On January 2nd, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha stated that starting in March, China and Thailand will permanently exempt each other's citizens from visas. In response, Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the government departments responsible for the matter are in close communication on the specifics, and that we look forward to the early implementation of the arrangement.

The news of China and Thailand's permanent mutual visa exemption has sparked great attention.

Reportedly, within half an hour after the announcement, the search popularity for Thailand tourism on the Tongcheng Travel platform surged by 158% compared to the same time the previous day, with Guangdong Province showing the highest level of interest in news related to Thailand tourism. One hour after the announcement, the search volume for flights to Thailand on the Fliggy platform exploded to more than double; on the Thailand site of Trip.com, part of the Ctrip Group International, the search popularity for the keyword China increased by over 80% compared to the previous hour, with Guangzhou being the city with the highest search popularity, followed by Shanghai, Beijing, and Kunming.

"China and Thailand are important sources and destinations for each other's tourists. During this year's New Year holiday, Thailand was among the top three popular destinations for Chinese outbound tourists," said a representative from the Ctrip Group. They added that the permanent mutual visa exemption will have a positive and profound impact on cultural exchanges and the development of the tourism industry between the two countries.

On the Ctrip platform, Thailand is one of the top ten source countries for inbound tourism to China in 2023. With the further optimization of visa policies, the convenience for people from various sectors in Thailand to come to China for business, exhibitions, and travel activities has greatly increased, which will bring considerable growth to China's inbound tourism market.

A recent report titled "2024 Outlook on the Trends of Outbound Travel Demand among Chinese Residents" released by Tongcheng Travel shows that over sixty percent of respondents have plans to travel abroad in the coming year. Besides Hong Kong (China) and Macau (China), Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia are the most popular destinations among these travelers.

It is reported that Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand became one of the first destinations for Chinese citizens to travel to at their own expense as early as 1997. Since then, they have always been popular destinations for Chinese outbound tourists, serving as the first stop for many travelers stepping out of the country.

Since the second half of last year, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand have announced mutual visa exemptions with China. Thailand declared as early as September 13 last year that it would implement a visa exemption for Chinese tourists starting from September 25, for a period of about five months. This time, the exemption has been extended to permanent.

It is known that tourism is an important engine of the Thai economy. Previously, Thai Prime Minister's Office spokesperson Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana stated that in 2024, the Thai government aims to fully restore the tourism industry to pre-pandemic levels, attracting 40 million foreign tourists. Given that China is the world's largest source of outbound tourists, it seems quite reasonable and logical for it to become a country with permanent visa exemption status.

Industry experts predict that once the visa exemption for Singapore is implemented, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand will form a visa-free golden route. At that time, travel by Chinese citizens to Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand is expected to further heat up.

It is reported that in addition to Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, other countries such as Georgia, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Albania, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Fiji have also announced visa exemptions for Chinese tourists.

Source:Yangcheng Evening News

中泰两国3月起将实施永久互相免签

１月2日，泰国总理赛塔·他威信表示，中泰两国将从3月起永久互免对方公民签证。就此消息，中国外交部发言人汪文斌回复表示：目前双方主管部门正就具体事宜密切沟通，期待有关安排早日落地生效。

“中泰永久互免签证”消息一出，引发强烈关注。

据悉，该消息发布后半小时内，同程旅行平台泰国旅游搜索热度较前日同一时段上涨158%，其中广东省成为对泰国旅游相关消息关注度最高省份。消息公布后1小时，飞猪平台泰国机票搜索量暴增超2倍；携程集团国际版Trip.com泰国站点“中国”关键词的搜索热度环比前1小时增长超80%，广州成为搜索热度最高城市，紧随其后的是上海、北京、昆明。

“中泰两国互为重要的客源地和目的地。今年元旦假期，泰国位居中国游客出境游热门目的地前三。”携程集团相关负责人表示，永久互相免签对于两国人文交流、旅游业发展都将产生积极深远的影响。

携程平台上，泰国是2023年中国入境游十大客源国之一。随着签证政策的进一步优化，泰国各界人士到中国开展商务、会展、旅行等活动的便利度大幅提升，将给中国的入境游市场带来可观增长。

同程旅行近日发布的《2024中国居民出境游需求趋势前瞻》显示，超六成受访者在未来一年内有出境游计划，其中除中国港澳地区外，选择新加坡、泰国、马来西亚作为目的地的游客占比最高。

据悉，“新马泰”早在1997年就成为第一批中国公民自费出国旅游的目的地，此后一直是国人出境游的热门国家，成为不少游客踏出国门的“第一站”。

自去年下半年起，新马泰先后宣布将与中国互免签证。其中泰国早在去年9月13日即宣布自9月25日起对中国游客实行免签，为期约5个月。此次则将免签直接续期至“永久”。

据悉，旅游业是泰国经济的重要引擎。泰国总理府发言人猜·瓦差隆此前曾表示，2024年泰政府将促使旅游业全面恢复至疫情前水平，吸引4000万外国游客。中国作为全球最大的出境游客源国，此次成为“永久免签”或在情理之中。

业界预计，待新加坡免签落地实施后，“新马泰”将形成一条“免签黄金线路”。届时，中国公民赴新马泰旅游将进一步升温。

据悉，当前除新马泰外，格鲁吉亚、突尼斯、斯里兰卡、阿尔巴尼亚、毛里求斯、塞舌尔、斐济等国也已纷纷宣布对中国游客免签。

文｜记者 刘星彤
翻译｜林佳岱