Some of the things we can from Thailand is the non extension of the two of the seven tourism stimulus policies it launched in the last two years in a bid to restore travellers' confidence during the country's political crisis.
The two initiatives to be discontinued are the exemption of tourist visa fees for certain nationalities, including from China and India, and the government-backed tourist insurance scheme in case of riots. Both tourist-specific policies will cease on March 31.
This is to show that some tourism policies need to be changed from from to time in order to move forward.
The Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MoTS) permanent secretary, Sombat Kuruphan, said that keeping the insurance scheme might send the wrong message to tourists about the country's political situation.
To make up for the removal of the tourist visa fee waiver, Thai authorities have promised speedier immigration procedures at Suvarnabhumi Airport, which is usually crowded during peak air traffic hours something we in Malaysia can emulate.
In January, there were 1.18 million tourist arrivals at the airport, a 6.2 per cent increase over the same month last year. There was also a total of 4.29 million domestic and international passengers passing through the airport, or a 4.91 per cent increase despite all that trouble in the country.
In Malaysia there was peace all round.
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