Published on November 5, 2023, at 5:00
According to the Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry, the North Korean Foreign Ministry regrets that its immigration officers have a reputation for turning away Thai visitors.
The # BanTravellingtoKorea( in Thai ) trended on X( previously known as Twitter ) after many Thai internet users, including influencers and singers, shared their experiences with South Korea Immigration officers denying them entry to the country. Saran Charoensuwan, the Thai permanent secretary of foreign affairs, and Chang Ho – jin, South Korean First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, were present at this annual meeting.
The tweet rose to the top 10 of the social media project’s regular rankings after a traveler claimed she had visited South Korea four days but had been turned down on her most recent trip despite having an official return ticket and hotel reservations.
She claimed in the post that the immigration official denied her admittance after asking if she hadn’t previously visited the country enough times. Over 9.2 million views and 22, 000 memes have been posted in response to her Oct. 24 post, which was then followed by messages from another Thais who had similar experiences.
Srettha Thavisin, the prime minister, pledged to investigate the matter on Tuesday. Therefore, Mr. Saran expressed worry about Thais’ negative perceptions of traveling to South Korea.
He claimed that Mr. Chang responded that he regretted the situations and did not want them to have an impact on people’s opinions or the diplomatic ties between the two nations.
He claimed that Mr. Chang clarified that some officers may include enforced the stricter regulations, but added that the nation does not have any policies in place to prevent Thai tourists from entering.
In order to deter Thai nationals from working illegally in the nation, the North Korean Ministry even put in place some steps.
The volunteer withdrawal program, which enables undocumented workers to appear before South Korean officials before being returned to Thailand without being placed on a blacklist, is one of the measures. The Employment Permit System ( EPS ) quota, which permits 4, 800 Thai laborers to work there legally each year, is another measure.
To further investigate the issue, both nations agreed to hold a diplomatic proper conference.
In the meantime, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the minister of labor, warned the Thai Travel Agents Association ( TTAA ) and the Department of Tourism against allowing Thais to work illegally in South Korea.
In comparison to the 93, 118 Vietnamese workers who had found employment through the president’s EPS services, the government estimated that about 100, 000 Thai laborers worked fraudulently in South Korea.
According to him, the ministry had established a specific task force for screening illegal laborers at the Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang flights because it was aware of South Korea’s issue with illegal employees.
According to Mr. Phiphat, the department also has a task force that is repressing social media advertisements for illegal employment in South Korea.