Thailand scraps 60-day visa-free policy for tourists

Bangkok (ANTARA) — Thailand’s Cabinet on Tuesday (19 May) approved a major revision to its visa-free policy, effectively scrapping the 60-day visa-free entry scheme for tourists from 93 countries and territories. According to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the revision is aimed at simplifying entry protocols and driven by considerations of national security, the tourism economy, and diplomatic reciprocity. The new rules will take effect 15 days after publication in the Royal Gazette. The major change to the Thai visa framework includes a strict policy that will only grant a single visa-free scheme per country or territory to eliminate overlapping privileges, said Mungkorn Pratoomkaew, the Director-General of the Department of Consular Affairs. The most significant change is the total removal of the 60-day visa-free scheme for all 93 countries and territories that previously qualified, Mungkorn said at a press conference. Furthermore, the government reduced the number of countries eligible for the 30-day visa-free scheme from 57 to 54, explicitly stating that the 30-day scheme is now exclusively for tourist purposes, he said. The Thai cabinet created a new 15-day visa-free scheme for tourist purposes, applicable to three countries or territories, and reduced the visa-on-arrival programme, reducing the number of qualifying jurisdictions from 31 to four, he added.