Visa-Exempt Entry
Current · Last updated 26/09/2026
Who can apply
There is nothing to apply for. Visa-exempt entry is granted at the border if you hold a passport from a listed country, and which list you are on decides how long you get. 30-day visa exemption — 54 countries and territories: Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bhutan, Brunei, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Türkiye, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. 15-day visa exemption — 3: Seychelles, the Maldives and Mauritius. Visa on Arrival — 4: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Serbia and India. Separate bilateral agreements cover another 16, and these are not part of the exemption scheme at all. 90 days: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Korea. 30 days: China, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Laos, Macao, Mongolia, Russia, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. 14 days, at international airports only: Cambodia and Myanmar. If your passport is not on any of these lists, you need a visa before you travel.
Checked 26/09/2026 against image.mfa.go.th
Current requirements
The exemption covers tourism only. Wording that previously allowed short-term business activity has been removed, so meetings, negotiations and any paid work now need a Non-Immigrant B arranged before you travel. Entering by land is capped at two visa-exempt entries per calendar year for most nationalities, which is what ended the old practice of repeated border runs. Arrivals by air are not capped. Everyone arriving, on any lane and any category, must have completed the Thailand Digital Arrival Card before arrival. It is free. Anyone who entered Thailand before 15 September 2026 keeps the stay period stamped in their passport on arrival — the new rules were not applied retroactively.
Checked 26/09/2026 against image.mfa.go.th, www.mfa.go.th
Documents you need
A passport from a listed country, with the validity your airline and the immigration officer expect, and a completed Thailand Digital Arrival Card. Immigration officers may also ask for onward or return travel and for proof of accommodation. Entry is a decision made at the border, not a right that the list guarantees.
Checked 26/09/2026 against www.immigration.go.th
What it costs
The exemption itself is free. There is no application and no fee on arrival. Visa on Arrival, for the four countries that have it, is a separate thing: it is paid for at the airport, and it cannot be extended. The cost that does arise is the extension. A 30-day visa-exempt stay can be extended once at an immigration office in Thailand, and that carries the standard extension fee set by the Immigration Bureau. Approval and the length granted are at the officer's discretion, so treat an extension as something you may get, not something you have. Beware of third-party sites charging for the Thailand Digital Arrival Card. It is free on the official system, and the authorities have issued their own warning about sites that charge for it.
Checked 26/09/2026 against www.immigration.go.th
Where to apply
Nowhere in advance. You are admitted at the border checkpoint on arrival. Extensions are handled in Thailand at an Immigration Bureau office, not at an embassy abroad. If you are not on any of the lists above, or you want to stay longer than the exemption allows, or you are coming to work, study, retire or run a business, you need the matching visa category instead — apply through the official e-Visa system before you travel.
Checked 26/09/2026 against www.immigration.go.th, www.thaievisa.go.th
The lists above come from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ own summary of the 2026 revision, which is the document to trust when secondary reporting disagrees — and it often does. Widely repeated figures of “around 60 countries” for the exemption and “three countries” for Visa on Arrival are both wrong: the official count is 54 and four. India is on the Visa on Arrival list, not the 30-day exemption list, which is a distinction that decides whether you can board a plane without a visa.
Two practical points the lists do not spell out. The bilateral-agreement countries are a separate scheme, so a Chinese or Russian passport holder is not “visa-exempt” in the sense used here even though they enter without a visa. And 30 days means 30 days from the date stamped on arrival, not a calendar month.
For what changed on 15 September 2026 and why, see the changes log.
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Official sources
Recent changes
- Visa exemption for tourists cut from 60 to 30 days — effective 15/09/2026
Planning your stay
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This is general information, not legal advice. Regulations change — always check the official source linked above before making a decision.