Thailand plans to reduce visa-free stay for tourists to 30 days
Kyiv • UNN
Thai authorities plan to reduce the visa-free stay from 60 to 30 days to limit illegal business. Tour operators have expressed concern about the long period of stay.
The visa-free stay in Thailand is planned to be reduced from 60 to 30 days, against the backdrop of the fact that the relevant authorities have agreed in principle to this step in an attempt to limit the risk of illegal business using the visa-free entry scheme, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the country, writes UNN with reference to Bangkok Post.
Details
The Minister of Tourism and Sports of the country, Sorawong Thienthong, said that the issue has been widely discussed by all interested parties in the past few weeks.
He said that they all "agreed in principle to reduce the period of stay from 60 to 30 days for citizens from countries that are granted visa exemption under the program." However, additional details will be discussed before the official announcement of the rule change.
Since July 2024, the government has allowed passport holders from 93 countries to enter Thailand for tourism purposes for a period not exceeding 60 days. Previously, this permission was granted to citizens of 57 countries.
However, tour operators have expressed concern about the long period, as tourists traveling long distances usually stayed for an average of only 14-21 days, while travelers traveling short distances spent less than two weeks per trip or an average of about seven days.
The Association of Thai Travel Agents previously expressed this concern to the ministry, as there is a growing number of foreigners illegally working or doing business in the country, while the Thai Hotels Association believed that this is partly the reason for the increase in the number of condominiums illegally rented to guests on a daily basis.
Given the recent call by a former member of the Phuket parliament for the government to take tough measures against foreign businesses using proxies and to reduce the visa-free period to 30 days, Nattriya Taweewong, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, said that the ministry has instructed the Department of Tourism to more seriously enforce the law on tourism business and tourist guides.
She said that a special joint task force, run by six bodies, including the Department of Tourism and the Tourist Police, has consistently investigated illegal activities taking place in Phuket and five other popular tourist areas, namely Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Samui and Bangkok.
She said that the department revoked the licenses of 40 companies in 2024 because they were found guilty of secretly changing authorized directors and the proportion of directors and shareholders, which led to their disqualification in the tourism business.
In Phuket, the licenses of 15 travel companies were revoked. She said that there was also a case where the Thai Tourist Company Committee was also registered under five different names.
