Thailand removes visa requirement for Mexicans

THAILAND.- Thai authorities said on Friday that the list of exempt countries of targeted to travel to the Asian country will be expanded from 57 to 93 Starting next Monday, including new additions such as MexicoColombia and Uruguay, among others.

On its Facebook page, the Thai Ministry of the Interior noted that It will come into force on July 15 the new list of countries that will also extend the permitted stay to a total of 60 days, a measure that seeks to encourage tourism still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic (2020-2023).

Countries such as Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru did not require a visa before the new measure, while the extension will benefit more Latin American countries such as Panama, Guatemala, Cuba and Ecuador.

Over the past year, Thailand has reached agreements visa exemption o extension of residence permits with countries such as China, India and Russia in an attempt to revive tourism, which once accounted for 12 to 20 percent of their gross domestic product before the pandemic.

Tourism in Thailand

In 2023, around 28 million foreign tourists visited Thailand, mainly from Malaysia (4.6 million), China (3.5 million), South Korea (1.66 million), India (1.62 million) and Russia (1.4 million), according to official data.

For this year, the Ministry of Tourism expects a more robust recovery of the sector with the arrival of some 35 million international tourists.

In 2019, before the pandemic, Thailand had nearly 40 million tourists, of which Chinese travelers accounted for more than 27 percent of the total with more than 11 million visitors from the Asian giant.

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