Thailand tighten rules on visas exemptions for tourists

[BANGKOK] Thailand will tighten its rules for visa exemptions for visitors, including shorter stays and fewer eligible countries, following a review approved by Cabinet on Tuesday (May 19), a foreign ministry official said.

Thailand, one of Asia’s top holiday destinations, at its peak drew close to 40 million visitors in pre-pandemic 2019, with tourism a key source of jobs and driver of growth in South-east Asia’s second-largest economy.

Following the review, a 60-day visa exemption for 93 countries has been scrapped, said Mungkorn Pratoomkaew, Director-General of the foreign ministry’s consular affairs department.

A 30-day visa exemption will remain in place, but the number of countries or territories eligible will be reduced from 57 to 54, he said, without specifying the three to be excluded.

The changes were sought to address a combination of factors, including reciprocity, security issues and policy duplication, with multiple exemption schemes causing confusion among tourists, Mungkorn said, without elaborating.

The measures will come into effect within 15 days of an announcement in the country’s official gazette.

Thailand introduced the 60-day visa exemption in 2024 to boost tourism and spur growth in an economy that has struggled to recover since the pandemic, widening the number of eligible countries and allowing longer stays to try to generate more revenue.

But authorities have expressed concern that the longer stays have led to misuse, with some visitors engaging in illegal activities.

The Tourism Ministry on Tuesday said that arrivals dropped 3.31 per cent from a year earlier in the Jan 1 to May 17 period to 12.9 million.

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The state planning agency expects 32 million foreign visitors this year, down from about 33 million last year. REUTERS