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Thai govt to review visa-on-arrival policy

"About 30% of Indian arrivals do not go back but remain in Thailand. Therefore, granting visas-on-arrival to Indian tourists should be reconsidered or revoked," Shinawatra told the participants of a tourism workshop in the northern resort town of Chianmai on Friday.

"The list of countries whose citizens were eligible for visas-on-arrival would be reviewed as many tourists overstayed their visa and committed crimes in Thailand," the premier was quoted as saying by The Nation daily on Saturday.

The visa on arrival issue was discussed by Thai immigration officials after the shooting of Bombay underworld don Chhota Rajan in Bangkok last year but no steps were taken.

Thailand issues two-week tourist visa on arrival to citizens of 95 countries, including India.

Daily Bangkok Post quoted immigration police as saying of nine million foreign tourist arrivals a year, 1.7 million, particularly Indians and Chinese, did not leave.

The Nation said that after a series of incidents involving foreign criminals and terrorists in recent years, the foreign ministry and the immigration bureau said that a number of countries with frequent overstayers would be removed from the list.

It said this was the first time the Thai government had planned to review the list of countries whose citizens could obtain visas at entry points.

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