The Senate Committee on Tourism and Sports convened on July 15 to press Minister of Tourism and Sports Sorawong Thienthong for explanations regarding persistent issues in the “Half‑Half Thai Travel” domestic tourism stimulus programme.

Launched on July 1, the initiative aims to subsidise accommodation costs by up to 50 percent, capped at 3,000 baht per night, for Thai nationals.

Committee chairman Phisut Rattanawong highlighted that nearly two weeks after launch, technical failures remain unresolved.

Registration difficulties prompted users to register via the government’s “Thang Rath” app, replacing the intended ThaiID-based verification through the Amazing Thailand platform.

Minister Sorawong acknowledged the system collapse occurred on day one and has since redirected registration to alternative platforms.

Chamlong Anantasuk, committee spokesperson, questioned why the government had opted against reactivating the “Paotang” app used in the previous “We Travel Together” scheme.

The committee suggested that its reinstatement could have avoided current technological setbacks.

Hotel operators have reportedly ceased accepting new bookings via the scheme, citing continued platform instability, inflexible rate structures and manual payment verification procedures.

Hotel association officials noted delays in system access and rate publication, with dynamic pricing disallowed and rate adjustments limited to two fixed categories (weekday and weekend/holiday).

TAT governor Thapanee Kiatphaibool confirmed the platform overhaul, citing fraud prevention needs following complaints from the earlier “We Travel Together” programme that logged 1,489 fraud cases amounting to approximately 2.34 billion baht in losses.

Technical bottlenecks were traced to low capacity in the ThaiID verification app, resulting in OTP delays flagged as spam by email providers.

The system has since been reconfigured to defer identity checks until hotel check-in.

The committee noted a lack of sufficient public awareness efforts and user guidance.

Complaints highlighted complex forms and confusion among tourists and hotel staff.

With registrations paused amid platform migration, concerns have been raised about operator participation, given unresolved payouts from the predecessor scheme.

Registration has resumed via the Amazing Thailand app and website following technical fixes, and approximately 1.4 million users have registered, with over 20,000 hotel bookings confirmed.

The committee maintains that unresolved operational issues continue to adversely affect the initiative’s uptake.

The Senate Tourism Committee has invited Minister Sorawong to provide a detailed briefing on platform performance, contingency measures and timelines for reinstating business confidence in the subsidy scheme.