Thailand wants direct flights between Chiang Mai and India as part of a broader plan to deepen air, sea and road links with the South Asian giant.
Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn raised the idea in talks with Puneet Agrawal, India’s ambassador to Thailand, at the Transport Ministry this week. The pair covered aviation, maritime cargo and a long-delayed three-nation highway agreement.
Phiphat said Thailand stands ready to support more flights between the two countries. The ministry will encourage airlines to open routes connecting major cities on both sides.
A direct Chiang Mai service topped the list. Phiphat said the route would make travel easier for Indian visitors and push tourism income beyond Bangkok into the north. The northern capital has been chasing new international routes for some time, and tourism officials there have openly courted direct flights from India to diversify away from a slow Chinese recovery.
Indian arrivals climb nearly 8%
The Indian market keeps delivering. Thailand welcomed 1,056,729 Indian tourists between January and May this year, up 7.98% from the same period in 2025.
Phiphat said the numbers prove the market still has room to grow. He ordered agencies under the Transport Ministry to treat the convenience and safety of all tourists as equal priorities, whatever their nationality.
“Thailand is ready to take care of every tourist, regardless of where they come from,” he said. “Safety and convenient travel are our highest priorities. We want visitors to be impressed from the moment they arrive in Thailand.”
Agrawal thanked the Thai government for its visa exemption policy for Indian tourists, which he credited for the steady rise in arrivals. The policy has had a bumpy ride this year. Indian visitors briefly faced a downgrade to visa on arrivalbefore the government restored a 30 day visa-free stay this month.
The ambassador said talks with Indian airlines were under way to maintain flight capacity and open new routes to Chiang Mai.
Ranong port ties with Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Kolkata
The two sides also want more action from existing agreements between Ranong Port and three major Indian ports: Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Kolkata.
The goal is to boost cargo and logistics flows by using Thailand’s Andaman coast as a gateway to South Asia. Phiphat said the memoranda of understanding should now translate into concrete shipping activity rather than sit on paper.
The meeting also reviewed progress on the India-Myanmar-Thailand Motor Vehicle Agreement, a pact designed to allow vehicles to cross all three countries along the trilateral highway.
Agrawal backed closer sea and road connections. He offered to help Thai companies invest in India, particularly in information technology, and said India would nudge its own investors towards Thailand’s tourism and service industries in return.
The story Thailand and India eye direct Chiang Mai flights in transport push as seen on Thaiger News.
