Thailand considers visa fee waiver
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Thai Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, said his government may waive visa fees for all tourists for three months in a bid to boost visitor numbers following last year’s siege of Bangkok’s airports, The Straits Times reported.
The PM said there could also be discounts on aircraft landing fees.
“The plan to revive the tourism sector will be tabled at the cabinet meeting next Tuesday and will include a three months waiver for visa fees and discounting landing fees,” he was quoted saying at a seminar.
“I hope these measures will help the tourism sector one way or another,” he added.
The report said citizens of 41 countries including the US, most European nations, Japan, Australia and New Zealand already do not require a visa to enter Thailand if their stay did not exceed 30 days.
Tourism in Thailand had taken a hit from both the global economic downturn and the anti-government protests in late November that led to a blockade of Bangkok’s two airports for more than a week. The Bank of Thailand has forecast that tourist arrivals in 2009 would drop 8.8% from 12.8 million visitors in 2008. The industry accounts for some 5% of GDP.
The government has allocated THB1 billion (US$29.2 million) of a THB115 billion fiscal stimulus package to boost tourism.
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