Thailand will require Electronic Travel Authorization for all travelers

[BjornAgain]

10 hours ago, vinapu said:

 

I wonder when we will need QR code to enter Jupiter or Moonlight.

That's me out, as the security on my phone bans QR codes due to their risk. You don't know if it's a Website link or an automated login to a website  or download an App, activate GPS or WiFi, instigate a phone call or even compose a message (e-Mail or SMS) etc. 

Despite their surgence in popularity, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.

[reader]

From Pattaya Mail

Electronic entry clearance topples seamless travel dreams

Barry Kenyon

Thailand, along with many other countries, has expanded its visa-exempt policy for foreign tourists to boost national income. Currently, most foreign visitors here can obtain 60 days on arrival, without prior clearance, and are eligible for a 30 days extension at local immigration. Some commentators are predicting the age of seamless travel has arrived.

But sometime next year – the new foreign affairs minister Maris Sangiampongsa says the start dates are still under review – it will be compulsory for all visa-exempt travelers to obtain pre-flight approval via the online portal known as the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA). Nobody has seen the forms yet, but they could well require an accommodation address in Thailand and an exit strategy to leave Thailand post-vacation.

Thailand’s neighbors are adopting a similar approach. Visa-exempt tourists to the Philippines must register online at least 72 hours prior to departure and Cambodia is busy testing out a compulsory pre-flight authorization for flights landing at Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. The UK is currently requiring visa-exempt tourists to apply three days in advance (but recommends 30 days), whilst the EU is launching an authorization program for those foreigners wishing to enter the 30 countries but do not have a formal visa.

Governments in Thailand and elsewhere argue that electronic authorization does not mean the introduction of compulsory visas via the back door. They say that visa-exempt travelers have to provide less information than for formal visa applicants and that personal interviews are not required – forgetting that many embassies no longer allow specified visa applicants on their premises – because everything is online. 

The reality is that prior electronic authorization, whether for a visa or to allow a visa-exempt entry, is an approval mechanism. It allows governments to assess any criminal activity, travel history and even some health data, whilst documenting accommodation details and outward flights, if any. It will certainly make impossible spur-of-the-moment foreign travel and replace it by a cost-benefit vetting procedure. Does the foreign government really want you? That’s the new question we have hardly begun to debate.

Of course, the move to prior vetting for all is inevitable in today’s world. For example, the Thai government is clearly concerned by the influx of so many Chinese tourists, amongst them an unknown number working illegally or exploiting in cartels traditional Thai hospitality for financial gain. The introduction of electronic clearance for visa-less entrants is in fact the triumph of national security concerns over free- flow traffic. The Thai foreign minister has called the 60 days on arrival “a policy renewable at all times with ease”. Surely it’s a bit more complicated than that.

https://www.pattayamail.com/news/electronic-entry-clearance-topples-seamless-travel-dreams-473451

 

[tm_nyc]

Malaysia now has a Digital Arrival Card which 'must be completed within 3 days of arrival'.

[reader]

Another consideration is nonrefundable air fares and pre-booked accommodations.  What happens if, for whatever reason, you are denied entry?

Travel insurance now becomes a consideration to be taken more seriously.

[spoon]

5 hours ago, reader said:

Another consideration is nonrefundable air fares and pre-booked accommodations.  What happens if, for whatever reason, you are denied entry?

The advice for K-ETA, korean version of the same, is to apply first before purchasing any tickets or book accomodation. Granted, most application received approval within 2-3 days only. 

Not sure what is the requirement for Thai version and the turnaround time.

[reader]

21 minutes ago, spoon said:

Not sure what is the requirement for Thai version and the turnaround time.

Authorities have yet to decide details from what I've read.

Usually make reservations six months out in order to get best airfare and Airbnb time slots I want. I'll probably have to just take my chances.

[Keithambrose]

9 hours ago, spoon said:

The advice for K-ETA, korean version of the same, is to apply first before purchasing any tickets or book accomodation. Granted, most application received approval within 2-3 days only. 

Not sure what is the requirement for Thai version and the turnaround time.

The USA, Canadian  and Australian  ETAs, have all only taken a day, at most. The only bore is answering all the questions, particularly  on the USA one, things like your grandfather's shoe size!  OK, I exaggerate....

[Patanawet]

Postponed till next year.
View today's (Saturday) Tim Newton Live on Youtube -- about 35 minutes in.

[reader]

From Pattaya Mail

By Barry Kenyon 

The chopping of the Tor Mor 6 small arrival registration form is a staging post to a wholly electronic visitor entry system. Historically, the TM6 was distributed to airline passengers about to land who, always wearily and often unreadably, scribbled their Thai address and local phone number after borrowing their neighbor’s pen. It was abolished for airline passengers as early as July 2022, partly out of covid concerns and partly because it was generally pointless.

However, the form survived for some visitors by land and all by sea until now suspended on October 16 by the Cabinet at least until April 2025. By then, according to the interior ministry, the ETA or Electronic Travel Authorization should be in place for all visa-exempt foreigners, the ones from 93 countries who receive 60 days on arrival. These countries include all the nations providing significant numbers of international vacationers.

These guys and gals, probably by Easter next year, have to apply online for permission to enter Thailand and, on permitted arrival, will be able to pass through immigration’s electronic gates at entry points with a personally-provided QR code. The individuals will likely be refused boarding at airports or refused entry at seaports and border checkpoints unless the bureaucracy has been successfully completed.

Although the ETA, required for every visit, will be notionally free that’s not the end of the story. Thailand will introduce the long-delayed tourist tax of 300 baht by air and 150 baht by land and sea. It has long been argued that collecting cash at entry points would lead to long queues and much frustration by visitors and immigration officers alike. ETA provides the answer by insisting you pay beforehand and electronically by card.

At some stage in 2025 the ETA system will be extended to include all foreigners entering Thailand, including all non-immigrant visa holders such as retirees. Such a system is becoming common worldwide, for example in UK which starts its electronic entry bureaucracy for all visitors next month. Basically, ETA replaces decisions by immigration officers on the ground by prior electronic checking of wannabe entrants.

Before that can happen, Thai authorities have to combine several independent data bases which currently check for passport authenticity, prior travel history, criminal history in Thailand and international warrants. The 300-150 baht tourist tax, eventually to be levied on all foreigners except those with a valid work permit or permanent residence status, will be used to update tourist sites and provide limited insurance for tourists including compensation for loss of limbs or death. It is decidedly not comprehensive medical insurance for all.

Once ETA is fully in place, it will be powered by machine learning and the algorithm used will automatically perform all pre-examination tests. Questions often asked such as “How many times can you do a border run with visa exempt?”, or “Can I use my Destination Thailand Visa again by leaving Thailand and returning the same day?” will be settled remotely. Where technological advancement leaves traditional visa extensions at local immigration offices, or paper trails such as the “housemaster” TM30 and the 90 days report, can only be deferred to our technological future.

https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/the-real-deal-about-the-end-of-one-of-thailands-unpopular-address-forms-476283