Speaking after the meeting, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said that from September 25 to February 29, 2024, Thailand will waive visas for tourists from China and Kazakhstan in an effort to boost tourism.
“This means that tourists from these two countries will no longer have to apply for a visa before arriving in Thailand. The scheme is currently only being implemented temporarily so that its impact can be assessed,” he said.
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin at a Government meeting on September 13.
Currently, Thailand is exempting visas for tourists from 50 countries and territories. Tourists from these countries and territories can stay in Thailand for 30 days. However, Chinese tourists traveling to Thailand still have to apply and pay a fee to be granted an entry visa.
Supporting tourism is one of Mr. Srettha’s priorities as he seeks to boost personal spending and boost the economy, which is currently growing just 1.8% in the second quarter of 2023. The main reason for the slowdown is the decline in exports, which account for 60% of Thailand’s gross domestic product.
According to the forecast of the National Economic and Social Development Council of Thailand, the country's economy will grow by 2.5% - 3% in 2023, lower than the previous forecast of 2.7% - 3.7%. Meanwhile, the Thai tourism industry, accounting for about 18% of GDP, has begun to recover since the second half of 2022, when the capital Bangkok lifted all restrictions. By the second quarter of 2023, the recovery of the Thai tourism industry is becoming stronger.
In the first eight months of 2023, Thailand welcomed 17.9 million international tourists, an increase of 3.2 million visitors compared to the same period last year. Of these, Chinese tourists accounted for the majority of the market share, reaching 2.2 million people. However, this figure is less than half of the target of 5.5 million Chinese tourists that the Thai tourism industry is expecting.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand forecasts that Thailand will welcome about 29 million international tourists in 2023, much higher than the 11.5 million in 2022. However, this figure is still significantly lower than the 39 million visitors to Thailand in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic occurred.
Thai businesses are eagerly awaiting the government's new visa exemption policy, believing it will help attract more Chinese tourists and boost the Thai economy's income in the last quarter of the year, the peak tourist season.
Also at the meeting on September 13, the Thai government agreed to postpone debt payments for farmers and small businesses for three years. At the same time, from January 1 next year, government employees will be paid biweekly.
In addition, the Government has approved a decision to reduce electricity prices from 4.45 baht per kilowatt hour to 4.10 baht from next month and maintain retail diesel prices below 30 baht per liter from September 20 because this is an important fuel for the transportation industry.
