Letter: Visa on arrival

Robert Reijman maintains that Indonesia's visa on arrival (VOA) regulations are not a hassle, because the visa rule in some other countries are even worse, (The Jakarta Post, Dec. 5, p.7).

The prime sponsor of the current VOA, former justice and human rights minister Yusril Mahendra, used a similar argument to justify the current VOA rules.

This logic is fallacious. Two wrongs don't make a right. A couple of weeks ago at the airport in Denpasar, I saw tired arriving passengers queue for more than three hours to get their Visas On Arrival. This is downright discourteous and disrespectful to the needs of tired travellers.

In the islands of Karimun, Bintan and Batam, those 2004 VOA rules quickly destroyed much of the weekend quick getaway business that used to attract Singapore and K.L.-based expats to visit for golf, diving, shopping or outdoor adventures.

It was not the slow queues and visa charges that killed the business, but the 1.25 passport pages than are taken up with stamps and stickers. Many passports these days only have 38 pages and many countries require the passport holder to return home to get a new one.

Indonesia's people are the most friendly and hospitable that anyone will ever meet. But the Indonesian government's unfriendly tourism policies explain why Malaysia enjoys nearly three times the number of foreign visitors that Indonesia does.

EVEN JONES
Batam, Riau Islands