PM announces a mutual agreement for March.
According to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, Thailand and China will apply a mutual visa-free program in which they will entirely relinquish visa requirements for each other’s individuals starting in March.
The Thai-Chinese visa-free program, intended to increase commerce between the two nations, will go into effect on March 1 according to the top, who spoke after a regular cabinet meeting.
According to Mr. Srettha, who also serves as funding minister,” travelers from both Thailand and China will no longer be required to send card applications in advance for trips to each other’s places.”
According to Mr. Srettha, the development is an improvement over Thailand’s past visa-free program for Chinese visitors, which was originally set to end on February 29.
According to the prime minister, discussions about starting the continuous and bilateral visa-free initiative had already started by the time the program for Chinese tourists to Thailand was introduced.
According to Mr. Srettha, these conversations were the cause China did not contain Thailand in an earlier visa-free program for six countries a fortnight ago.
Chinese tourists made up the second-largest group of visitors to Thailand, according to a report by the Tourism Authority of Thailand ( TAT ) last year.
Last year, about 3.51 million Chinese people traveled to Thailand, with Malay making up the largest population with about 4.4 million customers. With 10 million visitors prior to the crisis in 2019, Chinese tourists made up the largest party.
Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, the foreign minister, announced on Tuesday that he would travel to China in the middle of January to sign a memorandum of agreement ( MoA ) establishing the permanent visa-free cooperation.
He added that he would travel to China once more earlier in the following fortnight to sign the Thai-Chinese visa-free agreement.
The minister claimed that Mr. Srettha had given him the task of starting discussions with China about easing visa requirements next month.
Following the introduction of a visa-free program that included France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia, according to CCTV ( China Central Television ), the number of foreign visitors to China increased by 28.5 % between November and December.
According to CCTV, 77.3 % of all international tourists to China were those who entered the country on a business or leisure trip as part of the visa-free program.
Holders of regular passports from these six nations may provide China visa-free for organization, tourism, visiting family and friends, and transport for up to 15 days starting on December 1 of last year and lasting until November 30, 2024.
Mr. Parnpree revealed in first December that Thailand had requested card exemptions for Thai travelers before the Thai-Chinese diplomatic agreement.
On the outside of the 8th Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Foreign Ministers ‘ Meeting in Beijing, he was speaking following a meeting with Wang Yi, his Chinese rival.
A panel chosen to follow up on the visa-free program later in the same month traveled to China to seal the deal, which marked the start of diplomatic speaks on this Thai-Chinese continuous free-visa cooperation, according to the minister.
For Chinese and Kazakh card buyers, Thailand has implemented a visitor visa exemption program that allows them to enter and remain in the nation for up to 30 days, from September 25 through February 29.
The government approved this program on September 13 with the goal of promoting tourism, a major factor in boosting the economy.
During the September high season, the estimate was meant to increase visitors from China and Kazakhstan.
The Thai government plans to promote the nation as a year-round tourist destination and hopes to bring in 3.5 trillion ringgit in hospitality income this year.
According to government official Chai Wacharonke over the weekend, private tourists are expected to account for one trillion of the full, with the remaining 2.5 trillion baht coming from arrivals.
Beginning this month, the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Tourism Authority of Thailand ( TAT ) would also begin promoting less-traveled provinces with untapped potential for investment and tourism.