Visa exempt for Chinese and Indian tourists proposed to boost tourism in Thailand

[tonysilly]

Better start building more 7/11 

and more Buffet restaurants  ????

Edited February 18, 2020 by tonysilly

[bbbbooboo]

Hmmm.... maybe the horse has already bolted..... TIT

[fvw53]

The question is : will this increase the number of "overstayers" ?   Every Indian and Chinese I know would like to leave for always their very crowded places 

[miamiman123]

And all the while the Israeli government has banned Thai entries to Israel. Yep this all makes sense. 
 

[MikeyScars]

PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) Chief has defended the lack of information made available at the mandatory daily coronavirus situation updates, saying Phuket officials are under orders from Bangkok to restrict the information being made available to the public.

 

https://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-health-chief-explains-vague-virus-updates-74878.php

 

I wonder if WHO is aware of it, or they maybe in on it with China? 

Israelis are the smart to ban Thais.  

Edited February 18, 2020 by MikeyScars

[lovethai123]

Indians don't tend to stay long. Thai holidays are already not cheap for indians. Thanks to the weak indian rupee. 

I can't imagine an indian family staying for a month in Thailand. On the other hand it will give flexibility to those who tend to stay 2 weeks on voa but will end up staying for 3 if visa exempt means 30 days visa free entry. 

 

But in my opinion most indians stay upto a week and go back to India. 

[lovethai123]

3 minutes ago, MikeyScars said:

 

Israelis are the smart to ban Thais.  

They are smartest of all. 

[RichardColeman]

Thailand should be very careful here. they could end up an Indian pariah if they start sending mass infected back to an Indian city.

[El Matador]

Anyway it will happen someday. It just a matter of time.

They want to replace Western tourists with the 2 new superpowers.

There will be more many more Indian and Chinese restaurants in the next decade and more of those hideous new buildings receiving exclusively Chinese customers who only speak Chinese. And probably more Indian tourists in Pattaya.

Don't hold your breathe, it is inevitable. And Thai smiles will become rarer in the next decade.

[ftpjtm]

I guess it's never the right time to try to increase tourism from western countries.

[Ketyo]

But the Thai Government is so disliked and has created such a bad impression of Thailand as an unwelcoming, prejudiced, money-grabbing and ignorant place i'm not sure that changing minor bureaucratic rules will make a difference 

Edited February 18, 2020 by Ketyo

[ChipButty]

Immigration would only let the Chinese extend their tourist visa for 7 days.....that's right, only 7 days. I guess they want the Chinese tourists to <deleted> off back home.

[lovethai123]

Just now, ChipButty said:

Immigration would only let the Chinese extend their tourist visa for 7 days.....that's right, only 7 days. I guess they want the Chinese tourists to <deleted> off back home.

Same for indians. But that's not exactly an extension. That's just a permission to leave the country in 7 days for a fee of 1900 baht. 

 

 

[johnny49r]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Visa exempt for Chinese and Indian tourists proposed to boost tourism in Thailand

These proposals won't do much to boost tourism and making Chinese and Indians the preferred guests isn't particularly brilliant.

How about making Thailand safe, clean, and more accessible to all travelers? I guess doing anything is a moot point until the coronavirus hype runs its course but these guys need to figure out real solutions instead of the pathetic simpleton plans they come up with.

[globalspark]

Been checking hotel room rates still far to high. The hotels continually are playing stupid games .With the  advent of the internet tourist around the world  always check rooms  rates, airline tickets, and what visa is required, My situation is a little different were as my wife is a Chinese living in Australia  so the 30 day visa would be  a great help.

Last year my wife was treated like a criminal  on her VOA  and she said she would never go back to Thailand. As I am half  way through Dental Treatment in Thailand  has put me in a difficult position and looking at Vietnam to complete the treatment.

as I have stated previously  when Tourists find  other  holiday destinations they are hard to get back. The Thai tourist board needs to start acting very fast before it is all lost.

 The land of smiles has gone a long time ago so they need to start looking after the goose that lays the golden egg.

[gtm2k]

Before the intellectuals on this thread light up concerning arrival of indian tourists - take a deep breath !

The top 5 destinations that indians most visit are -
https://www.hellotravel.com/stories/most-visited-countries-indians

Singapore, UAE, UK, US and then Thailand

So please dont worry, we will always only have left over change to spend here...

[ChipButty]

3 minutes ago, gtm2k said:

Singapore, UAE, UK, US 

 

They go to see their cousins in Bradford  

[Christie Paul]

7 minutes ago, globalspark said:

Been checking hotel room rates still far to high. The hotels continually are playing stupid games .With the  advent of the internet tourist around the world  always check rooms  rates, airline tickets, and what visa is required, My situation is a little different were as my wife is a Chinese living in Australia  so the 30 day visa would be  a great help.

Last year my wife was treated like a criminal  on her VOA  and she said she would never go back to Thailand. As I am half  way through Dental Treatment in Thailand  has put me in a difficult position and looking at Vietnam to complete the treatment.

as I have stated previously  when Tourists find  other  holiday destinations they are hard to get back. The Thai tourist board needs to start acting very fast before it is all lost.

 The land of smiles has gone a long time ago so they need to start looking after the goose that lays the golden egg.

Yep, they are burning one category of visitor and source of revenue after another. 

[ParkerN]

Yep, that'll work. More innovation, that's the trick... Thais know best...

Edited February 18, 2020 by ParkerN

[phantomfiddler]

A ridiculous proposal, many of the long term stayers I know actually leave the country because of Songkran ????

[Sydebolle]

Closing the stable door after the horse has bolted? Too late and backfiring big time. The immigration's little BMWs of the smarter kind will be VERY busy hunting the overstaying Southasian "tourists". Taking the racist approach of Thais against "Khaek" - go figure. 

And the Chinese, well - they have different priorities if I am not wrong. 

[Toany]

With the government keeping the virus figures secrete.  Maybe in the hope of not scaring the Chinese away. But, it is scaring everybody else away.

Very likely Thailand has number 2 position in infections of the virus.

They should advice Thais to go to Singapore and Hong Kong as it is probably safer.

[crabbie2020]

I am leaving LOS soon. I knew this day would come when this beautiful country would be flooded by the worst and second worst tourists in the world.

 

RIP Thailand. I loved you but I now hate you.

[gtm2k]

3 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

The immigration's little BMWs of the smarter kind

The smart BMW's are just BMW's with a policeman sitting with a laptop.. 

Replacing the BMW's with an Altis, is of course wiser use of public funds, but not good for the image....

[Traubert]

1 hour ago, dcnx said:

What hype do you speak of? China now has 750 million people locked down. This is unprecedented.

85% of State Owned Industries in China have gone back to work.

[Cake Monster]

For sure with an attitude toward a Chinese only Tourist Market in Thailand, it can only turn and bite them hard in the A##.

 

[Thaidream]

Thailand would be better off simply realizing that  tourism for 2020 is finished.  the schemes they are  pursuing will do nothing to enhance tourism/

 

During this period- it's time to clean up the beaches; make the water  blue again and train staff how to market , advertise and service tourists.

 

Once the virus has eased- international roadshows to Europe; North and South America should welcome the tourists back by promising lower prices and a great experience.

 

The Thai Government needs to inform the Immigration Department to stop asking people why they come to Thailand; and just stamp the people in according to their Visa type.  A smile and a welcome should be the norm.

 

The Government needs to suspend taxes on hotel guests and restaurant taxes as well as any taxes on alcohol. This will allow  places of business to lower prices .

 

Any place that  sells alcohol and wants to remain open- can do so 24/7.  The nonsensical alcohol selling hours at stores need to be rescinded.

 

No double pricing anywhere for anything.

 

Every Taxi needs to use a meter and take any passenger anywhere without argument.

 

Tolls everywhere need to be stopped to ensure traffic moves smoothly.

 

You want tourists back when the virus is contained-not now when it can be spread and is not contained.  You take the hit now; plan for the near future and take care of all the negatives that drive tourists away.

[madmitch]

40 minutes ago, globalspark said:

Been checking hotel room rates still far to high.

Plenty of hotels in Phuket have slashed their prices. I'll repeat what I posted in another thread that it's not always possible for hotels to reduce prices as they may already have many advance bookings with free cancellations. They don't want customers to cancel and rebook at a cheaper price. I'd guess many of those reducing prices are those that catereed mainly to Chinese tour groups with not so many bookings from Booking.com etc.

 

But look around and you will find deals, if you're actually interested in doing so, which, judging by the rest of your post, you may not be!

[sahibji]

hope this will not open up a pandora's box for you by getting many potential overstayers.maybe should consider some second tier security precaution. 

[dallen52]

Its lip service again. 

Can get it for 500 baht lol.

 

What part do the grown ups not understand?

The Chinese cannot come.

And the Indian tourists are not renowned for splashing the cash...