Tag: Thailand

Starting from this Valentine’s Day, Thailand will introduce its first e-Visa On Arrival (eVOA) for visitors from 20 countries and one business district. The system is developed jointly by Immigration Bureau of Thailand and VFS Global. The new system is expected to cut the processing time for visas on arrival at airports to as little as one minute. The fast-entry online visa system will initially be available to nationals from Andorra, Bhutan, Bulgaria, China, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, India, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. They will be eligible if they ... Read more

The number of tourists coming to Thailand will hit a record 41.1 million in 2019, the country’s government said. The tourists are expected to spend 2.21 trillion baht and the number of visitors is projected to rise 11 per cent to 11.69 million. The country saw a record 38.27 million tourists in 2018, up 7.5 per cent from 2017. The December tourist arrivals were 3.85 million, and the arrivals are projected to climb about 8 per cent from last year’s 38.3 million. To put that in perspective, the flood of arrivals exceeds the population of Canada. Chinese tourists are returning after a ... Read more

Thai Lion Air will begin direct flights between Sri Lanka and Bangkok from January 30, 2019. The flight is scheduled to depart Colombo at 9.30 am and arrive at Don Mueang Airport (Bangkok) at 2:45 pm (local time). “The airline is ready for the Sri Lanka market and is excited to bring more travelers from Sri Lanka to experience Thailand’s tourism product,” said Thai Lion Air Chairman Capt. Darsito Hendro Seputro. In addition to Bangkok, the airline offers services to other domestic destinations in Thailand such as Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuken and Pattaya. After Sri Lanka, Thai Lion Air is planning ... Read more

MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index has published a survey on the dining and shopping (GDCI: Indulgences) spending patterns of tourists in various cities around the world. Bangkok was ranked third on the list of the Top Global Cities for Dining and sixth on the list of Top Global Cities for Shopping. The GDCI: Indulgences survey is a part of the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index (GDCI). It ranks cities that tourists visited in the past one year. In 2018, the result indicated that Bangkok was the #1 Global Destination for the third consecutive year with Phuket and Pattaya ranked 12th ... Read more

Long ride enthusiasts can have a really long road journey that crosses two countries.  A 1360 km long highway is coming up connection India, Myanmar and Thailand. India is undertaking construction of two sections of this Trilateral Highway in Myanmar, which include 120.74 km Kalewa-Yagyi road section and 69 bridges along with the approach road on the 149.70 km Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa (TKK) road section. The works on both these sections were awarded on Engineering, Procurement and Construction mode in May 2018 for Kalewa-Yagyi section and November 2017 for the TKK section. The works are expected to be completed within three years ... Read more

India is the second largest most populous country in the world with the tag of fastest-growing major economy globally. Due to this economic growth, its people are earning more year on year and their disposable income is also growing. Air connectivity from India to foreign locations has also improved significantly over a period of time. First-time Indian visitors generally prefer to visit Asian countries due to their proximity to India and being less expensive compared to western destinations. In the case of long-haul travel Indians prefer going to United States (US), Australia, Europe, New Zealand etc. Thailand, Singapore and United ... Read more

Bangkok is awarded “Best City – International Category” by Travel + Leisure India’s Best Awards 2018. Travel + Leisure India & South Asia announced the results of its seventh edition of the India’s Best Awards at the ITC Maurya, New Delhi on 12th November, 2018. Bangkok has won top honour as Best City – International category at the ceremony. In 2017 Thailand has received the Best Honeymoon Destination (International) and 2011,2014, 2015 and 2016 Thailand has received the best wedding destination and 2011 and 2015 as the best country awards from Travel + Leisure. The polling was conducted as a ... Read more

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said it is delighted to welcome the government’s decision to grant a visa-on-arrival fee waiver for tourists from 20 countries. From 15 November, 2018, to 13 January, 2018, citizens of Andora, Bulgaria, Bhutan, China including Taiwan, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, India, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan will be exempted from the 2,000 Baht visa-on-arrival fee for the purpose of touring in Thailand not more than 15 days. “This is good news for Thailand’s tourism industry as we’re preparing a range of year-end activities ... Read more

Loi Krathong, one of Thailand’s most enchanting annual festivals, falls on 22 November this year, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is hosting the unique Loi Krathong Kap Kluai of Samut Songkhram 2018 event from 21 to 23 November in Samut Songkhram province west of Bangkok. “With its widespread appeal and popularity, Loi Krathong is an ideal opportunity to promote tourism linkages from major to secondary cities, in line with the government’s policy to better balance the distribution of tourists and tourism revenue between urban and rural areas and even out monthly travel seasonality. The Loi Krathong Kap Kluai of ... Read more

Travellers, be aware that new regulations are issued by the Department of Public Health in Thailand which will force smokers to stay well away from public buildings and public areas. The ban will include people smoking outside café and restaurants. No smoking signs must be posted in accordance with ministry regulations and that the areas surrounding such signs in all directions will be considered off limits to smoking, reads the guidelines. Signs are only permitted away from doors, windows, entrances and exits, pipes and ventilation openings and must clearly state in Thai and English that smoking is not permitted within ... Read more

Apple Iconsiam opens today in Bangkok on the shores of the Chao Phraya, welcoming both locals and visitors to experience the best of Apple in Thailand for the first time. The store features Apple’s full line of products including iPhone XS, iPhone XR and Apple Watch Series 4, and is inviting visitors to pursue their creative passions with free Today at Apple sessions. “Bangkok is a cultural and economic destination for the entire region and home to millions of passionate Apple customers,” said Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail. “We are thrilled to introduce our Thai customers to ... Read more

“Facebook Dating” service test was first launched in Colombia in September. And, now Facebook has expanded its dating feature test to two new countries – Canada and Thailand. The feature included user-integration with Groups and Events on the social networking platform with the idea to encourage people to meet in public. For the tests in Canada and Thailand, Facebook has new functionalities. Among them is a feature called the “Second Look” that allows users to reconsider a previous decision. With this new added feature, one can pause matching in case they are no longer looking to date. The feature is ... Read more

Thailand’s cabinet approved a measure to waive for two months fees paid by visitors for visas on arrival, with an objective to boost tourism, which was hit by a drop in visitors from China, its biggest market. The fee of 2,000 baht (USD 60) will be waived between December 1 and January 31 for travellers from 21 countries, including China, Taiwan, India and Saudi Arabia, government spokesman Puttiphong Punnakan told the media. The scheme is expected to increase tourist numbers by at least 30 per cent during the period, he said. In September, overall tourist arrivals rose just 2.1 per ... Read more

Design of Kampot International Tourism Port, Cambodia Cambodia and Thailand have inked an agreement to cooperate on marine tourism, linking the tourism ports of the two countries. The agreement has come in to being during the 4th meeting of Cambodia-Thailand Working Group on Tourism Cooperation. Thong Rathsak, Cambodia’s Director General of Tourism Development and International Cooperation and Arrun Boonchai ,Thai Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Tourism and Sports co-chaired the meeting. As per the agreement, both countries will cooperate on marine tourism linking Koh Samui of Surathany province, Thailand to the International Tourism Port of Kampot province. Koh Samui Port, ... Read more

Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya says growth in the Indonesian tourist industry may excel that of Thailand within the next five years. “We can beat ‘Amazing Thailand’ and ‘Malaysia Truly Asia within about five years’,” said Arief in a discussion at the State Secretariat in Jakarta. “In 2014, Indonesia ranked 70th in the world tourist Industry, but leaped to the 20th spot in 2017,” he added. Indonesia has hosted around 14 million foreign tourists in 2017, adding to the state revenue around USD 15.2 billion; while Thailand had 35 million foreign tourists in the same year with total revenue of ... Read more