bullshit. Let the world go to hell. So we can save 60 euros.
Um, I want to fight. You can go to Bangkok from Dusseldorf for 199,99 per person. Then TO Bangkok
Back a 214 Euro so a total of 425 Euro per person. So globally half is also possible.
Oh, only with cabin luggage, but yes you have 1400 Euro left for clothing.
At 75 euro cents for a pair of socks, 2 euros for slippers, 2 euros for a t-shirt and 4 euros for jeans, this should also be possible.
Oh I always only take hand luggage. 2 underpants, 2 pairs of socks, my slippers, an extra pair of trousers, a short-sleeved shirt and 2 t-shirts.
Everything else I take with me fits in my wallet
I bought my BKK Ticket again 3 weeks ago... €513 return... (1 stopover and a total travel time of 14 hours). That would be €523 for me. I also think that this measure will not change the environment. If you can go on holiday to Thailand or elsewhere in Asia (example), you can also pay that increase. Then you go to a guesthouse with your kids instead of a more expensive hotel.. It's just as Henk indicated above... pitiful about 60 euros more spread over 4 people and 2 weeks is 1 euro per day 😉 What happens to old people? and a new one back in the air...is there any money for that? I personally think that there will always be conflicts about the environment. I would say, take the bike or train more often. Happy holidays to everyone.
from dusseldorf return for 450 euros. Can be even cheaper, just search
sorry 339,99 is the lowest rate.RETURN. Outward flight 12.45 minutes back 12.15 minutes. Bring your own ham and a bottle of wine or water.