Charter Flight from Bangkok Resumed on 30th Last Month
23 Absentees Occurred Twice After Arrival in Korea
After the resumption of charter flights from Thailand at Muan International Airport, there have been consecutive cases of tourists losing contact after arrival.
According to the Ministry of Justice and Yonhap News on the 6th, among the passengers on a charter flight that departed from Bangkok and arrived at Muan Airport that morning, 10 people left the airport and have not been reachable. On the 3rd, 13 group tourists who arrived on a charter flight from Bangkok to Muan Airport also disappeared immediately after immigration procedures.
Muan Airport had suspended international flights due to the spread of COVID-19 but resumed some routes in July and November last year. Since the 30th of last month, it restarted charter flights from Thailand for the first time after COVID-19, and among the three charter flights operated so far, unauthorized departures occurred twice.
The charter flights from Thailand are based on an inbound charter travel product business agreement made by Jeonnam Province at a Jeonnam tourism briefing held in Bangkok, Thailand. Until the end of March, 14 charter flights carrying about 2,400 passengers from Bangkok are scheduled twice a week.
The Thai passengers on the charter flights tour representative tourist destinations in Jeonnam such as Mokpo Marine Cable Car, Sinan Purple Island, and Damyang Juknokwon on a 3-night, 4-day itinerary.
Since Thai nationals are subject to a visa waiver agreement with South Korea, they can stay for up to 90 days without a visa. Unlike group visa entrants, if there are no issues such as employment, they are not subject to any legal sanctions within 90 days.
Muan Airport is also preparing to implement a visa-free entry system for group tourists from Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia starting next month. The visa-free system allows foreign visitors to stay in the country for 30 days without a visa.
Authorities believe that the missing Thai nationals entered the country disguised as tourists to seek employment and have begun efforts to locate them.
A Ministry of Justice official said, "We are attempting to contact them through travel agencies and other parties, checking airport CCTV within key routes such as the airport arrival hall to track the movements of those who left. We plan to hold a working-level consultative meeting with related agencies to discuss measures to prevent further unauthorized departures."
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