Fearing Loss Of Visa Fees, Thailand Opts Out Of Common Visa Plan

[GeorgeO]

Can't see why they would want to join the scheme. If they did then people from UK, USA, etc would need to pay for a visa to Thailand, whereas it's free at the moment. So I don't see what Thailand has to gain by joining. It is more likely to drive tourists away if they have to apply for a visa to come here.

I think it's quite the reverse.

There will be millions of people who wish to visit Southeast Asia and look around at the various attractions. If they can visit most of the countries in the region on a single visa, but then they find that they have to buy a special visa for Thailand, I suspect they'll do without that particular leg of their visit.

The end result will be billions lost in potential tourist revenue for Thailand, and a potential further slide down the road to the destiny of the Philippines .... Thailand becomes a country which misses its major opportunities and gets left behind...!

[avalonmick]

I arrived in Newcastle - NEWCASTLE, not Heathrow or Gatwick and waited a sodding hour to get through Immigration there.

Do you look like your avatar?

Yes, that would explain the haste to get him out of one country and the delays getting in to another.

Got your rabies certificate, old boy?

[avalonmick]

On this matter...Thailand made the right choice. Why should the country get less when they are the dominant tourist city? Come on people...which farang would travel half the world to this region and not enter Thailand but only Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam??? Do you think Chinese tourist cannot afford to pay visa fees to enter Thailand? Please...those Chinese nationals who can afford to travel ain't the average Joes! More over...nobody enters China without a visa and it's fees. So what's the big issue about Chinese tourist paying visa?

Me.Vietnam has all the benefits of thailand and far fewer hazards and drawbacks.

[jcb2001]

Thailand doesn't play well with others - never has.

Mark my word, this is just the begining. In a few short years, Thailand will be left behind by the likes of their neighbors. Shortsightedness and greed by Thai Tourism Authorities will be the downfall of this "Amazing Thailand."

[brianb1944]

But all of the other countries listed require visas, while a majority of nationalities don't need any visa to enter Thailand?

So why bother joining? Seems it would just cause more administrative costs with no benefit as most tourist just get a 30 day stamp upon arrival (no visa required)

Really do not understand the negative comments at all???

I have to agree with you. Also the other countries listed in the scheme, don't have an airport hub. Many people fly to Thailand before going to Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos.

Exactly, so who is going to get the lions share of the visa fees? "country of entry" As regards having free 30 day entry, I would certainly prefer to pay 1 reasonable visa fee to access 5 countries. makes travelling in the region much less stressfull.

[brianb1944]

Thailand doesn't play well with others - never has.

Mark my word, this is just the begining. In a few short years, Thailand will be left behind by the likes of their neighbors. Shortsightedness and greed by Thai Tourism Authorities will be the downfall of this "Amazing Thailand."

Duly noted, in my diary for 2020. several friends of mine recently took an extended trip from Chiang Mai, to Cambodia, one hasnt come back, and the others were well impressed when comparing the affordable lifestyles, level of officiousness by beurocrats, and helpfull accommodating nature of the locals.

[CMweb]

Short range they wil probably make some money off of not belonging. Long range they will loose money as tourists discover the other countries and talk about them when they go home.

I agree here 100%

[rinteln]

Yeah, this is sad...but not unexpected. All of the other countries named worship the West--and especially its undisputed Ruler, the US--as near-gods. The Thais, however, view all non-Thais--including farangs, and probably especially Americans--as virtually subhuman, and far inferior to the THAI MASTER RACE.

This world view of the Thais has both its good and bad points. The good points include self-confidence, which is always good and inspires positive, hard work. One of the bad points is their sheer and utter arrogance, and belief that they know everything about everything, which leads to, well, what we're seeing here...the Thais see themselves as different, and in fact BETTER, than their neighbors (and even better than the farangs). IMNSHO, this will be their downfall in this century. Well, that and the fact that 60% or more of Bangkok will be under water by the end of the century...

Very good post.

[Bagwan]

Forward planning and the present or near future are connected here.

Any news on the submarines for the Navy? Or was it the Army..........

The sub-aqua helicopter, that would be a prime example of Thai inventivenes, but it can only fly when the tide is out.

And then only in daylight hours.

[CWMcMurray]

Can't see why they would want to join the scheme. If they did then people from UK, USA, etc would need to pay for a visa to Thailand, whereas it's free at the moment. So I don't see what Thailand has to gain by joining. It is more likely to drive tourists away if they have to apply for a visa to come here.

I think it's quite the reverse.

There will be millions of people who wish to visit Southeast Asia and look around at the various attractions. If they can visit most of the countries in the region on a single visa, but then they find that they have to buy a special visa for Thailand, I suspect they'll do without that particular leg of their visit.

Accept that this isn't true ...

They will not need to get a separate special visa to go to Thailand...

They will just show up at the airport and get a stamp in their passport and then go on their way ...

[Bagwan]

Can't see further than their nose and it is not far. We all know Thais have a problem wearing glasses, noses wide, but not long. My nose is the envy of many Thais, they have told me so. (not meant to be offensive)

I suggest that you change your nom de plume to Pinnochio.

[lounger]

Typical negative posts from the army of uninformed Thai visa plodders.

Maybe a schedule showing who would be affected, who would gain and who would lose would help the comments get some structure.

All the nation article says is that there will be a visa fee ( for everyone?) and the first country visited will get it.

it seems to me that the millions of tourists are better off with thailand being out of the system as they ( 45 countries) can visit free.

it will be the long stay people who need to do the sums but no costs are included in the article.

I think if any comment is worth making it is that the Nation article fails to inform.

[Lee4Life]

I wonder if the multi-country one-visa agreement will only be valid for tourist visas? What about foreigners who have business visas in any one of those countries? Can't imagine they would be able to cross borders without a tourist visa in the country they are travelling to.

[Chalard]

But all of the other countries listed require visas, while a majority of nationalities don't need any visa to enter Thailand?

So why bother joining? Seems it would just cause more administrative costs with no benefit as most tourist just get a 30 day stamp upon arrival (no visa required)

Really do not understand the negative comments at all???

I have to agree with you. Also the other countries listed in the scheme, don't have an airport hub. Many people fly to Thailand before going to Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos.

Well I don't know about Laos but you can fly into Vietnam and Malaysia and go to other destinations from them. Not sure if they get flights from many other nations in Cambodia.

I have to agree with you on the short term it might not work out for the other countries but they are all capable of upgrading their airports to international standards and probably not on a swamp. In the long run Thailand will lose.

Malaysia wasn't included in the agreement. "Five countries - Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar - agreed in 2005 to relax immigration procedures to attract more non-Asean visitors to the region under the framework of Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation. They created the "Five Countries One Destination" campaign and ACMEC Single Visa to attract tourists from outside the region, especially from Europe, North America and Australia."

Out of the countries listed, Vietnam is the only one you can fly to directly to that I know of from Taipei, Hong Kong or Japan (North American flights). I don't really know about European or Australian flights though.

You can fly directly from Oz to HCM. Not sure about Hanoi.

[tragickingdom]

I am afraid that the loss of fees are used as a pretext of not wanting to join the scheme. Thailand is a backward country in which the elite and royalists see ghosts everywhere. They simply want to control everything. By allowing other countries to issue visas Schengen style they partially lose sight on all those people that could buy a pice of the country and ship it back home. We have to wait a few more years till the elite icons have died out or we have to wait for a popular uprising that shows bureaucrats and the elite that they are no longer in charge.

[a99az]

Like I said before "forward planing and Thai are two words that simply don't go together." But how sad as many tourist who want to tour will take advantage of the new visa and thailand could greatly benefit from the scheme. O'well never mind I am sure the TAT will come up with another wonderful plan to attract tourists.

[cup-O-coffee]

I understand their stance. Why give up a monopoly when there are no guarantees the "member" countries will not work it to your disadvantage. It is rare that I side with the Thais, but from an economic standpoint, they have legitimate reason to hedge against this move.

Making it possible to enter Thailand from another country would remove the exclusivity that Thailand has over control of their visa processes, and subsequently their workforce that receives income from this exclusivity.

This would create an unfair balance of visa application, which could spread to other countries, and make it so Thailand has visitors who paid elsewhere to get into their country for free.

Even though I am sure that these member countries agree that the fees would be distributed towards the countries visited, I also am aware that these fees would be funneled to fewer Thais than those who get their hands on those fees at the moment. This would mean many Thai officers and relatives being cut out of the loop.

I also believe the underlying reason for this, whether Thais being conscious of it or not, is that on a proportionate scale, Thai workers are more unskilled then their member country counterparts and deep down they fear this, moreso than the average skilled worker would fear having to hunt for another job. The thing is, these unskilled workers would be S.O.L. because they are not young and beautiful enough to compete with the new job hunters being released form the Uni's and they are also probably deep in credit card debt for purchasing things to compliment their lofty, worthless jobs.

Many of the workers reaping the benefits of this monopoly would suffer in the unemployment line and find it impossible to secure a plumb job of the kind they now hold, with no skill required other than stamping and signing and collecting fees. Imagine having to actually work for a living instead of forcing people to pay you for doing meaningless and stupid processes!?

On the other hand, their member counterparts would experience an increase in visa applications in their countries from visitors with intentions of using their country as a doorway to Thailand.

So please tell me why Thailand should give up their monopoly when doing so threatens millions of unskilled employees who push paper all day, drive minivans, act as guides at border check points, operate tourist companies and collect money for the convenient trade-off of very little effort and skill being required?

It's a crutch you can't remove without killing the person who never intended to make their leg stronger and instead let it get gangrenous -or- the chickens are beginning to come home to roost with impending globalism.

Edited September 27, 2012 by cup-O-coffee

[Thai at Heart]

On this matter...Thailand made the right choice. Why should the country get less when they are the dominant tourist city? Come on people...which farang would travel half the world to this region and not enter Thailand but only Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam??? Do you think Chinese tourist cannot afford to pay visa fees to enter Thailand? Please...those Chinese nationals who can afford to travel ain't the average Joes! More over...nobody enters China without a visa and it's fees. So what's the big issue about Chinese tourist paying visa?

Well, it isn't as though these other countries don't have attractions for mainland Chinese, and they are notoriously fickle in terms of where they go if there are political problems. I could quite easily see tours accommodating Chinese tourists to all three destinations in a package getting quite popular if it reduces the amount of paperwork required for visas. It isn't as though you can't fly directly to most of these destinations directly from China already, and I doubt somehow that they have quite the same restrictions on foreign tour operators as Thailand, so it all could add up to a much easier trip to organise and an equally enjoyable experience for Chinese tourists.

I can easily imagine the tour operators in China are loving the prospect of being able to take their clients to 3 separate destinations on one visa, instead of having to apply for individual visas for each single country. Lest we forget, these countries also have casinos and it isn't as though that isn't quite an attraction for Chinese tourists.

[charmonman]

Given that I can enter Thailand for 30 days without a visa but still have to get one for Vietnam and Myanmar for a visit of any length, I have a hard time finding anything to complain about regarding the Thais.

[robertson468]

C'mon peeps, think outside the box a bit. Because they say they are not joining now, and why should they, as there is no great threat of loosing massively from Visa Fees in the immediate future, there is nothing stopping them keeping a close eye on the situation and if it begins to look less favourable, they can join the scheme then. There is no indication that it is "join now or stay out forever" clause. Looks like sound financial planning to me, but hey ho, I am only a silly old ex-pat who still has two brain cells whizzing around an otherwise empty dome!!

Edited September 27, 2012 by robertson468

[asiawatcher]

Anything involving loss of, or the possibility of loss of, income - the decision will be easy. Stroke of the pen in fact...

[Sydebolle]

Hub of narrow-minded clowns continuing to kill their own business. Those 45 countries are anyhow not affected, so what do they really lose except their face. All those living here for 25+ years will remember the 7 days rule for Burma, no-way-of-getting-into Cambodia, the Vietnamese were also very locked up and Laos was visitable with a transit visa (en route to Vietnam from Thailand) when I went there the first time in 1981. Thais are so hopelessly short sighted. They had ALL the chances and now they are killing one bird after the other one. Guess who will be blamed in a few years? Yep, it will be those alien farang who opt to visit Indochina only as, unlike Thailand, they have caught up with infrastructure, keep cheating at bay and have a lot to offer too!

[MaxLee]

While every country moves on and opens up to multicultural diversity, Thai politicians and government officials remain stubborn with their already screwed up visa rule policies, out of fear that their Visa rip offs get exposed to the world…

How can Thailand ever move on when they make "Things ->(Visa regulations) even harder…?

[hellodolly]

Can't see why they would want to join the scheme. If they did then people from UK, USA, etc would need to pay for a visa to Thailand, whereas it's free at the moment. So I don't see what Thailand has to gain by joining. It is more likely to drive tourists away if they have to apply for a visa to come here.

I think it's quite the reverse.

There will be millions of people who wish to visit Southeast Asia and look around at the various attractions. If they can visit most of the countries in the region on a single visa, but then they find that they have to buy a special visa for Thailand, I suspect they'll do without that particular leg of their visit.

The end result will be billions lost in potential tourist revenue for Thailand, and a potential further slide down the road to the destiny of the Philippines .... Thailand becomes a country which misses its major opportunities and gets left behind...!

Completly agree with you.It will not hurt Thailand that much at first but in the long range the oter countries will develop more and more turist locations nd slowly but surly people will opt out of Thailand.

For example for a visoter who comes to Thailand any decide they want to go see Angor Wat and go they pay $25 American unless they6 are Asian that is free. Now they are offered a visa for four different countries for the price of one.

Think about it you have never been to South East Asia before. What would you choose four for the price of one or just one?

I live here permanently and call Thailand home. I would love to get one of those visa's to make it easy to see the other countries. As is I have seen Cambodia and Burma on separate visits. It would be ice to just take one big trip and see all four. That way I would see a lot more things and in the future decide on just which one I want to spend a month in. As it is now it has been Bali but I am looking for another place to holiday in for a month. This year I am going to visit Laos then come home.

[rattler]

Nice to see greed first.................as usual!

When the visitor numbers fall one day they can just increase the visa cost until some dimwit finally ( if ever) realises how it all works in the "rest" of the world.

Edited September 27, 2012 by rattler

[ozyjon]

The Visa runners would certainly have a (financial) problem, now a Laos Visa about $30 USD, Cambodian Visa $20 USD if a single visa was issued in Thailand then people would have to go to other countries probably by plane therefore the visa run costs would increase significantly, i wonder what the outcome would be, huge difference between getting a bus across any border, can be done in a day as to getting a flight out of the country and then a flight back into the country (sometimes) every month for some people ? I am pondering at the situation.

[longtom]

Typical negative posts from the army of uninformed Thai visa plodders.

Maybe a schedule showing who would be affected, who would gain and who would lose would help the comments get some structure.

All the nation article says is that there will be a visa fee ( for everyone?) and the first country visited will get it.

it seems to me that the millions of tourists are better off with thailand being out of the system as they ( 45 countries) can visit free.

it will be the long stay people who need to do the sums but no costs are included in the article.

I think if any comment is worth making it is that the Nation article fails to inform.

Maybe after blaming TV 'plodders' and the Nation you might want to direct some of your criticism towards the Thai governement, which in 2005 signed the agreement, anounced it with big fanfares, then forgot about it and now, after the implementation, starts thinking about the consequences.

Hello ASEAN 2015

Edited September 27, 2012 by longtom

[jshorts]

Short sighted and sad

Sue? Would make it very difficult, for all the visa runners. They had to go to Malaysia, instead of to to Burma, Laos, Kambodia, for another entry stamp.

Why would anyone sue? Would they sue Thailand or some other country?

[Travelman868]

I am having a hard time seeing all the negative feedback here. Or wait a second I forgot, all you ever hear is negative feedback about Thailand on this forum.

Been a while since I needed to do a visa run but if memory serves at least 50 bucks to get into any of the other countries.

Free in Thailand!!

Also Ma and Pa Kettle hop on a plane - fly to BKK then think, "hey I have a visa, lets goto Cambodia" instead of just staying in Thailand spending their money here.

The fact is this is not short sited on Thailand's part, it makes good sense, they are the regional tourist destination and where most people start, they get more tourist then all the others combined. If they make it really easy for you to cross the border - you will.

Remember we are talking about tourists here, not Non-O or semi-residents, they are in the region for a week tro a month and gone.

Now if they wanted to take that to the next level. Charge people a couple hundred bucks to renew their visa in country, rather then having to leave. They would make a ton of cash there and semi-residents wouldn't be spending money on hotels, etc. in neighboring countries that could be spent on Thai soil.

I agree, it's a nonsense that we have to travel out of the country every 90 days. I live close to Laos but it still costs $50 to $60 each trip.

Why can't they give a stamp in the Immigration office and charge $40

[mrtoad]

Short term fools gold, Thailand needs to be competitive against these more emerging markets, but has just got greedy and complacent.