Thailand to have 10-year visa for senior tourists

Thai cabinet on Tuesday agreed that the country's long-stay visa for tourists aged over 50 can be extended to a maximum of 10 years from the current one year, though the visa holder still have to report to immigration police every 90 days.

Apisit Chaiyanuwat, vice minister at the Prime Minister's Office, said after the meeting of the cabinet that the 10-year long-stay visa, set for tourists aged over 50, has other requirements.

A foreigner seeking the visa must have a minimum monthly income of 100,000 baht (about 2,777 U.S. dollars) or a minimum deposit of three million baht (about 83,333 U.S. dollars) in a bank account and it has to be maintained for at least a year.

Besides, they have to have a health insurance lasting a minimum of one year and worth a minimum of 1,000 U.S. dollars.

According to Apisit, the visa will be valid initially for five years and could be renewed for another five and the visa fee was set at 10,000 baht.

Though got a 10-year long-stay visa, one still have to report to immigration police every 90 days as before.

The prolonged visa aimed to promote medical and wellness tourism while the target groups are visitors from many countries, such as China, Japan, India, United States and the United Kingdom.