Thailand has been going all out to make sure they continue to be in the consideration set of everyone who wants to travel to their country. Last year, they provided free visa on arrival to many nations, and now, they have extended the free visa on arrival through April 2019. However, this has led to increased queues at the airport and people have had to either use the express queue against payment or wait up to an hour plus to get the free Thailand Visa on Arrival.
Now, from February 14, 2019, onwards, you will be able to receive e-visa on arrival at Thailand’s major airports. Thailand is going to introduce an e-visa on arrival for 21 nationalities, including Indians, that will allow people travelling to Thailand to receive their visa pre-departure within 24 to 72 hours of the application being submitted. As a result, you get through into Thailand faster. There will also be a new express eVoA which will be approved within 24 hours.
These applications can be submitted on thailandevoa.vfsevisa.com when it launches on February 14, 2019. You can also apply at VFS Global visa application centres across the globe. The 21 nationalities include India, China, Saudi Arabia and Ukraine.
The following airports will be getting EVoA terminals:
- Suvarnabhumi Airport Bangkok
- Don Muang Airport Bangkok
- Phuket Airport
- Chiang Mai Airport
If you move to an eVoA, you won’t need to look for an ATM on arrival to get Thai Baht or carry photographs etc. for your immigration processing.
The visa-on-arrival fees at the airport cost Thai Baht 2,000, but the eVoA will cost Thai Baht 2,600. However, since there is a Visa on Arrival fee waiver right now, those who apply for the e-version when the website goes live, they will only have to pay the service fee of 600 Thai Baht.
What do you think of the new move to provide Thailand Visa On Arrival electronically? And do you think you will use this service or not given the extra charges?
It’s still free for Indians. Will v traveling for vacations in may 2019.
Til thn visa is free pls guide
@Kapoor, free Visa on Arrival is only for those arriving till April 30, 2019
At airport it’s free for Visa on Arrival.
Do we have long que at visa on arrival at Bangkok airport..?
An e-VOA is great! It saves a potential tourist considerable amount of time on arrival. However, the whole visa thing especially for countries like Thailand is a farce where more than 80 nationalities do not need a visa for a social visit. The visa fees are ridiculously high and considering in the case of Indian visitors to Thailand which in 2017 registered 1.4 million is huge. It is about time countries like Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines relaxed the visa rules and process which would only encourage more tourism and benefit the countries economically similar to what Indonesia has done.
True facts. Gradually Indian and Chinese tourists surges exponentially. But crowd at counter is huge and farcical.
Then on the other hand you have India, who has been going all out to make sure they continue not to be in the consideration set of everyone who wants to travel to their country.
How ridiculous is it that India has increased their evisa fee to $100. Don’t even get me started on the absurd process to get a 10 year visa or OCI card. It’s just not worth it for most people to go to India when it’s so much easier to visit almost every other country.