Thailand promotes a "joint visa" with Vietnam and four other countries.

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

This policy is being likened to an "Asian-style Schengen visa." In Europe, a Schengen visa allows travelers to move freely between 27 countries. Thailand wants to leverage this common visa policy in negotiations with European Union countries, aiming to reach a visa-free agreement between Schengen and the ASEAN group. If the initiative is successful, tourists would only need to apply for a visa from one of six countries—Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, or Malaysia—to freely travel and visit the remaining countries.

The "single-entry visa" is the most ambitious of Prime Minister Srettha's tourism promotion initiatives, aiming for long-term goals. Most leaders from the other five countries reacted positively to Thailand's common visa initiative. The six Southeast Asian nations welcomed 70 million international tourists in 2023, with Thailand and Malaysia accounting for over 50% of both visitor numbers and revenue ($48 billion).

Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, former president of the Hotel Association of Thailand, said the "general visa" could make it easier for long-distance travelers to decide to visit Southeast Asia. Marisa also suggested that the general visa's validity period should be extended to 90 days instead of the usual 30 days to make the "policy more attractive to visitors."

Prime Minister Srettha's government aims to welcome 80 million international tourists by 2027, double the peak achieved in 2019. Since taking office in July 2023, the Thai Prime Minister has promoted several visa-easing policies to attract tourists, such as bilateral visa exemptions with China, and temporary visa waivers for visitors from India, Taiwan, and Kazakhstan. Thailand is also considering opening casinos within major tourist and entertainment complexes to increase revenue. Tourism is a highly profitable industry for Thailand, creating 20% of its total jobs. Tourism revenue accounts for 12% of the country's $500 billion economy.

Bill Barnett, director of hotel consulting firm C9 Hotelworks in Bangkok, said the successful project would benefit not only tourists but also business travelers and traders.

However, according to Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor at Chulalongkorn University, a common visa agreement would be "difficult and challenging" because countries must meet common standards in immigration policy, and many countries in the bloc still have a less-than-stellar record in welcoming international visitors.

TH (according to VnExpress)

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