PUBLISHED: 7 Apr 2024 at 11: 56
As Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin ramps up initiatives to get more long-haul and high-spending travelers, Thailand is leading an effort for a combined- card program with nations that collectively hosted about 70 million tourists next year.
Mr Srettha — who’s pledged to raise Thailand’s reputation as a tourism hub into an aircraft and logistics gateway — has discussed the Schengen- form visa idea with his counterparts in Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam in recent months. The center aims to make it simple for travelers to travel between the six neighboring nations.
Tourism-reliant Thailand aims to generate more income per traveler and protect its economy from negative effects from weak exports and fragile global demand, which has hurt its manufacturing sector, with the majority of leaders supporting the single-visit concept.
According to standard data, the six South Asian countries combined reported 70 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2023. More than half of the total accounted for Malaysia and Thailand, which generated about$ 48 billion in tourism revenue.
The second visa is the most optimistic among Srettha’s line-up of hospitality initiatives, but it is focused on the long term. The industry has served the country well, accounting for about 20 % of total jobs and making up about 12 % to the nation’s$ 500 billion economy. Tourism, which had previously been the pillars of the market, has flourished and provided a cushion against a decline in production and export.
The tourism industry is optimistic, with Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, a past president of the Thai Hotels Association, saying” a typical visa could persuade lengthy- haul travellers to create an easier decision”. The visa validity will need to be extended to 90 days from the usual 30- day period to make it attractive, she said.  ,
Srettha’s administration has set a goal of attracting 80 million tourists by 2027. And since taking office about seven months ago, his government has offered temporary visa waivers for visitors from India, Taiwan, and Kazakhstan as well as a reciprocal visa waiver agreement with China, Thailand’s largest tourist market. Additionally, it is considering whether to expand casinos inside of large entertainment complexes and promote event-based tourism, which will increase revenue.
According to Bill Barnett, managing director of hospitality and property consultancy C9 Hotelworks, the benefits of visa-free travel wo n’t be limited to tourism alone.
However, obtaining a Schengen-type visa, which allows free travel around the EU’s border-free zone, may be challenging given Asean’s poor track record in advancing multilateral policy and the organization’s reputation as a talk shop.
According to Barnett,” Country by country seems to be the best way to do it.” Because they are looking outward rather than inward, bilateral agreements make a lot of sense.
According to Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor at Chulalongkorn University’s political science faculty, approvals must be coordinated and the absence of standard immigration standards, in contrast to those of the European Union, may be problematic. Asean, as a grouping is a divided body with a poor immigration record, he said.
With Srettha being neophyte in politics, he may lack the clout to push through the visa proposal, Mr Thitinan said.
” I think all the things he’s been trying to do are picking low-hanging fruits and picking fruits off the ground,” said Mr. Thitinan. ” Sometimes fruits on the ground are rotten”.