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Tourist minister floats ideas of new five-year visas
JohnBKK
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Lagt på d. 28/10-2016 10:17
A long-discussed plan to offer five-year visas for foreigners was floated again Tuesday by the nation’s top tourism official.

http://bangkokjac...ear-visas/
 
hugoboerge
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Lagt på d. 28/10-2016 11:01
Her er fra ministerens besoeg i Chiangmai:

Expats air their concerns with Minister of Tourism & Sports


Shana Kongmun

In the highest level meeting between resident expats and government officials in over seven years the Minister of Tourism traveled to Chiang Mai to meet with members of the local expatriate community at the Long Stay Tourism Seminar held at the Empress Hotel on Friday, October 21, 2016.

The day started off with members of the business and governmental communities discussing growing long-stay tourism not just in Chiang Mai but also Lampang, Lamphun and Mae Hong Son. The need to expand international standard medical services, improve infrastructure and grow human resources to cope with the influx including better language skills and service training were identified as the major factors addressed at the start of the seminar.

The meeting, which saw about 125 people attending from the business sector, government and local resident expatriates, was opened by Deputy Governor Prajuab Kantiya representing the Upper Northern Provincial Cluster 1 and Tomrong Vongtaveesukcharoen, Chief of Strategy and Information for Lampang Provincial Office.

The Deputy Governor said “Tourism is like a flower that blooms in many colors” and that they government understands the importance developing friendship relationships with foriegners “But the most important thing we want to know is what do foreigners think? What do we need to change? What do we need to do more of or less of? We look forward to hearing from you on this.”

The main objectives of the seminar were to support tourism, support development, knowledge and understanding of long-stay tourism in the North and increase the understanding of how to be a good long-stay tourist. . Long stay tourists are defined differently by different departments, the TAT identifies anyone as a long-stayer who has been in Thailand more than year, while other organizations can view people as long-stay who are here for more than a month.

Dr. Kannika Pornpatkul, talked about the development of long stay tourism, with a focus on health and wellness noting that Chiang Mai is already well-placed to take advantage of the growth in people coming to stay in Chiang Mai for longer periods of time, not just medical tourists but those who live. She added that developing facilities to an international standard not only provided for the foreigners coming here but also gave local Thai people access to much better medical care. She noted that the government estimates there are 30,000 expats in the North, mainly Americans followed by Japanese and Koreans.

She added that there are four main groups that come to stay in Chiang Mai; to retire, to access health care, to obtain an education and to work, especially remotely. Some of the local expats offered that there needs to be some way for people on visa extensions to enroll in the health care scheme. Also brought up was the issue with terrible air quality in the smoke season but also pollution from cars and trucks. Also mentioned was an interest in retirement communities will assisted living services.

Dr. Kannika was followed by Dr. Korawan Sangkakorn of the Center of Tourism Research and Development at the Social Research Institute at Chiang Mai University who presented the Master Plan that was ordered by the government and submitted to it for consideration. The master plan was quite comprehensive and addressed issues such as developing the infrastructure including access for the disabled, public mass transportation, and signage in other languages. The plan includes the creation of a website for visitors to access information on services and products in the four Upper Northern provinces as well as the improvement of products and services for visitors. Included is the need for promotion and marketing in other areas besides Japan or Europe and cooperation from all sectors in Thailand to achieve the necessary goals.

They were followed by a panel led by Rachan Veeraphan, Bangladesh Honorary Consul, and member of the Chiang Mai Chamber of Commerce comprising Wisut Buachoom of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Suthon Wichairat director of the Tourism and Sports Office in Chiang Mai and two representatives from Immigration.

Wisut addressed the need to differentiate marketing to long-stayers and marketing to tourists. Under the TAT a long-stayer is defined as staying one year, the government has a policy of emphasizing the promotion of long-stay visitors and he noted that the TAT and Ministry of Tourism are paying close attention to the long-stay but agreed that there were many problems that needed to be worked in.

Suthon Wichairat talked about the state of tourism in Chiang Mai and the Upper North nothing that the area had much to offer from a thriving art and culture scene to handicrafts, good weather and beautiful nature spots.

Rachan then called on Immigration telling them he would like to see Immigration supporting long-stayers and implementing policies across that country that do so. Deputy Superintendent Satri spoke on Immigration’s main goals which were security and service. He cited the new Immigration policy of “Good guys in, bad guys out” noting that they could not sacrifice security for service.

The Chiang Mai Immigration Office has seen the numbers of people using the office grow, in 2016 they have handled 185,000 requests of which 3,500 were retirement visas. He added that there are 800,000 foreigners living illegally in Thailand but did not go into details of the nationalities of those foreigners.

He noted that the move to Promenada had eased the parking and space issues but noted that there are still manpower issues. He said that Immigration has recently changed their requirements and it is now possible to apply for your visa extension 45 days before expiry. He encouraged foreigners to come in early to renew and not wait until the last minute, noting that the expiry date will remain the same regardless of when you come in to the office.

They have also just started a Priority Lane on the 2nd floor for disabled people elderly people or those with emergency needs. However, pre-screening is required and when asked by Rachan how people would contact Immigration he said that they are still working on the system but it should be in place fully soon.

The Immigration officer also announced that they have the budget for the new building and it is expected to be completed in one year and six months. When it is implemented they will have a new system in place that should solve the issues people currently face. He added that they have also increased the office hours – on Monday and Wednesday they will open at 8:30 am and close at 6:30 pm and on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday close at the usual 4:30 pm as per government regulations.

This was followed by a panel led by British Honorary Consul Ben Svasti Thomson consisting of representatives from four different countries and areas; Toshiki Kawashita representing Japanese long-stayers, Mun Ryung Dal of Korea, Montha Chiang representing Taiwan and Nancy Lindley representing USA, Australia and Europe.

The panelists addressed the main issues expats face in Chiang Mai with Nancy starting off listing some major concerns but also pointing out “We are not tourists, we bring our possessions, our pets. We intend to spend our lives here, we support families. I would liken us more to shrubs or trees than flowers, we put down roots.”

Nancy noted that the service problems expats face in Chiang Mai Immigration are not duplicated across the country, that all they want is an equivalent service level to that given in Phuket or Pattaya. She also asked that Chiang Mai Immigration fall in line with other offices in enforcing rules, noting the implementation of the requirement of a TM30 form by people applying for extensions noting that some people have been forced to move because their landlord cannot or will not supply the needed form. Other provinces do not require this form.

She mentioned national problems such as 90 day reporting, the foreign national information forms and spot checks on homes. Locally Chiang Mai suffers from poor air quality, “The seasonal issue is getting worse and needs to be addressed” and finally other issues expats face around the country such as health insurance, property ownership and getting scammed out life savings buying homes they do not own, allowing volunteerism from those on retirement visas and the issue of digital nomads who work online, get paid overseas and yet have no access to a long-term visa.

Toshiki mentioned that while he gains many benefits from living in Chiang Mai he would like to contribute to society in Chiang Mai and yet is not allowed to do so as he is on retirement visa. Montha came next saying she is Thai but her husband is from Taiwan and the issues they face on the marriage visa extension even though he has been in Chiang Mai for many years. From the need to prove income with a letter, to providing the same documentation year after year, even though they are still married to the lack of a online queue reservation system.

One member of the audience noted that the technology exists to solve many of these problems but the government does not utilize it. Ben Svasti Thomson informed the audience that everything was being recorded and would be presented to the Minister as well as their questions when she arrived.

The Minister flew in from Bangkok arriving in time to speak with the group at the end, bringing up His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyuadej. Minister of Tourism and Sports Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul said, “I am talking about His Majesty the King because the way of His Majesty was to welcome all. I am here to walk his path. I know there have been many obstacles, many promises that have never been realized so I want to make sure that we still walk this path, to solve these problems together.”

She continued, “We have just finished drafting the four-year long term policy for the path of tourism. Tourism for old age and tourism for all is part of our four-year strategy, we have included medical and wellness. The Ministries recognize the importance of this and it will be part of the ten most important industries for investment.”

“We want to grow the Lanna region for quality leisure tourists, aiming for people to stay longer, visit often and pay more per day,” which elicited a laugh from the Minister and the audience. She added they are aiming for ASEAN connectivity and greater implementation of the Greater Mekong Sub-region.

Minister Kobkarn said “I don’t believe in a beautiful plan but rather real action. It is the general opinion of the government that we must work in collaboration, that we work with other ministries and other organizations together.”

“I come with realistic news and to hear realistic plans for the future. We never stop to work for you because you are friends of our country as per our King.” She then called on members of the group to address long-term issues that need to be addressed.

The smoke issue is a major concern of everyone who lives in Chiang Mai, this writer pointed out, it affects tourism by turning away visitors, grounding planes and affects the health of everyone who lives here, expats and Thais alike. While it is a regional issue affecting not just Chiang Mai but Lampang, Lamphun, Mae Hong Son and Chiang Rai the solutions must be made at the local level. Local enforcement of the no burning laws must be done, local governments need to enforce the laws and people need to understand that they cannot burn.

The Minister replied that the government does place the smoke issue as one of its top problems but added that the issue has become international with Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia also burning. She said the government feels that education on the issues and a concerted education campaign can work to address these issues.

Nancy Lindley addressed the concerns she had brought up in the panel; why Chiang Mai Immigration has such major issues in providing services that other Immigration offices do not, why they insist on enforcing difficult rules that no other office does. The Minister said she will look into why Chiang Mai Immigration is less effective and said she sees this will have a solution in the short to medium term.

Nancy brought up the need for some kind of health care for expats, suggesting that an option be to bring them into the National Social Security health care scheme albeit with higher rates, another member of the group asked if it were possible for the Thai government to come to some agreement with foreign countries so that nationals could use their Medicare insurance here.

The Minister said she would look into this and also check with insurance agencies about possible solutions for elderly expats.

Neal Robinson brought up the issue of the annual renewal of the visa, suggesting that perhaps after five years of one year extensions retirees be eligible for a long-term visa, from 5-10 years with a report every year. Minister Kobkarn said that they are working on the length of stay and that the government realizes this is an issue. She also addressed the issue of volunteerism that Nancy Lindley had brought up, saying “You are the brain bank of the country. We need this kind of synergy, it will definitely help Thailand and the region and it is something we are working on. It may be in the long-term but we recognize that it is there.”

Martin Venzky-Stalling urged that the government consider the long-term implications and establish goals for long-stay development, noting that most expats consider themselves part of the community, not tourists and they want to be included in the community.

Several members of the Chiang Mai Chamber of Commerce stood up and spoke up stating that these changes were absolutely necessary were Chiang Mai and Thailand to see a growth in long-stayers. Noting that this had been discussed many times but nothing had ever been accomplished. The Chiang Mai Chamber of Commerce has been pushing the government for a five year long-stay visa for over 6 years.

Minister Kobkarn concluded, “I am here to let you know that this is an important issue for Thailand. I will go back and talk with the Governor, the Chamber of Commerce and I hope it can be a priority for the government. I do hope that it will be a dream we can work on together.”
 
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