Thailand’s Visa Crackdown Highlights How Asia’s Tourist Hotspots Including Bali Are Sick Of Foreigners Exploiting Immigration Systems

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Indonesian Immigration has been intensifying efforts to crack down on content creation, influencing, and other types of unpaid activity by foreigners in Bali this month. It is not only immigration officials in Indonesia, but in Thailand too, with Thailand even going so far as to end the 60-day visa-free travel policy for 93 countries.

All this begs the question: has Southeast Asia finally had enough of foreigners exploiting generous welcomes?

Thailand’s top destinations, including Phuket, Koh Phangan, Koh Samui, and even cities like Chiang Mai and Pattaya, can draw comparison with Indonesian provinces like Bali. All these destinations are rich in culture and natural beauty and have seen a boom in tourism development over the last 50 years, with a notable increase in tourist visits in the last decade.

Over these years, the demographics and, in turn, the demands of tourists have changed. Once destinations for backpackers and serious culturally curious travellers, then destinations for resort-style holidays and increasingly now destinations for foreign investors, digital nomads and retirees, all of these areas have seen a sharp rise in the number of international visitors and residents, and in turn a rise in the amount of crime connected to foreigners. 

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It seems that there is no single solution to tackling the rising crime rates of foreigners in destinations like Bali and Thailand’s top resort areas, but leaders are urgently taking action to make impactful change to protect both local residents and businesses and the public image of the tourism sector overall.

Thailand has confirmed that it will be ending its 60-day visa-free travel policy for citizens of 93 countries, including Australia, the USA, the UK, and most European countries. Moving forward, visitors from 54 countries will be issued a 30-day visa exemption; the countries on that list of 54 have not yet been specified. Thailand has cited crime by foreigners as the reason for the changes to immigration policies.

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Many have praised Thailand for taking firm action, but there are concerns that, with the conflict in the Middle East already negatively affecting the number of tourist arrivals, this policy may not help matters in the short term.

It will remain to be seen if changing visa-free travel policies will help reduce the number of unruly foreigners traveling to Thailand.

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There are hopes that by reducing the visa-free stay time to just 30 days, anyone who is considering engaging in illegal work, unpaid activity, or other criminal activities would be less likely to do so. 

Visa-free travel to Indonesia is only available for citizens of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, which are the ASEAN nations, as well as Colombia, Hong Kong, Suriname, Brazil, Peru, and Türkiye.

All other tourists traveling to Indonesia must apply for the 30-day eVisa on Arrival, which can be extended one time for a further 30 days. Before the pandemic, 30-day visa-free travel to Indonesia was available to citizens of Bali’s most frequently visiting nations, including Australia, New Zealand, China, the UK, the USA, and most European countries.

The introduction of the paid-for eVisa on Arrival has not correlated with a reduction in the amount of crimes committed by foreigners. This is why Bali has introduced mitigation measures like the creation of the Bali Dharma Dewata Immigration Task Force, which has been set to work conducting surveillance and monitoring foreigners who are suspected of violating immigration law. 

Indonesia’s Immigration has a specific focus on cracking down on content creators, influencers, and foreigners providing client services in the country while holding a socio-cultural stay permit.

Indonesian Immigration has issued updates confirming that unpaid activities can still be considered as immigration violations, and teams will be following up on reports made by the public as well as evidence found through monitoring operations. 

It is clear that destinations around Southeast Asia, from Indonesia to Thailand, are taking increasingly firm and decisive measures to crack down on foreigners who are violating the law and engaging in criminal activity at any level.