Transcript of the above video: 

"As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing possible revisions to the Visa policy regarding Indian Nationals here in Thailand; I have discussed this at length in other videos. Going back about 2 years ago, they made Indian passport holders visa-exempt and granted 60-day status on arrival.  That then has recently changed, and they reverted it back to the visa-on-arrival, so you can't enter exempt; you have to get a visa; you can get a Visa once you get here: 2,000 baht fee. But there has been some discussion among Thailand's business community regarding this issue. And I think that there's some reason for warranting maybe some reconsideration of this. Now might not go back to what was happening before - because most nationalities aren't getting that treatment - but perhaps something a little less onerous than what we are seeing right now. That said, jumping in here. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Tourism operators call for revision of Indian visa policy. Quoting directly: "The private sector in three Andaman provinces submitted a petition to the Government, calling for a revision of the Visa Policy for Indian tourists, as Thailand could face potential losses of 8 billion baht if wedding groups shift to other destinations during the upcoming high season."

Yeah, look this is a good point. Within the tourism sector if you will pertaining to Indian nationals, there is a subset of folks that come over to Thailand to have weddings. I've actually been, not a guest at one, but I have been to some of the swankier hotels for other things, parties etc., when these Indian wedding parties are coming through and boy howdy, these folks spend some serious money when they do these weddings. I'm starting to think that there's a reason that perhaps these folks are so frugal the rest of their time, because man when they have a wedding man, it's a blowout; it's amazing. That said, quoting further: "The petition was backed by 13 organizations, including the Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of Thai industries, the Tourism Council, and Hotel Associations in Phuket, Phangnga and Krabi. The letter was received by the Tourism and Sports Minister last week. The private sector said that although it agrees with the cancellation of the 90-day Visa exemption for most countries, it is particularly concerned about the Indian market, as the revised rule will require Indian tourists to apply for an e-visa or visa-on-arrival and will no longer allow visa-free entry as it has over the past two years." So, bear in mind, this has not been standard operating procedure going back decades or anything as it has been with other nationalities. But that said, for two years there has been Visa-free entry for Indian Nationals. Now as the article notes, and as I have noted in prior videos, the issue of how long people are allowed to be in Thailand is oftentimes not as acute an issue as the ability to enter Thailand for any amount of time Visa exempt - without having to get any type of Visa - just come on in on your passport, stamped in through an immigration checkpoint and boom you are in the country. Again, especially in the context of these wedding parties, I can very much understand the thinking behind this.  

That said, quoting further: "While the visa arrival scheme itself is not regarded as an obstacle, its 2,000-baht fee will likely deter tourists travelling in large groups, particularly wedding parties which frequently choose the three provinces along the Andaman coast as wedding destinations. Based on records from 2023-2025, about 600 Indian couples celebrated their weddings in the three provinces, generating more than 8 billion baht in revenue from 350 -500 guests per event over 5 -7 days."

So interesting. Just a side note here from where I am sort of sitting, if the issue is 600 Indian couples, 350 to 500 guests, you could just invent a new visa for that. It could be something akin to, like the United States has the Fiancé(e) Visa, the K-1. You could in theory, I mean this is just be spit balling the idea, you could create a whole new Visa category and basically say, "Hey no fee on these but if you can prove that you're coming to Thailand to get married, we'll just give like a blanket visa. You could do sort of group visas based on that; it's not outside the realm of possibility. 

That said, again I can understand the notion of streamlining everything might be the better way to go. That said, quoting further: "The four solutions being sought include granting a Visa exemption of no less than 30 days for this market, citing the reciprocal visa-free policy the Indian government also provides to Thai citizens. If this solution cannot be implemented, the government should at least waive the 2,000-baht visa-on-arrival fee for Indians and enhance the e-visa application process to improve efficiency. The Government should also introduce a dedicated Immigration lane for group wedding visas." Yeah, a lane or even a Visa itself. Quoting further: "allowing wedding organizers and guests to be granted a Group Visa within three days of submitting their application." So sort of what I just said, I guess. Quoting further: "The Foreign Minister and the Tourism Authority of Thailand should be tasked with holding discussions with Indian counterparts to conclude a permanent bilateral Visa exemption agreement within the third quarter of this year, which would greatly help maintain the competitiveness of Thai tourism." 

So as can be seen, there are a number of different possible solutions to this issue. My hope is something is worked out so that there is sort of a balance of interest maintained here. Again 8 billion Baht is nothing to sniff at and I have seen a number of these wedding parties over the years, and man they are something else. I mean it does create a lot of economic activity as a result of them coming here, and there are a lot of jobs and things that tangentially get created as a result of these. I mean these are massive weddings; it's a really, really a big deal. It will be interesting to see, my thinking is what we may actually see is like the VoA scheme, the visa-on-arrival only grants 2 weeks for example. Maybe we'll see a situation where they say, "you know what, no more visa-on-arrival. You can come in Visa exempt, but you only get 2 weeks, or again they could waive the visa fee. As I pointed out and the article does as well, they could create their own visa for these folks, especially for the folks that want to come in for weddings. Again there are a variety of different ways to be utilized or different methods that could be utilized to deal with the issue. That being said, it remains to be seen how this plays out, so we'll certainly be keeping folks updated on this channel as the situation evolves.