Government of Thailand Plans To Issue 90-Day Muay Thai Visa For Foreigners

If you’re a Muay Thai enthusiast and not from Thailand, then there’s a great opportunity awaiting you.

The Government of Thailand is mulling to bring forth a special 90-day visa for foreigners so those interested in learning Muay Thai can now get the opportunity to train right at the cradle of the sport.

Thailand’s aim to expand into sports tourism

One of the fastest-growing sectors in the global travel industry, sports tourism as an industry, is currently valued at $7.68 billion, and Thailand’s latest move is signaling their plans to make way into it.

A regular tourist visa in Thailand allows a foreigner to stay for a maximum period of 60 days. However, the upcoming Muay Thai visa would allow one to remain in the country for 90.

The announcement came straight from Srettha Thavisin, the Prime Minister of Thailand, who took to Twitter to reveal that he and the government are looking into implementing the 90-day Muay Thai visa, which would not only include the sport but also Thai dancing, Thai music, Thai cooking as a method to promote Thai culture to the noncitizens.

“I and the Thai government are ready to support Thailand’s soft power. Providing a special 90-day visa (instead of the normal 60-day visa) to those interested in learning Muay Thai is just a small starting point in implementing the desired government policy,” read the post from Thavisin.

“Stimulate the Thai economy by using Thainess and exporting it far all over the world. We are not thinking of granting a special visa for just Muay Thai, but other soft power such as Thai dancing, Thai music, learning to cook Thai food, etc., we are ready to support. And we are preparing to consider granting a special visa next as well,” he further added.

Muay Thai- a soft power of Thailand

Muay Thai, also known as Thai boxing, is one of the most popular disciplines of combat sports. Aside from gaining widespread international acclaim in the late 20th to 21st century, the government is now looking to promote the sport as one of Thailand’s’s so-called “soft powers”, as decided in member meeting held on Friday, PM’s advisor and chairman of the government’s subcommittee for driving sports-related activities Pimol Srivikorn revealed.