The Tourism Minister backs revoking the visas of foreigners who cause conflicts in Thailand, following recent disputes between Israelis and locals in Koh Samui and Phuket, while unrest in the far South should not affect the Malaysian market during next week's National Day holiday.
Tourism and Sports Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul said that following more intense disputes between locals and certain foreigners in both Samui and Phuket, most cases reportedly stemmed from individual behaviour, not all foreigners.
However, he said that if there are cases of flouting the law, norms or traditional ways of life, or of stirring conflicts within society, those individuals' visas should be revoked.
Regarding the issue of promoting certain national ideologies, Mr Surasak said such actions are not acceptable within Thailand, as the nation positions itself as a non-conflict country and would not welcome foreigners using the country to express their national ideologies, which could trigger conflict.
Regarding attacks at several sites within the four southern border provinces during the weekend, Mr Surasak said the incidents are not expected to affect the inbound Malaysian market, which will flood into Thailand during Malaysia's National Day holiday on Aug 31.
He said that even though the government had attempted to prevent the violence, the large number of attacks planned simultaneously across the vast targeted areas made it difficult to completely safeguard those places.
However, for Malaysian tourists who are familiar with similar incidents in the past, he believed they would understand that tourists and most travel destinations were never the targets of the violence.
