Thailand says visa on arrival fee jump will not hit Chinese, Indian markets

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said on Thursday that the country's tourism is expected to keep growing and generate 75 billion U.S. dollars throughout 2016, adding that the coming visa on arrival fee hike may not hit Chinese and Indian markets.

In the first nine months of 2016, Thailand's tourism industry is expected to generate a total of 54 billion U.S. dollars for the Thai economy, which would be a 14 percent increase compared with same period in 2015, said TAT governor Yuthasak Supason in a press release, adding that a total of 24.94 million foreign tourists are expected to contribute 36 billion U.S. dollars.

For the last quarter of 2016, TAT expects the tourism industry to generate 20 billion U.S. dollars, including 14 billion U.S. dollars from 9 million foreign tourists.

However, Thailand's immigration authorities declared earlier that they will begin imposing new charges for visas on arrival from Sept. 27, raising the current fee of 1,000 baht (29 U.S. dollars) to 2,000 baht (58 U.S. dollars).

The visa on arrival fee hike was criticized by Bangkok post as "goes against the county's numerous campaigns to attract more tourists."

Yuthasak said the adjustment is to encourage tourists to apply for visas before they enter the country.

"Nowadays, tourists are waiting long queues for visas, which is a pressure on our immigration authorities and tourists may get upset as they have to wait for a long time," said Charoen Wangananont, president of Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA).

According to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, around 19.54 million foreign tourists visited Thailand from January to July this year. Among them about 30 percent are from China, which is the biggest share.

The TAT expects the number of Chinese tourists to be over 10 million in 2016.

(APD)