Thanet Worasaran, a director with the TCT, stated that 450,000 Chinese tourists had arrived in Thailand in August and that this figure was considerably higher than for each of the first seven months of 2014. He expounded by saying tourism in general had declined in the early part of the year due to political uncertainty.
The measure allowing free visas for people from China and Taiwan was introduced in early August and had a three-month deadline. Mr Worasaran said not having to pay for visas was a definite incentive to visit.
He added that the Thai government should consider extending the policy to the New Year or maybe even as far as the Sonkran Festival next April. Visas to visit Thailand cost Chinese and Taiwanese citizens the equivalent of THB1,000.
Visas are available from Thai overseas embassies and consulates or at the country’s international airports and border crossings with neighbouring nations. The visa fee waiver only applies to tourists and the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs says people entering for purposes of business or education still need visas.
Thailand may extend free visas for Chinese
News in Asia
A Thai tourism organisation says it would like the temporary free visas measure for Chinese visitors to be extended. The private-sector Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) says waiving the visa fee has encouraged Chinese nationals to sample Thailand’s abundant delights and should be extended beyond the 8 November cut-off date.