Thailand looks at easing visa rules in bid to boost tourism

[KCPhuket]

17 hours ago, Peterphuket said:

Get rid of the Thailand pas first, then leave the nightclubs and bars open until 4 am, last but not least make the price for wine again affordable.

Maybe after that you can think about visa extension.

Exactly! They always try a plaster to fix a gunshot wound. Idiotic!

[Sydebolle]

Just returned from Chiang Mai - never seen the place emptier than this time. 90% of restaurants and hotels are shut for good; the vendors in San Kamphaeng and Ban Tawai/Hang Dong are literally almost all gone (I'm talking here of 95%). 

The problem is not the length of stay but the access to the stay in the first place. Do away with all your Thai ideas of bureaucracy; get the Thailand Pass eliminated and, if you need, enforce an insurance which, if not covered by the arriving tourist, can be bought at a nominal fee of <THB 1'000 for a 30 days stay. 

Wanted to drive upcountry (public governmental) Road 2331 from Wat Phrathat Pha Sorn Kaew in Khao Kho District to Wat Pa Phu Thap Boek in Wang Ban, Lom Kao District - also Phetchabun province. After 20 curvy kilometres we reached a toll booth at GPS: 16.893711  101.098990. They wanted to charge 40 Baht for the car, 40 Baht for my (Thai) wife and 500 Baht for the dirty farang behind the steering wheel. That's when I decided to turn around. The temple will remain unvisited, no lunch was ordered and paid for up there and the officials in the toll booth used less than comforting words as they had torn off the respective tickets already. This road - apparently through a National Park, is already paid for, so what are they talking about? 

After 30+ years in the country, sitting on a PR and having paid millions of Baht in all sorts of taxes I don't expect a special treatment but these little daydreaming clowns at the TAT need to learn, that you cannot eat money and without work, service or attraction there is no money. But I'm aware that this will not happen anytime soon. 

[ThailandRyan]

27 minutes ago, wealthychef said:

I'd rather spend the evening with a moneyless hippy than with a banker on vacation.  

A banker would treat you to wine and cheese...lol

[milesinnz]

What would Thailand lose by having 3 months visa exempt ?... are they worried about evil foreigners using too much of Thailand up ?... small minded clowns comes to mind...

[Mywayboy]

17 hours ago, ukrules said:

Lots of countries issue 90 day stamps, they're a bit dim here.

Not as Dim as Sum 5555

[SiamAndy]

7 hours ago, garyk said:

It is really too late, nothing that they can do now. World economy is in a shambles.

And will be getting worse by the day.

45 days is a joke IMO, for me anyway.  90 days minimum, then I will think about it. And be able to extend another 90 days!

The western economies have reach the next level towards collapsing so way less people will be traveling. For those who are lucky enough to be able to afford to travel, they won't choose choose any tourist destination that has a laundry list of requirements (like Thailand Pass and Insurance) just to visit the country.

[SiamAndy]

34 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

A banker would treat you to wine and cheese...lol

After they get you to invest in a Ponzi scheme!

[Gottfrid]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

The idea is that the longer tourists can stay in Thailand, the more they will spend.

What brilliant mind, came up with that conclusion? See, there is still hope!

[Bangkok Barry]

18 hours ago, EricTh said:

Why not reintroduce the minimum amount of cash requirement? 

That's last century thinking. People don't travel with cash these days. 

[SiamAndy]

1 minute ago, Gottfrid said:

What brilliant mind, came up with that conclusion? See, there is still hope!

TAT comes up with a good idea about once every leap year ????

[Bangkok Barry]

11 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

First announce the scrapping of masks outdoors. Then announce the scrapping of masks everywhere. That would be a start. Scrap the thoroughly ridiculous Thai Pass. And the insurance. 

 

Then they might start seeing 250,000 tourists a month. Maybe. The reality is, few of the goons are admitting just how thoroughly they have decimated the tourism industry. They shot the Golden Goose! Murder! 

And just when there was a hint that tourists might start returning in numbers, the PM panicked and warned everyone that keeping bars open past midnight will spread Covid.

 

Over and over again this government has made it perfectly clear that they do not want the kind of tourists that used to flock here in their millions. They are only interested in those with huge money to spend, and those people very wisely know of many, many places to spend it rather than in Thailand with its corruption and poor infrastructure. As so often in Thailand, they want the benefit without putting in the effort, in this case to provide truly world-class infrastructure and end the government-led insult of dual pricing.

[Bangkok Barry]

8 hours ago, Robin said:

if the old model of Bars, Massage, and Girls is not acceptable as the image of Thailand, then What?

A very good question. What does Thailand have to offer that neighbouring countries, and countless other countries around the world, do not?

[bbbbooboo]

Hmmm… easing visa rules to boost tourism. What a clever idea, I wonder which genius in the Thai govt. thought of this?

[worldexpress]

Korean tourists get 90-day stamps and US/UK citizens get 30-day ones. What's the logic? ????

[Mac Mickmanus]

9 minutes ago, worldexpress said:

Korean tourists get 90-day stamps and US/UK citizens get 30-day ones. What's the logic? ????

Koreans get a 30 day visa exempt stamp 

[jacko45k]

8 hours ago, Adumbration said:

I surfaced travelled from Darwin to London a million years ago.  All of the visas back then were minimum of 90 days I think.  It was certainly enough time to travel on broken down third world buses.

In the early days of my travelling to Thailand we only got 14 days (I think I recall). 

Military governments do seem to keep things tight... although I recall many countries in South America were very liberal with entry and long stay. 

[DUNROAMIN]

Drop Thailand pass, face masks, scam insurance. Then tourist come.

[Mike KIWI]

'Looks at', means 'probably wont do anything'

[Caldera]

Meanwhile a more developed nearby country like Malaysia offers 90 days visa exempt. If Thailand followed suit and got rid of the need to apply for a tourist visa as well as an  in-country extension for longer stays, THAT would be a major easing.

[Tropposurfer]

Me thinks this is a good idea. Doesn't impact me and my lifestyle on the island though.

I think there's lots of things to put-to-rest like the Pass, and the atypical over-control stuff around reporting every 30 days if on retirement and other long term visas's, restrictions of number of entries and exits from the Kingdom when on such visa's (unless you're on an Elite or some such quasi-unrestricted equivalent) reporting by self/and hotel managers of your travels when clearly on viable legal visa's etc.

 

[tjo o tjim]

9 hours ago, Robin said:

I do not believe that many genuine (high spending?) tourists come for more than 28/30 days, as they probably have job to go to back in home country, but all such (mythical) creatures are put off by nonsense like the Thai Pass.

Wife and I are coming back for the first time since the Pandemic next week.  We had 6 weeks to work with, but we cut it back to 4 to avoid the immigration hassles.  I can do enough work remotely that taking a longer "soft" vacation is easy enough.

 

As for the 90 day visa exemption... it's fine as long as it doesn't become as difficult as it can be in Europe to spend 91 days in six months.

[Purdey]

There has always been evidence available (https://www.academia.edu/34630690/DEMOGRAPHIC_PROFILES_AND_BEHAVIORS_OF_BACKPACKERS_CASE_STUDY_OF_KHAO_SAN_ROAD_THAILAND as an example, there’s lots more), which the government chooses to ignore, that backpackers give money to the grassroots for food and services.  The rich pay five star hotels for food and services. The backpackers stay longer and spread their money over a broader range of people. The rich have to get back to their business and thus need a week or two here as a break. Generally, if you have a job, you have to get home soon while backpackers often are more flexible and often left employment to travel.

They should be encouraged not the opposite.

Edited June 14, 2022 by Purdey
Grammar, clarity

[Captain Monday]

44 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

In the early days of my travelling to Thailand we only got 14 days (I think I recall). 

Military governments do seem to keep things tight... although I recall many countries in South America were very liberal with entry and long stay. 

I heard in the 1970s Americans could only visit Thailand for two weeks, Can't find it online. 45 days wont change anything most genuine tourists do not need it wit will just be abused by the minority that cause most problems 

 

Edited June 14, 2022 by Captain Monday

[cjinchiangrai]

If you want to come to Thailand, great!  Now register and get your proper visa. Otherwise stay home. The Thaipass is a minor inconvenience that is common across the globe. The visa requirements are very relaxed. Stop being a bunch of babies.

 

[JayClay]

13 minutes ago, tjo o tjim said:

Wife and I are coming back for the first time since the Pandemic next week.  We had 6 weeks to work with, but we cut it back to 4 to avoid the immigration hassles.  

What immigration hassles? A standard tourist visa would give you all of your six week plus 2.5 to spare.

[Jen65]

19 hours ago, Peterphuket said:

Get rid of the Thailand pas first, then leave the nightclubs and bars open until 4 am, last but not least make the price for wine again affordable.

Maybe after that you can think about visa extension.

would agree with the Wine !!  Here 5ltrs 1300baht , in Portugal 250 baht !!!  whose making the profit ?? 

[Henryford]

3 minutes ago, Jen65 said:

would agree with the Wine !!  Here 5ltrs 1300baht , in Portugal 250 baht !!!  whose making the profit ?? 

Obviously tax. Tough for people on holiday who want a few bottles. Maybe it's a good thing 5 litres isn't 250 baht, i would be permanently <deleted>.

[Stoker58]

 “The idea is that the longer tourists can stay in Thailand, the more they will spend”.

  Some sound thinking at last.

I can’t understand why so many people seem to hate “visa runners” and backpackers. They’re not doing any harm and not costing Thailand anything.

[NorthernRyland]

19 hours ago, EricTh said:

The other flipside is that it will attract those backpackers/visa runners with hardly any money to stay longer in Thailand.

 

Yeah but that's who shows up when Thailand makes it easier to enter and stay. Tells you a lot about the true state of the country.

 

Despite what some people want, even if you gave free visas for life you still wouldn't get wealthy foreigners moving to Thailand and spending big money. Wealthy people want quality which is the thing Thailand is lacking and no amount of government intervention is going to change that.

[JimTripper]

3 hours ago, andyman57 said:

Totally agree I'm staying in the Philippines until they scrap all the requirements 

But the food sucks there...