‘Koreans are backward’: Thai tourists turn away from Korea over strict immigration screenings

Thai nationals are opting out of traveling to Korea because of what is thought to be unnecessarily strict immigration screening, according to Thai media reports.

Thai tourists are pictured shopping at the Lotte Duty Free Shop on Jeju Island, on June 6, 2022. [NEWS1]

The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) is working towards resolving the problem of entry issues as Thai nationals opt out of traveling to Korea because of what is thought to be unnecessarily strict immigration screening.

“The organization’s branch has informed authorities about the damages and have been consulting with related agencies [to resolve the problem]," said a spokesperson for the KTO.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said the government will assign related authorities to look into the issue of Thai nationals consistently being deported by Korean immigration after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Last week, a number of Thai nationals shared their negative experience with Korean immigration services on X, formerly Twitter.

The hashtags #BanTraveltoSouthKorea and #Koreanimmigrationoffice in the Thai language have since trended on X in Thailand, even reaching the top trending hashtag on Friday.

A search using the hashtag on X shows posts of Thai users saying they were deported after being banned from entering the country or were dragged to a separate room for interrogation.

A woman posted her experience with Korean immigration screening on X, formerly Twitter, saying, "I'm familiar with the questioning process and have prepared all the information regarding my stay and travel. In the end, Korean immigration officials still denied me entry, sometimes for ridiculous reasons like I was holding too much money for my salary. No kidding! I saved money for five years for his trip." [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The Bangkok Post reported on a post uploaded by a woman on Oct. 24.

In the post, she said she had been to Korea four times but was rejected entry on her latest attempt despite having a return ticket and bookings for tour programs and accommodation.

The post has so far received over 9.3 million views and 22,000 reposts.

"Korea is a place that has K-Pop and is affluent, but the citizens' way of thinking is backward. Korean people are racist against Thai people," another post with over 1 million views said.

Some compared Korea with other countries that offer visa-free travel for Thai nationals, such as Japan and Taiwan, saying they prefer the latter two to avoid losing travel expenses and wasting their time.

"The growing number of stories shared by deported tourists and those who were taken to the interview room has raised concerns about the Korean immigration office discriminating against Thais," the Bangkok Post said.

Charoen Wangananont, president of the Thai Travel Agents Association, said the stricter screening process owes to the increased number of Thai nationals overstaying their visas in Korea or working without legal permission.

"Thais who lost their jobs during the pandemic flocked to South Korea after the borders reopened. During some periods, the number of illegal workers who entered via the visa-free privilege was higher than the number of real tourists," he said.

The Bangkok Post also reported, "Many speculate the deportation results from the large number of Thai nationals who enter Korea with a tourist visa but end up working there illegally in the agriculture, accommodation and manufacturing."

In the first eight months of this year alone, 250,000 Thai tourists visited Korea, according to the KTO.

BY HA SU-YOUNG, KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]