Thailand, RoK address issue on visa, illegal workers

RoK’s First Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin (left) and Thailand's Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Sarun Charoensuwan shake hands during the fourth round of bilateral policy consultations in Bangkok on November 3. (Photo: Yonhap)

Bangkok – Thailand and the Republic of Korea (RoK) committed to solving their concern relating to tourism and illegal workers.

At the annual meeting between the Thai permanent secretary of foreign affairs, Saran Charoensuwan, and the RoK First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Chang Ho-jin last week, the Korean official says it regrets that its immigration officials have earned a reputation for refusing entry to Thai tourists.

He explained that the stricter rules may have been enforced by some officers, but added that the country does not have any policies in place to refuse Thai visitors from gaining entry.

The meeting was held as the #BanTravellingtoKorea (in Thai) trended on X (formerly known as Twitter) after many Thai netizens including influencers and singers shared their experiences of Korean immigration officers refusing them entry to the country.

The hashtag made the social media site's weekly top 10 after a traveller claimed she had been to the RoK four times but was rejected on her latest attempt despite having a return ticket as well as tour programme and hotel bookings.

Her post on October 24 has received over 9.2 million views and 22,000 reposts, and was followed by posts from other Thais who had the same experiences.

The Korean diplomat said that he regretted such incidents and did not want them to affect inpidual perceptions or the countries' diplomatic relationship.

At the meeting, RoK’s Foreign Ministry also introduced some measures to discourage Thai nationals working illegally in the country.

The measures include the voluntary departure programme that allows illegal workers to present themselves to RoK authorities before being sent back to Thailand without being blacklisted. Another measure is the Employment Permit System (EPS) quota that allows 4,800 Thai labourers to work there legally every year.

Both countries agreed to hold a consular strategic conference to work on the problem further.

Meanwhile, Thai Labour Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn sent a notification to the Department of Tourism and the Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA) to discourage agencies from enabling Thais to work illegally in the RoK.

He said the ministry estimated that about 100,000 Thai labourers worked illegally in the RoK compared with the 93,118 Thai workers who had obtained work through the government's EPS service.

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