Thailand considers scrapping arrival cards for Malaysian tourists

[snoop1130]

 

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin announced today the potential removal of the necessity for Malaysian tourists to complete arrival and departure cards at primary border crossings, aimed at promoting tourism and business growth.

 

Currently, all visitors arriving via the Sadao checkpoint in Songkhla, regardless of nationality, are waived from the requirement to fill out the Tor Mor 6 (TM 6) cards. This exemption has been in place for half a year, ending on April 30.

 

PM Srettha disclosed the possibility of extending this exemption to other key entry points along the Malaysian border during a meeting with the Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, in Melbourne. The meeting was held in conjunction with the Australia-ASEAN special summit.

 

The Sadao exemption was designed to streamline the entry process and attract more Malaysian travellers and businesses to Songkhla. According to the Bangkok-born PM, the exemption has been successful, with the number of Malaysians visiting Songkhla via Sadao tripling to 30,000 on weekends, up from 10,000.

 

However, visitors arriving through other checkpoints are still obliged to fill out and carry the TM 6 card and present it upon departure. The other significant border crossings between Thailand and Malaysia are located in the Betong district of Yala and Sungai Kolok district of Narathiwat.

 

Last year, Malaysia topped the list of foreign travellers to Thailand.

 

Furthering his efforts to promote tourism, the 62 year old Thai prime minister proposed a Six Countries, One Destination scheme during bilateral discussions with Anwar and Lao leader Sonexay Siphandone. He suggested that this could attract more travellers to the Southeast Asia region, reported Bangkok Post.

 

However, the Malaysian and Lao prime ministers indicated that they need to examine the proposal in detail, as per the Government House.

 

The six countries included in the proposal are Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. The Thai prime minister previously proposed this idea during a summit with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet in Bangkok last month.

 

By Mitch Connor

Caption: Photo courtesy of Bangkok Post

 

Source: The Thaiger 2024-03-05

 

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[Gknrd]

I'm behind times for sure, But when I was going through there the local Malay's that passed  regularly, were waved through with no paperwork what so ever. I used to get in a tuk tuk and go across all the time.  Wasn't worth the hassle with immigration. And when the immigration got snippily you could walk down then walk across for a day or two no problems. The gal I was with used to go across all the time. Never once went threw immigration.

Edited March 5 by Gknrd

[hotchilli]

Things are steadily changing... 

[Spilornis]

How about removing all the vehicle paperwork

Just pay for an insurance stamp and you're away instead of the multi step process

[PETERTHEEATER]

20 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Last year, Malaysia topped the list of foreign travellers to Thailand.

Better let TAT know this. They may have to review their figures. 

[Sydebolle]

Look at the bureaucratic super climax on paperwork when crossing from Nong Khai into Vientiane. The Thai paperwork is absolutely mind-boggling and nobody ever looks at the paper avalanche.

TM2 (information of conveyance) in duplicate (copy to be returned upon arrival back in Thailand with engine/chassis number, colour etc.
TM3 (passenger list); no joke, with call sign and the full buntings of an aircraft or a seagoing vessel
TM4 (crew lists) - see TM3
TM6 arrival/departure card
all in capital letters, signatures mandatory with blue ink and papers are piling up by the truck load in those offices

The customs does a temporary export permit (we're talking of a taxed, registered and in my case fully paid Thai car) in duplicate, signatures left, right and centre and my 11 years old pick-up still stipulates a value of THB 1,285,000; paid less when I bought it brand new from the dealership. Valid for 30 days, THB 1,000/day or max. THB 10,000/total overstay fine ...... total idiocy. 

I have all this computerized but I see all those crossing by car filling in paper to no end in the heat, without carbon copy paper and, unlike other crossings at airport, the "overtime" fees have been reintroduced again 😉