PM says reciprocal deal to start March
Thailand and China will implement a reciprocal visa-free scheme in which they will permanently waive visa requirements for each other’s citizens from March, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin revealed on Tuesday.
Speaking after a weekly cabinet meeting, the premier said the Thai-Chinese visa-free scheme, aimed at boosting tourism between the two countries, will come into effect on March 1.
“Travellers from both Thailand and China will no longer be required to submit visa applications in advance for visits to each other’s countries,” said Mr Srettha, who also serves as finance minister.
The development is an upgrade to Thailand’s previous visa-free programme for Chinese visitors, which was initially scheduled to last until Feb 29, said Mr Srettha.
By the time the visa-free programme for Chinese visitors to Thailand was launched, discussions about the possibility of initiating the permanent and reciprocal visa-free initiative had already begun, the prime minister said.
These discussions were the reason why China did not include Thailand in an earlier visa-free scheme for six countries a month ago, Mr Srettha said.
Last year, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) reported that Chinese tourists formed the second-largest group of visitors to Thailand.
About 3.51 million Chinese people visited Thailand last year, while Malaysians constituted the largest group, with around 4.4 million visitors. Chinese comprised the biggest group of visitors in pre-pandemic 2019, with 10 million.
Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara on Tuesday said he would visit China around mid-January to sign a memorandum of agreement (MoA) on the permanent visa-free cooperation.
And again early next month, he said, he will visit China for the signing of the Thai-Chinese visa-free deal, he said.
The minister said he was assigned by Mr Srettha to initiate talks with China on relaxing visa requirements last year.
According to CCTV (China Central Television), the number of foreign visitors to China rose by 28.5% between November and December after the country introduced a visa-free programme that included France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia.
These visitors who travelled into China on either a business or leisure trip under the visa-free programme accounted for 77.3% of all foreign visitors to China, CCTV said.
Effective from Dec 1, last year and lasting until Nov 30, 2024, holders of ordinary passports from these six countries can enter China visa-free for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, and transit for up to 15 days.
Prior to the Thai-Chinese bilateral deal, Mr Parnpree revealed in early December that Thailand had asked China to grant visa exemptions for Thai tourists.
He was speaking after a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the 8th Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Beijing.
That marked the beginning of bilateral talks on this Thai-Chinese permanent free-visa cooperation, while a panel assigned to follow up on the visa-free initiative later in the same month travelled to China to seal the deal, said the minister.
Thailand has introduced a tourist visa exemption scheme for Chinese and Kazakh passport holders to enter and stay within the country for up to 30 days, from Sept 25 until Feb 29.
This initiative, approved by the cabinet on Sept 13, aims to promote tourism, a key driver in stimulating the economy.
The measure was intended to boost arrivals from China and Kazakhstan during the September high season.
This year, the Thai government aims to generate 3.5 trillion baht in tourism revenue and says it plans to promote the country as a year-round tourism destination.
One trillion baht of the total is predicted to come from domestic tourists, with the remaining 2.5 trillion baht expected from arrivals, said government spokesman Chai Wacharonke over the weekend.
The Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) would also start promoting less-visited provinces with untapped potential for investment and tourism beginning this month.
