Thailand Strips 81 Countries of Visas on Arrival Privileges

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 19, 2001

Thailand Strips 81 Countries of Visas on Arrival Privileges

Thai government ruled that visitors from 81 countries including Russia and Uzbekistan would no longer be able to obtain a visa on arrival, the Nation newspaper reported Wednesday.

Thai government ruled that visitors from 81 countries including Russia and Uzbekistan would no longer be able to obtain a visa on arrival, the Nation newspaper reported Wednesday.

Thailand granted visas on arrival for visitors from 96 countries and allowed them to stay in the countries for 15 days.

However, according to government officials, previous records indicated that visitors from some countries had exploited the privileges to commit crimes, such as prostitution, trafficking narcotics and humans, as well as overstaying their visas to seek jobs.

Thai officials also suggested to strip the privilege for Chinese and Indian, but the cabinet ruled out the proposal.

At the same time, Thai government also removed 19 countries from a list of 56 nations whose citizens were offered "visa-free" entry into Thailand for a month.

The countries removed from the list included Burma, Mexico, Egypt, Oman, Tunisia, Chile and Bahrain.

Thailand, Laos, Vietnam Agree to Enhance Trade Ties

Thailand Ranks Third in Number of Child Prostitution