(TAN): They say Paris is always a good idea. If you ask me, Thailand is just as good an idea, perhaps even better!
As someone based in Kolkata, Thailand always made great sense to me as a holiday destination. It’s close by (takes almost the same time to reach as Delhi), the food is great, the people are tourist-friendly and you get more bang for your buck (pun intended for sure!) than many other popular tourist destinations.
And in case you have been living under a rock, you should know that until May 2024, Indians don’t even need a visa to enter Thailand. So at this point, you can just book a flight this evening, get on a plane later at night, and be drinking coconut water and gin along with breakfast at Pattaya tomorrow morning. (Well, technically you could do that earlier too, but you had to stand in a queue and get the visa on arrival.)
While the visa-on-arrival lets Indians stay in the country for 15 days at most, during the visa-free phase, you are allowed to be in the country for a month.
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The development has made people around me excited for sure, because every few days, I see someone I know posting pictures of their adventures in Thailand on social media. And these are short-term plans — like they’re planning today and going later this week, or next week.
The difference is not very significant monetarily — you basically don’t pay the THB 2,200 (INR 5,200) for your visa on arrival. But since many Indians do low-budget trips to Thailand, even this amount turns out not such an insignificant part of the entire budget.
The time is right, as is the weather. Get on that plane. The white-sand beaches and pad Thai are waiting.
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