Why Bangkok is the better choice for your corporate congress and business events

Citizens of ninety-three countries have visa-free access to The City of Angels in The Land of Smiles, Krung Thep, otherwise known as Bangkok, for thirty days upon arrival. If you time your holiday, it could be the least expensive and most enriching bit of tourism you ever experience. Many visit for business meetings, or corporate congresses from various countries, industries and sectors.

Singapore is the regional capital of mass corporate meetings, but Bangkok has a market of its own, boosted by the cost of living in Singapore. For business travellers, accommodations, transportation, and dining are much less than in Singapore. Kuala Lumpur is between the other two in expenses and is a very clean city like Singapore.

Within each colourful district, you can easily locate a combined accommodation Meeting venue Sukhumvit Road. This massive city welcomes more than 32 million visitors annually, and the service industry is highly experienced in meeting the needs of all nations and cultures. It is not by accident but an attentive service vendor market that continues to develop these categories.

• Thailand has been focused on increasing its offering to foreign technical businesses and manufacturing with an easier licensing environment, visa options, and massive infrastructure investments to boost GDP. From that foundational level, they invite you to do business here.
• Thailand is a central location regionally, making travel from Singapore simple and direct flights from many nations.
• Planners are assured of a peaceful environment and controlled climate inside grand gathering halls for everyone to enjoy corporate briefings, strategising, or awards events.  All sites will be equipped with media adaptation for the latest and previous generations’ presentation and communication platforms. Not everyone can attend distant events. Link your international think tanks to collaborate on problem-solving with access to your greatest resource, the combined effort of those you empower and equip.
• Large congress meetings always have break-out sessions regarding focus groups. To save time lost when attendees can not find off-site locations, smart planners reserve meeting and accommodation rooms in the same location. This provides your teams the opportunity to enjoy a refreshing breakfast and recap with a takeaway discussion on the previous day’s information after they have had time to process.
• Rail and roadway transportation have received larger budgets, and the BTS/ MRT system in Bangkok is impressive. My only tip is to be flexible in your timing expectations close to standard rush hours. Otherwise, this is my preferred method of transport for many reasons. If you need to reach an organisational meeting across town, chances are the location is within walking distance of a station.
• Other reasons Bangkok is a M.I.C.E. (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) destinations go well beyond infrastructure options and ease of transport. The highly-skilled, world-class service labour pool flows deep and wide like the Chaophraya. The desire to astonish you by exceeding your standards is ingrained in their culture. The organisers have long-term relationships and experience in going beyond your list of needs.
• Visitors can use all of the 30-day visa exemption they receive upon arrival. Once your meetings are over, you still have access to a tourist dream with wondrous site density and a spectrum of cultures to enjoy. Plan your company vacation wisely.

• While you are here, head over to Chinatown and pick up an extra piece of luggage for all the Holiday gifts you can check off the list. Shops, markets and boutiques are hidden around every little soi. This city has long been a hub of international trade. You can travel the world in cuisine and goods as you explore and shop.
• There is a different transportation pace for a tourist or a businessperson. Since I am discussing the tourism side of why people come to Thailand, allow me to highly recommend the canal taxi boats. When the traffic is stopped, and the train is full, search for the Chao Phraya Express or Khlong Saen Saep boat services location near you on Google Maps.

To say Thailand is open for business is an understatement. They have expanded airports, piers, entire highway and rail networks, changed immigration policies, taxation and business ownership laws. New generation leadership is in touch with the modern world and wants to anticipate expat market demographic changes. They are eager for growth.

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As anyone with any immigration experience in the Kingdom should say, all this advice is subject to frequent and drastic change by the respective departments. Various provinces also have their own interpretation and application of the given laws. Please verify with a Thai government website. Take none of my guidance as definitive law or policy.

• Thailand instantly recognised the emergence of remote and hybrid work/life balance changes with the Discover Thailand Visa (DTV). This option allows those who qualify for a longer stay to work and tour the nation.
• The long-standing Education Visa (non-immigrant ED) has not been overhauled so much as they are enforcing the current laws with less leniency. Registered and authorised educational facilities can provide access to a 6-month visa, which comes with its own stipulations but can be applied to yoga, mui-tai, and Thai traditional medicine schools and more.
• The Board of Investment (BOI) visa is based on legal company creation, documentation, investment requisites, and a worthy product or service concept to be allowed to operate. Depending upon investment level and the amount of local staffing your company has, foreign employee work permits can be obtained within foreign-authorised job positions.
• The retirement (non-immigrant O) visa has very simple requirements currently; however, one recent big change is that you now must apply for this visa outside of Thailand before you can arrive on a tourist visa and apply here.
• A particularly difficult and documentation-laden visa to obtain is a Volunteer visa (non-immigrant O Volunteer). There has been a recent immigration focus on foreigners doing jobs on the prohibited list, even without pay; this is a violation that can earn you fines, prison and deportation.

Thailand, like many nations, speaks through their visa policies to tell who it will welcome. The policies can and do fluctuate annually based on the tourist season and after elections. With some actions, they want to access funds via tourism fees for entry. In other seasons, those fees disappear to invite more people in. In the past couple of years, the retirement visa requirements have been back and forth, ending where they began, only increasing enforcement.

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Currently, the tourist visa is under scrutiny and just as the high season approaches. There are other options like a marriage visa, and regardless of which one we hold, we must report to a simple 90-day check-in. This usually lasts less than five minutes and is there to ensure your status, health, location, etc, has not changed. I have a one-year visa, and I check in three times a year, renewing on my fourth.

If you can arrange your visit with a national celebration like Song Krahn or Loy Krathong, your visit will be all the more special. Thai citizens love their culture and celebrate it vibrantly. This is a lovely place filled with peaceful, happy people. Be cautious in how much you see. There is a very high chance you will sell everything and move here. Many do. For now, thanks for visiting Bangkok and please represent your country with honour while you are here.