Thailand ease on VISA for MICE travelers
Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) and 3 alliance organisations jointly announced their aligned measures to provide easier access to Thailand for overseas MICE travelers under TCEB’s umbrella initiative “Thailand MICE One Stop Service”.
The 3 alliance organisations are the Department of Consular Affairs, Airports of Thailand (AOT) Public Company Limited and Immigration Division 2. The announcement was made during the press conference TCEB held last week at the Hyatt Regency Sukhumvit Bangkok Hotel.
The Department of Consular Affairs Department was headed by the Director-General, Mr. Worawoot Pongprapapant, while Airports of Thailand (AOT) Public Company Limited was led by its President, Mr. Kerati Kijmanawat. Immigration Division 2 was represented by its Commander, Pol Maj Gen Choengron Rimpadee, while TCEB was led by Mr. Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, the President.
Key measures for easier access to Thailand are as follows:
- Visa for MICE
- MICE visitors (Tourist visa-MICE): 60-day stay and can be extended for a period not exceeding 30 days
- MICE organisers (Non-immigrant B): 90-day stay and can be extended for a maximum stay of 1 year
- New visa measures
- Visa exemption expanded to 93 countries/territories from the previous 57 countries/territories with extended stay from 30 to 60 days for tourism, business engagements or urgent work/ad-hoc work
- Visa on arrival with 15-day stay applicable to 31 countries from the previous 19 countries
- E-visa service is provided at 48 Thai embassies and consulates and is planned to cover all 94 Thai embassies and consulates across the world by the end of this year
- Manpower at airport
- 330 more officers ready to stand by at every checkpoint during peak hours
- Technology
- New automatic passport control system or Automatic Channel, supported by AOT, will fasten processing time from 2 persons to 4 persons per minute
- New immigration technology system or TIS (Thailand Immigration System) along with APPS system or Advance Passenger Processing will help identify persons more accurately and faster and prevent entry of blacklisted persons
- AOT application for travelers to download for transport services
- Cooperation for special lane
- AOT and Immigration Division 2 will cooperate on a case-by-case basis with TCEB in separating MICE groups from ordinary travelers and provide special lane for the groups, accordingly.
- MICE Lane Service for VIP
- now operational at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang Airports in Bangkok. TCEB will work with AOT and Immigration in setting up MICE Lane at Phuket and Chiang Mai airports next year and at Udon Thani airport by 2026 in preparation for International Horticultural Expo Udon Thani 2026
The joint announcement is in response to the government’s policy to make Thailand a preferred destination of exhibitions and global festivals, thus, measures to facilitate entry of overseas travelers.
It is also in preparation for attendees and visitors at bid-won events to be held in a few years, for example, IDF Diabetes World Congress 2025 in Bangkok, IMF and World Bank Group Annual Meeting in 2026 in Bangkok, Global Sustainable Tourism Conference 2026 in Phuket and International Horticultural Expo 2026 in Udon Thani, concluded Mr. Chiruit, TCEB President.
