Life & Leisure

Thailand, China begin applying mutual visa exemption program

Bangkok, Mar 1 (EFE).- Thailand and China began Friday to apply an agreement by which they permanently exempt their respective citizens from requiring visas, which seeks to boost the tourism sector in both countries.

Authorities agreed to this mutual measure after Thailand in September temporarily exempted Chinese travelers from the need to apply for visas to match arrival numbers prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The exemption means tourists from both countries can visit China and Thailand for 30 days without a visa and are entitled to multiple entries, although the total period of stay cannot exceed 90 days within a period of 180 days.

With this measure, the Thai Tourism Ministry expects the number of Chinese tourists to reach 8.2 million this year out of a total of 35 million visits.

Last year, just over 3.4 million Chinese tourists arrived in Thailand, below expectations, especially compared to 2019, before the pandemic, when there were close to 11 million, close to a third of the 40 million total visitors.

The Thai government wants tourism to regain the magnitude it had before the pandemic, when it represented between 12 percent and 20 percent of gross domestic product.

Thus, in November, the authorities also waived the visa for travelers from India and Taiwan with a validity until May 10.

Until now, most of the countries whose tourists do not require a visa in Thailand were European and Asian – and others such as Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the United States and Peru – but did not include China and India. EFE

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