As an American citizen sometimes getting a visa to travel to certain countries may be timely…like coming to Saudi Arabia. But all in all, there are few places an American is prohibited by its own government to travel. Whereas in Saudi Arabia, it is not only difficult for Saudis to get visas to travel to many many countries (including the USA) but I have become aware there are some countries which are on a “No Travel List” for Saudi citizens and this list is made and enforced by the Saudi government.
Some of the countries may come as no suprise but others may raise the eyebrows and make one wonder why can’t a Saudi travel there?
The list is as follows:
Iraq
Afghanistan
Bosnia
Israel
Thailand
Pakistan (not without prior Saudi Ministry of Interior approval)
Okay….Iraq and Afghanistan I can understand as part of the Saudi Government’s efforts to prevent jihad and terrorism. Israel I can also understand given that there are no diplomatic relations between the countries and a long history of differences. Pakistan I can further understand the need for Ministry of Interior approval since in the past many Saudis used Pakistan as a launching pad into Afghanistan or for other nefarious purposes. Bosnia was a surprise to me. But Thailand? Why wonderful Thailand which is a great place for a holday? Well, seems that in the past five Saudi diplomats were murdered in Thailand. There remain differences between the two respective governments. Last but not least, Saudis also created a reputation for using Thailand to satisfy deviant sexual practices.
How did this topic even come to my attention in the first place? I recently learned of a few instances where Saudis did travel into or through Thailand and in turn, were punished by the Saudi government for disobeying the ban. In one case a Saudi was returning to the Kingdom from Asia and had a 7 hour transit layover in Bangkok. Rather than remain at the airport, he decided to go out and take a quick tour of Thailand. In another case, a Saudi chose to go to Thailand with his wife for a holiday. In both of these cases when it came time for the Saudis to renew their Saudi passports, they ran into problems due to the Thai stamps in their passports. The Passport office reported these Saudis to concerned agencies and also refused to renew their passports for a three month period as “punishment” for violating the rules. This is what is done with “first offenders.” Further disregard could result in evocation of a passport.
One thing which I am somewhat confused about though is if the Saudi government has a list of countries where it does not allow travel of its citizens, what kind of support (if any) is it receiving from the concerned countries? Are there any agreements or understandings in place that attempts of Saudis to pass through the borders of the concerned countries would result in the Saudis being stopped and deported? Based at least on the two incidents which I know of pertaining to Thailand, it sounds as if the ban on Thailand at least is one sided. That is only my speculation please do not misinterpret my words.
While Arab News printed a February 2008 article citing the possibility of normalizing travel of Saudis to Thailand, the two incidents which I know of and are recent seem to dispute the Arab News story.
However, this August 2007 story also provides good historical background on travel restrictions of Saudis and travel to Thailand in particular.
Filed under: Saudi Arabia, terrorism, travel
no one knew about the ban of travelling to Thailand no one in the goverment said anything.
i agree with banning thi but why not telling us about it
by the way today is Saudi Arabia unification day(national day)
You’re right 3zoby — It is the 78th National Day!!
Actually the ban on travel to Thailand is quite well known. Or should be. Besides, its written there in the passport.
I guess that makes one wonder how many really read all of the fine print on pages in the passport?
This is about the sex trade in Thailand?
No, Abu Dhabi. The sex trade in Thailand is only one small part of why travel to Thailand by Saudis is prohibited.
Maybe banning Saudis from visiting Thailand is a form of pressure on the Thai authorities to solve the murder case that remains unsolved till today.
During Franco’s dictatorship in Spain (1939-1978) visiting East Germany and all the communist countries was forbidden. It didn’t matter very much, since the ones who wanted to get there were welcome by those countries.
It is interesting to know that the concept of regulating human travel is very recent, as far as i know, the passport as a document only started to exist after the first World War.
Remarcable also is the the freedom of movement right is stated in the Human Rights of the UN… and there is not one single country that doesn’t stop undesirable people getting in.
Hello, well my first time leaving a response. I recently travelled to Thailand with my Saudi partner (we were residing in Malaysia at the time) and there were quite a number of Saudi families travelling to Phuket on holiday, and we met a lot of couples on there honey moon. My partner was very surprised as well at the number of Saudi’s in phuket, and explained to me the difficulties that they may run into returning to Saudi Arabia. Of course we did also see a lot of “boys” on trips there but the majority was families. Needless to say Thailand is a beautiful country and we will be going again… What happens if he/we return to Saudi will remain to be seen!
Thanks for the info Carlinhos. I’d not given much thought as to when individuals started requiring passports and other travel documents for travel.
Aussiegirl – I’m not an expert but what I do know if “first time offenders” (ie, Saudis with a Thai stamp in their passport) are penalized by 3 months before being able to get their passport renewed once it has expired. However if there is more than one Thai stamp in the passport, I don’t know if the penalty would be greater.
Thailand has always been one of my favorite places to holiday and each part of the country is so worth seeing!
I worked for an International NGO in Aceh, Indonesia last year, I wanted to travel to Thailand in February for a training done by the NGO for all its Indonesia-Based workers. So I researched the internet (LIKE, I DIDN’T HAVE ANYONE ELSE TO ASK FROM WHERE I WAS LIVING, OKAY?) for any good luck whether or not the ban was still in effect.
Here’s the funny part. When I typed search words in English, it all sounded happy and peachy and okay for saudis to come visit Thailand. The immigration procedure was so easy that o Saudis only need on-arrival visas to enter Thai International Ports without going to the Embassy. (Which gave the feeling that Thailand really is serious about welcoming tourists into the country – Saudis nevertheless).
But the visa hell kinda broke loose when search words were typed in Arabic: (search words: تصريح – سفر – تايلاند – سعوديين). That’s when websites containing exceptions for Saudi Businessmen to travel to Thailand and things just got so much more confusing that I had to cross out the free trip to Bangkok – indefinitely.
Conclusions?
Go to Bali.
Thanks for sharing your experience, hning. And, welcome to my blog too!
Well if you go to Bali…stay away from the night clubs etc…sigh.
Hi all,
I from Australia and my family and I travel to Thailand (for a family holiday) annually for the last six years. We usually got to Bankok and Phuket.
We last went in August 2008 and we were surprised by the number of people from the Gulf Countries. I guess I noticed it more, because I am due to fly out to KSA.
Actually I met a lot of people from saudi. One gentleman came up and spoke to me in the pool, he was there withi his family. He was from Khoobar and he was very pleased that I was going to KSA.
I was very surprised that citizens are not encouraged to go Thailand. It is one of the best places in the world. The people are absouletly fantastic. It is very sad that people (who have not been to thailand) associate it with sex trade etc. It IS NOT ALL ABOUT SEX IN THAILAND.
You can have a family holiday and fun time can be had everyone.
But I guess there are different perspective and views and these should be respected.
cheers
Shannon
Hi Shannon,
Thanks for your comments and sharing of your experience. I have been to Thailand many times and would so like to show my Saudi husband Thailand…but that is probably unlikely to happen due to the regulations. c’est la vie.
Is there anyway to circumvent this ruling?
That would be up to the Saudi Government.
Saudis CAN go with a business visa which, if one has minor connections, is easily obtainable. Plenty of Saudis go there as business visitors (the workaround). Another way is to enter via the Cambodian border and have them stamp a sheet affixed to the passport and not the passport itself. Must have a Thai friend tag along for this option due to the language barrier.
Hi there,
Can Saudi’s go to Thailand and when they arrive at the airport, can they tell the immigration officer to not stamp the passport and try to explain why. Maybe they can stamp that card that they give everyone on entry and they can take it back on departure! Does anyone know if that’s possible and if the Thai government can do the Saudi citizens a favour!! Been wanting to go there sooo bad!!