Scrapping immigration forms may boost Malaysian tourist influx in Thailand

Picture courtesy of Nutthawat Wicheanbut.

Tourism professionals in Songkhla have voiced their desire for the discontinuation of the TM6 immigration paperwork as an additional border checkpoint and the eradication of extra-time service charges, as these measures continue to slow the influx of tourists from Malaysia.

The government gave its approval this week to scrap the TM6 forms from November 1 to April 30, 2024, at the Sadao immigration checkpoint in Songkhla.

By October 22, the count of arrivals from Malaysia had reached 3.54 million, surpassing the 2.7 million visitors from China. The Tourism Authority of Thailand anticipates the Malaysian market to surpass the record of 4.2 million arrivals set in 2019.

Songchai Mungprasithichai, the leader of the Songkhla Tourism Promotion Association, highlighted that there are typically between 500 and 600…