Proposal for a visa exemption under fire

Proposal for a visa exemption under fire

Ministry of Foreign Affairs says plan a "security risk"

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has asked the government to consider the proposal of the ministers of the economy to offer a visa exemption to Chinese and Indian tourists as part of its economic stimulus package.

The ministry has expressed its opposition to the measure proposed by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, citing considerations of national security.

Last Friday, a meeting of ministers related to the economy approved a series of measures to inject an additional 316 billion baht into the economy.

The proposals will be forwarded to the main cabinet for approval on Tuesday.

One of the important measures to boost tourism, a key economic driver, is a visa waiver for Chinese and Indian visitors, which will allow them to stay in Thailand for up to 30 days, although it is felt that this measure will cost about 12 to the state. 13 billion baht in annual revenue lost visa fees.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports, controlled by the Bhumjaithai party, argued that the proposed visa waiver, which will come into effect from November 1 of this year to October 31 of next year, will encourage Chinese and Indian tourists to return to Thailand.

By the end of the year, the number of Chinese tourist arrivals is expected to reach 11 million, while about 2 million Indian tourists would have traveled to Thailand.

The number of Indian tourists is expected to reach 3 million next year, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

However, Foreign Minister Don Praramudwinai sent a letter to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to oppose the visa waiver proposal.

The letter obtained by Bangkok Post was signed Thursday.

In this letter, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that the visa is a measure to filter foreigners entering Thailand to avoid any potential risk to national and economic security.

He warned that the lifting of visas should be the subject of careful consideration as it would have widespread repercussions.

In particular, national security must be taken into account before a visa waiver is offered to Chinese and Indian tourists.

India and China each have more than one billion inhabitants. The main concern is whether Thailand is ready to deal with a potential influx of tourists from the two countries that enter Thailand freely.

Many of them could take the opportunity to escape difficulties such as natural disasters in their country to settle in Thailand, according to the ministry.

The ministry claimed that several factors contributed to the economic gloom, such as the US-China trade war and the appreciation of the baht.

Therefore, the lifting of visas is not the right way to solve the economic downturn, but will have a negative impact on national security and the local way of life, the statement added.

Mr. Don pointed out that many Chinese have taken advantage of tourism to run businesses in Thailand and that they dominate and set prices for local fruit and crop production in several provinces.

Mr. Don also said that the Thai Embassy in India was struggling to process false documents filed by visa applicants.

He further added that Thailand still lacked a coherent and unified system for managing foreign tourists and immigrants entering and leaving the country.

The removal of visas for tourists from the two countries of more than one billion people will potentially make the management of tourist arrivals chaotic, Don said.

Despite the expected increase in tourism receipts resulting from the proposed visa waiver, Thailand will not benefit from this measure as, in the end, these two groups of tourists will only opt for services and goods provided by their compatriots in Thailand, Mr. Don. I said.

"This will not benefit Thailand because the benefits of the economic activities of these groups of people will only exist between them," the letter said.

If the problem occurs, in the long term these groups of people will settle in Thailand.

This will in turn affect the livelihoods of Thais.

However, a source who is an immigration officer at one of Thailand's international airports said that the visa waiver proposal should pose no problem to immigration officers because Chinese and Indian tourists rarely have problems staying out of their visa.

National Security Council Secretary-General Wallop Raksanoh downplayed concerns over potential security risks from the free visa proposal.

He added that the council is in regular contact with other security agencies to monitor and screen troublemakers entering Thailand.

General Pol Wallop stated that he did not oppose the proposal as he was confident that the security agencies could handle the problem.