New visa-free regime plan for Chinese tourists will see more criminal elements entering Thailand

[positivevibes]

  On 9/5/2023 at 1:11 AM, fallup88 said:

Tourist numbers are down due to the economy, it’s not just the Chinese tourist numbers.

 

Chinese government has not been approving a lot of group travels too. Which I suspect is due to the bad economy at home, they don’t want people spending more money overseas.

 

Lastly, there is a shortage of flights and flight numbers have not recover since Covid. Even on domestic routes, there are shortage of seats.

 

The increase in tourist number won’t effect Thailand causing any bottlenecks, the criminal part will. There is already a surge in Chinese criminals in Thailand.

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There are already ten direct flights per day from Shanghai alone, just to Bangkok.

 

Now multiply that by 100x Chinese cities and then x3 for CM, Phuket also

[Caldera]

That headline is a great way to make Chinese tourists feel welcome. ????

[DonniePeverley]

Guess we'll see more condos being built then

[IamNoone88]

I am not sure how Zero Dollar tours where the revenue stays in China is going to help tourism. Maybe I am thinking beyond arrival numbers.

[Bazerino]

  On 9/4/2023 at 9:59 PM, hotchilli said:

That's all Thailand ever does... short term.

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Short time......

[Captain Monday]

  On 9/5/2023 at 3:24 AM, Cabradelmar said:

Criminals from anywhere love easy to get visas... not only Chinese 

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Ask the western crims who fly here visa exempt then marry some "lady" 

[DonniePeverley]

Thailand has become the United States of China. Let's be honest it's now just become part of China. 

 

 

[PETERTHEEATER]

  On 9/4/2023 at 11:21 PM, ezzra said:

I don't think so, criminals who look at Thailand as a place to commit crimes will not be deterred because of a visa fee.

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Convicts in the Thai Cabinet will not protest.

[sammyoz]

What a short-sighted and desperate tactic to boost the economy by the prime minister that no one elected. More criminal elements might enter, but no problem, the system here completely supports it.

[StayinThailand2much]

That's fine. After all, greed rules over everything else...

[hotchilli]

  On 9/5/2023 at 5:25 AM, Bazerino said:

Short time......

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Short term
Short time
Short everything

[ThailandGuy]

Why allow Chinese people to visit Thailand on a free visum? You can predict, without any education, that it will also attrack people with bad intentions, but also a lot who can't even afford a vacation in thailand. Even with visa it will except there is at least some control on it.

[retarius]

This is all bit silly. The more people you let in, the more criminals will come in with them. Simples. You can't have one without the other.

[Selatan]

  On 9/5/2023 at 9:18 AM, ThailandGuy said:

Why allow Chinese people to visit Thailand on a free visum? You can predict, without any education, that it will also attrack people with bad intentions, but also a lot who can't even afford a vacation in thailand. Even with visa it will except there is at least some control on it.

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Visitors from Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Philippines and Indonesia can enter Thailand visa-free. Are you trying to say that the people from those few countries are richer and better educated than the Chinese?

[Selatan]

  On 9/5/2023 at 6:58 AM, sammyoz said:

What a short-sighted and desperate tactic to boost the economy by the prime minister that no one elected. More criminal elements might enter, but no problem, the system here completely supports it.

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Thailand land borders are rather porous. Malaysian fugitives often choose to cross into Thailand by land illegally to escape from the law. If criminal gangs want to set up shop in another country, they would go for some kind of a long term residency visa or even try to gain citizenship. In recent crackdowns on money laundering in Singapore, many of the Chinese suspects have Cambodian citizenships. So, if Thailand really wants to clamp down on criminals coming in from China, it better tightens up regulations on long-term visas instead.

[Neeranam]

  On 9/5/2023 at 12:10 AM, mokwit said:

I'm sure the crime can be cracked down on by making 1 year extensions harder to get.

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Now, they are amongst the easiest long term visas in the world. 

[mokwit]

  On 9/5/2023 at 10:09 AM, Neeranam said:

Now, they are amongst the easiest long term visas in the world. 

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That's true, but it seems they are working on it.

[mokwit]

  On 9/5/2023 at 9:20 AM, retarius said:

This is all bit silly. The more people you let in, the more criminals will come in with them. Simples. You can't have one without the other.

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This seems to elude them. They let in 39m at peak - how many countries with a population that size don't have a material number of criminals?

[paulikens]

In other words they're gutted they'll have to do more work or at least should be. 

[Farangus]

  On 9/5/2023 at 2:48 AM, Hakuna Matata said:

This is a big mistake made by the new prime minister. Visa rules should be tightened for certain countries including China, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Romania, Nigeria, Korea, etc.

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I can understand your concerns about Russia, Ukraine and Nigeria, but why should the citizens of Poland - a democratic country with a strong economy - have a hard time visiting Thailand? The same with Lithuania.
And about Belarus: the citizens of this country (including me) have never had easy ways to visit Thailand before and now: no visas on arrival, no stamps, no electronic visas. Only an ordinary tourist visa after a large package of documents for the consulate (air tickets in both directions, a bank statement, 100% prepaid accommodation for each day of stay in Thailand. And all documents are accepted only in English). And if someone is traveling with children, it is even more difficult (additional documents). It seems to me that these are already very strict rules, which is why so few citizens of Belarus visit Thailand (visas are not needed for neighboring Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and China).

[varun]

It is unclear what is meant by "visa free" 

Will they get a "visa-exempt" entry for a set period (e.g. 30 days) same as UK/US/AU/Canada passport holders?
Or is something else going on?

[Neeranam]

  On 9/5/2023 at 2:48 AM, Hakuna Matata said:

This is a big mistake made by the new prime minister. Visa rules should be tightened for certain countries including China, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Romania, Nigeria, Korea, etc.

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Thais can go to Russia with no visa. 

[BenStark]

  On 9/4/2023 at 11:31 PM, impulse said:

I've been flying to Thailand from China once a month since April.  On Chinese airlines.   I'm in that rare group of people who go to Thailand for a monthly visa run.  I have another flight booked next week.

 

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  On 9/4/2023 at 11:35 PM, impulse said:

Before I worked in Thailand, I used to go to Seoul or Hong Kong.  And I loved it.  But now I have friends to visit in Thailand.  Costs more, and the flights are longer, but so far it's worth it.  I am open the the possibility I may get tired of it and go back to Seoul.  Or Hong Kong.

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Why does someone who works legally has to do monthly visa runs?

[lordgrinz]

They should runup a tally of money scams and criminal activity (baht losses) against how much (baht gains) they get from legitimate tourist from China. They may not like the numbers...

[arick]

  On 9/5/2023 at 1:46 AM, Tropicalevo said:

There are some flights leaving China. Admittedly, not ever hour.

 

Three direct flights a week to Samui's little airport.

https://www.flightsfrom.com/TFU-USM

 

Quite a few into Suvarnabhumi airport.

https://www.bangkok-airport.net/bkk-arrivals

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Like I said there are no chinese airlines flying yet out of the Country two a day China Central airlines . Wow where are the main carriers? 

[arick]

  On 9/4/2023 at 11:31 PM, impulse said:

I've been flying to Thailand from China once a month since April.  On Chinese airlines.   I'm in that rare group of people who go to Thailand for a monthly visa run.  I have another flight booked next week.

 

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In china southern or china eastern ?  

[impulse]

  On 9/5/2023 at 11:26 PM, arick said:

In china southern or china eastern ?  

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Xiamen Air, mostly.

[jacko45k]

  On 9/5/2023 at 9:20 AM, retarius said:

This is all bit silly. The more people you let in, the more criminals will come in with them. Simples. You can't have one without the other.

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True for any nationality... do the Chinese have a higher proportion of undesirables than say UK or Germany?

[newnative]

  On 9/5/2023 at 2:00 AM, Kwaibill said:

I recall many previous posts about how little the Chinese tour groups actually spend outside of their tour “ packages”. Not sure how much this scheme will benefit the overall economy.

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     You, and the posters from the 'many previous posts' you 'recall', might ask yourselves the musical question, why, if Chinese visitors to Thailand contribute so little to the 'overall economy', then why is Thailand so hellbent on trying to get them to return in large numbers?  Why bother with new visa schemes to try to entice them?

     Easy answer.  Thailand would love to get back to 2019 China visitor numbers, nearly 11 million.  That year, Chinese visitors spent 534 billion baht in Thailand.    That includes those in tour groups and those traveling independently.  By far the most of any country.  

    

[newnative]

  On 9/5/2023 at 4:20 AM, IamNoone88 said:

I am not sure how Zero Dollar tours where the revenue stays in China is going to help tourism. Maybe I am thinking beyond arrival numbers.

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Or, thinking without the benefit of any actual information regarding international tourist revenue.