Thailand to grant longer visas from October to March in bid to boost tourism
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has approved longer stays for tourists from October 1 to March 31, CCSA spokesman Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin said on Friday.
The move proposed by the Tourism and Sports Ministry aims to revitalise the tourism industry now that the Covid-19 situation is improving both in Thailand and globally.
Foreigners from 18 countries entering Thailand under the visa-on-arrival scheme will be allowed to extend their length of stay from 15 days to 30 days, while those from 50 countries who currently get a 30-day stamp under the visa exemption scheme will be able to stay for 45 days.
Taweesin said the CCSA has called on the Interior and Foreign ministries, the Immigration Bureau and other related agencies to adjust their procedure in compliance with this extension.
Earlier this month, Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said some 1.07 million foreign tourists had entered Thailand in July, which is the first time that monthly arrivals have exceeded the 1 million mark since the arrival of the pandemic.
Phiphat expects some 1 million foreign arrivals each in August and September and believes the number will rise to 1.5 million per month from October to December. The minister is confident that the total number of foreign tourists in 2022 will exceed 10 million.
Taweesin also said that the government plans to declare Covid-19 endemic in October, once CCSA has been dissolved.
He said the decision to declare the disease endemic was based on the relatively lower number of new confirmed cases and fatalities.
