Thai embassy refutes visa concern amongst Bangladeshis

The Chargé d'affaires of the Thai embassy in Dhaka has refuted allegations of delay in grant of visa in Bangladesh, dismissing such media reports as 'speculative'.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 13 March 2016, 07:45 AM
Updated : 13 March 2016, 01:55 PM

“We have not changed our visa policy towards Bangladesh,” Phasit Chudabuddhi said, while replying to a question at a press briefing on Sunday.

He said Bangladeshis were “more than welcome” in Thailand.

The press briefing has been organised ahead of the ‘Thailand week 2016’, which begins on Mar 16.

Major Thai companies including heavy industry PTK Wood Co Ltd, Sutee Tankers and Special Trucks Ltd and Bathroom Design Co Ltd will display their products for the public on Mar 18 and 19 in the show at the International Convention City Bashundhara.

There will be business-to-business sessions before the display.

Thailand is one of the preferred destinations for Bangladeshi tourists, specially for those seeking medical treatment.

But, recently Bangladesh ambassador in Thailand Saida Muna Tasneen raised in Bangkok the issue of delay in granting visas.

She was told, however, that Bangkok has not changed its visa policy towards Bangladesh.

The Chargé d'affaires on Sunday pointed out that the Thai embassy remains “one of the fastest embassies in that it issues visa within two to three working days”.

He said there might have some “case specific delay”, and that they had “duly conveyed this (visa issue) to Bangladeshi authorities concerned”.

Contrary to media reports, he said, it was untrue that 20,000 to 30,000 passports had piled up at the Thai embassy. “The figure is based purely on false speculation by sources from travel agencies.”

“Visa process is case specific; each case is different, so any delay depends on the applicant’s background, document submitted and other relevant factors under consideration”.

“Generalisations cannot be made,” he said, adding that last year they had issued only 3,876 visas for medical tourists contrary to some media reports of over 110,000.

“Thailand always attaches importance to promotion of people-to-people contact,” he said, adding that their companies were also looking forward to investment opportunities through the trade show.