The government of Thailand has waived off on-arrival visa cost for Maldives along with 20 other countries, until the end of the year. The 21 countries are Andorra, Bulgaria, Bhutan, China, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, India, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
The Thai government made the decision to waive the USD 60.50 for the on-arrival visa scheme for two months, from December 1, 2018 to January 31, 2019 for visitors staying in the country for no more than 15 days in efforts to boost tourist arrivals. Tourists from these 21 countries are entitled to apply for on-arrival visa at 48 designated immigration checkpoints, which allow tourists to enter the country for the purpose of tourism.
The exemption is expected to boost foreign arrivals to nearly 40 million against a target of 38 million, according to Thai media reports.