Thailand Visa Cut Sparks Tourism Debate

Tourism numbers and revenue has fallen each year since the relaxed visas came into effect a few years ago - they did not increase numbers.

Tourists want safety, less trash tourists, and more quality tourism around them.

Will crime fall from this? Maybe not massively, but it will move scammers on who abuse the system.

The real issue is the long term visas that are destroying the country.

Thailand needs all the tourists they can get, the 60 days was helpful....It looks like Vietnam is becoming the new Thailand..The Indians are going to Vietnam in droves....

1 minute ago, redwood1 said:

Thailand needs all the tourists they can get, the 60 days was helpful....It looks like Vietnam is becoming the new Thailand..The Indians are going to Vietnam in droves....

Good

What reasons do you have to claim Thailand need all the tourists they can get, and how can 60 days help?

Thailand needs factory workers, skilled factory workers and skilled craftsmen and women

14 minutes ago, redwood1 said:

Thailand needs all the tourists they can get, the 60 days was helpful....It looks like Vietnam is becoming the new Thailand..The Indians are going to Vietnam in droves....

Better they go there than here.

Thugs will always do thug things so 60 day/30 day visa doesn't matter other than to add a few extra steps to their process, it won't stop them.

3 hours ago, DonniePeverley said:

Tourism numbers and revenue has fallen each year since the relaxed visas came into effect a few years ago - they did not increase numbers.

Tourists want safety, less trash tourists, and more quality tourism around them.

Will crime fall from this? Maybe not massively, but it will move scammers on who abuse the system.

The real issue is the long term visas that are destroying the country.

Well sorry, but I don't quite understand your logic:

1. "Tourism numbers and revenue":
   The intention was to lure more tourists and fight the competition like Vietnam, Philippines and Japan who are improving at turbo speed being new destinations.
   Revenue is not increasing since it has backfired bringing "low-budget" Tourism i.e. Indian (ordering 1 Coke and 1 Pad Thai for 2), or Israelis who bargain on everything and, unfortunately also some "low spirits" abusing the Thai kindness while stealing in shops or running away after eating in a restaurant for not paying bills. (just examples!).

2. "Trash tourists Vs. quality tourist":
   The younger new generation (millennials & Apps-addicted mobile phone zombies) are a major shift in tourism-behavior.
   While the "old school" tourists prepare, plan and inform themselves about the destination and culture, this new generation books spontaneously via Apps. They follow social media trends and influencers without any interest to learn Culture and Customs!

   They don't care and behave rude in total ignorance, they only think it's party time! They totally disrespect the Thai culture walking around half naked, doing selfies, overdoing it with alcohol and drugs, losing control, fighting etc. etc.

3. "Crime and scammers" - You will find them in every country!
   Thailand is doing well investigating and fighting it. (don't you read the news?)

4. "The real issue is the long term visas that are destroying the country."
   Now here I really don't understand your logic!
   The long term visas i.e. Retirement Visa bring many advantages like being a "bridge" between the High Seasons! They support the economy all year around!
   They rent houses, buy cars, they buy local, they use local transportation and eat in the small family restaurants...
   And you declare that they are destroying the country?!

44 minutes ago, redwood1 said:

Thailand needs all the tourists they can get, the 60 days was helpful....It looks like Vietnam is becoming the new Thailand..The Indians are going to Vietnam in droves....

"The Indians are going to Vietnam in droves"

So this is good news.....??

Thailand’s tourism image has weakened for several reasons.

Social media made it worse. Reels from Pattaya and Patong keep showing street mess, fights, drunk behaviour, drugs, and low-end tourist trouble. And algorithms push more of the same to people searching for travel in Thailand. One bad video becomes ten, and soon the whole place looks worse than it really is.

That matters, especially for families.

Chinese safety concerns also hit Thailand hard. Stories about scams, kidnappings, human trafficking, and tourist safety made many Chinese tourists think twice, especially after the Wang Xing case.

The border conflict and bombing in Cambodia may also have contributed. Even if most tourist areas were not directly affected, conflict nearby makes families and cautious travellers more careful.

The strong baht has also played a part. Thailand became more expensive for many visitors, even if the baht weakened a bit after the wider Middle East conflict and Iran war affected markets, fuel prices, and travel routes.

Marijuana policy also damaged Thailand’s image, mostly because it was badly regulated. It added to the feeling that some tourist areas became more chaotic than attractive.

Thailand and Cambodia seem to be the two weak ones among the nearby countries. Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia and even the Philippines increased their arrivals, while Thailand and Cambodia declined. That matters, because it shows tourists did not stop travelling in the region. They just had more reasons to choose somewhere else.

1 hour ago, Pesche said:

1. "Trash tourists Vs. quality tourist":
   The younger new generation (millennials & Apps-addicted mobile phone zombies) are a major shift in tourism-behavior.
   While the "old school" tourists prepare, plan and inform themselves about the destination and culture, this new generation books spontaneously via Apps. They follow social media trends and influencers without any interest to learn Culture and Customs!

   They don't care and behave rude in total ignorance, they only think it's party time! They totally disrespect the Thai culture walking around half naked, doing selfies, overdoing it with alcohol and drugs, losing control, fighting etc. etc.

I think your observation that some of the younger generation treat international travel as little more than an opportunity to show off on social media, and show little to no interest in learning the culture and customs, is spot on.

I can recall preparing for my first trip to Thailand in 1986 by feverishly studying the language and trying to familiarize myself as much as possible about the culture for months on end before departing.

Imagine my shock a while back when a mid-20's relative of mine, on his first visit to Thailand, asked whether rice grew on trees.

I don't understand why people complain about this 60 -> 30 days change. Sixty days was just a test and it has been in place for around 2 years. A test that didn't go well.

We are back to 30 days and tourists who want to stay longer can buy a tourist visa it gives them 60 days and can then be extended at Immigration for another 30 days.

4 minutes ago, hanbla said:

I don't understand why people complain about this 60 -> 30 days change. Sixty days was just a test and it has been in place for arond 2 years. A test that didn't go well.

We are back to 30 days and tourists who want to stay longer can buy a tourist visa it gives them 60 days and can then be extended at Immigration for another 30 days.

I like 60 day trips. Prefer not to pay extra and do paperwork. But I no complain.

Didn't we go through this when Thaksin was in office?
I remember the mass relocation of backpack tourists from Thailand to Vietnam because he reduced the length of the tourist visa and made it impossible to renew more than twice on visa runs. Many guest houses were emptied, never to fill up again. Today there are more 'hotels' than ever before, with more and more of them filling up... and never being more than half full. I don't know where TAT gets its information, but I drive the streets of Chiang Mai every day, and those streets are empty. For a few days around holidays (Loy Kratong, Songkran, etc.), the city fills up. But only for a day or two before and and day or two after. Perhaps all the tourists go to Bangkok or Phuket, but they sure as heck aren't coming to Chiang Mai in the numbers we used to see before. Just a 15-minute walk along the Chanklan Rd, Night Bazaar will confirm that for you. That used to be packed, shoulder to shoulder, almost all year! Live music, Thai Classical dancing, Thai Boxing, and hundreds of vendors. Not any more. There used to be enough custom for the Night Bazaar, the Sunday Market, and the Saturday Night Walking Street. These days, the night Bazaar is a shell of its former self.
Limiting tourist visas limits tourists. Period. You might not like the look of the backpack tourists, but they did keep Thailand rolling along! They might not stay at the Four SeasonsHotel, opting for a guest house instead, but they spent plenty of money on their tourist activities and food, and instead of an expensive 3-nights stay, they would come and stay for a month or two... spending money every night and day!

The less tourists in Thailand the better for long term expats who consistently provide Thailand with respectful and economic presence.

Uncle Tu — Prayut Chan-o-cha — seems to be right back then when he stated that Thailand needs quality tourists instead of low budget mass tourism...

They might get rid of some cheapskates, but they cannot attract more "quality tourists" as they have proven many times.

So the net result will be that they'll be whinging about less income from tourism again soon enough.

3 hours ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

3 hours ago, hanbla said:

I don't understand why people complain about this 60 -> 30 days change. Sixty days was just a test and it has been in place for arond 2 years. A test that didn't go well.

We are back to 30 days and tourists who want to stay longer can buy a tourist visa it gives them 60 days and can then be extended at Immigration for another 30 days.

I like 60 day trips. Prefer not to pay extra and do paperwork. But I no complain.

Exactly - agree with both of you!

And, as I have pointed out on other threads, it is so EASY to get a tourist visa these days, compared to how it was years ago. No paperwork, just 15 to 20 minutes on line. And, if you worry about the fee, well then how are you going to fund 60 days in Thailand?

13 minutes ago, VBF said:

Exactly - agree with both of you!

And, as I have pointed out on other threads, it is so EASY to get a tourist visa these days, compared to how it was years ago. No paperwork, just 15 to 20 minutes on line. And, if you worry about the fee, well then how are you going to fund 60 days in Thailand?

I's agree that it shouldn't make any difference for tourists. But what I can't fathom is how this is going to "save the country from foreign criminals". So, just another political move to ride the wave of xenophobia they have built up in the past 5 or 6 years.

3 minutes ago, Peter Crow said:

I's agree that it shouldn't make any difference for tourists. But what I can't fathom is how this is going to "save the country from foreign criminals". So, just another political move to ride the wave of xenophobia they have built up in the past 5 or 6 years.

Let's be honest, some of the decisions made by those in power range from questionable to totally unfathomable! Much of it is accompanied by loads of hot air from people who don't know the whole story and probably aren't even affected.

However, I believe that the change from 30 to 60 days was always intended to be temporary to encourage tourism after Covid. If you consider, when we could get 60 days visa-free, the 60 day SETV was still available which made little sense, unless the intention was always to revert to needing a visa for more than 30 days.

But to address your point, IMO it'll make no difference to troublemakers, people who cannot handle their drink and naïve fools. Oh, there may be more overstayers perhaps(?)

5 hours ago, Smokey and the Bandit said:

"The Indians are going to Vietnam in droves"

So this is good news.....??

No its not but bitterness a guy dressed in sheet kicked the raping colonial empire out of India is such a fine theme at the pub they are not willing to let the bashing go.

10 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

visa-free stays from 60 days back to 30 days has triggered debate

Whether 60 days or 30 days, the sex tourists will still flock for their booze and leg-overs!!

5 hours ago, Hummin said:

Social media made it worse. Reels from Pattaya and Patong keep showing street mess, fights, drunk behaviour, drugs, and low-end tourist trouble

The real problem is not 30/60. It's a complete lack of enforcement and properly due consequences for the dregs the place attracts for exactly those two reasons.

4 hours ago, hanbla said:

I don't understand why people complain about this 60 -> 30 days change. Sixty days was just a test and it has been in place for around 2 years. A test that didn't go well.

We are back to 30 days and tourists who want to stay longer can buy a tourist visa it gives them 60 days and can then be extended at Immigration for another 30 days.

It is in the general run of things totally meaningless, both for crime and tourism.

5 minutes ago, BusyB said:

The real problem is not 30/60. It's a complete lack of enforcement and properly due consequences for the dregs the place attracts for exactly those two reasons

As long as Thailand is easy to reach, easy to enter, and easy to stay in, cutting it back to 30 days will not solve the problem. Most likely they will just allow more border crossings again, and then we are back to start. Bali is also cutting back on cheap tourism and wants more quality tourists, so this is not unique to Thailand.

53 minutes ago, VBF said:

However, I believe that the change from 30 to 60 days was always intended to be temporary to encourage tourism after Covid.

But was introduced on July 15 2024, less than two years ago, so I reckon that the Vietnamese boom and the need to a faltering brand had more to do with it.

7 hours ago, Hummin said:

Good

What reasons do you have to claim Thailand need all the tourists they can get, and how can 60 days help?

Thailand needs factory workers, skilled factory workers and skilled craftsmen and women

Thailand needs skilled workers, unfortunately for Thailand skilled workers need a brain, which are in very short supply in Thailand 🤣😂

2 hours ago, Toby1947 said:

Thailand needs skilled workers, unfortunately for Thailand skilled workers need a brain, which are in very short supply in Thailand 🤣😂

Can be said about many people from many countries, and it is more about building a work culture, than anything else

4 hours ago, Peter Crow said:

So, just another political move to ride the wave of xenophobia they have built up in the past 5 or 6 years.

Most if not all diplomatic rules/policies are based on reciprocity. If one looks at the countries in the world that offer visa free entry to Thais the list is quite small. With most European, North and Central American and Australasian countries requiring Thais to have a visa. So it is not surprising that Thais have changed their policy.

24 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Most if not all diplomatic rules/policies are based on reciprocity. If one looks at the countries in the world that offer visa free entry to Thais the list is quite small. With most European, North and Central American and Australasian countries requiring Thais to have a visa. So it is not surprising that Thais have changed their policy.

Well actually they haven't changed their policy!

2 years ago (see various posts above) one needed a visa to stay as a tourist for more than 30 days. Then as some sort of experiment (?) the Thai government increased it to 60. Now, it's back to 30. All the while the SETV was available, indicating to me that it would soon be needed again. So it's not a change but the removal of a temporary concession.

And, as I mentioned earlier, I always thought that the reason for said concession was to boost tourism after covid - there I may be wrong, but if I am, then none of us knows why it was allowed other than, as I surmise, some sort of experiment. I really wish there was somebody on AN who had a reliable source in Immigration / Thai Gov to either support or refute my thinking but all of us (me included) "second-guessing" them really doesn't resolve it.

Who wants to walk around a town that stinks of weed with ganga cadets causing mayhem. Who wants to take the risk of some pothead on his 350cc space scooter crashing into them. Families have more or less stopped visiting Thailand for this one reason. It's really too late for Thailand unless they drop this lunacy of weed being decriminalized. Already 9 million tourists less than what it was before. It's staring them in the face what they need to do

8 hours ago, FolkGuitar said:

Didn't we go through this when Thaksin was in office?
I remember the mass relocation of backpack tourists from Thailand to Vietnam because he reduced the length of the tourist visa and made it impossible to renew more than twice on visa runs. Many guest houses were emptied, never to fill up again. Today there are more 'hotels' than ever before, with more and more of them filling up... and never being more than half full. I don't know where TAT gets its information, but I drive the streets of Chiang Mai every day, and those streets are empty. For a few days around holidays (Loy Kratong, Songkran, etc.), the city fills up. But only for a day or two before and and day or two after. Perhaps all the tourists go to Bangkok or Phuket, but they sure as heck aren't coming to Chiang Mai in the numbers we used to see before. Just a 15-minute walk along the Chanklan Rd, Night Bazaar will confirm that for you. That used to be packed, shoulder to shoulder, almost all year! Live music, Thai Classical dancing, Thai Boxing, and hundreds of vendors. Not any more. There used to be enough custom for the Night Bazaar, the Sunday Market, and the Saturday Night Walking Street. These days, the night Bazaar is a shell of its former self.
Limiting tourist visas limits tourists. Period. You might not like the look of the backpack tourists, but they did keep Thailand rolling along! They might not stay at the Four SeasonsHotel, opting for a guest house instead, but they spent plenty of money on their tourist activities and food, and instead of an expensive 3-nights stay, they would come and stay for a month or two... spending money every night and day!

I know it's seasonal but a it maybe have to do with the burning and bad air quality...it use to be only a few weeks but now so much longer...

4 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

Whether 60 days or 30 days, the sex tourists will still flock for their booze and leg-overs!!

I don't think they will, well, not at least in the numbers previously...bad service, ridiculous pricing have pushed new oldens away