Thailand will grant visa-free entry to Chinese visitors, Thailand’s new government, headed by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, has approved a policy to temporarily waive the requirement for tourists from China and Kazakhstan, in an effort to stimulate the country’s sluggish economy and encourage spending during the holiday season.
The government approved the visa-free policy, allowing Chinese and Kazakh tourists to enter Thailand without a visa from September 25 through the end of February 2024, during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
After the meeting, Srettha said to reporters, “We will temporarily implement the policy to see its impact.”
Thailand exempts tourists from over 50 countries from visa requirements
Currently, Thailand does not require a visa for visitors from more than 50 nations and regions, including Singapore and Indonesia, allowing them to stay for up to 30 days. China is not one of those nations. Visa applications and fees are required for entry for Chinese visitors.
Srettha wants to encourage private spending and strengthen the Thai economy, which grew at a slower 1.8% annual rate in the second quarter. One of his immediate goals is to support tourism. Falling exports, which make up more than 60% of the nation’s GDP, were a major factor in the recession.
The National Economic and Social Development Council has reduced its prior predicted range of 2.7% to 3.7% to 2.5% to 3.0% growth for the Thai economy this year.
Thailand’s tourism industry chips in around 18% of GDP
When Bangkok removed all entry restrictions in the second half of 2022, the tourism industry, which contributes around 18% of Thailand’s GDP, started to recover.
The last quarter saw a substantial acceleration of the recovery. When compared to the same eight-month period last year, Thailand’s international visitor numbers increased from 3.2 million to 17.9 million. A sizeable amount was provided by China, which sent 2.2 million visitors. This, however, fell short of the 5-million-person goal planned for 2023.
According to the Thailand Tourism Authority, there will be 29 million foreign visitors in the nation this year, up from 11.5 million in 2022. However, this number is much lower than the 39 million tourists that came to the nation prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.
The business community praised the new government policy
Even before the official announcement on Wednesday, the business community praised the government’s new approach, anticipating that it would increase the number of Chinese visitors visiting Thailand during the peak travel period in the final quarter of the year and boost the country’s finances.
Thai Airways International’s CEO, Chai Eamsiri, declared that the national airline is prepared to boost flights and deploy wide-body aircraft to carry more customers from China and India.
‘The company also expects travel volume to expand dramatically during the next high season due to the Visa-Free policy,’ Chai said in a statement on Monday.
The same day, Kriangkrai Tiennukul, president of the Federation of Thai Industries, said that the visa-free policy was timely because it would support increased tourism expenditure, a key engine of the Thai economy at a time when exports were on the decline. He claimed that rising tourism-related expenditure would eventually raise Thailand’s GDP.”
Pre-pandemic 2019, around 28% of tourists to Thailand were from China
Pre-pandemic 2019, around 28% of tourists to Thailand were from China. People in Kazakhstan are becoming more interested in traveling to Thailand, according to Srettha.
According to government spokeswoman Chai Wacharonke, the government anticipates 40 million visitors by 2024 in addition to 28 million foreign tourists arriving this year and spending 1.4 trillion baht ($39.2 billion).
He stated at a briefing that “tourism is the only economic engine at this time that is still moving forward and is a hope for generating income for the country.”
A record 39.9 million overseas visitors visited in 2019, including 11 million from China. Five million Chinese tourists are what the administration had originally said as its goal for this year.
A second measure that will enable farmers and small enterprises to postpone debt payments for three years was also approved by the government.
Reporters were informed by deputy finance minister Julapun Amornvivat that the administration would maintain the value added tax at its current 7% rate for a full calendar year.
According to the Thai Chamber of Commerce, this year’s economic growth will be 3% thanks to government initiatives. The growth rate in 2017 was 2.6%.
Srettha stated on Tuesday that he wanted to quickly enact new regulations, such as raising the minimum wage.
($1 = 35.74 baht)
