The Government of Thailand extended the grace period for foreigners stranded in the country on Monday due to the measures implemented to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
This extension will allow foreigners to renew their visas until the end of October, since the restrictions on airports and travel remain in force, given the increase in cases of infections worldwide.
Besides, foreigners will be able to stay in the country until the end of next month -Taweesin Wisanuyothin, the spokesman for the working group of the government commission in charge of the coronavirus in Thailand, told Reuters.
However, the announcement is subject to cabinet approval on Tuesday.
In April this year, when the number of people infected with COVID-19 began to grow exponentially, Thailand introduced special measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
Some of these decisions were the prohibition of international flights and foreign visits, in addition to repatriation flights as the only means to leave the territory.
All foreigners received automatic extensions for their visas in July. The authorities granted them with legality between the end of March and September 26.
Pornchai Kuntee, the deputy commissioner of the immigration office, told Reuters that there is a new immigration regulation for foreigners. In this way, after October, they will be able to request extensions of sixty days to legally stay in the country if they cannot return to their homeland due to flight limitations or any type of inconvenience.
Beforehand, the authorities only granted 30-day extensions to foreigners who met the required documentation from their respective embassies.
Thailand has controlled the coronavirus situation. Confirmed cases remain at just over 3,500, and only 59 deaths have been reported. However, the authorities extended the emergency decree on Monday -also until the end of October.
Over the course of September, the Thai government approved visas of up to 270 days (nine months) for long-stay tourists. Likewise, it is preparing to reactivate tourist activity, allowing the country to receive some foreign visitors from next month -although this move could be delayed.
In 2019, the country received around 39.8 million tourists. However, according to the Thailand Tourism Authority’s statements, this number is expected to fall to 6.7 million this year before recovering for the next -reaching 20.5 million foreign tourists in 2021 according to their estimates.
This information compares with the central bank’s estimations, which point to 9 million foreign tourists the following year.
