Thai government mulls over immigration rules for investment, tourism attraction

Leading experts of Thailand are working on plans to foster investment and revenue from tourism once COVID-19 is brought under control, which will be proposed to the government next month.

Thai people with face masks on to avoid COVID-19 infection

The plans include improving regulations on immigration, visa applications and work permits for foreign experts, including relaxing the requirement for foreign workers to report their whereabouts to authorities every 90 days, the Bangkok Post newspaper quoted Chayotid Kridakorn, head of a government task force to attract investment into Thailand, as saying.

The framework also will include inducements for foreign investors such as corporate income-tax cuts, relaxed property-holding rules and incentives for retirees and start-up companies.

Chayotid, an adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow and former head of JPMorgan Securities (Thailand), said he aims to attract one million retirees or pensioners to Thailand in the next few years, who he claimed could contribute as much as 1.2 trillion THB (38.01 billion USD) to the economy each year.

Thailand has seen foreign direct investment tumble more than half in the past five years to about 361 billion baht in 2020 as investors were deterred by factors including periodic political uncertainties, low growth prospects due to an aging society and a labour shortage.

Foreign tourist arrivals into Thailand plunged to 6.7 million last year, the lowest level in at least 12 years, after the country closed its borders to contain the pandemic.

Tourism contributed 3 trillion THB to the Thai economy in 2019, accounting to 18 percent of the country’s GDP. The Thai government sets a target of earning 348 billion THB from outbound tourism this year./.

VNA