TOURISM
Japan's visa waiver kicks off on July 1
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- On July 1, the Japanese government will start relaxing visa rules to attract more tourists from Thailand.

Visa requirements are waived for those who want to stay in Japan for no more than 15 days, according to the Japan Embassy in Bangkok.

In an announcement released today, the Embassy said that for those seeking a longer period of stay, they will be subjected to apply for a visa.

"The waiver for Thais is to promote the Japanese-Thai relations," it said.

Without visas, the travellers will be subjected to questions from immigration officers. They are advised to bring along travel document like return flight tickets and others.

Earlier, it was reported that Japan would waive visa requirement for Thai and Malaysian tourists for certain lengths of stay. While waiving visa requirements for Thai and Malaysians is being considered, visitors from the Philippines and Vietnam will for the first time enjoy multipleentry visas and Indonesians will see their visa period extended from the current 15 days. The plan also calls for government-wide action to invite international conferences and major exhibitions to Japan.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was reported as saying that Japan should soon meet its target of attracting 10 million foreign visitors per year, and then aim for the 20 million mark.


-- The Nation 2013-06-25

Given current exchange rates and costs of travelling and living in the land of the setting sun, this seems a bit of a moot concession. How many Philipino/a's, Thais etc can afford this luxury destination?

Given current exchange rates and costs of travelling and living in the land of the setting sun, this seems a bit of a moot concession. How many Philipino/a's, Thais etc can afford this luxury destination?

A lot of Thai ladies and Filipino ladies will be interrogated at the border and sent home anyway. Like in Korea..

this is great news thanks Japan !

Given current exchange rates and costs of travelling and living in the land of the setting sun, this seems a bit of a moot concession. How many Philipino/a's, Thais etc can afford this luxury destination?

Thais are flocking to Japan at the moment due to it's affordability and favourable exchange rates, it has been widely reported in the media.

"Without visas, the travellers will be subjected to questions from immigration officers. They are advised to bring along travel document like return flight tickets and others."

This probably means that those who did not get and/or didn't qualify for an upto-15-days visa at the Japanese Embassy here in Bangkok before now may travel to Japan, but will most likely be immediately sent back.

Cool. The Japanese guys can brush up on their Thai in Roppongi before they make their trip to Suk Soi 33.

Does the 15 days include both day of arrival in Japan and day of departure from Japan?

I know that the Thailand visa exemption stamp does (so to calculate latest departure date possible add 29 days to arrival date), but different countries may do it differently (e.g. Myanmar).

So for a Thai entering Japan on the visa exemption stamp, if arrival date is 2013-11-03, would the latest allowed departure date be 2013-11-17 or 2013-11-18?