Extension of tourists visas from 30 to 45 days set for Cabinet approval

[high plane drifter]

I

 

I have worked all my life with tourist industries ,,,and I was in many embassies meetings.

Thailand has a lot to learn about visas situations

[SupermarineS6B]

Another joke from the laugh factory........  Just take your hands off the controls boys, she can fly herself very well without your input...... has done for decades...... 

[quake]

19 minutes ago, Garbol56 said:

Maybe, but a step in the right direction. 

It's easy to be a critic. 

 

Quote

This proposal will last until the end of September 2021 if agreed. 

 

They will just pull the rug out from under your feet in September.

 

Don't see any step in the right direction.

 

Make it permanent 45 days on entry,  and I would agree with you.

it looks like, just one more shell game to me.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2020 by quake

[SupermarineS6B]

Anyone that would even dare to fly half way across the world on an 30-45 day visa on arrival has lost the plot big time..... Thailand's just spent the last couple of years turning legitimate travelers away with just that.  If you're not paying, you're not staying should be TAT's and immigration's slogun........ They're just squirming now, just like i witnessed years ago with a brass in a bar that had just given the elbow to a guy that unbeknown to her was fabulously rich and literally had money to burn........   I'll never forget the look on her face, very similar to how i'm viewing Thailand's so called leaders at the moment.......   Don't push your luck boys or you'll end up back picking rice.......

[Harry Fingerling]

Prepare to be overrun by wandering Mongolians.

[Regyai]

5 hours ago, grumbleweed said:

... and millions of tourist began celebrating

What next, free pad thai for unicorns 

To quote W.C.Fields: "I suppose if I live to be 200 I get a velocipede!"

[Carrbhoy]

7 hours ago, ThLT said:

At the moment, you can't change visa in Thailand, so this basically means...

 

- 14-day quarantine in Thailand

- 30-day visa exemption (45 days if change is approved)

- 30-day extension

- 14-day quarantine in home country

 

Days in Thailand: 60/75 days

Days in quarantine ($$ hotel rooms): 28 days

 

Correct?

 

Lets say it is approved so 75 days max. Days in quarantine 15 days as not all countries require quarantine on your return - Thailand is Low risk so for Scotland no quarantine. New website launched last week allows you to book ASQ for 36000-40000 Baht to manage the costs.

 

If this change reduces the amount of hoops / paperwork & gives you a couple of months in Thailand, I'm sure it will be of interest to some but won't in any way increase the numbers significantly for this visa type when STV now looks like a better option.

[PingRoundTheWorld]

1 hour ago, Blumpie said:

Nobody is expecting any kind of tourism in any kind of numbers anywhere else for many many years.  

And meanwhile in the real world, Thai embassy in my country tourist visa appointments are full until the end of January because they're flooded with applications. Many people are working remotely or on extended paid leave, so taking a trip for a few months is quite possible.

 

The elimination of visa requirement (headache) will no doubt increase the number of visitors exponentially.

 

Going forward to mid-2021, pretty much everyone in developed countries who wants to (many will not) will have access to the vaccine. If they could work out a way to safely eliminate or at least reduce quarantine for vaccinated people, you can expect large numbers to come.

 

Longer term, when large populations have been vaccinated including many Thais, they'll probably remove quarantine altogether. Yes they will not get the same numbers as before - simply due to economic reasons - but they will get millions.

[soi3eddie]

38 minutes ago, SupermarineS6B said:

Anyone that would even dare to fly half way across the world on an 30-45 day visa on arrival has lost the plot big time..... Thailand's just spent the last couple of years turning legitimate travelers away with just that.  If you're not paying, you're not staying should be TAT's and immigration's slogun........ They're just squirming now, just like i witnessed years ago with a brass in a bar that had just given the elbow to a guy that unbeknown to her was fabulously rich and literally had money to burn........   I'll never forget the look on her face, very similar to how i'm viewing Thailand's so called leaders at the moment.......   Don't push your luck boys or you'll end up back picking rice.......

 

Whilst I wouldn't agree with the opening sentence as so many of us love Thailand and will do whatever it takes to be here, the rest of your comment is spot on. I do doubt, sadly, that we'll ever see Prayut and Watch Boy picking rice other than for a fake photo opportunity.

 

[RickBradford]

On the tourist issue, as with many others, the Thai government follows the well-trodden Path of Incompetence:

 

Step 1: We must do something.

Step 2: This is something.

Step 3: Therefore we must do it.

[Histavia]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Extension of tourists visas from 30 to 45 days set for Cabinet approval 

 

Picture: Bangkok Biz News

 

Bangkok Biz News reported that the Thai Foreign Ministry was acting on calls from the Prime Minister to increase the number of foreign tourists by relaxing entry requirements. 

 

No visa is required for three groups, said spokesman Thanee Saengrat of the Foreign Ministry.

 

1. Those from 56 countries (P30) who can stay up to 30 days.

 

2. Others permitted under an agreement to stay up to 30 days from Hong Kong, Laos, Macao, Mongolia, Russia and Vietnam.

 

3, Nationals of Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Chile who can stay up to 90 days visa free. 

 

Due to quarantine requirements VoA is still restricted until December 30th and applies to nationals of Cambodia and Myanmar. 

 

The Foreign Ministry has now asked the Interior Ministry to consider extending the visa free stay for nationals of the 56 countries from 30 to 45 days. 

 

This proposal will last until the end of September 2021 if agreed.  

 

A list of those 56 countries on the BBN site shows that it includes nationals from the US, Canada,Japan, New Zealand, Australia, South Korea as well as the UK and most European nations. 

 

The proposals are expected to be formally approved by Cabinet next week.

 

Source: Bangkok Biz News

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-12-11

 

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So the headline is wrong? They are talking about visa-less entry requirements.

although 45 days is an improvement - most countries off 90 days - even Brits entering France get that.

[PingRoundTheWorld]

2 minutes ago, Histavia said:

So the headline is wrong? They are talking about visa-less entry requirements.

although 45 days is an improvement - most countries off 90 days - even Brits entering France get that.

Most countries offer nothing right now. 45 days is not ideal but it's a start. I have to give it to them that they are at least trying - unlike most countries right now.

[Schlanbusch]

2 hours ago, thetravelbee said:

Hello everyone, I am still confused. What is this tourist visa they are talking about? Are they talking abut Visa exempt to be exented to 45 Day?

I am an Italian national and used to be able to enter with Visa Exempt Stamp valid 30 days and extendable another 30. Is this the visa this article is referring to? It is very confusing...Can someone please help clarify?

Cheers.????

Yes, this is about changing the Visa Exempt from 30 days to 45 days
So the talking about Tourist Visa is wrong

(Normal Tourist Visa is 60 days)

[MJ Patts]

9 hours ago, thaitero said:

 

Home country quarantine depends on your home country.

My home country ( finland ) considers Thailand as safe country so no quarantine when return.

 

As for "change visa" ,,, At least in Pattaya you can convert exempt to retirement if you want,,

 

Currently my home country (UK) has a travel bubble with Thailand in that coming back into UK I would not need to carry out any quarantine.. Obviously this can all change in a heartbeat as we know.. 

 

I hope I am reading correctly in that if agreed, those from the 56 countries can enter but still have to have the following:

CoE from RTE in your country

ASQ Hotel confirmation

Flight confirmation

Covid 19 Insurance

 

I understand this will be decided by next week by the cabinet. Just trying to get my ducks in a row prior to starting a process.. Any other ideas / thoughts?

 

Cheers

[Blumpie]

3 hours ago, high plane drifter said:

I

 

I have worked all my life with tourist industries ,,,and I was in many embassies meetings.

Thailand has a lot to learn about visas situations

Between being completely and utterly inept and having the "saving face" mentality they have not only failed, but make themselves appear completely and utterly foolish.

It's not possible to overstate how inept they are.  

[Stargeezr]

If some South American countries get into Thailand for 90 days with not visa, why just them?

  How are they so special?  I am jealous.

Geezer

 

[michaellee]

Why not just make it 90 days for all those countries listed why certain countries 90 and others 45 days. Just doesnt make sense. We still have to get visa from the embassy, buy covid insurance, 72 hours test before flight and damn expensive gouging hotels fees. Forget it can wait till we get vaccinated by summer of next year here in Canada. 

[shortstop]

So if an American (or many other nationalities) wants to enter without a visa for 45 days and then extend for another 30 days for a total of 75 days, what other requirements are there besides the quarantine?

[PingRoundTheWorld]

2 hours ago, shortstop said:

So if an American (or many other nationalities) wants to enter without a visa for 45 days and then extend for another 30 days for a total of 75 days, what other requirements are there besides the quarantine?

COE, ASQ hotel, insurance (min 100k covid cover), flight, covid test and fit to fly document up to 72 hours before flight, lots of money and patience..

[Don Chance]

Do they want tourists or not? Why so paranoid?  Nepal has a good system. You arrive, buy a visa at the airport for 15,30, or 90 days. Then you can extend up to 5 months per year. If you want to stay more than 5 months a year you need a different visa.

 

Nepal, btw has not quarantine. Hopefully i'll get my vaccine  soon and be in Nepal by May.

[ChakaKhan]

13 hours ago, mrfill said:

They must be nuts...

They come for the nuts but stay for the waxing..

[ChakaKhan]

7 hours ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

If some South American countries get into Thailand for 90 days with not visa, why just them?

  How are they so special?  I am jealous.

Geezer

 

they have skin color similar to thais so they blend in better, unlike us dirty pale farangs...  ????

[brianthainess]

17 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Bit like an announcement of 'You can have sausages for breakfast when they arrive at the supermarket' !

As a friend of mine once said "if we had some eggs, we could have eggs and bacon, if we had some bacon"

[NoshowJones]

19 hours ago, ThLT said:

At the moment, you can't change visa in Thailand, so this basically means...

 

- 14-day quarantine in Thailand

- 30-day visa exemption (45 days if change is approved)

- 30-day extension

- 14-day quarantine in home country

 

Days in Thailand: 60/75 days

Days in quarantine ($$ hotel rooms): 28 days

 

Correct?

$100.000 insurance scam?? Big risk covid in airport, on flight, in ASQ?

[NoshowJones]

14 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

Not quite - some countries, including the UK allow home quarantine on return so no hotel cost.

 

But whatever, this is not going to even scratch the surface of the defecit the tourist industry is dealing with.  Only an end to quarantine will do that and it doesn't look like that's happening anytime soon. They just don't get it - most people can only take 2 weeks holiday at any one time.

Home quarantine in UK? I thought there was no quarantine in UK, has it changed again? 

Lots of tourists from the UK are going to Greece and other countries where there is no quarantine. They would not be doing

that if there was quarantine when they return.

[NoshowJones]

13 hours ago, high plane drifter said:

I

 

I have worked all my life with tourist industries ,,,and I was in many embassies meetings.

Thailand has a lot to learn about visas situations

Of course they have, the unelected "PM" and his generals do not have the brains or education to see that.

[biggles45]

Pre CV19 Malaysia gave a 90 day visa free entry. 

[thairookie]

What didn't they announce it's a "14-Day Visa Exemption Quarantine" ?

 

So the days you spent in ASQ will not count towards your existing tourist visa or visa exemption or visa on arrival.

 

After after you have completed the quarantine and tested negative, you will be rewarded 1 extra day Visa free too!

 

The Tourism Industry will market Thailand as the new "Quarantine Resort" .... imagine Pattaya as the World's 1st Quarantine Resort, and they can expect 20 billion baht spending.

Edited December 12, 2020 by thairookie

[tinca tinca]

18 hours ago, spornb said:

But there are almost zero tourists

zero from MONGOLIA.....surprised any thai knows where it is !!

and just how many visit from the south american countries named ?????

[tinca tinca]

6 hours ago, Don Chance said:

Do they want tourists or not? Why so paranoid?  Nepal has a good system. You arrive, buy a visa at the airport for 15,30, or 90 days. Then you can extend up to 5 months per year. If you want to stay more than 5 months a year you need a different visa.

 

Nepal, btw has not quarantine. Hopefully i'll get my vaccine  soon and be in Nepal by May.

this is a place called thailand.......a fifth world country.....run not by educated government officials !!!!