Thai customs authorities have promised to put a stop to what Vietnamese tourists have criticized as a discriminatory regulation targeting them at the Poipet border gate from Cambodia to Thailand over the week, the Vietnamese Consular Department said Friday.
>> Thai diplomat in Vietnam says showing money to get visa stamped abnormal >> Vietnam urges Thailand to explain discriminatory customs rule as boycott looms >> Vietnamese tourists infuriated by $700 proof of funds to enter Thailand
Vietnamese holidaymakers have filed complaints to Tuoi Tre newspaper and other local media agencies, saying that they have been ‘insulted’ by the customs rule that requests them to prove to Thai immigration officers that they were carrying US$700 or 20,000 baht to be allowed to pass the Poipet checkpoint to enter Thailand.
Upon learning of the matter through media reports, the Consular Department, under the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has asked the Thai Embassy in Hanoi to look into the case, the department’s chief Nguyen Huu Thang said in a document sent to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) on Friday.
The Thai embassy on Wednesday sent a delegation to the Immigration Department of the Thai province of Sakaeo, which oversees operations of Poipet, referred to as Aranyapathet in Thailand, to work on the issue.
The Sakaeo’s immigration department admitted in the working session that some of the officers at Poipet border gate have had inappropriate behaviors towards Vietnamese tourists.
It also said that the large notice saying tourists from some countries, including Vietnam, could be questioned by Thai officers at any time should not have been erected at the checkpoints.
The notice indicates that citizens from certain countries, including Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, the Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam, “might be questioned by the officers due to the policy.”
The Sakaeo’s immigration department eventually asserted that it will ask officers at the Aranyapathet border gate to behave appropriately to tourists and remove the controversial notice at the checkpoint.
It will also abolish the rule requesting Vietnamese tourists to provide a proof of funds in cash to get a visa stamped in their passports, the department said.
Vietnamese tourists have previously complained that they had to pose for a photograph with money covering half of their face as if they were photographed for a mugshot.
Tourists will now be allowed to use credit card instead of cash as proof of fund, according to the Sakaeo’s immigration department.
It is requested by the Thai Ministry of Interior that foreigners entering the country via road border gates must carry at least 20,000 baht, VNAT chief Nguyen Van Tuan noted in an interview with Tuoi Tre on Friday.
However, tourists going on tours organized by travel agencies are not subject to the regulation as they are guaranteed by the tour organizers, Tuan added.
Thailand abolishes controversial customs rule targeting Vietnam tourists Related image(s)
0 comments:
Post a Comment