BANGKOK – At its meeting on May 7, 2024, the Cabinet approved a proposal to extend the visa exemption for holders of ordinary passports or travel documents issued by the Republic of India and Taiwan entering the Kingdom of Thailand for temporary tourism purposes.
Under the special arrangement proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these travelers will be exempted from the visa requirement and will be allowed to stay in Thailand for up to 30 days.
The extension, which applies from May 11 to November 11, 2024, is an additional six months beyond the original expiry date of May 10, 2024.
The decision was taken to further promote economic and foreign policy relations between India and Taiwan, particularly with regard to people-to-people ties, which form the foundation of relations between the two countries. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates that the state will lose revenue of around 2.15 billion baht as a result of the extension.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin also instructed the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to accelerate the development of a comprehensive tourism plan for the fourth quarter of this year. The plan should focus on providing services, facilities, and safety measures to ensure a positive experience for tourists.
Earlier, the Thai government approved a temporary visa exemption for visitors from Russia not exceeding 60 days, effective from May 1, 2024 to July 31, 2024. The visa-free policy for Russian tourists was extended because they are increasingly traveling to Thailand.
According to data as of May 1, 2024, Thailand welcomed a total of 12.12 million international tourists during the first four months of the year (January-April 2024). This breaks down to 3.03 million visitors in January, 3.35 million in February, 2.98 million in March, and 2.75 million in April. During this period, Thailand generated 583.9 billion baht in tourism revenue.
The top five nationalities of tourists were: China (2,351,909), Malaysia (1,569,856), Russia (767,210), South Korea (679,481) and India (643,587).
It is important to note that these figures on tourist arrivals are preliminary data from the Immigration Department and do not include travelers entering Thailand with a border pass. The receipts are estimates based on historical tourist spending patterns.
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