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