Fast immigration lanes for Chinese students' families at Thai airports
Pol Maj Gen Choengron Rimpadee, commander of the Immigration Division 2 which supervises major airports, said on Sunday that tourism-related operators had urged for measures to stimulate the arrivals of Chinese visitors as their numbers had dropped by about 50% from 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.
In response, immigration police set up 'Happy Chinese Summer Channel' lanes for Chinese students' families at Chiang Mai, Don Mueang, Phuket and Suvarnabhumi airports from July to September.
The fast lanes limited waiting time for visitors to 15 minutes to complete their immigration processes, down from up to 40 minutes during peak hours, Pol Maj Gen Choengron said. He expected the special immigration channels to serve at least 5,000 Chinese students and family members each day. About 20,000 Chinese visitors arrive in Thailand every day.
The airport immigration commander said he met a deputy director-general of Chinese consular affairs and learned that Thailand remained a popular destination among Chinese students' families, after Macau and Hong Kong.
Marine attractions in Pattaya and Phuket were their favourite destinations in Thailand, and Chinese authorities had no policy to discourage Chinese people from visiting Thailand, Pol Maj Gen Choengron said.
Chinese people increasingly chose domestic trips because their income dropped after the Covid-19 pandemic, the commander said.
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