Thailand Extends Visa On Arrival Fee Waiver To April 2020

The Tourism Authority of Thailand recently announced an extension on the fee waiver on visa on arrival for various countries. This move is mainly aimed at increasing the tourism and improving ease of entry for international visitors. Only a few countries are eligible for the free visa on arrival.

The fee for the visa on arrival has been waived for various countries including India, China, Taiwan, Andorra, Bulgaria, Bhutan, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Romania, San Marino, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The initial fee was 2,000 Baht, which is approximately 4,746 Rupees for a single entry travel visa for a maximum stay of 15 days.

This is the fourth time that the fee waiver has been extended in the past few years. The initial waiver was introduced from November 15, 2018 to January 14, 2019 which was then extended to April 2019 then October 2019 and it finally has been extended to April 2020. Although the waiver will cause a loss of 10.764 billion Baht in lost revenue from fee collection, an increase in revenue of 144.732 billion Baht is expected due to rise in tourism.

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