Are you Planning for a trip but worried about paperwork? There is good news, Guess what? Now you can visit lots of countries with just Thailand’s Single Visa, making your travel easy and stress-free! As someone like us who doesn’t have lots of vacation days, being able to visit many countries with just one visa is amazing. It means we can make the most of our trip and see as much as possible without wasting time on paperwork.This amazing initiative has been taken from the leader of Thailand, Srettha Thavisin The Prime Minister who had a great idea for the sake of tourists to make travelling easier which will increase the number of visitors to his country by using a magic single visa for Thailand’s Single Visa facility.
For the sake of the development of this idea, the Prime Minister of Thailand has many conversations with nearby countries to make the idea reality of a special visa that works like magic for all of them, just similar to how Europe’s Schengen System works. The main idea behind Thailand’s special visa is just to make it simpler for tourists who can visit these countries without spending a lot on the paperwork.
The friendly conversation of Thailand Prime Minister Srettha with the leaders of various countries like Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Vietnam related to Thailand’s Single Visa Initiative aimed to welcome almost 70 million tourists for their place in the last year.
This is really an exciting move that shows that Thailand is very serious about not only being a popular place to visit but also becoming a top spot for flights and shipping in Southeast Asia.
There have been questions arising on the Schengen Visa. A Schengen Visa is like a magic pass that lets you travel easily between certain European countries, including Austria, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and Greece. Where you don’t need to keep applying for different visas every year. It widely opens the door to the Schengen Area, where these countries have agreed to get rid of passport checks at their borders, making travel smoother and easier for everyone.According to reports, in 2023, six Southeast Asian countries welcomed a huge number of foreign tourists of almost 70 million! Thailand and Malaysia were the big stars, bringing in more than half of all those visitors. Together, they made around $48 billion from tourism.
The Prime Minister of Thailand Srettha had planned for Thailand’s Single Visa which is one of his big ideas for tourism, though it’s something that will happen gradually over time. The purpose of making this single visa is that tourism is super important for the country, which makes up 20% of all the jobs and about 12% of the country’s $500 billion economy. Even when times are tough, like during the pandemic, tourism keeps going strong. It helps balance out other parts of the economy, like manufacturing and exports, which are usually the biggest parts.
Namely Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, who used to lead the Thai Hotels Association, supports a shared visa system like Europe’s Schengen visa. According to her, she said that it would make long trips easier for travellers. She also suggested making the 30-day visa last for 90 days which would make it more attractive to tourists.
Whereas, the Prime Minister of Thailand Srettha’s team wants to bring in 80 million tourists by 2027. In the last seven months, they’ve done things like making it easier for people from China to visit and giving temporary waivers for visitors from India, Taiwan, and Kazakhstan. These actions show they’re working hard to make Thailand a top spot for tourists.
Impact Of Thailand’s Single Visa On Indians!
As the initiation of Thailand’s Single Visa may not affect much on Indian Travellers. This is because Indians already have advantages like they have no need for a visa, getting a visa on arrival, or even applying for an e-visa when visiting these Southeast Asian countries. So, this new Thailand’s Single Visa initiative won’t change much for Indians.
Thailand’s No-Visa Rule for Indian Travellers!
The government of Thailand made it easier for Indian travellers by changing the visa requirements in November 2023. From November 10, 2023, to May 10, 2024, Indians can visit Thailand for up to 30 days without needing a visa. The Tourism Authority of Thailand says this change led to more Indians visiting, increasing from 4,000 to 5,500 visitors per day.Hence, it is not sure that creating a visa system similar to Europe’s Schengen zone, which allows people to travel freely between countries without border checks, could be difficult for ASEAN. This is because ASEAN has a history of moving slowly in making big policies together and is known more for talking than taking quick action.
