Thailand promotes "common visa" with Vietnam and 4 other countries

Thailand wants to establish Asian-style Schengen visa with Vietnam — A Chinese tourist takes a photo with Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin in late 2023.

This policy is likened to the "Asian-style Schengen visa". In Europe, the Schengen visa allows tourists to travel freely between 27 countries. Thailand wants to take advantage of this common visa policy to negotiate with countries in the European Union, moving towards a visa exemption agreement between Schengen and the ASEAN group. If the initiative is successful, tourists only need to apply for a visa to one of the six countries: Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia to be able to freely travel and visit the remaining countries.

The “single-entry visa” is the most ambitious of Prime Minister Srettha’s tourism initiatives aimed at the long term. Most of the leaders of the other five countries have responded positively to Thailand’s common visa initiative. The six Southeast Asian countries welcomed 70 million international visitors in 2023, with Thailand and Malaysia accounting for more than 50% of the number of visitors and revenue ($48 billion).

Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, former president of the Thai Hotels Association, said the “common visa” could make it easier for long-haul travelers to make the decision to visit Southeast Asia. Marisa also said the validity of the common visa should be extended to 90 days instead of the usual 30 days to “make the policy more attractive to visitors.”

Prime Minister Srettha's administration aims to welcome 80 million international visitors by 2027, double the peak achieved in 2019. Since taking office in July 2023, the Thai Prime Minister has promoted many visa relaxation policies to attract visitors, such as bilateral visa exemptions with China, temporary visa exemptions for visitors from India, Taiwan, and Kazakhstan. Thailand is also considering opening casinos inside major tourist and entertainment areas to increase revenue. Tourism is an industry that brings many economic benefits to Thailand as well as creating 20% of total jobs. Revenue from tourism accounts for 12% of the country's $500 billion economy.

Bill Barnett, director of Bangkok-based hotel consultancy C9 Hotelworks, said the project's success would benefit not only tourists but also business and commercial guests.

However, according to Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor at Chulalongkorn University, a common visa agreement would be "difficult and challenging" because countries would have to reach common standards in entry policies and many countries in the bloc still have poor records in welcoming international visitors.

TH (according to VnExpress)

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