The visa will cover five cities including Thailand’s Chiang Rai and Chiang Rai provinces, Myanmar's Chiang Tung (Keng Tung) in Shan State, China's Jinghong (Chiang Rung) in the Tai Lue Xishuangbanna region of Yunnan and Laos' Chiang Thong (Xieng Thong) in Luang Prabang.
Government and private agencies in Thailand have stepped up discussions for a single visa among four countries in the Mekong region, reviving an almost two-decade plan to link the cities and promote tourism.
The visa will cover five cities including Thailand’s Chiang Rai and Chiang Rai provinces, Myanmar's Chiang Tung (Keng Tung) in Shan State, China's Jinghong (Chiang Rung) in the Tai Lue Xishuangbanna region of Yunnan and Laos' Chiang Thong (Xieng Thong) in Luang Prabang.
A mobile cabinet meeting in Chiang Rai and Lampang is expected to be held soon.
President of the Association of Northern Tourism Federations, Kitti Tissakul, said Thailand will reap the rewards from the scheme because Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai can benefit from the flow of Chinese tourists who are visiting the other three cities, especially from Jinhong; as well as South Korean, Japanese, and French tourists who visit Luang Prabang.
Tissakul estimates that the visa will “add approximately 10% or more than two million tourists annually”.
Each year, almost 14 million foreign tourists visit Chiang Rai and Chiang Rai. Targets to expand this to 30 million with the visa is “within reach”.
The policy was initiated sometime back by the Chiang Rai Chamber of Commerce, and private and public sectors to promote Thai tourism from Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai's international airports.