Thailand’s government has confirmed a tourist visa revocation policy targeting foreign visitors found to be causing trouble or acting inappropriately, following reports of disruptive behaviour in Phuket and Koh Samui.
Tourism and Sports Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul said the ministry would coordinate with relevant agencies to act swiftly against offenders. He said all nationalities remain welcome in Thailand, but visitors must respect Thai law and culture.
Phuket and Koh Samui, both major contributors to Thailand’s tourism economy, are facing what officials describe as a new challenge. According to reports, some groups of foreign tourists, particularly groups of Israeli tourists, have behaved inappropriately and disrupted the two destinations.
Officials say the behaviour has affected the tourism atmosphere, safety and the image of the local service sector, at a time when both areas are being positioned as global travel destinations.
Speaking in an interview, Surasak addressed the issue directly. He described the reported conduct as a matter of individual behaviour and said the ministry would neither ignore it nor allow it to spread or escalate.
The government is ready to coordinate with relevant agencies for immediate action to revoke the visas of tourists who cause trouble, Surasak said.
According to The Nation, he framed the Thailand tourist visa revocation policy as a preventative step rather than a punitive one, adding that Thailand welcomes tourists from around the world, but that anyone entering the country must respect Thai law and Thai culture.
Surasak said the government would not allow tourists of any nationality to treat Thailand as a “playground,” or to use any location for symbolic displays connected to conflicts unrelated to Thailand.
He said revoking visas before problems escalate is an important measure to protect the tourism industry’s image and reassure both business operators and other visiting tourists that Thailand remains a safe destination for holidaymakers behaving appropriately.
In similar news, officials in Surat Thani are separately seeking the visa revocation and deportation of an Israeli businessman and a French national following a personal dispute on Koh Samui that began over the display of a Palestinian flag at a tourist attraction. Security officials said the dispute had created the perception that Israeli tourists were unwelcome on the island, and warned against attempts to turn a personal disagreement into a wider religious or nationality-based conflict. A provincial committee is reviewing the case.
The story ‘Thailand won’t be a playground,’ minister warns of visa revocations over foreign tourist misconduct as seen on Thaiger News.
