The government has announced, on Tuesday, that they will be allowing long-stay tourists to enter the country in October in order to assist the tourism sector.
The tourists entering Thailand will be issued a “Special Tourist Visa” or STV.
Traisuree Trisoranakul, a government spokesperson, said that “tourists who qualify for the STV must intend to stay in Thailand for a long period of time, comply with Thai Public Health measures of undergoing state quarantine or alternative state quarantine for 14 days, and show evidence of the hotels that they will be staying in.”
For foreigners that are returning to Thailand, they must provide proof of residence, whether it is a condominium they have purchased or are renting or evidence that the place of residence belongs to their relatives.
The visas will cost 2,000 baht and will last for 90 days. When expired, the Immigration Office will allow for the visa to be extended up to two times with a cumulative total of 270 days. This will continue in effect until September 30, 2021.
The target group for this scheme is tourists that are capable of long term visits to Thailand.
Traisuree also says that according to their estimation, there will 100 tourists entering Thailand per week and 1,200 tourists per month once the scheme starts.
The estimated income from this scheme would be 1.2 billion baht per month.
Tourist that are interested in visiting Thailand must contact companies that are under the TAT so they are able to keep track and handle the visas of incoming tourists.
However, the exact date in October has yet to be announced.