China seeks visa-free privilege for its tourists to Thailand

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THAI-CHINESE RELATIONS
China seeks visa-free privilege for its tourists to Thailand
Marisa Chimprabha
The Nation

Chinese officials also expressed interest in dual-track rail lines; requests to be passed to the NCPO: Sihasak

BANGKOK: -- China has reiterated its request for Thailand to allow its nationals to visit without a visa, the same privilege as its diplomats and government officials, Foreign Ministry permanent secretary Sihasak Phuangketkeow said while on an official visit in Beijing.

China is the number one source of tourists who come to Thailand. Last year, the Tourism and Sports Ministry reported that more than four million Chinese visited Thailand in the first 10 months of the year.

Beijing's top officials made the no-visa request during Sihasak's official visit to Beijing last week. He met Deputy Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin as part of the second China-Thailand Strategic Dialogue as well as Foreign Minister Wang Yi and State Councillor Yang Jiechi.

It was the acting Foreign Minister's first visit to China since the military seized power in late May. China's repeated no-visa request comes at a time when Thailand needs "friends" to lean on after a number of Western countries issued low-level sanctions against the country and downgraded diplomatic relations.

They have insisted that Thailand return to democratic rule and have election.

Chinese officials told Sihasak that it regarded Thailand as a good friend, a strong partner and a close relative - the two countries were like brothers and their relations would always move forward even in the face of internal or external woes.

He was also told China would not interfere in Thailand's internal problems.

Sihasak said Beijing's no-visa request would be forwarded to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for consideration. "The Foreign Ministry will gather pros and cons of the free-visa privilege and submit them to the NCPO to substantiate this for consideration," he said.

If approved, the visa-free privilege would means Thai people could travel to China without a visa.

Sihasak's visit to China was also used to brief Chinese officials on the junta's efforts to undertake reforms via a three-phase roadmap and restore political stability and create an environment conducive to long-term economic development.

The briefing was part of the junta's campaign to explain the Thai political situation to other countries.

China hoped Thailand achieves that as soon as possible so as to promote investment confidence, Sihasak said.

Thailand and China will celebrate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries next year.

Sihasak said many changes and developments had taken place throughout the 40 years and both countries should treat each other as equal partners. They should help each other move forward and if a problem occurs, deal with it together.

He also revealed - without elaborating - that Thailand wanted China to open its market to Thai agriculture products and not use its hygiene standards as a measure to limit Thai products.

He said China had expressed an interest in investing in many projects in Thailand, particularly projects to enhance connectivity in the region under the Master Plan of Connectivity. It seemed especially interested in dual-track trains.

China also expressed an interest in infrastructure projects that would link neighbouring countries with it. Beijing would like Thailand to finalise details of the projects as soon as possible, but that could happen, he said, when an interim government and a Legislative Assembly are in place.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/China-seeks-visa-free-privilege-for-its-tourists-t-30238417.html


-- The Nation 2014-07-14

[lostsoul49]

I can see where this is leading.

China lends 2 trillion to Thailand and gets all the orders to supply all the line and stock and engineering expertise. They get most of the money back and have Thailand by the balls for the next 15 years paying them back 5 to 6 trillion.

I am sure there will be a nice few sweeteners put into offshore accounts for the Thai decision makers (with lots of zeros).

Seems they would be in a hurry to get this agreed before true democracy is restored, because I can't see it getting through parliament. A nice way to circumvent the bureaucracy and possible problems of opposition.

Edited July 13, 2014 by lostsoul49

[terryp]

this will end in tears ....thai tears, the huge mass of low end chinese that basically are not welcomed by many countrys (no manners, cheapness and basically rude ignorant people) will just flood here

Edited July 13, 2014 by terryp

[thesetat2013]

It looks like China is playing their hand buddying up to Thailands coup. With free visa and a intercontinental rail this would put chinas access and emminant control all the closer. I do hope the Junta looks to Chinas past in relation to similarities with other China controlled countries.

Sent from my GT-S5310 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[rheinwiese]

Hong Kong is currently considering to limit mainland Chinese tourist arrivals as discontent rises.

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/hong-kong-studies-curbing-tourist-arrivals-discontent-rises/

[khwaibah]

And immigration thinks there are over stayers problems at the moment ?

[chainarong]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

this will end in tears ....thai tears, the huge mass of low end chinese that basically are not welcomed by many countrys (no manners, cheapness and basically rude ignorant people) will just flood here

I agree , ever been in a hotel foyer when a load of Chinese tourists arrive also voted the worst tourists for the past ten years.

[iphad]

Hong Kong is currently considering to limit mainland Chinese tourist arrivals as discontent rises.

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/hong-kong-studies-curbing-tourist-arrivals-discontent-rises/

from the same article

"Chinese visitors accounted for an estimated 34 percent of retail sales in Hong Kong in 2013,"

"China accounted for 75 percent of the 54.3 million tourist arrivals last year, according to the government." http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/hong-kong-studies-curbing-tourist-arrivals-discontent-rises/

or countries like Switzerland that are promoting China's tourists

“The rapidly growing middle class in China offers a massive potential for Switzerland, which enjoys an excellent image over there,” she said.

“We think a quadrupling of Chinese visitors within ten years is realistic.” http://origin.swissinfo.ch/eng/chinese-visitors-arrive-in-record-numbers/34897888

or

"Chinese tourists are the second-highest overall spenders in the world." http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/01/04/chinese-tourism-the-west-strains-to-understand-a-new-85-billion-a-year-industry/

Thailand doesn't want that.

[chainarong]

Words of advice to Thailand , give this and anything proposed by China a miss, there is always a hidden agenda , like musseling in between western powers in the region and using Thailand as a lever for upsetting the status quo and you can bet your bottom dollar that the Chinese have worked Thailand out.

[Kent1]

1,390,510,630. China’s population makes up around 19.3% of the world’s population and they want the freedom to come for as long as they like. Give them a chance and it will be like getting cancer Thailand.

[brianP]

I think they want to tap the organ donor destitution they use on the poor Chinese here.

[brianP]

China needs more rail lines to up the flow of crappy goods that the rest of the world won't accept.

[96tehtarp]

"China is the number one source of tourists who come to Thailand."

"If approved, the visa-free privilege would means Thai people could travel to China without a visa."

Great. I hope it goes forward.

Bring in the Chinese. Thai people are going to love visa free travel to China. That will be great when it happens.

Wonderful.

Edited July 14, 2014 by 96tehtarp

[chiman]

Ask anyone in Hong Kong what tourism from the mainland has done to their city... it's not a good thing.

[Robby nz]

Would a no visa privilege mean that there would be no record of who was or was not here, when they had arrived and how long they were allowed to stay ?

Let them get a 30 day visa on arrival the same as everyone else that flies in and a 15 day for land crossing then they are all on the data base with photo and passport record. That should be no problem if they are real tourists.

If they come as a group then set up an arrangement so that the tour company can get the visas in advance so they don't have to wait at the airport or border post.

It would then be the responsibility of the tour company to ensure all in the group were the ones who had the visas and they left before the visa expired, hefty fines, like millions, and barred for any company that did not comply.

To try to compare tourist visas with diplomatic visas is way out of line, no comparison, millions of tourists how many diplomats ?

[gemini81]

Need another Mao Tse Tung in that case.

[doremifasol]

Chinese........ they come, they stay, they take over.

This happens wherever they go.

Last thing they do is to care what you think.

[kerrysum]

I guess money does strange things to people doesn't it?

Just my thoughts, my wife is in Thailand right now, she wants to come back like now! She is in Mukdahan, and cannot believe her eyes, as to what is happening. She was just there 2 years ago. I haven't been back for 8 years... I would say read the writing on the wall... It is transition time, if anyone has an ideal what that may mean.... Personally, I am staying out of it, maybe Thailand needs to change some its' policies.... Kerry

[96tehtarp]

Would a no visa privilege mean that there would be no record of who was or was not here, when they had arrived and how long they were allowed to stay ?

There is no agreement yet. I would expect the agreement to be the same as the bilateral agreement the Russians and Thai People currently enjoy.

Thai people enjoy visa free travel to Russia.

[impulse]

Would a no visa privilege mean that there would be no record of who was or was not here, when they had arrived and how long they were allowed to stay ?

Let them get a 30 day visa on arrival the same as everyone else that flies in and a 15 day for land crossing then they are all on the data base with photo and passport record. That should be no problem if they are real tourists.

Visa on arrival and visa exempt are 2 different things. You get visa exempt if you're from NZ. That's what China is requesting for their citizens. They already have visa on arrival (though it's tough for a Chinese citizen to leave China without a Thai visa in their passport)

They know when you arrived and when you left. Else there wouldn't be any western folks sweating the increased enforcement. Chinese folk would have the same issues on visa exempt.

Edited July 14, 2014 by impulse

[Hawk]

The infiltration has already begun.

The rise and fall of the Thai empire.

Stupidity and greed because there is no such thing as a free lunch.

[rickirs]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

And immigration thinks there are over stayers problems at the moment ? alt=whistling.gif>

If no visa is required to enter Thailand how can there be any overstays? And any Chinese currently in the country on visas that have overstayed their visa time limits would no longer be considered overstayed.

[Tomtomtom69]

Would a no visa privilege mean that there would be no record of who was or was not here, when they had arrived and how long they were allowed to stay ?

Let them get a 30 day visa on arrival the same as everyone else that flies in and a 15 day for land crossing then they are all on the data base with photo and passport record. That should be no problem if they are real tourists.

Visa on arrival and visa exempt are 2 different things. You get visa exempt if you're from NZ. That's what China is requesting for their citizens. They already have visa on arrival (though it's tough for a Chinese citizen to leave China without a Thai visa in their passport)

They know when you arrived and when you left. Else there wouldn't be any western folks sweating the increased enforcement. Chinese folk would have the same issues on visa exempt.

What a strange time for the Chinese to be talking about visa exempt entries (again!) when Thai immigration is cracking down on Chinese doing multiple back-to-back visa runs. Yes, the Chinese are one of the target nationalities, but due to needing either a visa in advance or getting a 15-day visa on arrival it's a little more difficult for them to do them comfortably like other nationalities. Oh and Chinese often can't apply for Thai visas in some neighboring countries.

[mrtoad]

Had the misfortune of 10 Chinese sitting down at a table next to me on Saturday. As well as their rudeness towards staff, it was like a chimps tea party whilst they were eating.

Most of the tour parties spend hardly anything and are a general nuisance. We have a lot here in the past few weeks as it is cheap room season, Mrs T is fed up with them at the Hotel as she is one of the few Mandarin speakers there.

It's obvious what China agenda is, and it is nothing to do with tourists.

[gamini]

this will end in tears ....thai tears, the huge mass of low end chinese that basically are not welcomed by many countrys (no manners, cheapness and basically rude ignorant people) will just flood here

Not much difference from the hoardes of low life Farangs who have come here in the last two decades

[Tomtomtom69]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

And immigration thinks there are over stayers problems at the moment ? alt=whistling.gif>

If no visa is required to enter Thailand how can there be any overstays? And any Chinese currently in the country on visas that have overstayed their visa time limits would no longer be considered overstayed.

Are you an idiot? Many nationalities don't require a visa to enter Thailand for up to 30 days, some even get 90 days. Many of these visitors overstay their visa free stays. It's also possible to overstay a visa, which is of typically longer duration. Not requiring a visa doesn't mean unlimited stays. Apart from reciprocal policies whereby citizens of the Schengen states can enter and reside in member countries indefinitely, Australians in New Zealand and vice versa, generally speaking most foreigners to any country can only stay a limited amount of time, visa or not.

[rnw]

once agreement reached, thai passport holders should be allowed to enter red cina visa free 30 days,then extending visa further to multiple entry for business, opening thai massage parlour, thai restraunte, thai boxing school, marketing thai organic rice directly in cina supermarket or grain whole market.

then that's beneficial for both side.

red cina should open its market to thai individuals more.

red cina market should offer thai citizen jobs and business opportunities, thai should allowed to make a livings in red cina soil, that's fine, to make thai citizen earning 1000$-2000$ monthly that 's more rewarding.

but red cinachicks should be fully banned to enter thai soil.

[samran]

Clearly many here have a preference for the tattooed, beer gutted sexpats which frequent Thailand's fine shores.

[rnw]

hope visa waiver scheme can make more privately owned airlines(non-comie owned) runing thai-cina routes more profitable., making more business for thai individual logistic operators and agents and e-commerce sellers for this router as well.

thai needs to sell thai goods directly to red cina market , consumers.

[rnw]

thai independent business people can't wait longer for such visa waiver(earning a better livings from direct trade), at least can go cina marketing , making direct sales to consumer with thai organic farming produces,thai silk,thai herbs....

red cina has no more authentic organic foods and herb medicines left due to massive pollutions to soils and ground waters.

Edited July 14, 2014 by rnw