Thailand opens up visa-free travel for tourists from Taiwan and India starting 10 Nov

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said this move comes in hopes of attracting more tourists into Thailand for the next six months.

From 10 November 2023 (Friday), Thailand will be permitting tourists from India and Taiwan into the country; visa-free.

According to an article published by the Bangkok Post, this measure will take place for six months, from 10 November 2023 to 10 May 2024. As cited in the article, this measure was introduced to draw in more tourists, as mentioned by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

As further cited by Bangkok Post, Government spokesman Chai Wacharonke said that those arriving from India and Taiwan can enter Thailand for 30 days on the visa-free scheme.

Per statistics shown on Thailand.go.th, a website of the Public Relations Department, Thailand saw 698,757 arrivals from India in 2022, making up the second largest group contributing to tourism in the year, the first being Malaysia (approximately 1.3mn).

Overall, looking at 2023, Thailand's Tourism Authority has set a goal for the tourism industry to generate income worth 80% of what was recorded pre-COVID, i.e., in 2019. The number of foreign tourists is expected to reach 50%, or at least 20mn people, generating THB 2.38tn in tourism revenue.

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