In an enthusiastic attempt to improve its tourism, Thailand has relaxed the rules relating to its visa to a great extent. The government of the country is now inviting citizens of other nations to enter her territory through a multiple entry visa. This means that people can now come to Thailand multiple times with the permission to stay for 6 months.
The Government says
The above mentioned change in their visa rules is a direct attempt of improving the tourism of Thailand. The improved version of visa rules was put forward in an announcement by Tourism Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul. He confirmed that the Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha granted this move and is awaiting the Cabinet approval.
Once it receives the approval of the Cabinet, the new visa rule will be implemented within a period of 60 days. Presently, the situation is totally different. Right now, there are only 57 countries around the world who have received an offer for single-visit visa-free entry to come to Thailand. The single visit visa, permits one to stay in the country for 14 to 90 days.
The period granted to stay in Thailand, varied with the nationality of the applicant. The government of the country is looking at bringing a change in this aspect by changing the duration of stay. The six months visa will now cost an applicant 142 dollars. The new initiation by the government of Thailand has already resulted positively.
A Positive Outcome
In the first five months itself, the country has attracted as many as 12.48 million tourists, which is 25% more number of people than it was in the previous year. It resulted in the country’s revenue going up to 592 billion baht. After achieving this, the Thailand government has set new targets for itself in terms of tourism.
The Future Plan
Now Thailand is looking at increasing the number of people entering the country by attracting people from the middle income level. The country wishes to bring the revenue generation to 2.33 trillion baht by encouraging them to participate in consumer spending activities. The conditions for traveling to Thailand are also greatly relaxed for its neighbors.
Recently Myanmar and Thailand have entered into an agreement which give mutual access to citizens of both the countries to enter each other’s territories. To further improve the aspect of her tourism, Thailand is attempting to improve its ties with countries like the Mekong River, including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.