Thailand, China reach visa deal
Requirements to be waived for tourists from both nations
Thailand and China have agreed on a bilateral deal to waive visa requirements for travelers, according to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, a move likely to accelerate the pace of the post-pandemic recovery in the Southeast Asian nation’s key tourism industry.
Chinese visitors to Thailand will be exempted from visa needs beyond the current temporary scheme ending Feb. 29, Srettha told reporters recently. China will also grant Thai tourists the same permanent privilege following several rounds of talks, he said.
Chinese were Thailand’s largest group of tourists before the pandemic. They accounted for more than a quarter of the 40 million visitors in 2019 but tallied only about 3.5 million out of the 28 million tourists last year.
Since taking office in September, Srettha’s government has rolled out several measures to boost tourism — what he calls a “quick win” — to stimulate growth in Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy. The sector accounts for about 12% of gross domestic product and nearly a fifth of jobs.
Thailand has also temporarily waived visa requirements for travelers from Russia, Kazakhstan, India and Taiwan and it has also been planning to allow longer stays for tourists from specific countries to induce more spending.
The visa waiver for Thais traveling to China will help “elevate pride in Thai passports,” Srettha said. “The good news is, from March 1, no visas are required for travel between Thailand and China.”
Thailand is currently ranked 64th on the Henley Passport Index, with its citizens having visa-free access to 80 destinations, below topranked Singapore’s 193.
The bilateral agreement will be officially signed by the two countries by the end of February, according to Thai government spokesperson Chai Wacharonke. Chinese tourists will be allowed to stay a maximum of 30 days per entry in Thailand and vice versa, Chai told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting. A total of 90 days’ stay is allowed in case of multiple entries within 180 days.
The visa exemption will help “further enhance people-to-people exchanges,” Wang Wenbin, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said at a briefing, adding that the two countries are “communicating closely on the matter.”
The new visa deal and prospects for a jump in tourist arrivals lifted shares of some Thai airlines, hotel operators and state-controlled Airports of Thailand PCL, which operates six airports. While AOT gained as much as 4.2%, the most since Nov. 24, Asia Aviation PCL, which controls the country’s largest budget carrier, jumped as much as 7.5% to the highest level since Nov. 9. Central Plaza Hotel PCL shares rose as much as 3.4%.
The visa measures will further bolster the outlook for international arrivals, Koraphat Vorachet, an analyst at Krungsri Securities PCL, wrote in a note last week. This will help support earnings of operators of airports, airlines and hotels, he said.
To entice more foreign tourist spending, Thailand’s cabinet also approved cuts in excise tax on fermented alcoholic beverages, Chai said. Wine and sparkling wine varieties will be subject to a unitary tax rate of 5% regardless of price tiers. A 10% ad valorem tax for local rice wine varieties will be scrapped, he said.
Thailand earned $35 billion from 28 million foreign tourists last year, Tourism Minister Sudawan Wang sup ha kijko sol said in a statement. Malaysian tourists topped the list of visitors at 4.56 million, with Chinese, South Korean, Indian, and Russian tourists making up the rest of the top five.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand expects tourist arrivals to jump to 35 million this year, including 8.2 million from China.