Malaysians Get Visa-Free Travel & Extended Stay of up to 60 Days in Thailand Starting June
In an effort to facilitate tourism, Thailand has announced new measures for Malaysian tourists.
Following the new rules, starting June 1, these visitors can enter the country without a visa after arrival, with a stay of up to 60 days, while the previous visa-free period for Malaysians was 30 days, VisaGuide.World reports.
Effective today, visitors from 93 countries, including Malaysia, can enter Thailand without visas for stays of up to 60 days, up from a number of 57 countries that could do so. Additionally, the list of visa-on-arrival eligible countries will increase from 19 to 31.
The countries eligible for visa-free stays include key tourism markets such as China and India, and other ones as follows:
- United States
- United Kingdom
- Albania
- United Arab Emirates
- Cambodia
- Jamaica
- Kazakhstan
- Laos
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Panama
- Romania
- Sri Lanka
- Uzbekistan
The Thai cabinet has also approved visa-on-arrival for 31 countries, up from the previous 19. This list includes Armenia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Fiji and Malta.
Visa Validity for Digital Nomads Will Be Extended to 5 Years
As for digital nomads seeking long-term stays and remote work in Thailand, visa validity will be extended from 60 days to five years, with each stay up to 180 days.
Other measures include allowing foreign university students to stay for one year after graduation and relaxing insurance requirements for long-stay foreign retirees.
As of last week, Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports revealed that the country has welcomed more than 14.32 million tourists and aims to attract at least 35 million foreign arrivals this year.
Thailand Aims to Target Key Source Markets
Considering that China and India are among the most important source markets for global tourism, Thailand is also looking to attract travellers from these countries.
As a result, during this year’s Labor Day holiday, a 212 percent surge in travel from China to Kazakhstan has been registered to Thailand.
A notable increase was also seen in Singapore, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, and the Maldives following the relaxation of visa policies.
In 2023, over 1.6 million Indian travelers visited Thailand, making it the fourth-largest source market for the country.
These tourists contributed more than $1.7 billion in spending.
In November last year, Thailand decided to grant visa-free entry to Indian citizens from November 10 till May this year.
This month, the Thai cabinet approved a plan to extend the visa exemption to six more months.
Source: https://visaguide.world/news/malaysians-get-visa-free-travel-extended-stay-of-up-to-60-days-in-thailand-starting-june/
