Government Spokesperson Sansern Kaewkamnerd announced that the previous time they waived the visa fee (December 2016-February 28, 2017) resulted in a 12% increase in foreign arrivals thus the approval by the Cabinet to extend the visa fee for another 6 months, until August 2017.
The move to waive visa fees was due to the 30% decrease in Chinese arrivals last year due to extensive crackdowns on zero-dollar tours. The government hopes that this incentive program for all nationalities will boost the tourism industry during its low seasons.
Source: nationmultimedia.com