On visa-free entry

On visa-free entry

Your article headlined Govt delays implementation of new visa
policy again (The Jakarta Post, Nov. 28) quotes the immigration
department as saying that Indonesia plans to "adopt a simple
visa-on-arrival procedure, as applied in Thailand".

In recent years I have entered Thailand several times by land,
sea and air from Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam and Indonesia but I have
never been asked to pay for an entry visa. In fact, only a small
minority of visitors to Thailand are required to buy visas
because Thailand, like Malaysia and Singapore, grants visa-free
entry to tourists from all main source markets in East Asia,
Oceania, Europe and North America.

So it is misleading to suggest that by introducing a visa fee
Indonesia is following in the footsteps of countries like
Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore when in reality it is following
in the footsteps of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

JOHN HARGREAVES
Jakarta