Thailand's passport grants visa-free access to 79 countries (readers' submission)

Thailand has moved up six places to 65th in the World Passport Power Ranking based on the number of locations its holders have visa-free access to, according to a recent survey by Henley & Partners Holdings Ltd: https://www.henleyglobal.com/passport-index

Henley et al. issued a press release on July 18 stating that Japan has fallen from first place on the Henley Passport Index to third place for the first time in five years. The ranking is based on official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Singapore now officially has the most powerful passport in the world. Its citizens can visit 192 of the 227 travel destinations around the world visa-free. Germany, Italy and Spain all rise to 2nd place with visa-free access to 190 destinations.

Japanese passport holders join those of six other countries – Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea and Sweden – in 3rd place with access to 189 destinations without a prior visa.

Afghanistan remains anchored at the bottom of the Henley Passport Index, with a visa-free entry score of just 27, followed by Iraq (score of 29) and Syria (score of 30) – the three weakest passports in the world.

The general trend is that the average number of destinations that travelers can visit visa-free has almost doubled from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2023. The Netherlands ranks 4th with visa-free access in 188 countries. Belgium on 5 with 187 countries. Thailand is now in 64th place with visa-free access to 79 countries.

Source: Khaosod English – July 2023

Submitted by RuudJ