How will A.E.C 2015 (ASEAN) effect Thai visas for Filipinos?

[Salapoo]

Whenever I've gone to get a visa in a neighbouring country over the past 6 or 7 years there are alway lots of Filipinos, usually probably 30-50% of the total. Some friends do 90 day border runs from BKK to Cambodia through Visa Run companies and they say that usually 50%+ are Filipinos.

With the ASEAN Economic Community set to get going in 2015, has there been any proposals or decisions on short and long term visas for ASEAN citizens with regards to Thailand?

For example,

Will they still only get 15 or 30 days Visa Exemption on arrival, or is it planned to be bumped up (to perhaps 90 days?)

Will ASEAN citizens be eligible for special Tourist Visas?

With regards to work, is there any plans for making the process of hiring ASEAN nationals much easier and less stringent than for non-ASEANS? I believe they have to abide by the same processes as Westerners do.

What changes can we expect to see in this regard?

Thanks.

[Tomtomtom69]

OP, I too have been trying to find info about this topic but even the official ASEAN website yields nothing and most news sources on the topic lack details. The only detail I am aware of is that professionals who are citizens of any of the 10 member states, working in a limited number of professional categories (for example, medical staff such as doctors, engineers, accountants etc.) will be allowed to work freely in other ASEAN member states, however, what this freedom of movement really entails or how immigration will recognize such individuals remains to be seen. Perhaps civil engineers from member states may have to start carrying around their CVs or resumes and show them to immigration in order to take advantage of this scheme? What I can definitely say is that AEC 2015/2016 will be nothing like the EU, not even close. I'm pretty sure immigration controls between countries will remain and apart from the professionals mentioned above everyone else including tourists and temporary business people who are citizens of member states will merely receive longer visa exemptions, perhaps up to 90 days but perhaps 30 days will remain as is the case now. In fact, Indonesians, Singaporeans and citizens of Brunei only get 15 days if entering Thailand overland, while Cambodians get 14 days entering Thailand either by air or overland. This means many member states don't receive any special advantages compared to other nationals when entering Thailand temporarily, in fact some nationals from far away countries can get longer stay visas due to reciprocal agreements.

[Mario2008]

Per above, for certain professions it will be easier to acquire a job in Thailand. But there is the catch that they will have to qualify. A Filippino nurse must still meet the conditions fom the Thai nurses council before (s)he can work in Thailand, just like a Thai nurse.

So qouta's might not apply, making it a little easier to hire these professions. Not sure if income requirements for example will still apply.

[Salapoo]

I think what would be of greater interested to Western nationals would be ASEANs need for visas (and thus visa runs and border runs) where they make up a very sizable %.

If they're planning to model (or even partly model) on the E.E.C where there is freedom of travel for all E.E.C nationals, by firstly increasing the length of Permission of Stays upon arrival to say 90 or 120 days for ASEANs, or special ASEAN log-term visas of some sort, it would have very big changes for the industry.

[Mario2008]

ASEAN is just beginning. The EEC/EU took a very long time to get where it is today. ASEAN will take time as well to slowly grow together and increase their cooperation and freedom of trade, etc. And it is the question if ASEAN wants to go as far as the EU.

[ubonjoe]

Actually ASEAN has been around for decades. It is the AEC that is new.

From what I have read I don't think you will see a lot of changes made for visa entries and etc.

[Salapoo]

Actually ASEAN has been around for decades. It is the AEC that is new.

Yes, ASEAN was formed in the mid 1960s.

The AEC 2015 will see a lot of changes. For one thing all the schools in Thailand will be changing their school year to start later on, in August or Sept. I believe, so all ASEAN nations have the same school year for ease of studying abroad (Thai students finishing M6 in Thailand and then going to University in say Malaysia or Singapore the following Semester, etc.)

[OJAS]

I think what would be of greater interested to Western nationals would be ASEANs need for visas (and thus visa runs and border runs) where they make up a very sizable %.

If they're planning to model (or even partly model) on the E.E.C where there is freedom of travel for all E.E.C nationals, by firstly increasing the length of Permission of Stays upon arrival to say 90 or 120 days for ASEANs, or special ASEAN log-term visas of some sort, it would have very big changes for the industry.

IMHO it would be unwise to assume that life would be made any easier visa-wise for Westerners to travel within ASEAN, even if Member States were to adopt a Schengen-style agreement. Presumably Thailand could opt out of any such agreement just as the UK has done in the EU's case, meaning, for example, that my Thai wife would need 2 visas to accompany me on trips to France and the UK.

[Salapoo]

I think what would be of greater interested to Western nationals would be ASEANs need for visas (and thus visa runs and border runs) where they make up a very sizable %.

If they're planning to model (or even partly model) on the E.E.C where there is freedom of travel for all E.E.C nationals, by firstly increasing the length of Permission of Stays upon arrival to say 90 or 120 days for ASEANs, or special ASEAN log-term visas of some sort, it would have very big changes for the industry.

IMHO it would be unwise to assume that life would be made any easier visa-wise for Westerners to travel within ASEAN, even if Member States were to adopt a Schengen-style agreement. Presumably Thailand could opt out of any such agreement just as the UK has done in the EU's case, meaning, for example, that my Thai wife would need 2 visas to accompany me on trips to France and the UK.

Nobody is making any such assumption.

This thread is about proposed (or not) visas for Thailand for ASEAN nationals, in particularly Filipinos, upon commencement of the AEC in 2015.