Cabinet waives visa fee for tourists from 19 countries

[Thechook]

According to TAT the country is bursting at the seams with tourists so where are they going to put them?  Going to need more hotels, prostitutes and ladyboys.

[Reigntax]

7 hours ago, Mickmouse1 said:

What a collection ! !!????

 

Yes. Certainly a focus on the attraction of "quality" tourists!

[Reigntax]

6 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Liechtenstein is visa exempt since a while.

But really they were on the 15 day visa on arrival for long. Quite a joke.

And the one and only I ever met in Thailand IS a spender.

They are one the richest people of the world.

 

 

You must have met the King of Liechenstein?

[akentryan]

China and India are the beneficiaries. When they cracked down on the Chinese scam operators in September, tourists from China dropped from 13,000 a day to a paltry 4,000 a day. From one company alone they impounded 2,300 tour buses and $133.000.000 from bank accounts. Trying some way to make up for the shortfall. The 10-year visa may be very hard to get with the insurance requirement the big problem. I am from the USA and have Medicare and part B . i also have supplemental insurance that covers about 70% of my medical costs in Thailand. I have membership cards for both plans but I doubt that will be enough to satisfy Immo. Annual extensions as usual.

[ratcatcher]

3 hours ago, Reigntax said:

 

You must have met the King of Liechenstein?

Not quite a king, but almost.................https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Adam_II,_Prince_of_Liechtenstein

[Laughing Gravy]

10 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

 

I love this exact science

Yes it is often called p*****g in the wind.

[Laughing Gravy]

6 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

"... Andora, Bulgaria, Bhutan, China, Cyprus, Ethiopia, India, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Romania, San Mario, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan need not have to pay the 1,000 baht visa fee..."

 

I can see them all queuing up now to get their tickets to Thailand..... or maybe not.

[Laughing Gravy]

Looking at the list of countries, some of them are the smallest countries in the world and have small populations. I wonder which genius came up with that list to boost tourist numbers.

[kannot]

12 hours ago, acid thunder said:

 

Where's San Mario?

Nintendoland

[jimstar1]

Another day another Joke  Tat Come to Chiang Mai I have never seen it so quiet and it is not going to get better a lady yesterday told me prices are up as it is the high season I told her look on the street you live in a dream world there is no more high or low season  the Tourist are not coming  and this fasacal list is not going to help

What abut the Countries that bring money here to spend  Oh sorry another Joke welcome big spending China  

[bimmerbob]

So.....finally they realise that a visa fee (or not) is the determinating factor in choosing a holiday destination? 

[bkkdawg]

What about visa exemptions for the "quality tourists" ? 

[malcoml]

I don't think $30 USD one way or another is going to change people's view on holidaying.

 

The ticket costs from some of the mentioned countries must be huge so money must not be the driving factor, Uzbekistan comes to mind.

 

Now let the people know that The red light districts are open for business and the people will flow on through.

[sirmud63]

thats desperation ,right there .

[csabo]

MORE CHINESE!? I'm pretty sure they're all here already.

[BMW Overlander]

Ethiopia? Jeez...

[timewilltell]

If scrapping the visa temporarily provides all those benefits then you would need to be a complete moron to not scrap the fees altogether permanently unless tourists are not wanted in such large numbers. I wonder why they don't just do that

[yellowboat]

Thailand appears to operate more and more like a giant theme park:  Dress codes, attractions, numerous schemes regarding admission, large fees for setting up a business within the park.   One all important person at the top who has full control.

[ekkamai]

12 hours ago, Krungbin said:

 

San Marino I guess...

Google it...!?

 

[psyvolt]

Wow, so many racist comments on here.

 

As for all the posts saying- They dont come here anyways, why give them a visa free travel.. Have none of you ever thought that just maybe, if ppl are deciding between going to Vietnam (or similar) or Thailand, that yes, sometimes a visa fee can sway their decision?

 

I've just been reading the new 10year visa thread, and so many ppl are saying the Thais don't want you in their country, and can you blame them if all you ever do is bitch and moan and criticise anything the officials do (esp when it has no effect on yourself). I certainly wouldnt want you coming to my country if thats all you have to do in your sad sorry lives.

[GAZZPA]

9 hours ago, BuckBee said:

62,000 jobs ! how ?

TAT keep coming up with record breaking figures and yet they seem keen diversify on low quality sector when it all supposedly about quality tourists oozing money temple spotting :-S

Tourism looks well down to me and retail taking massive hits with shop changes monthly .

Thailand has a reputation as a country for the sex trade and of course once you get here it is cheap, relatively. But prices are rising and now Thailand is not so cheap anymore so tourists are looking at the new Asean such as Myanmar and Cambodia.. Ok, it does not yet have the infrastructure of Thailand but who cares when you are on holiday.

 

Add into the mix the terrible publicity of recent years that I won't repeat as we all know about it and it's not difficult to see why tourism is moving away (and it seems to be a pretty rapid decline)

 

The delusion of officials in Thailand is that they can attract high numbers of high end tourists but like most things that come from some official or another it's hot air with no substance. High end tourists may have some options in Thailand but they are pretty limited and if you have real money there are many more attractive destinations to chose from.

 

So, Thailand is heading for a very tough time. Falling tourist numbers, falling foreign investment, falls in exports,,, none of it looks very good right now.

 

With the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia all holding their arms wide open and welcoming investment, tourists etc and of course being cheaper as well what does Thailand do? All of its neighbours are growing fast, the Philippines will overtake Thailand in GDP in the next 2 years and is already a bigger consumer in many categories and its still growing by 8% with a bigger population.

 

It is not until Thailand realises and admits that it is losing to it's Asean neighbours that some plan will form that starts to turn things around,, but I won't hold my breath for that admission from any Thai official.

 

 

 

[chainarong]

13 hours ago, merlin2002 said:

I didn't see the Moon or Mars on the list... I wish some aliens would come and reclaim these clowns, and take them back to planet cuckoo land..

Those aliens you speak of have more class

[starfarm]

14 hours ago, acid thunder said:

 

Where's San Mario?

San Mario. The correct name is The republic of San Marino. It is a small independent state inside Italy

[wealthychef]

"The two measures are expected to increase tourist arrivals by over 357,000 during the three-month festive season, generating revenue amounting to 28,703 million baht. They will help create over 62,000 temporary jobs and increase the government’s tax revenue by about 1,200 million baht."  

 

How are they going to measure this to see if they were right about their numbers?  Hogwash.  

[o2eZy]

14 hours ago, acid thunder said:

 

Where's San Mario?

is one of the Mario brothers 

 

[johnnytuc]

10 hours ago, Honthy said:

How many tourists come from Andora, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, San Mario all together in a year?

Now, I am quite positive their munber will be multiplied....

Absolutely right, definitely be 2 now!

[TerrylSky]

More illogical decisions from the immigration dept. Seems like they should waive fees from the countries that bring in the money; as well as make it easier for citizens of these countries (U.S. European, etc.) to live here - instead of spending money to travel elsewhere for a visa. I spend a lot of money going "on vacation" to get a visa that I would rather have spent in my economic depleted village for a variety of services and goods, as well as expand my volunteer work. Can't spend money and perform volunteer work in Thailand if I'm busy getting a visa in another country every 3 months.

[peter48]

Well with post Brexit kicking in over the next few years they have to compensate for less Brits hit by falling pound, falling pensions, less wealth for trips , higher prices at home , less jobs and the lost 500 million EU consumers that UK currently easily trades with. That's what happens when people listen to right wing demagogues  like Farage

[Bantex]

13 hours ago, Krungbin said:

 

San Marino I guess...

San Marino tourists will make a huge impact on the Thai economy as they have a population of 31,448.

[madmitch]

An interesting collection of countries. We've had one guest from Mauritius and a few from Malta in the last twelve years, but there's one country on there that would provide many more tourists than the rest combined and that is Ukraine. Sneaked in near the bottom, Ukrainians often get mistaken for Russians and there are a lot here.

 

But how they think they'll get an additional 357,000 tourists by the end of the year, I don't know. Maybe they don't quite comprehend that the vast majority of tourists to Thailand book weeks, if not months in advance. Delusional!