Thailand visa exemption, 30 days
If your passport is on the list, you walk in. No application, no fee, no form at the desk beyond the TDAC — just a stamp for 30 days. What changed in September 2026 is who gets it, how long it lasts, and how often you can use it.
Who is on the list now
Fifty-four countries and territories, down from 57. The list covers the UK, Ireland, the EU and Schengen states, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong SAR and most of Latin America. Three countries that used to sit in this group — Seychelles, Maldives and Mauritius — were moved to a separate 15-day exemption.
China is a special case and a good illustration of why the September change caused confusion. Chinese passport holders still get 30 days, but under the bilateral agreement that took effect in March 2024, not under the unilateral scheme. The cabinet's revocation applied to the unilateral 60-day scheme; bilateral treaties were untouched. If your nationality has a bilateral agreement with Thailand, that is the instrument you are admitted under, and it may allow more than the unilateral list does — 90 days in any 180 for Chinese passports, for example.
What the stamp actually gives you
Thirty days from the day you arrive, counted inclusively — arrive on the 1st and you must leave by the 30th. The officer writes the permitted-until date on the stamp, sometimes in the Thai Buddhist calendar, which is 543 years ahead of the Gregorian year. Photograph the stamp when you get it; every question about extensions and overstays is answered by that date, not by your return ticket.
You can extend once for 30 days at an immigration office for ฿1,900, which takes a single trip to be 60 days. You cannot extend twice on the same entry, and you cannot extend at the border.
The two-entry cap, and why border runs stopped working
The September 2026 revision introduced a limit of two visa-exempt entries per calendar year. Before it, the standard workaround for staying longer was to leave for a few days — usually to Malaysia, Cambodia or Laos — and come back on a fresh stamp. That loop is now closed after two entries.
What this means in practice: if you are planning a trip that involves entering Thailand, leaving for Vietnam, and re-entering, you are using two of your two entries and should have a visa for anything beyond that. Immigration officers also look harder at back-to-back exempt entries than they did in 2024, and a refusal at the border is not appealable in any practical sense — you are put on a flight back.
Land borders are the same scheme, enforced differently
The exemption applies at land crossings as well as airports, but the checks are more thorough and the officers have more discretion. Proof of onward travel, an address in Thailand and evidence of funds are asked for more often at Nong Khai, Poipet and Sadao than at Suvarnabhumi. Two land entries in the same month is the pattern that gets questioned.
If you are crossing by land as part of a multi-country route, carry a printed hotel booking for your first night and a return or onward ticket. It costs nothing and it is what the officer is looking for.
What disqualifies you even with the right passport
A passport with less than six months' validity, no blank page, or a name that does not match the ticket. A previous overstay, which is in the system permanently. A prior deportation or a ban. And, occasionally, a pattern of entries that suggests you are living here on a tourist scheme rather than visiting — the two-entry cap is designed to make that judgement easier for the officer, not harder.
Exemption, answered
How long can I stay on a visa exemption?
Thirty days per entry. You can extend once for another 30 days at an immigration office for ฿1,900, which makes 60 days the practical maximum on a single trip. You cannot extend twice, and the extension is granted at the officer's discretion — routine for a straightforward tourist stay, less so if you have several recent exempt entries. Separate from the length of a single stay, there is now a cap of two visa-exempt entries per calendar year, so a trip that involves leaving and re-entering twice has used up your allowance for the year.
Which countries still get 30 days?
Fifty-four, including the UK, Ireland, all EU and Schengen states, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong SAR and most Latin American countries. The previous list had 57; three — Seychelles, Maldives and Mauritius — moved to a 15-day scheme. The authoritative list is an annex to the Ministry of Interior announcement published in the Royal Gazette on 31 August 2026, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs republishes it. Check your own nationality there: the penalty for assuming is a denied boarding at your departure airport, which is an expensive way to find out.
Do I need to apply for anything before I fly?
Only the TDAC, which is free and takes five minutes. There is no application, no fee and no approval for visa-exempt entry — you simply arrive and are stamped. The TDAC is filed within three days of arrival at tdac.immigration.go.th, and you show the QR code with your passport at the counter. What you should have on your phone is a return or onward ticket, and the address of your first night, because both are asked for at land borders and occasionally at airports. Some airlines' check-in systems still describe the old 60-day rule; if a check-in agent asks for a visa you do not need, ask them to check the current exemption list.
I want to stay three months. What are my options?
Not the exemption — 60 days is the ceiling with the extension. The three realistic routes are: a 60-day tourist visa (TR) from the Thai e-visa system, extendable once for 30 days, giving 90; the Destination Thailand Visa (DTV), which gives 180 days with a 180-day extension, aimed at remote workers and people on long courses; or a non-immigrant visa if you have a reason such as study, retirement or marriage. The old approach of chaining exempt entries has been closed by the two-entry cap. Applying for a TR takes 5–10 working days and costs about $40, which is less than the flight you would otherwise spend on a border run.
Can I work remotely on a visa exemption?
The formal position is that any work — including work for a foreign employer — is not what a tourist entry covers, and Thailand's rules on this have tightened rather than loosened. In practice remote workers have used tourist entries for years without issue, but the DTV now exists specifically for that use case and removes the ambiguity: 180 days, extendable, with a defined application route. If your trip is two weeks of holiday with a laptop in the bag, nobody will ask. If you are planning to work from Chiang Mai for three months, the honest answer is a DTV, and the two-entry cap makes the alternative worse than it used to be.
Staying a while?
Tell us how long you have and we will build a route that fits inside the stamp.
Written and checked by the Travel Thailand Tour team, Bangkok · Last updated · Prices are per person and were correct at the time of writing.