The government continued an effort to seek easier entry for Thai travellers into South Korea in a recent meeting between their foreign ministers.
Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa sought support from the South Korean government to relax restrictions for travellers from Thailand in talks with his South Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yul on Friday, according to the Yonhap news agency.
Thailand is one of 46 visa-exempt nations required since last year to apply for the Korea Electronic Travel Authorisation (K-ETA) before travelling. But the approval is not an automatic guarantee of entry, and many Thais have been turned away after arriving at airports.
The entry refusals spurred the #ban Korea travel" campaign urging holidaymakers to shun South Korea and go to other destinations. That led to a 21% year-on-year drop – to 119,455 – in the number of Thai tourists to South Korea in the first four months of 2024.
"Little ghosts"
Mr Maris said on Friday that frequent exchanges of visits by people from the two countries would be a foundation for bilateral relations. The South Korean foreign minister hoped to see the two countries cooperate in a forward-looking direction, the South Korean news agency said on Friday.
The South Korean government has strictly monitored visitors from Thailand as Seoul is trying to crack down on illegal foreign workers – including those from the kingdom, known in Thai as "little ghosts".
Officials from the Consular Affairs Departments of the two countries met in February this year in Seoul. Thailand proposed that South Korea ease the entry for Thai citizens at airports. "In response, the ROK side acknowledged the inevitability of the stringent entry inspection due to issues such as the increase in the number of undocumented Thai residents in the ROK," the statement released after the meeting by the South Korean Foreign Ministry said.
ROK is the acronym of the Republic of Korea, the official name of South Korea.
The Thai minister visited South Korea from Wednesday to Friday.