Thailand's visa waiver to allow Taiwan nationals to stay up to 60 days

Bangkok, July 13 (CNA) The Thai government announced on Friday that Taiwanese nationals will be allowed to stay under the Southeast Asian country's visa free program for up to 60 days per entry, starting from July 15.

Taiwan is among the 93 countries under the Thai visa waiver program whose nationals are eligible to stay for up to 60 days, compared with the previous 30 days, as the Thai government has decided to expand its visa free program from the original 57 countries to 93.

After Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin came to power in 2023, he set a target of granting visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of his government's efforts to stimulate the economy.

The expanded visa free program was not signed by Thailand's Minister of Interior Anutin Charnvirakul until Friday, although the Thai government had previously announced the new measures would take effect in June.

Taiwan is one of the 36 countries added to the visa free program, according to the Thai government. Prior to that, the Thai government had repeatedly extended its visa free program every six months for Taiwanese nationals.

After the signing of the new program by Charnvirakul on Friday, Republic of China (Taiwan) passport holders traveling to Thailand for tourism have been granted a visa-free stay of up to 60 days starting July 15.

Thailand first announced a visa waiver for Taiwanese travelers on Nov. 10, 2023 and it continued for six months.

In early May, the Thai government announced that it would extend a visa waiver to Taiwan tourists for six months from May 11 to Nov. 11 and that the maximum stay would be 30 days.

Before the visa waiver program, Taiwanese nationals were required to pay NT$1,200 (US$36.92) per person for a Thai visa.

Thailand is one of the favorite destinations of Taiwanese tourists.

In the first four months of this year, a total of 210,283 Taiwanese nationals visited Thailand, up 74.05 percent from a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Tourism Administration.

In response, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said it welcomed the Thai government's decision to include Taiwan into the expanded visa free program, and the new measure means the visa free status granted to Taiwanese nationals will continue without the need for an extension unless a revocation is announced.

MOFA said how to allow more conveniences to Taiwanese nationals to travel overseas is one of the important tasks for the ministry, and the inclusion of Taiwan into the Thai government's expanded visa free program showed the ministry's long-term efforts to improve bilateral ties.

More importantly, MOFA said, Thailand is one of the countries under Taiwan's "New Southbound Policy" and has become a close partner in a wide range of areas such as trade, economics, investments, education and agriculture development.

After the granting of the visa free treatment to Taiwan, MOFA said, Taipei and Bangkok are expected to boost their bilateral exchanges.

The New Southbound Policy, launched by then President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2016, aims to enhance trade and exchanges between Taiwan and 18 countries in Southeast and South Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand, to reduce Taiwan's dependence on China.