Deputy PM’s passport plea: Thai tourists seek visa-free voyage to Germany, EU

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara is calling for visa-free travel privileges for Thai tourists travelling to Germany and other European Union (EU) countries.

During his stay in the United States to attend the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 78), the 66 year old MP seized the opportunity to meet with German Foreign Minister Tobias Lindner to strengthen ties and discuss various cooperation between the two countries.

The discussion was mainly about trade partnerships, the management of climate change, the emergence of electric and hydrogen vehicles, as well as the intricacies of the defence industry. Pranpree also invited the German Minister to consider the Schengen visa exemption for Thai tourists.

Parnpree highlighted that Germany is a leading destination for Thai people along with other EU members such as France, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Therefore, Thailand wanted to ask for cooperation to strengthen the potency of the Thai passport and facilitate travel through a visa-free policy.

As of now, there has been no official announcement regarding the outcome of these deliberations or the subsequent steps in the negotiation process.

In a related development, Thailand recently introduced a visa-free policy, effective from today, for travellers from China and Kazakhstan. This policy will remain in effect for a duration of five months, extending until February 25, 2024.

The main aim of the measure is to attract more foreign tourists to Thailand, especially Chinese, as the number of Chinese tourists has been declining since the pandemic. The government expects the visa-free policy to attract more than 18,000 Chinese nationals per day to Thailand, up from about 9,600 per day.

The Ministry of Transport also planned to provide more payment channels from Chinese service providers to enhance the convenience for Chinese nationals at airports and local shops across Thailand.

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