Thailand’s reinstatement of visa-free entry for Indian nationals has reopened a business events pipeline that operators say froze up during two months of uncertainty – a period when large corporate groups postponed bookings or shifted elsewhere rather than commit budgets to a 2,000 baht (US$60) entry fee.
The cabinet reinstated the 30-day exemption on July 14, 2026, pending a Royal Gazette announcement. The decision reverses a May 19 ruling that would have moved Indian travelers to a 2,000 baht visa-on-arrival scheme, a policy that, in the end, never officially took effect.
For inbound operators heavily reliant on Indian group business, the damage is measurable.
Shreyash Shah, commercial director at Destination Hospitality Management, said the Indian market accounts for about 80 per cent of his company’s activity, the vast majority being corporate groups.
“Compared year-on-year, overall business for our Indian segment is down nearly 30 per cent, whereas we were projected to grow 10 to 15 per cent over last year. We’ve effectively lost almost one-third of our business since last year,” Shah shared.
The fallout hit business events hardest, as contracting for the November-to-March high season typically occurs six to nine months ahead of arrival. “The impact was far more noticeable in the MICE segment than with FITs,” Shah noted.
Vathanachai Chatrirath, vice president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents and owner of Thai Travel DMC, agreed that the fee hit group budgets hardest.
“A MICE group of 200 to 300 delegates faced a material cost increase of around 6,000 rupees a head, prompting organisers to hold off or postpone,” Chatrirath explained. His own agency postponed two corporate groups due to the visa uncertainty alone.
According to Shah, the decisive factor was the fee itself rather than the shortened stay length. He pointed to rival options like Vietnam – which charges US$25 for a single-entry visa and US$50 for multiple entry – and Malaysia, which offers visa-free access to Indian travellers. As a result, corporate groups of 500 to 1,000 delegates were put on hold while the implementation timeline of Thailand’s policy hung in the air.
Akash Pawar, founding member for strategy and new initiatives at Mumbai-based Media Hermits Limited, said several of his corporate groups were either delayed or rerouted, with the added fee tipping entire programmes toward competing destinations.
“We had a group planning for Phuket, but with the visa fee added into the budget, alternative countries became more cost-effective,” Pawar said, noting that clients turned to destinations like Vietnam and Malaysia instead.
Vathanachai expects business events volumes to rebound within a month, though he noted that official written confirmation from the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Ministry of Foreign Affairs would help DMCs reassure overseas agents.
