In a bid to revive a tourism industry that is vital to its economy, Thailand has decided to temporarily grant visa-free entry to tourists from China. How will this work, and what impact will it have on the tourism industry?
Visa waiver details
The Thai government has announced that this measure will be in place from September 25 until February 2024.. The aim is to reach 5 million Chinese tourists this year, since around 1.4 million Chinese visited Thailand in the first half of the year.
Why this decision now?
Spokeswoman for the Prime Minister's Office, Chai Wacharonkeexplained that the tourism industry is currently "the only remaining economic machine“ which can rapidly generate new revenue for Thailand. This visa-free policy is one of several economic measures taken by the Srettha government to stimulate an export-driven economy that failed to meet its 2023 targets.
- A stimulus plan involving the distribution of 560 billion baht to the population over 6 months
- Reductions in electricity rates and diesel prices
- A three-year debt relief program for farmers
The importance of Thailand's tourism industry
The tourism sector is vital to the Thai economy, contributing an estimated 1.9 trillion baht in revenue in 2019. However, the industry has yet to fully recover from the impact of the health crisis that shook the entire world.
In 2019, the country counted a record 40 million international visitors. This figure has dropped considerably, to just 6.7 million in 2020 and falling to 428,000 in 2021.
However, the situation improved slightly in 2022 with around 11.15 million international visitors, exceeding the government's targets. Even so, the recovery slowed this year, particularly for Chinese tourists, who accounted for 28% of international arrivals in 2019, with 11 million visitors..
Targets revised upwards
Thailand hopes to welcome 28 million international visitors by the end of 2023, exceeding its initial target of 25 million. To achieve this, it is counting in particular on the attractiveness of this new visa exemption for Chinese nationals.
Fill in a file from e-Visa Thailand
English 
Français 
Deutsch 
Italiano 
Español