Thailand Chosen for First Nationwide Visa Destinations Rollout

Thailand has become the first country to introduce Visa’s Destinations programme across an entire nation. Developed with the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the initiative aims to make visitor payments easier while helping local businesses join the cashless economy. It covers travel planning and spending across Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Udon Thani, Samui, Hua Hin and Hat Yai. Visa has already recruited more than 50 merchants in Bangkok’s Song Wat district and hopes to expand digital payment acceptance to 56,000 small businesses nationwide. Open to all Visa cardholders, the programme combines payment technology, tourism partnerships, transaction insights and broader merchant acceptance.

Because of all the ambiguities in the article, my wandering mind took quite some time to work out what it was actually about. Perhaps that was intentional: tourists are supposed to wander through several destinations before finally discovering where they have arrived.

Nope tourists are expected to pay for stuff with visa credit cards, further coraling them into the digital panopticon.

True. Apparently the wandering is optional, but the spending trail should preferably be digital, measurable and attributable to a Visa cardholder.

More opportunity for fraud.

We do digital payments (well, my b/f does) all the time here in Surin province. No need for a Visa card.