The Travel Agent Association yesterday threatened to boycott Thailand after the Thailand Trade and Economic Office Taipei on Monday announced that visa fees are to increase by NT$470 in October.
Based on the notice issued by the Thai office, tour group visa applications are to be outsourced to a private agency authorized by the office.
Independent travelers applying for visas at the Thai office mght also be affected by the new visa scheme, as the office will only accept 50 applications per day.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
The visa agency will take over the visa applications once the daily quota is met, the office said.
Visa applications made directly at the office will cost the same, NT$1,200, but an additional NT$470 will be charged for those made via the visa agency.
Some considered the visa fee hike a slap in the face of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) New Southbound Policy, which aims to promote closer relations with Southeast Asian nations.
Under the policy, the government has waived tourist visas for Thais to attract more Thai visitors.
The association said in a statement yesterday that it was the right and policy of the Thai government to stipulate how it handles visa applications and at what cost, but the measure has sparked a backlash among Taiwanese and travel agents.
If the Thai office insists on raising the visa fee, it should explain the reason for the change, the association said.
“We call for intervention and assistance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on this matter, which should be settled based on the principle of reciprocity. We do not exclude the possibility of boycotting tours to Thailand,” it added.
The ministry yesterday said it would communicate with the Thai government over the new visa fees, ministry spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said.
The Thai government has every right to increase its visa application fee, but the ministry will talk to its Thai counterparts about the fee hike after the office announces more details about the proposal, he said.
Thai Representative to Taiwan Thongchai Chasawath yesterday afternoon said that the Taipei office handles about 2,800 visa applications per day — which is more than what the office can handle.
Chasawath said the situation has been going on for 17 years since the office was established and after assuming office four months ago, he decided to make a change so the office could provide better services.
The decision was made to offer higher quality service to visa applicants and to beef up office security, he said.
Several Chinese-language travel fan pages, such as iFLY (愛出國iFLY), announced that it would stop posting information on cheap flight tickets to Thailand and remove posts introducing Thailand’s Loi Krathong and Songkran festivals.
“Thailand is the most unfriendly to Taiwanese tourists among ASEAN nations in terms of visa requirements. Since getting a Thai travel visa is such an expensive thing to do, we can save money and spend it on countries that waive visa requirements for Taiwanese tourists,” iFLY said.
About 290,000 Thai tourists visited Taiwan last year, compared with about 550,000 Taiwanese who visited Thailand, Tourism Bureau statistics showed.
For the first seven months of this year, about 390,000 Taiwanese visited Thailand, the data showed.
The fee increase would make Thai visas the most expensive one among Southeast Asian nations.
Besides applying for a visa in Taiwan, travelers can also apply for a landing visa after they arrive in Thailand, which costs 2,000 baht (US$61.50) or about NT$1,900.
Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam also provide landing visas at a cost of US$31 to US$35. Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia offer 30-day visa-free travel to Taiwanese tourists.
The Philippines issues an electronic visa for a 30-day visit, which costs NT$1,100, and a two-month visa, filed at the office, for NT$1,200.
Travelers to Vietnam can also apply for a visa while they are in Taipei, with a single-entry visa costing NT$1,350.
Myanmar issues a 28-day electronic visa for US$50.
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