Thailand Extends Visa-Free List

[yippz56]

Thailand is now offering visa exemptions of up to 30 days for visitors from six countries in Eastern Europe. To help boost tourism, citizens of Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland Republic, Slovenia and Lichtenstein all get 30-day visa free entry.

Eastern Europe is an emerging market for Thai tourism with a double digit growth of 13.58% over 2009 when 205,855 tourists visited the country.

Currently, passport holders from 41 countries and one special administrative region Hong Kong SAR are given visa-free entry for 30 days.

However, at overland border checkpoints, with the exception of Malaysia, the visa-free entry period is reduced to 15 days.

Source : http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2011/05/thailand-extends-visa-free-list/

[Tatsujin]

Just curious what others think . . . does having a free visa really make any difference to you in terms of choosing a destination to visit? If (insert country name here) offered free visa's, would you suddenly want to go visit just because of this?

[londonthai]

yes, waiting for some visas can take days/weeks or even months and can cost up to hundreds $, so if I have spotted a cheap flight going there within the next few days, I wouldn't be able to go. Visa itself might be more expensive than airfare.

[tw25rw]

Just curious what others think . . . does having a free visa really make any difference to you in terms of choosing a destination to visit? If (insert country name here) offered free visa's, would you suddenly want to go visit just because of this?

It's why there's so many Russians going. It's easy for them to get in. Into Turkey as well.

[Tatsujin]

Fair enough . . . I didn't think visa's were that much of an issue or that it would have a noticeable impact on visitors just because they were free . . . guess I'm wrong lol

[Sam Drucker]

Fair enough . . . I didn't think visa's were that much of an issue or that it would have a noticeable impact on visitors just because they were free . . . guess I'm wrong lol

This significance of this story isn't about free visas; it is about visa exemption (meaning you can now be admitted on arrival for tourism without obtaining a visa ahead of time.) Now they don't have to go through an application process beforehand with a visit to a Thai Embassy in their own country, and everything that goes along with that (such as providing supporting documentation that is sometimes required, and in the case of many countries possibly an interview also.) Embassies are notoriously hard to work with . . . i.e. drop off your passport and visa application only in the morning, pick it up only in the afternoon, etc. I had to renew a Thailand visa a few years ago and went to Vientienne. They closed at noon for lunch. I got there at 11:50am to drop off my app and they were trying to chase me away and tell me they were closed for lunch and to come back tomorrow. (They were trying to stop people from entering at some unspecified time before noon so that everybody was out by 12 noon.) I told them their website says they're opened until noon. Luckily they had to open the gate at that time to let somebody else out, so I just went in and they didn't try to stop me. (It was a Thursday; if I would have waited until the next day to drop off the app, I would have had to stay in Vientienne over the weekend and wait until Monday afternoon to pick up my visa and passport.)

I got in (with my app downloaded the night before) from the Thai Vientienne Embassy website, already printed and filled out. They told me it was an old form and I had to fill out a new app! (Whose fault is that? It's what they had on their website!) These places are notoriously NOT customer service oriented. Far more desirable to get a visa on arrival (as these eastern European countries can now do) for people wishing to come to Thailand for a holiday.

[dotx]

You don't really appreciate how nice it is to be visa exempt until you know people who don't get the same benefit. I have a Russian friend who lives here and she needs a visa to go anywhere! Europe, Japan, Hong Kong... places I can just visit by buying a plane ticket. It would be SO annoying to have to get visas every time you travel!

[borovik]

This news is welcomed with enthusiasm by tourists from countries involved.I did not find it in any other source,nothing official - so far?

News include part,which concerns more people: .."...15 days..land border....with exception of Malaysia "

Does it mean,that they give chop on Malaysian land border valid for 30 days?

Anybody in the "know"?who came to Thailand from Penang recently?advice please!

[lopburi3]

Actually there has not been any confirmation of this information from any official source and airlines do not appear to have been advised of any change.

[arrowsdawdle]

Actually there has not been any confirmation of this information from any official source and airlines do not appear to have been advised of any change.

Better change the logo from TV to TH, Thai Hearsay.

[Tanaka]

According to hearsay this should have been decided in the parliament on May 3. Was there a parliament then? And as for six countries in Eastern Europe, when was Lichtenstein moved to Eastern Europe?

[MikeWill]

Lichtenstein - the correct spelling is LIECHTENSTEIN: Principality of Liechtenstein.

[borovik]

Actually there has not been any confirmation of this information from any official source and airlines do not appear to have been advised of any change.

Better change the logo from TV to TH, Thai Hearsay.

It comes into effect - just tomorrow.3 months after the decision.

You can try if you are qualified

[Crossy]

It comes into effect - just tomorrow.3 months after the decision.

You can try if you are qualified

Do you have a source for this information?

[QED]

This news is welcomed with enthusiasm by tourists from countries involved.I did not find it in any other source,nothing official - so far?

News include part,which concerns more people: .."...15 days..land border....with exception of Malaysia "

Does it mean,that they give chop on Malaysian land border valid for 30 days?

Anybody in the "know"?who came to Thailand from Penang recently?advice please!

No, it means for Malaysian citizens

[lopburi3]

It comes into effect - just tomorrow.3 months after the decision.

You can try if you are qualified

Do you have a source for this information?

It appears to be valid - Delta Airlines IATA datebase has been updated to show this on Solvak Rep entry (which was not there before):

However, effective from 11 August 2011, a visa will not be

required for touristic stays of a max. of 30 days.

[Crossy]

We also have confirmation on the website of the Polish embassy.

[williamwinter]

I found an paper from the Immigration Office giving all the new visa rules for the different countries.Good news for those people. I have a friend from Romania that got into trouble at the Ranong border crossing because they don't issue visas on arrival. That was quite annoying.

[witold]

It's not the cost, it's the pain the a$$ factor.

Especially now that some embassies are going with 3rd party service for visa processing. I just did my Thai visa in Delhi and I had to go to a 3rd party company to do it. According to their own records, they held my application for 3 days at their office, then send it to the embassy and embassy turned it around in 1 day. Horrible? No. But no expedited service is available and they don't seem to do anything. My visa for India was done the same way with 3rd party processor in NYC and it took them forever to process for unknown reasons. (about 8 business days.)

Sure, if this is your yearly holiday and you are visiting only one country, you can work these things out. But for more frequent travelers it's a pain. At the very least, it's an unnecessary cause for delays.