File picture of Chinese tourists touring Pung Tao Gong Chinese Temple in Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand, on Jan 23, 2023. - AP
BANGKOK (Bloomberg): Thailand will waive visa requirements for travellers from China and Kazakhstan in the busy holiday season as the tourism-reliant nation turns to the travel industry to prop up South-east Asia’s second-largest economy.
Chinese and Kazakh tourists can enter Thailand without a visa between Sept 25 and Feb 29, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday (Sept 13). The temporary waiver is expected to attract 5 million additional visitors, according to tourism minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol.
The measure is part of Thailand’s goal to raise tourism revenue to its pre-Covid levels, with a target of 3.1 trillion baht (US$87 billion) in 2024.
Thailand has welcomed 18.5 million foreign tourists so far this year with as many as 28 million expected by year-end. Revenue from foreign travelers totalled 775 billion baht as of Sept 11, according to the tourism ministry.
Chinese travellers, the largest group of visitors to Thailand before Covid, are considered crucial for the recovery of the local tourism industry.
Meanwhile, more and more Kazakhstan tourists are visiting Thailand, with a significant increase expected in the coming months due to harsh winter conditions at home, Srettha said.
Tourists from some nations face a costly and cumbersome visa-application process, which has been a drag on the Thai tally this year, according to the premier.
Srettha, a real estate tycoon who was also chairman of US-based hotel operator Standard International before joining politics, has said he wants the list of visa-exempt countries expanded as well as increased stay limits for most international travellers, with caps of 15 days or 30 days for many nationalities.
Last month, Srettha held meetings with representatives from airlines to discuss initiatives to boost tourism. Airports of Thailand Pcl, which operates six airports in the country, will aim to increase flights capacity by 20% to accommodate an expected high season.
The country aims to draw a record 40 million visitors next year, government spokesman Chai Watcharong told a briefing. Chinese accounted for nearly a third of Thailand’s almost 40 million tourist arrivals in 2019 before the pandemic.
