Thailand Rolls Out The Red Carpet For Indians: No Visa On Arrival Fees Till January, One Minute Processing Time

The Thai Immigration Bureau has recently announced plans to introduce eVisa for Indians travelling to Thailand, as reported by Outlook India. It currently provides a visa on arrival to travellers from various countries, including from India.

This new mechanism, which will apply to citizens of over twenty countries, will make the visa approval process more convenient. “E-visa on arrival (E-VOA) system is expected to cut visa-processing time to as little as one minute,” the bureau announced.

The Thai cabinet had earlier waived off the 2,000 baht visa on arrival fee for tourists from India and 20 other countries for a two month period starting 1 December.

E-Visas can be availed by tourists arriving at the following Thai airports: Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Don Mueang Airport International Airport, Phuket International Airport, Chiang Mai International Airport, and Krabi International Airport.

As per this new facility, those travelling to Thailand can fill an online form and make the necessary visa payments before going to the country. This form will then be pre-approved by the Immigration Bureau and remove the need to stand in queues at the airport.

Out of the 35.3 million international tourists that visited the country, over 1.4 million were Indians in 2017. This makes the India the fifth largest source country for Thailand. It should also be noted that this represents an increase of 18 per cent over 2016.