RoK’s First Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin (left) and Thailand's Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Sarun Charoensuwan shake hands during the fourth round of bilateral policy consultations in Bangkok on November 3. (Photo: Yonhap)
Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand and the Republic ofKorea (RoK) committed to solving their concern relating to tourism and illegalworkers.
At the annual meeting between the Thai permanent secretary offoreign affairs, Saran Charoensuwan, and the RoK First Vice Minister ofForeign Affairs Chang Ho-jin last week, the Korean official says it regretsthat its immigration officials have earned a reputation for refusing entry toThai tourists.
He explained that the stricter rules may have been enforcedby some officers, but added that the country does not have any policies inplace to refuse Thai visitors from gaining entry.
The meeting was heldas the #BanTravellingtoKorea (in Thai) trended on X (formerly known as Twitter)after many Thai netizens including influencers and singers shared theirexperiences of Korean immigration officers refusing them entry to the country.
The hashtag made the social media site's weekly top 10 aftera traveller claimed she had been to the RoK four times but was rejected onher latest attempt despite having a return ticket as well as tour programme andhotel bookings.
Her post on October 24 has received over 9.2 million viewsand 22,000 reposts, and was followed by posts from other Thais who had the sameexperiences.
The Korean diplomat said that he regretted such incidents anddid not want them to affect individual perceptions or the countries' diplomaticrelationship.
At the meeting, RoK’s Foreign Ministry also introduced somemeasures to discourage Thai nationals working illegally in the country.
The measures include the voluntary departure programme thatallows illegal workers to present themselves to RoK authorities beforebeing sent back to Thailand without being blacklisted. Another measureis the Employment Permit System (EPS) quota that allows 4,800 Thai labourers towork there legally every year.
Both countries agreed to hold a consular strategic conferenceto work on the problem further.
Meanwhile, Thai Labour Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn senta notification to the Department of Tourism and the Thai Travel AgentsAssociation (TTAA) to discourage agencies from enabling Thais to work illegallyin the RoK.
He said the ministry estimated that about 100,000 Thailabourers worked illegally in the RoK compared with the 93,118 Thai workers whohad obtained work through the government's EPS service./.
