#Thailand - Immigration overhaul – TM6 disappearing and TM30 App being launched

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“We made the decision last Friday. Within two to three months, life will be much easier for foreign tourists and expats.”

In what appears to be a major overhaul of immigration procedures, dare we say ‘modernisation’, foreign visitors will soon no longer have to fill out the “TM6” arrival forms. 

The white and blue form has been a source of confusion for decades as passengers try to fill them out on planes or in a mad rush when they arrive at immigration desks without them, for decades.

The reason for the decision to go all-digital with the arrival procedure is that, of all reasons, the storage of all the white and blue cards had become an issue.

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But wait, there’s more.

Now khaosodenglish.com are reporting that Thai immigration is not only doing away with the TM6 forms, they’re about to launch a new mobile phone app to make TM30 reporting easier.

Kobsak Pootrakool, the Deputy Secretary-General to the PM, also mentioned on Tuesday that another app is being developed to allow long-stay foreigners to complete their 90 day reporting with their smart phone. And, yes, he said a smartphone App was also going to make the TM30 reporting easier.

The TM30 form, and its companion, the TM28, have been a source of expat displeasure over the past five months since the immigration department decided to enforce a little-used 1979 law that required foreigners to report their whereabouts if they had stayed overnight at an address different from their registered address.

The same applied for landlords or owners of accommodation to report foreigners staying at their venues within 24 hours. Along the way there appeared cracks in the enforcement with all sorts of variations and conundrums being thrown up at organised panel meetings and online, little of which was answered with any certainty from the Thai immigration authorities.

 Kobsak now claims that the changes are designed to attract more visitors and accommodate those already living in the kingdom.
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“We made the decision last Friday. Within two to three months, life will be much easier for foreign tourists and expats.”

“Foreigners will be able to report their whereabouts with just four clicks on their smartphone to fulfill regulations that require them to report to immigration authorities every 90 days.”

Deputy immigration commander Nattapon Sawaengkit has confirmed the move to move the TM30 reporting online when contacted for comment, but assigned another officer to explain the details, according to the khaosodenglish.com report.

 Everyone’s favourite arrival procedure, the TM6 form.
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Source - The Thaiger

Vietnam - Mastercard lists Hanoi, HCMC among top 20 Asia-Pacific travel destinations.

Hanoi is in 15th position and Ho Chi Minh City in 18th among Mastercard’s top 20 Asia-Pacific destinations for international travelers this year.

Mastercard ranked 161 cities in the Asia-Pacific based on the number of overnight international arrivals and travel spending, using data primarily from national tourism boards.

Last year Hanoi received 4.8 million overnight international visitors, who stayed for 3.8 days on average while the southern metropolis had 4.1 million arrivals who stayed for 5.3 days, according to the annual Asia Pacific Destinations Index drawn up by the U.S. payment company, released last Friday.

The average spending by foreign tourists was $78 a day in Hanoi last year and $98 in Saigon, much lower than in Bangkok ($184), Singapore ($272), Kuala Lumpur ($142), Phuket ($247), or Bali ($125), it said.

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The top five destinations in the list were Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, and Seoul, welcoming over one-fifth, or 22 percent of all overnight visitors to the region’s top 161 cities and regional centers in 2018.

Last year the region received 342.2 million business and leisure visitors, up from 159.1 million in 2009, representing 8.9 percent growth annually.

During the period spending by travellers grew by 10.2 percent to more than double from $117.6 billion to $281.1 billion.

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While many Asia Pacific destinations are basking in the growth led by mainland Chinese travelers, South Korea and Japan have also emerged as major source markets, the report noted.

Mainland China accounts for 18.2 percent of international overnight arrivals, South Korea for 9.1 percent and Japan for 6 percent.

"While the world's economic, geopolitical, technological and societal landscapes have all changed dramatically since Mastercard launched this research 10 years ago, one thing has remained constant: the desire of ever-growing numbers of people to explore the world beyond their own borders," Rupert Naylor, senior vice president of Mastercard Advisors in Asia Pacific said.

Last year HCMC and Hanoi were among the world’s 100 most visited travel destinations, a Euromonitor International report said.

Source - VN Express

International tourist arrivals up 6% to 1.4 billion in 2018: UN

The number of international tourist arrivals rose by 6 percent last year to 1.4 billion, according to an estimate published Monday by the World Tourism Organization.

The increase was driven by travel to southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the Madrid-based UN body, citing economic growth and cheaper air travel as key factors.

Although arrivals to the Americas grew by a modest three percent -- four for North America -- Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific performed better, with rises of six, seven and six percent respectively.

In 2010, the WTO had forecast that international tourist arrivals would only hit the 1.4 billion mark in 2020 -- but it now said that stronger economic growth, more affordable air travel and an easier visa regime around the world had helped boost the market.

"The growth of tourism in recent years confirms that the sector is today one of the most powerful drivers of economic growth and development," WTO secretary-general Zurab Pololikashvili said in a statement.

Total arrivals to Europe were 713 million but the WTO noted that arrivals in northern Europe were flat last year, citing uncertainty over Britain's impending exit from the European Union.

Closer focus on data for Africa, which welcomed 67 million visitors in total, saw the north of the continent register 10 per cent growth in arrivals staying at least overnight. Sub-Saharan arrivals were up six percent.

Middle Eastern arrivals rose 10 percent to 64 million.

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 The Caribbean suffered a drop of 2.0 percent in arrivals as it continued to feel the effects of the September 2017 hurricanes Maria and Irma. The storms caused catastrophic damage in tourist hotspots such as Barbuda, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. 

 The WTO predicted a global overall increase of between three and four percent for the current year, broadly in line with historical trends. Stable fuel prices would "translate into affordable air travel while air connectivity continues to improve in many destinations", it predicted.

Outbound tourism from emerging markets, "especially India and Russia", but also from smaller Asian and Arab markets is expected to continue to grow strongly, it added.

But at the same time the WTO warned that uncertainty related to Brexit "as well as geopolitical and trade tensions may prompt a 'wait and see' attitude among investors and travelers".

Source - TheJakartaPost 

Netizens disagree with official numbers: The miracle 20% rise in tourist numbers

A story from The Thaiger yesterday stirred up a lot of suspicion that the Ministry of Sports and Tourism are being ‘flexible’ with the truth.

The story quoted the Sports and Tourism Minister saying that, since they introduced the visa-on-arrival fee waiver (for 21 countries), the numbers of arrivals has surged 20%. He said in his quotes that the ‘bounce’ came mostly from Chinese and Indian tourists.

But some of our readers didn’t go along with the PR spin out of the Minister’s office. Here’s a few of the responses (we’ve corrected a few spelling and grammar errors)…

Totally bulshyt! I am 9 years in Thailand I didn’t see so less tourists like this year – GZ

I am not sure how they arrive at these figures, when other areas are reporting downturns (well, the actual Thais on the street and in the shops are). However, even if true, I ask myself what kind of quality tourist are they encouraging to come here and spend (!?!) if the decision to come or not is based on whether they can save 2000 Baht!?!? (That implies to me that they are on a budget big time?) – BC

So free visa on arrival was announced and then like 3 weeks later (before most tourists would have even heard of this let alone booked a trip) the tourist industry is magically saved? It’s interesting to sit here and read these “creative numbers”. As if the people couldn’t see with their own eyes that this wasn’t the truth – NR

What a joke, when I arrived the International Airport was almost empty – WJ

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 What a load of wallop… everyone in tourism worldwide could wish they could change tourism numbers by reducing a simple fee… common… what a load of wallop – GS

Tourist numbers recovered, all because they got to save 2,000 baht (70 US dollars)? Hmmmkay – YC

And one person shared his experiences in the seaside resort of Khao Lak, 2 hours north of Phuket…

Doesn’t look like from Khao Lak point. It’s actually the worst November ever for tourism businesses. And I hear its the same in Phuket – AK

The Tourism and Sports Ministry and the Tourism Authority of Thailand frequently release figures that sometimes don’t balance with the anecdotal commentary from tour operators or owners of hotels.

Source - The Thaiger