What are the implications of the upcoming visa price increases at Thai consulates?

Feb 27, 2024
10 months ago
Tod *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS:

possible upcoming visa price increase at thai consulates

I am NOT wanting to start a panic (and I am about as far from a fear monger as you can throw a stick about entry/visa/extension stuff here)

BUT

The thai consulate in Wellington New Zealand just posted a PDF that said effective March 19th they would raise the price of their thai visas.

AND

They really REALLY are raising the prices. A single entry tourist visa right now is 60NZD and it will go to 300NZD (That's about 1300 to OVER 6000 baht) :O

Also when Sydney consulate emailed me back about them going live on the eVisa website they also said they would have a price increase in the visas as well

Just want you people to be in the loop on what might be comin' down the pike ... :O

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TLDR : Answer Summary
Attention has been drawn to a significant increase in visa fees announced by the Thai consulate in Wellington, New Zealand, with effective date from March 19th. The rise includes tourist visas going from 60 NZD to 300 NZD, igniting discussions among expats and potential travelers regarding the impact on tourism and immigration. Comments reflect anxiety over increased costs for various visa types and skepticism about the rationale behind such hikes amidst attempts to boost tourism revenue. The Sydney consulate is also expected to follow suit with similar increases.
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Tod *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
I think this topic has ran it's course, all we can do is wait and see. I saw Asean Now and Thaiger both jumped on it, maybe the powers that be will re-think it, maybe not,

Thanx one and all for the comments
Stuart **********
If your in Thailand on a visa exempt 30 days and you want to extend another 30 days the current fee is 1900 bht .I wonder what the extension cost will be when the new rates apply
Tod *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Stuart *********
let's not even start speculating about what MIGHT happen down the road.
Stuart **********
And the Thai govt want more and more tourists
Tony ********
Be interested to hear what a 1 Yr non o multiple entry marriage visa will cost at consulate in Sydney when they update
Stuart **********
crickey.$2000 airfare,$1000 travel insurance and $800 90 day non o visa.fee to visit my wife???
Tony ********
@Stuart *********
isn't it ridiculous!

So perhaps I'm better off visiting the dreaded immigration office in Hua hin and just buy a in country non o Marriage visa there,then do the year extension and multiple re entry.

This will make immigration much busier with this decision bythe Consulstes to rip us off
Stuart **********
@Tony *******
if it is indeed true is it just for NZrs and probably Australians or every other country.If these new fees are for everyone I would say a lot of people will be looking elsewhere
Tony ********
@Stuart *********
I've got no where else to go been married nearly 20yrs.

Let's see what the Sydney consulate comes up with i assume in the coming week or two
Tod *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
it will indeed
Tony ********
@Tod ********
perhaps an open letter to the new prime minister is in order!He seems intent on fixing things
Ron ******
Hey there
@Tod ********
...just wanted to add my 10 cents worth as this is gonna directly impact me ๐Ÿ˜• being a Kiwi. I'll be applying for my Non Imm O Visa in around 10 months. Yes it's an extra $680 but in the bigger scheme of things it's somewhat insignificant when factoring in what we'll be spending on building a house, car, health insurance etc. From all reports it's less hassle opening bank accounts arriving with the visa not to mention the added route marching back and forth to IO applying in country. I've been in contact with the Embassy here in Wellington on several occasions, they've always been helpful and responded in a timely manner. Would prefer to have been paying $120 but not gonna get all bitter and twisted with the (crazy๐Ÿ˜ฎ) increase.
Luke *********
@Ron *****
At what price would you start having a problem? Very odd take this..
Tod *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Ron *****
Any way you slice it these are CRAZY price increases

Single entry tourist visa - 60 NZD to 300 NZD

6 Month METV - 300 NZD to 1000 NZD

90 day single entry Non-Imm - 120 NZD to 800 NZD

Year-long multi-entry Non-Imm - 300 NZD to 2000 NZD

LTR (Long Term Resident) Visa - 3000 NZD to 6000 NZD
Nigel *********
Thai officials are aiming to get better access for Thai nationals to other countries.
Neal *******
Thanks Tod. By the way, Somchai is my wifeโ€™s ex!
Chris *****
Thank you Tod
Brendon ******
My visa goes from $300NZ (approx. 6,600 Baht) to $2,000NZ (approx. 44,000 Baht), about a 570% increase! There is no way to justify this under Cost of Living increases or exchange rate movement (the NZ dollar has stayed within a range of 20-22 Baht for years). Will be interesting to see how other countries are affected.
Tod *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
something is not right with this at all.
Ofir ***********
Better to go with free 30 days stamp and go to Vietnam later
Tod *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Well I contacted the thai consulate in Sydney (via LINE) and they said this

๐—š๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—”๐—ณ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ป. ๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ.
Philip ****
Can NZ citizens obtain E-Visa? I see the multiple-entry Non O option ,which was scrapped for E-Visa countries a few months ago.
Tod *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Philip ***
the eVisa system will go live for NZ and Australia in the middle of March
Philip ****
@Tod ********
thx, thatโ€™s why I was wondering why they still offer 1yr Non O and even 3yr (which Iโ€™ve never heard of)
Tod *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Philip ***
the 3 year is a Non-B visa only
Tod *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
The thai consulate in Wellington New Zealand answered my email

๐—”๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฅ๐—ผ๐˜†๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ถ ๐—˜๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€๐˜† ๐—ช๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ท๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ, ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜„๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜, ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—ญ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ
Bart **************
@Tod ********
oh yes I see. Then it's really strange. Clearly not just overdue inflation correction.
Tod *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Bart *************
they had fee increase in 2022 just like the image I posted shows,
Bart **************
@Tod ********
if they say this is adjustment to modern day price levels (inflation correction); for how long have the fees not been adjusted? Are the current fees perhaps from the very start in 1979?
Bart **************
Thanks for sharing Tod. Agree that it seems a little crazy and despite your last remark I would like to add that it does seem a little hard to understand why they'd do this in the light of attempts to increase tourism revenue. We can all understand a modest increase to adjust for the general price level and wages, but this clearly isn't that. Curious what they'll answer.
Incognia **********
@Bart *************
you too mentioned for INCREASE TOURISM REVENUE with higher visa price haha
Tod *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
I emailed the Wellington Thai Consulate to see if those price increases are accurate because it's just a crazy amount to raise visa prices

Will report back as soon as I know
Stuart ********
@Tod ********
it would bring them inline with the cost of a visa for the UK. I guess they are aiming at longer stay people. If the 30 day exempt is still in place then many people on holiday wonโ€™t be affected. Glad I got my Ten Year Visa a few weeks ago ;)
John **********
@Stuart *******
the tourist visa cost is about 5 times that of the UK currently.
Ivan ************
@Jo**
I think he means to visit the UK rather than what a Thai visa costs in the UK. UK Visitor Visa is US$151 or equivalent to NZ$245 so in the ballpark.

************************************************************
Stuart ********
Shannon *******
@Tod ********
Its in 'government speak', but confirmation appears to be 100% right ?
Tod *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
we can only wait and see, but it's sure causing a stir on the tiny part of the inter-web that is related to the glorious "Land 'O Thaiz" ๐Ÿ˜ฎ
Tod *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Listen up people I posted this as a heads up, not as an invitation for every Tom Dick and Somchai to weigh in on what they think about this and it's possible impact on thai tourism. ๐Ÿ˜›
Dean **********
Tom, Dick and Somchai....I'm stealing that. ๐Ÿ˜…
Tod *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Christian ******
it's not a public forum, it's private group and it's not run by democracy either ๐Ÿ˜› ,
Christian *******
@Tod ********
people are people. Get real
Avant *******
@Tod ********
lol. Somchai is a new one to me. Poor Harry.
Alex *******
Did the Sydney Consulate give you a date of when their evisa service starts?
Tod *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Alex ******
they said middle of March
Ryan ********
@Tod ********
โ€œBeware the ides of Marchโ€
John *************
@Tod ********
Thanks for the 'heads up'. Depending on the AUD cost to obtain a Single Entry 60 day Tourist Visa (currently AUD60), it might be less expensive to enter BKK and get stamped in on 30 day Visa Free, and then apply after for an extension after I arrive in Thailand ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ญ
Alex *******
@Jo**
I hope they don't increase the price of an extension. It's currently 1900 baht, but looking at the other price increases, if the extension goes up as well, it might cost 6000+ baht ๐Ÿ˜…
Alex *******
@T**
I better apply before mid March then๐Ÿ˜Š
Bernie ********
All nationalities or just New Zealanders?
Tod *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Bernie *******
that's a notice the thai consulate in Wellington only there is nothing on any other consulate website I can find
Bernie ********
Lloyd ********
Thought they wanted to increase tourism? lol
Lloyd ********
About 45k for a year Non-Imm !!!
Syble ***********
That is a major increase. Thanks for posting.
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