Thailand waives Tourist Visa fee for ALL nationalities

[digibum]

6 hours ago, Psychic said:

I'm not going to go through all the posts here, so sorry if this a repeat.

There will be some sort of awakening soon.

With a strong Thai baht, Thailand is no longer a cheap destination.

The government may hope and pray for high income tourists. But that was never what Thailand was about,

High income people have multiple options.

It used to represent a good, cheap vacation for lower to middle income groups.

I think there are far more options opening up.

I live here, but I wait to play golf in Canada because a decent course is half the price it is here.

I know most Europeans and Americans think alcohol is expensive here.

Yes,there are some decent deals with food and accommodation. But they are not ultra-cheap as they used to be.

8 years ago I used to try and dissuade my friends from going to all-inclusive resorts in other countries, saying they could have a far better time here for less money.

I don't think that's the case anymore. 

The Thai government should be terrified by that. When foreigners no longer recommend Thailand as a tourist/retirement destination it will have disastrous consequences.

 

 

So, so, so true.  Just had a SVP in my company pop by my office yesterday and ask where he should go in Thailand with his family.  He's going to Hong Kong and then over to Macau but due to some unforeseen circumstances was left with a 5 day gap in his schedule.  He thought about going to Koh Samui or Phuket.  

 

Recommendation I had for him?  "Hmmmm . . . you sure you want to go to Thailand?  What about Singapore?"

 

 

 

 

[tony5150]

13 hours ago, Luckysilk said:

Great more Cheap Charlie's arriving soon.

 

If 1000 measly baht is an inticement I can't wait to see these quality tourists.

Sort of like a guy who uses the "quality tourist" cliche. Such an over used term on this site. Imagine what kind of douchebag he must be. 

[Usual Suspect]

So..after reading 5 pages on this topic I/we can assume the TaT are not happy bunnies.

    Many posts state this move/action to waiver 1000B is a waste of time+effort.

     Many, many TV members have highlighted what they feel is happening here (none of it good)..

 

 IMO if you're gonna close beaches, ban deck-chairs, introduce steep  ATM/TC fees, allow various scams to carry on unabated year after year, close tourist entertainment areas at the drop of a hat (for local elections etc), embrace 2-tier pricing nationwide, allow sidewalks/ footpaths to be blocked by traders...because they pay to do so ..which makes it OK

 for elderly tourists & families with small children to have to walk in the road at night amongst the manic traffic, (also fail to put up walkways over main roads for tourists), fail to protect tourists against scams, attacks & muggings, (plus have a growing reputation in recent times for masking crime evidence related to tourist incidents)...

 AND you have a growing reputation for tourist fatalities whilst using public transport (mainly road & sea).

...So there's no wonder tourist numbers are dropping...(most can & DO read newspapers or scan the net)

               ....& a 1000B visa fee waiver won't do a scrap of good!

 

 

[mania]

16 hours ago, Thailand said:

Does make one wonder if the tourist figures may have been exaggerated a little?

 

+1

 

Soon Thailand will "pay" tourist 1000 baht to come

 

Kidding aside it was coming.......

Thailand is now basically a Military Dictatorship (The only current case in the world)

Many will not support such a suppression of citizens even if the Thai's will not stand up for themselves

others will not support the country in many ways

 

Take that & then add onto it that this military dictatorship knows squat about running a country & you have

now the effects showing from the cause started 2 years 6 months ago

The ever increasing numbers of reports of rape/murder of tourists & it

all starts to add to the already failing state of Thailand

 

Sadly soon all but the hardened sexpats will soon stop going to Thailand

 

 

[ironbark]

Quality tourist = a tourist who spends money here.

They used to be called expats.

[placidlake]

This has all been done before, post yellow shirts closing the airport. It just happens to be a pleasant surprise when you're applying for a tourist visa anyway. It's not going to entice anyone to come to Thailand. 

[drgoon]

18 hours ago, Luckysilk said:

Great more Cheap Charlie's arriving soon.

 

If 1000 measly baht is an inticement I can't wait to see these quality tourists.

 

Chinese zero baht tourists

[bodymassagemyfriend]

12 hours ago, Psychic said:

I'm not going to go through all the posts here, so sorry if this a repeat.

There will be some sort of awakening soon.

With a strong Thai baht, Thailand is no longer a cheap destination.

The government may hope and pray for high income tourists. But that was never what Thailand was about,

High income people have multiple options.

It used to represent a good, cheap vacation for lower to middle income groups.

I think there are far more options opening up.

I live here, but I wait to play golf in Canada because a decent course is half the price it is here.

I know most Europeans and Americans think alcohol is expensive here.

Yes,there are some decent deals with food and accommodation. But they are not ultra-cheap as they used to be.

8 years ago I used to try and dissuade my friends from going to all-inclusive resorts in other countries, saying they could have a far better time here for less money.

I don't think that's the case anymore. 

The Thai government should be terrified by that. When foreigners no longer recommend Thailand as a tourist/retirement destination it will have disastrous consequences.

 

Fully agree with you and many expats make a denial of reality about this.

 

Been one week ago in a place nobody knows about in France to eat steak and it wasfar better than in an expensive place at Siam Paragon.

I could even eat things you wont easily find , if at all in Thailand like deer.

 

Been working a few years ago in Spain , Malaga ( near Marbella ) Multi million dollar yatch with helicopter in the harbor , never seen this in Pattaya. Simplify because when leaving your yatch your are in a gorgeous clean

and friendly place , where everybody behaves politely. Even police denies access to the pier to people not wearing a shirt. Thats what rich people like , high standards EVERYWHERE , not just the hotel.

Simply because they can afford beeing as demanding as they can.

 

[gk10002000]

big deal.  A few months.  Many people can't plan or can't take their vacation during this time.

[LomSak27]

17 hours ago, possum1931 said:

I am not so sure of the "getting beaten up" part, this is only from my perspective, but is this not mostly the drunken louts causing trouble in the bars and tourist areas?. I keep saying that I have walked around the main parts of Bangkok and Pattaya many times over the years, even after dark, and never felt in any danger at all.

 

I feel so safe. I hear that a lot from expats, "I feel so safe" .... but you don't know if you are or aren't, because they do not really report much of the things that would make you feel unsafe. Even your neighbors would refrain from telling you things that might reflect badly on LOS's image so where does that leave you .... with nothing but a feeling.

 

On another forum there was a poster who would loudly crow about how safe he felt, evidence be dammed. And then, suddenly,  he moved away, turns out his nephews were a lot unsafer than he realized .... ooops       

[George Graham]

Oh god, please come to Thailand.

[Stargeezr]

Thanks  TAT,  you  are  too  late  for me  as  I had to get my visa early

due to some restrictions, so  I  hope  Thailand is still suffering a tourist

shortage the next time I am going to LOS.

Geezer

[hellohello123]

im australian, been to thai about once per year for about 6 years,

do aussies pay a visa fee?? I cant actually remember paying for it ever,

I only remember pay about $50aud equivalent for bali, which they are getting rid of (apparenrtly)

 

and no, I did not drink on the plane :)

[SaintLouisBlues]

9 minutes ago, hellohello123 said:

im australian, been to thai about once per year for about 6 years,

do aussies pay a visa fee?? I cant actually remember paying for it ever,

I only remember pay about $50aud equivalent for bali, which they are getting rid of (apparenrtly)

 

and no, I did not drink on the plane :)

Depends how long you're staying. If less than a month then visa exempt anyway ie. you don't need a visa and you don't get a visa when you arrive, just the right to stay for 30 days

[Thechook]

4 minutes ago, hellohello123 said:

im australian, been to thai about once per year for about 6 years,

do aussies pay a visa fee?? I cant actually remember paying for it ever,

I only remember pay about $50aud equivalent for bali, which they are getting rid of (apparenrtly)

 

and no, I did not drink on the plane :)

Yes Australians do pay for a visa, it's about $90.00 AUD. OR roughly 2,500 baht.  I have purchased many over the years from the Thai consulate in Melbourne.

[hellohello123]

5 minutes ago, SaintLouisBlues said:

Depends how long you're staying. If less than a month then visa exempt anyway ie. you don't need a visa and you don't get a visa when you arrive, just the right to stay for 30 days

oh I get it now, I ve always stayed for 1-2 weeks each time , so hence I didnt need to pay

 

thankyou

 

carry on everyone

[possitive216]

God bless our nation Thailand and the Government.... i am telling you what Thailand Government is doing now...will kick down all other Asian nation, God bless every one of u that is working for goodness of this country. in Jesus name

[quandow]

Do I smell desperation?

[JB300]

Agreed! Anyone ever tried getting in to the UK with a Thai partner and a valid visa? Talk about queues - Geese!!

Sorry OT I know, but I'm planning on taking my partner (she's Filipina not Thai) to UK & one of the things she's concerned about is being left on her own in the immigration queue (it's happened a couple of times in Bali & Singapore when I've had to join a different queue).

Do you stay with your partner while she goes through immigration or meet her on the other side?

Petty question I know but honestly my gf is more worried about that than anything else about the trip, though in her defence, if you had to more or less beg immigration every time you wanted to leave your home country you might feel the same.

[Grubster]

When you burn a bridge down and later decide to rebuild it, those who used to use it may have found another route to travel. I think the bug of this being an unsafe, dirty, place to travel has been planted in the ear of quality tourists. They should be cleaning the tourist areas not running the vendors out. Those vendors are not the ones causing the problems here. They know who runs the show in these areas but refuse to do anything about it.

                            I have been to Mexico many times, and I can say that if you are a Mexican and you hurt,rob,or steal from a tourist there, you won't be in that tourist area the next day, what they do with the bad ones I don't know but crimes in and around the tourist areas there are a very small percentage of here. They also constantly clean the beaches. I think many of the big stores here could give up half of their staff to work on cleaning things up.

[Grubster]

17 hours ago, Psychic said:

I'm not going to go through all the posts here, so sorry if this a repeat.

There will be some sort of awakening soon.

With a strong Thai baht, Thailand is no longer a cheap destination.

The government may hope and pray for high income tourists. But that was never what Thailand was about,

High income people have multiple options.

It used to represent a good, cheap vacation for lower to middle income groups.

I think there are far more options opening up.

I live here, but I wait to play golf in Canada because a decent course is half the price it is here.

I know most Europeans and Americans think alcohol is expensive here.

Yes,there are some decent deals with food and accommodation. But they are not ultra-cheap as they used to be.

8 years ago I used to try and dissuade my friends from going to all-inclusive resorts in other countries, saying they could have a far better time here for less money.

I don't think that's the case anymore. 

The Thai government should be terrified by that. When foreigners no longer recommend Thailand as a tourist/retirement destination it will have disastrous consequences.

 

I agree and add that I think many tourists are taking home the stories of corruption and lack of justice here, on top of the reports that make western media.

       I love golf also and will never tell someone back home that its a good deal here, most mid range golf in the US is about half of here, and most will let you play as many holes as you like when paying for 18. I play 54 holes with a cart at many, some will charge again for the cart, but many don't. 

[carstenp]

1 hour ago, quandow said:

Do I smell desperation?

Not at all

 

In BP today you can read that Bookings see 30% surge and  reflecting the country's strong tourism recovery.

 

[Oziex1]

OK Thailand so if they don't come, what then?

[rooster59]

Visitors to Thailand now enjoy visa fee exemption

Tanakorn Sangiam

 

 

BANGKOK, 2 December 2016 (NNT) – The Ministry of Interior has exempted the visa fee for tourists to Thailand as part of the government’s high-season campaign. 

Deputy Interior Ministry Permanent Secretary Chayapol Thitisak said the campaign approved by the cabinet on 22 November 2016 resulted in the exemption of the fee for visas issued by the Thai embassies and consulates worldwide. 

The campaign temporarily reduces the Visa on Arrival fee for tourists who seek a visa upon entry into the country as proposed by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. 

The deputy permanent secretary said the Ministry of Interior has taken steps in accordance with the Immigration Act of B.E. 2522 to exempt the fee for single-entry tourist visas and to reduce the Visa on Arrival fee from 2,000 baht to 1,000 baht. 

The campaign is valid from 1 December 2016 and will conclude on 28 February 2017, spanning over a course of three months. 

“This campaign goes in line with the government’s policy to increase the nation’s tourism-related revenue. It will help increase the number of tourists during high season,” he said.

 

 

-- nnt 2016-12-03

[Lupatria]

1 hour ago, Oziex1 said:

OK Thailand so if they don't come, what then?

Prices for farrangs will triple instead of double in restaurants, hotels and at tourist attractions and national parks. TIT which means- someone has to pay for the no show's.

[Tilacme]

I collected a single entry tourist visa in UK on the 1st and was told that the £25 visa fee has been waived, however there is a £10 admin charge - not quiet waived then.  I am glad they are at least thinking about visas as it is way to complicated and all this regular reporting is a bind, especially if you live in the boonies.

[JustNo]

If things do not change within the next year, things will go downhill pretty damn fast for the Thais and their kingdom. A lot of them forget that without our tourism money their country will essentially die. They do not export enough products and or services to cover the loss of tourism that I can see on the horizon if things continue this way 

[Lannig]

4 minutes ago, JustNo said:

If things do not change within the next year, things will go downhill pretty damn fast for the Thais and their kingdom. A lot of them forget that without our tourism money their country will essentially die. They do not export enough products and or services to cover the loss of tourism that I can see on the horizon if things continue this way 

While I'm not especially optimistic (to say the least) about this country's future, I call BS.

Reasonable estimates for the share of tourism in GDP are around 10-12%.

Of course no country can easily manage a loss of 10+% of the GDP, but 1- I don't think it'll go that far 2- that wouldn't make the country "die".

Thailand is a huge exporter of food products, raw and finished, as well as a whole lot of manufactured goods.

[starfish]

56 minutes ago, Tilacme said:

I collected a single entry tourist visa in UK on the 1st and was told that the £25 visa fee has been waived, however there is a £10 admin charge - not quiet waived then.  I am glad they are at least thinking about visas as it is way to complicated and all this regular reporting is a bind, especially if you live in the boonies.

 

 

Did you consider, to come two times, because of the entry fee? Guess not. The price is still to high, if you count in what you will loose here . . .

 

Anyway, why do countries, who want Tourists, impose an entry fee at all ?

Thats like: please, stay away !

 

[Cuchulainn]

1 hour ago, Tilacme said:

I collected a single entry tourist visa in UK on the 1st and was told that the £25 visa fee has been waived, however there is a £10 admin charge - not quiet waived then.  I am glad they are at least thinking about visas as it is way to complicated and all this regular reporting is a bind, especially if you live in the boonies.

 

£10 for what? For the embassy clerks to do their jobs? Give in one hand but take in the other. Typical of an embassy!!