IT WILL soon be easier for citizens of Myanmar and Thailand to travel between the two nations without having a visa for trips of 14 days or less, according to Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
U Sein Oo, director of the council and treaty department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said a visa exemption between the two nations will be effective from September 2015 for air arrivals, while exemption on border crossings will be effective from early next year.
The travel industry in Yangon welcomed the news and said the agreement would further promote tourism between the two nations.
“As a tour operator, I’m glad for this news. If you look at the travel volume between Myanmar and Thailand, it is already huge and I’m sure this agreement would further increase the traffic between the two countries,” said Ko Sai Kyaw Thet, general manager of Yangarbo Travel and Tours based in Yangon.
Currently, Thai visas cost US$40 lasting 14 days for a single entry within six months.
Myanmar has already signed visa exemption agreements with Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines, as well as pending agreements with Singapore and Malaysia.
Thailand and Myanmar were previously expected to sign a visa exemption agreement during prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s visit to Yangon in November 2013, but the former Thai PM cancelled the visit because of political issues back home.
