It’s no secret that we Malaysians love to travel to Thailand, with tourists from our country making up the largest number of foreign travellers to Thailand last year with a whopping 4,626,422 visitors, as per the statistics shared by Thailland’s Tourism and Sports Ministry.
For reference, that’s a staggering 16% of the total 28.09 million foreign visitors who visited the Land of Smiles last year. Well, it seems likely that the number will further increase this year, as Thailand has just made driving to the country from Malaysia much easier by temporarily suspending the requirement for arrival and departure cards at all land border checkpoints.
Thailand suspends arrival and departure card requirements at all land borders with Malaysia
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin
As announced by Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on his official X (formerly Twitter) account, the Thai Cabinet has agreed to suspend the arrival and departure card requirement for a period of 6 months from 15 April until 15 October 2024.
Specifically, Srettha asserted that the requirement would be suspended for foreign tourists arriving in Thailand via land or sea at 12 checkpoints, including all Malaysia-Thailand land borders.
He further revealed that the requirement was previously suspended at the Sadao Checkpoint in Songkhla which borders Bukit Kayu Hitam, Kedah and didn’t impact national security but instead led to more tourists coming to Thailand.
Accordingly, after this new 6-month arrival and departure cards’ suspension at all Malaysia-Thailand land borders, the country will be assessing the impact and may make it permanent, as per Srettha’s previous assertions.
ประเด็นมติ ครม. อื่น ๆ ที่ได้เร่งรัดเพื่อแก้ไขปัญหาพี่น้องประชาชน คือ
1. ได้มอบหมายให้กระทรวงมหาดไทย และผู้ว่าการประปาส่วนภูมิภาค เร่งทบทวนปรับแผนการผลิตน้ำประปา และพัฒนาโครงข่ายท่อส่งน้ำประปา ในหลายพื้นที่สำคัญของจังหวัดต่าง ๆ เช่น ภูเก็ต พังงา กระบี่ สุราษฎร์ เชียงใหม่ ลำพูน… pic.twitter.com/u4Iw1I616w
— Srettha Thavisin (@Thavisin) April 9, 2024
Tor Mor 6 form
For illustration purposes
If you’ve ever travelled to Thailand from Malaysia by driving a motor vehicle or riding a motorcycle, you’d be familiar with the aforementioned arrival and departure cards, known as Tor Mor 6 (T.M.6).
All vehicles entering Thailand via its land borders must fill in T.M.6 and keep it with them until exiting, with those losing the card facing a hefty fine by Thai Immigration when exiting the country.
However, as procuring and filling up T.M. 6 takes time and could cause inconvenience for travellers from Malaysia, Thailand last year exempted the need for T.M. 6 for 6 months until 30 April 2024 if you’re crossing the border through the Sadao checkpoint in Songkhla.
For illustration purposes
As we’ve alluded to earlier, the initiative by Thailand has been successful, with the Thai Prime Minister noting that after exempting the T.M. 6 requirement at the Sadao checkpoint, the number of Malaysians visiting the country via the checkpoint has tripled from 10,000 to 30,000 on weekends.
Hence, that is why Thailand is implementing this new 6-month exemption of the T.M. 6 form at all land borders with Malaysia.
For illustration purposes
So, what do you guys think of this initiative by the Thai government? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Also read: M’sians Departing from Thailand via 6 Major Airports Now Have to Pay Up to RM95 Service Charge
