In effort to give a boost to its tourism industry, Thailand has significantly expanded its visa-free entry scheme to include 93 countries and territories, which allows visitors to stay up to 60 days without a visa.
According to Nikkei Asia, the extension includes leisure and business travelers from the U.S., most of Europe including the U.K., and all of Thailand’s fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations except Myanmar.
It also extends to China, whose mutual 30-day visa waivers with Thailand came into effect in March. Nationals from new target markets India, Kazakhstan, Russia and Saudi Arabia, who receive visas on arrival, are also eligible for 60-day stays. The change, announced on Monday, comes as the Tourism Authority of Thailand set its revenue target for 2025 from foreign and domestic tourists combined at 3.4 trillion baht ($94.1 billion). This is 400 billion baht more than this year’s target but 100 billion baht less than what Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said it should be.
Decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic and disappointed by the lackluster return of Chinese tourists, Thailand has tried to diversify its inbound tourism markets, targeting countries like India and Russia and high-spending visitors from the Middle East. Thailand is aiming to attract 38 million foreign tourists this year — 2 million less than the pre-pandemic record of 40 million — generating at least 1.7 trillion baht in revenue. In the first half of 2024, the kingdom surpassed its target of 17.5 million foreign tourists, who contributed 1.1 trillion baht to the economy, according to the tourism ministry. Tourism comprises about a fifth of Thai gross domestic product.
In addition to the tourist and business visa changes, foreign students at Thai universities will be allowed to stay for one year to seek work or travel within the kingdom.
