Southeast Asian countries boost visa relaxation amid fierce regional tourism race

Thailand

Starting from Monday, Thailand offered 60-day visa-free stays for citizens from 93 countries and territories, an increase from the previous 57.

"Travelers from these qualified destinations can visit Thailand for tourism or short-term business purposes," Ministry of Interior spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul said in a statement.

In addition, Thailand also introduced its Destination Thailand Visa from Monday, allowing digital nomads, freelancers, and visitors interested in learning skills such as cooking and martial arts to stay for up to 180 days, and the visa will be valid for five years.

Foreign students who earn a bachelor's degree or higher in Thailand will be permitted to stay for one year following their graduation.

Thailand welcomed 18.2 million foreign tourists so far this year, a 35% year-on-year increase, with China, Malaysia, and India being their largest sources of visitors.

It eyes 36 million international visitors by the end of this year.

Laos

The Lao government has expanded the number of visa waiver-eligible countries by adding eight European nations.

Starting from July 1, citizens from Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Spain, and Greece are exempted from visa requirements for their 15-day visit to Laos.

Chinese tourists traveling in groups organized by officially registered agencies can benefit from 15-day visa-free travel.

From July 1, tourists from 22 countries are also able to obtain multiple-entry visas valid for stays of up to 60 days. Previously, the Lao visa allows only one entry into the country for a maximum stay of 30 days.

The 22 eligible countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K., and the U.S.

Malaysia

In June, Malaysia agreed to extend its visa exemption for Chinese tourists until the end of 2026, according to a joint statement between the two countries.

This reciprocates China's agreement to extend its visa exemption for Malaysian tourists until the end of next year, Free Malaysia Today reported.

Malaysia started waiving visas for Chinese tourists from December last year.

The number of Chinese tourists to Malaysia reached 758,000 in the first quarter of this year.

Singapore

Starting from Feb. 9, Chinese passport holders were exempted from visa requirements for a stay of up to 30 days in Singapore.

Thanks to the visa exemption, China overtook Indonesia for the first time to become Singapore's largest source of visitors in the first six months of this year with 1.45 million.