With easier visas, Thailand wants you to stay longer and spend more

BANGKOK: Content creator Steve Lim never planned to live in Thailand. He was meant to be going to New York.
But enroute to the Big Apple, and while on a short stopover in Bangkok in 2022, his United States visa fell through, and suddenly the New Zealand national had big decisions to make.
The Thai capital was an entirely foreign place, clouded in cliches and emerging from the tourism-crushing pandemic. But more than two years later, Mr Lim, 27, now a content creator and remote worker in business development for a Chinese firm, says he feels at home here, in the “hub of creativity in Southeast Asia”.
And the Thai government is now intent on luring more digital nomads like him to the country on visas that more easily facilitate longer stays than ever before.
It has introduced a range of new visa schemes, part of the ‘Ignite Thailand’s Tourism’ campaign, which aims to create ease of travel for travellers worldwide, according to Mr Nithee Seeprae, a deputy governor at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
“The new visa policy will help boost tourism revenue, give us a competitive edge in the region and foster improved international relations. It also diversifies our visitor demographics, encourages longer stays and repeat visits, and potentially attracts business investors,” he told CNA.Among the new permits that were announced on Jul 15, the Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) allows remote workers, digital nomads, and freelancers a five-year stay in the country, with multiple entries allowed for cumulative stays not exceeding 180 days.
Visa holders can then leave and re-enter the country to extend their stay by a further 180 days. It also includes participants of other activities, including Muay Thai courses, Thai cooking classes, sports training and medical treatments.
Application costs 10,000 Thai baht (US$285) and necessitates proven personal finance holdings of more than 500,000 baht (US$14,700), among other requirements.Other changes include extending visa-free entries to nationals of 93 countries and territories, up from 57 previously and granting visas-on-arrival to nationals of 31 countries and territories, up from 19 previously.In addition, the new Student Visa (Non-Immigrant ED Plus) will allow those who have graduated from Thai universities to extend their stay for an extra year for a variety of purposes, including travel or to search for employment.
For Mr Lim who has lived with the uncertainty of short-term visas for nearly his entire time living in Bangkok, the option of applying for a permit that closely aligns with his work is very welcome.“I was initially on a holiday visa. I was hopping in and out on visa runs. I kind of burnt out from doing that,” he said of an experience that many typically face in the kingdom.
After about six or seven months, he decided to switch to an education visa, meaning he could stay in the country while learning the Thai language remotely through a local education establishment. But he knew it could only be a temporary measure.
He said that there’s an “influx of people” among his personal network, particularly those working in the creative space in Thailand and abroad, keen to secure their future in the country or come over for the first time on the DTV.
“I think it’s no secret that Southeast Asia attracts a lot of online remote workers. And to think that for the past couple of years, there’s not really been an acknowledgement of these kinds of workers…now it’s good that we’re finally getting the acknowledgement. 
“I really like having that flexibility. And I think during COVID a lot of companies and people realised that you don’t have to spend eight to nine hours in an office every day. You can work from home. You can travel and do the same things, as long as you’re getting your work done,” he said.
The trends in the travel industry around longer stays and higher spend have become clear over the past couple of years.While pure visitor numbers to Thailand, as an example, have not rebounded to 2019 pre-COVID highs, data shows that there has been an uptick in those choosing to stay in the country for extended periods.Mr Olivier Ponti, the director of intelligence and marketing at ForwardKeys, a travel data company, said that a quarter of all visitors to Thailand currently are staying for more than two weeks.Stays of 22 or more nights have already fully recovered to 2019 levels, yet short-term visits remain down by 19 per cent, he explained.“Visas are without a doubt a tried and tested way to attract tourism to a destination. Since the pandemic, many destinations have launched new visas to accommodate the huge increase in remote working,” he said.
“The increase in digital nomads and the adoption of remote working styles will certainly be noticed both globally and in Thailand,” he said.Mr Ponti said the recent introduction of rival schemes to attract long-term visitors, such as Indonesia’s B211a visa and the United Arab Emirates’ Virtual Working Program have also resulted in positive long-stay growth numbers in their respective countries, especially compared to still-sluggish short-stay figures.In the Southeast Asia region, Malaysia also offers 12-month stays for qualified foreign digital nomads under the DE Rantau Nomad Pass, while the Philippines has also announced plans for a similar scheme.
According to Mr Peter Guis, owner of TMT Visa Service Phuket, the interest in the DTV has been instant and will offer a flexible and affordable option to those who may have otherwise put off spending an extended period in Thailand due to unclear visa structures.
But given how new the scheme is, he admitted there are still uncertainties about how it will work over time.
“The DTV is a game changer in a way but it’s not really determined how much of a game changer it will be. There will be positive effects,” Mr Guis said.
“(But the government) needs to keep a close eye on it, because it’s going to bring some negative effects in bringing people into the country, long term, that may not have the best intentions as well,” Mr Guis said.
Broader economics will still have much influence over whether Thailand can attract as many international visitors as it hopes, said Mr Stephen Noton, the international marketing advisor for Tourism.co.th, an independent Thai tourism platform.
Chinese travellers have not returned as quickly to the country post-pandemic, for example, despite a visa scheme designed to make their entry as seamless as possible.
“It’s not the only factor at play. Global economic conditions, inflation and things like airline prices or political stability can also have a big impact,” he said. “If people feel uncertain about spending or if there are other barriers, the increase might not be as significant as we’d hope.”
There are both revenue and social benefits in wooing “quality over quantity” in the form of individuals willing to put down medium-term roots in your country and local economy, said Mr Paul Pruangkarn, the chief of staff at the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).“If I’m just looking at revenue generation, yes, I’m going to look at those long haul markets and those digital nomads. Because they are going to stay longer, they’re going to spend more.“Also you saw some of the backlash from communities against tourists too recently in Barcelona,” he said, referring to incidents where local protesters harassed international visitors on city streets over high rent prices due to a surge in Airbnb listings, the closure of local businesses in favour of tourist-focused enterprises and poor conditions for service workers.
The Thai government has an official target of 40 million visitors in 2024. Mr Pruangkarn said it needed to “walk a tightrope” between ensuring the private sector, including hotels and airlines, can enjoy the pure visitor numbers to remain profitable, and maintaining both a sustainable industry and social cohesion.“It’s really that’s something that we’re keeping an eye on.  We need to be able to balance people, profit and the planet, especially now out of COVID when everyone’s rushing to get visitors and to make money,” he said.
The constant pursuit of growth also takes a toll on infrastructure and inevitably the experience of tourists as they enter and depart the country – a concern that longer stays can also address to some degree, he said.Thailand’s main airports are set to undergo capacity expansion works in the coming years to alleviate arrival and departure bottlenecks. 
Notably, that will include the major expansion of U-Tapao international airport, close to Pattaya, expected to start this year and a high-speed rail network to connect it with Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi and Don Meuang airports, with works slated to begin in 2025.“There is pressure on our entry and exit infrastructure, particularly at popular airports, border crossings, and during peak season. A shift towards quality tourism over quantity could alleviate some of these pressures,” said Mr Nithee. He said that the TAT will work with its tourism partners to offer special packages or deals for those staying in Thailand longer and encourage tourists to travel all year round. 
“Longer stays provide more stable tourism income, helping to smooth out seasonal fluctuations,” he said.“When we talk about “quality tourists”, we’re referring to travellers who bring more than just economic value to a destination. These individuals stay longer, immerse themselves in local culture, and prioritise sustainable and responsible travel practices. “They’re not just looking for a quick getaway but a meaningful experience that allows them to connect with the place they’re visiting on a deeper level,” he said.In a cutthroat tourism sector, Mr Pruangkarn said he expected governments to continue to adapt their immigration policies. And while Thailand may have been slower than others to open its borders to a new breed of workers, he believes it is cognisant of the value they bring. 
“Am I surprised it took so long? Yes. Do I understand why it took so long? Of course. I think there are challenges,” he said.
“But you have to stay competitive. You have to say, what can I do to make sure that I’m one step ahead of my neighbour?”