Thailand Mulls Easing Visa Rules For India, China Visitors To Boost Tourism Revenue

Thailand is likely to ease visa rules to lure travellers from China and India and allow longer stays for visitors from all nations.

Thailand is likely to ease visa rules to lure travellers from China and India and allow longer stays for visitors from all nations, as reported by Bloomberg. The new Prime Minister, Srettha Thavisin, is aiming to boost tourism revenue to $100 billion next year. Chinese face a costly and cumbersome visa application process, which has been a drag on the tally this year, according to Thavisin.

Meanwhile, travellers from India are required to pay 2,000 baht ($57) for a 15-day visa on arrival. Srettha stated that he wants the list of visa-exempt countries to be increased. He also wants to expand stay limits for most international travellers, with caps of 15 or 30 days for many nationalities, Bloomberg reported. On Monday, Srettha held discussions on the available options with executives of Airports of Thailand Pcl and several airlines, with the near-term aim of attracting more foreigners in the fourth quarter, as per Bloomberg.

The airport operator agreed to reduce bottlenecks to augment flight capacity by 20% and find ways to speed up immigration clearances, Srettha said on X, formerly Twitter. The new government is seeking to lift revenue from foreign tourists to 3.3 trillion baht next year, with the travel industry offering "the best short-term economic stimulus," Srettha said.

As per Bank of Thailand data, tourism accounts for about 12% of gross domestic product and nearly a fifth of jobs. Thaneth Tantipiriyakij, president of the Phuket Tourism Association, said scrapping the application fee would be ideal rather than giving visa exemptions to visitors from China and India, as per Bloomberg.

"Visa fee exemptions are a ‘quick win’ for tourism," said Thaneth. He further stated that international visitors to Phuket through July were about 70% of pre-pandemic totals, but the "Chinese arrival recovery rate is only 30%."

Meanwhile, China announced on Monday that it will drop COVID-19 testing requirements for people arriving from overseas, as reported by news agency AP. In a press briefing in press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that the pandemic testing requirements would be dropped starting Wednesday. It is a milestone toward ending the virus restrictions imposed in China since early 2020.

Earlier in March, China reopened its borders to foreign tourists for the first time in three years since the COVID-19 pandemic erupted. Back then, Beijing said that it will start re-issuing all categories of visas, reported the news agency Reuters.

This news of removing the last cross-border control measure to guard against COVID-19 came approximately a month after the authorities declared victory over the virus. This decision was part of a larger effort to normalise two-way travel between China and the rest of the world.