Thailand Visa Requirements

The 30-day visa exemption that took effect on 15 September 2026 covers 60 countries and territories, and it is for tourism only; short business trips that were previously covered by the 60-day scheme now need a visa. The permitted stay is counted in days from the date of entry, and the officer stamps your exit date in the passport, so check it before you leave the desk. Arrivals by air or sea can use the exemption as often as they like in principle, although frequent repeat visitors are increasingly asked for proof of funds, accommodation and onward travel, and some have been refused.

Seychelles and Mauritius get a separate 15-day exemption. Several nationalities that had 60 days until September 2026, among them Mexico, Colombia, Sri Lanka and most of South America outside the bilateral deals, now need a visa, so do not rely on a friend’s experience from 2025. Separate bilateral agreements continue to run alongside the list: China, Russia and Vietnam have 30-day mutual arrangements, Hong Kong, Laos, Macau and Mongolia 30 days, and South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru 90 days under older treaties. If your country appears on none of these lists, apply for a tourist e-visa before you fly; there is no visa on arrival for you.

Visa on arrival (VoA) shrank to three nationalities in September 2026: Azerbaijan, Belarus and Serbia. It grants 15 days for 2,000 baht (cash, baht only), and it cannot be extended except in medical emergencies. Apply at the VoA counters before the main immigration hall at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Krabi, Hat Yai and Ko Samui airports and at the main land crossings, with a passport valid for at least six months, one passport photo, a confirmed onward ticket within 15 days, your accommodation address and proof of 10,000 baht per person (20,000 per family) in cash or equivalent. Queues at Suvarnabhumi can take an hour at peak times, so most people who qualify now apply online for the e-visa instead, which also gets them 60 days rather than 15. Note that India, which used VoA for years, is now on the 30-day visa-free list and no longer needs it.

The single-entry Tourist Visa (category TR) gives 60 days from the date of entry and is the right choice if you are not on the exemption list, want to arrive by land more than twice a year, or simply want 60 days without an extension trip. It is issued only through the official Thai e-Visa portal; embassies and consulates no longer stamp visas into passports, and you present the PDF approval at check-in and immigration. The fee is set at 1,000 baht but charged in local currency by the embassy that processes your file (about $40 in the US, £30 in the UK), it is non-refundable, and the visa must be used within three months of issue.

You will need a passport scan with at least six months’ validity, a recent photo, proof of where you live (for jurisdiction), a confirmed flight into Thailand, accommodation for at least the first nights, and a bank statement showing roughly 20,000 baht per person (40,000 per family) or more. Processing is quoted at 3 to 10 working days but can stretch to three weeks in peak periods and around holidays, so apply three to four weeks before departure. A multiple-entry tourist visa (METV, six months’ validity, 60 days per entry, 5,000 baht) exists but is issued only by the embassy in your country of residence and demands a larger bank balance; for most travellers a TR plus one extension, or two separate visa-free entries by air, is simpler.

Both a visa-free entry and a tourist visa can be extended once by 30 days at any Immigration Bureau office for 1,900 baht. In Bangkok that is the Government Complex on Chaeng Watthana Road (Building B), with branch offices in Chiang Mai (Promenada mall), Phuket Town, Pattaya (Jomtien), Hua Hin, Krabi, Ko Samui, Hat Yai and most provincial capitals. Bring your passport, a completed TM7 form (downloadable, or free at the office), one 4x6 cm photo, photocopies of your passport photo page, entry stamp and TDAC confirmation, and the fee in cash. Arrive early, dress neatly, and allow a morning: the Bangkok office processes same-day but the queue builds from 8.30am. Many offices now take online queue bookings through the Immigration Bureau’s app.

Overstaying is treated seriously and the fine is automatic: 500 baht for every day over, capped at 20,000 baht (40 days), paid at the airport immigration desk as you leave. A single day’s overstay is usually waved through, but do not count on it. Stay longer and the consequences escalate even if you leave voluntarily: more than 90 days of overstay earns a one-year entry ban, more than one year a three-year ban, more than three years five years, and more than five years ten years. If you are caught overstaying rather than leaving on your own, the bans start at five years for under a year’s overstay and ten years above it, after a spell in the Immigration Detention Centre at your own expense followed by deportation.

Police can ask to see your passport or a copy at any time, and overstay checks at hotels and during traffic stops are common in Pattaya, Phuket and Chiang Mai. If illness or a cancelled flight pushes you over, go to an immigration office before the date passes and ask for an extension; a hospital letter or airline confirmation usually gets you seven days.

Every foreign national arriving by air, land or sea must submit the free Thailand Digital Arrival Card at tdac.immigration.go.th within the three days before arrival, including the arrival day. It replaced the paper TM6 card on 1 May 2025 and asks for passport details, flight or vehicle, the address of your first night and your departure plans; you can file for a family group in one go and children need their own entry. Save the confirmation QR code: airlines check it at check-in and the e-gates and officers scan it. Transit passengers who stay airside without passing immigration are exempt, as are border-pass holders from neighbouring countries. Only the .go.th site is official; lookalike sites charge $20 to $50 for the same free form.

At the desk, your passport must be valid for at least six months from the date of arrival and have a blank page. Officers can ask for a return or onward ticket and for proof of funds of 20,000 baht per person or 40,000 per family (cash, cards with a statement, or a banking app all count), and they check these at land borders, for visa-free travellers with many recent entries, and when a one-way ticket is spotted at check-in. Airlines may refuse to board you without an onward ticket if you are travelling visa-free, so hold a cheap flight or bus out even if you plan to change it. At Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang and Phuket, automated e-gates are open to 33 nationalities including the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and most of Europe for arrivals with a filed TDAC, which cuts the queue to minutes; you then collect your entry stamp or printed slip from the kiosk, so keep it.

Children follow the same rules as adults: their own passport, their own TDAC entry (filed by a parent), the same visa-free or visa status, and the same 500-baht-a-day overstay fine. Visa fees are charged in full for children. A child travelling with one parent or with other adults is not routinely asked for a consent letter in Thailand, but your airline or your home country’s exit rules may require one, so carry it.

Thailand has open land crossings with Malaysia, Laos and Myanmar, while every crossing with Cambodia has been closed to travellers since the July 2025 border fighting, with the Khao Phra Wihan (Preah Vihear) and Ta Muen Thom temples shut and the FCDO advising against all but essential travel within 20 km of the frontier; check whether Aranyaprathet to Poipet has reopened before planning a Bangkok to Siem Reap overland trip. Into Laos, the Friendship Bridges at Nong Khai (for Vientiane), Mukdahan (Savannakhet) and Nakhon Phanom (Thakhek) and the Chiang Khong bridge near the Golden Triangle (for Huay Xai and the Luang Prabang slow boat) are straightforward, and the Nong Khai to Vientiane direct train makes that one the easiest border in the region. Into Malaysia, the Sadao and Padang Besar crossings south of Hat Yai are busy and simple, but Sungai Kolok lies in the Deep South advisory zone. The Myanmar crossings at Mae Sai (for Tachileik) and Mae Sot (Myawaddy) are open intermittently and currently only for day trips into the border towns because of the conflict beyond them.

If 30 or 60 days is not enough, the Destination Thailand Visa (DTV), introduced in July 2024, is the long-stay route for remote workers, freelancers and people coming for extended Muay Thai, cooking or medical programmes. It costs 10,000 baht, is valid for five years with multiple entries, allows 180 days per entry with one 180-day extension (another 10,000 baht), and requires proof of 500,000 baht in savings plus evidence of remote employment or enrolment. It is applied for on the same e-Visa portal, usually from your home country or a neighbouring one, and does not permit working for a Thai employer. For the full eligibility checklist, document list and the tax-residence implications of staying over 180 days, see our Thailand DTV guide. Retirees over 50 use the Non-O and O-A visas (800,000 baht in a Thai bank or 65,000 baht monthly income), and the Thailand Privilege (Elite) membership from about 650,000 baht buys a five-year visa with airport fast-track for people who would rather pay than paperwork.