Tourists from certain countries arriving in Thailand with a visa on arrival will be allowed to stay longer in the kingdom starting in October.
Please note: Post published in September 2022, the visa extension measure described in this article ended in March 2023.
Yesterday (September 20), government spokesperson Traisulee Traisorkul announced that the Thai government had approved the temporary extension of visa on arrival and visa exemptions.
The government hopes the extensions will boost tourism and the economy, which is still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Between October 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, foreign tourists arriving in Thailand can stay in the kingdom as follows:
Foreigners from more than 64 countries, such as France, Switzerland, Belgium and Canada ( see the list here ), who benefit from a visa exemption, will have the duration of the visa on arrival extended from 30 to 45 days.
Those from 19 territories coming to Thailand under the 15-day visa on arrival (VOA) category will be allowed to double their stay to a maximum of 30 days.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects the average tourist to stay in the kingdom for an additional five days thanks to these extensions.
If each tourist spends an average of 4,000 to 5,000 baht (108.33 to 135.41 euros) per day, they will inject 20,000 baht more into the economy than they normally would, the TAT said.
Thailand's COVID-19 Situation Management Center agreed to the extension of visa on arrival and visa exemptions during its meeting with the Thai government on September 20, the spokesperson said.
Source: The Thaiger
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4 comments
"Thailand desperately seeks high-spending tourists"
This could be the title of a book or a TV series with multiple twists and turns in the desperate attempts to attract Western, European, and American tourists with laudable initiatives, but not very convincing, because the quality of the offers is too limited or too timid.
Therefore, demand does not follow…
Moreover, Thailand does not have the necessary means to reverse certain trends and causes which mainly affect this more than timid return of international tourism which is stagnating, and even declining compared to the breath of fresh air at the beginning of last July.
Bringing back Russian tourists (apart from some senior executives, business leaders and other "wealthy people" who can still afford a holiday) will remain a utopia as long as the Russo-Ukrainian war does not find a peaceful solution and a return to normality in this region of Europe...
The same observation applies to Europeans and Americans who are struggling to varying degrees with an economic and social crisis which will, in the best case scenario, take months and months to resolve...
On this side, too, Thailand is powerless to attract back the majority of this segment of tourists who generally brought the most to the international tourism sector, just as it is incapable of exerting any pressure on the price of long-haul plane tickets which have doubled, tripled, and even quadrupled in some cases and which put off any decision on a reasonably priced trip and a holiday in the land of smiles... which laughs bitterly!
Thailand is busy healing an open fracture, its confirmed tourism deficit coming in 2022, with sticking plasters (15-day extension of residence permits and short-term visas) while the purchasing power of these same tourists is dwindling!!!
It's all well and good to offer tourists from Laos, Vietnam, India and Malaysia the chance to stay longer, but do these tourists, who currently represent more than 75% of all foreign arrivals in the country, have the financial means to do so?
Once again, the TAT is presenting market conclusions with very basic and random hypotheses and based on very fragile expected figures.
Why are Laos residents with a one-year business visa only allowed two land entries to Thailand per year?
Here, we prefer to have rich "tourists" from Laos or Cambodia than poor little tourists from Monaco.
Or maybe it's the Monegasque tourists who don't want to come???
I don't believe it!!
(Okay, for those who didn't understand, it's just humor. There's no need to give me an incendiary response!)
It is clear that in the face of the monetary crisis caused by European and American states, they are finding it very difficult to consider long-distance trips.
It is also obvious that the country, Thailand, needs these thousands of tourists who, even if they are not billionaires, still spend their money in the country.
All in all, if we overcome this crisis, if aircraft manufacturers' prices become reasonable again and if the Thai government allows medium and long-term stays without these visas which cost crazy sums, foreigners will return to this magnificent country of Thailand where everyone feels good.