Thailand Cuts Visa-Free Stay to 30 Days From 15 September, Ending the 60-Day Scheme

Thailand will halve its visa-free stay for tourists from most countries, from 60 days to 30, starting 15 September. The Interior Ministry published the four regulations in the Royal Gazette on 31 August, ending the exceptional 60-day exemption that had run since July 2024 and returning the country to the 30-day standard that preceded it.

The four regulations take effect 15 days after publication, so the current rules hold through 14 September and the new ones apply to arrivals from 15 September. The Tourism Authority of Thailand confirmed the framework the following day.

Who gets 30 days, and the tourism-only limit

Nationals of 60 countries and territories qualify for the 30-day visa exemption, among them the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Japan, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, and most of the European Union.

They can enter for tourism without applying for a visa in advance, exactly as before; only the length of the initial stay has changed.

The scope narrowed in one respect that matters to business travelers.

The new regulation frames the exemption as applying to tourism, and drops the reference to certain short-term work activities and business engagements that the repealed 60-day scheme had carried.

Officials said the revision reflects current circumstances and a focus on screening for quality tourism, following concerns that the 60-day window was being used for unauthorized work, informal business, and overstays.

If you plan to travel to Thailand for business, it is advisable to secure Thai Business Visa. 

A 30-day extension stays available

Cutting the initial stay to 30 days does not force travelers who want longer to obtain a visa in advance. Under the framework the Cabinet approved, those on the 30-day exemption can apply for a one-time extension of up to 30 more days at an immigration office, subject to approval. That preserves a route to roughly 60 days in country, now split into an initial stamp plus an extension rather than granted at the border.

The 15-day and Visa on Arrival tiers

Two further regulations complete the framework. Nationals of Mauritius and Seychelles receive a 15-day visa exemption. An earlier draft had included the Maldives in this group, but Bangkok moved Maldivian nationals to the more generous 30-day list in July.

Visa on Arrival, previously open to nationals of 31 countries and territories, now covers just three: Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Serbia.

India, which appeared on early versions of the Visa on Arrival list, was removed after being added to the 30-day exemption instead.

Land-border entries capped at twice a year

The new rules reintroduce a limit on overland entry. Travelers using the 30-day exemption can generally enter Thailand through a land border no more than twice per calendar year. The cap does not apply to nationals of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and the Interior Minister can exempt further nationalities later. It applies to land crossings only, not to arrivals by air. The same two-entry rule attaches to the 15-day exemption.

Bilateral agreements are untouched

Countries dropped from the general exemption do not all now need a visa. Thailand holds separate bilateral visa-exemption agreements that the four new regulations do not repeal, covering, among others, China, Russia, Vietnam, and Laos at 30 days, and Argentina, Brazil, Chile, South Korea, and Peru at 90 days. These sit outside the scheme that changed, reflecting the government's "one country, one scheme" approach of keeping each nationality to a single entry arrangement rather than several at once.

Nationals of countries that were on the old 93-strong list but appear on none of the new lists, and hold no separate bilateral arrangement, will need a Thai visa once the reform takes effect. Thailand has run a worldwide e-Visa system since 2025 for applications of that kind.

Who is affected before 15 September

Anyone admitted on or before 14 September keeps the stay stamped on entry. A traveler who enters under the 60-day scheme before the cutoff is not reduced to 30 days partway through, a point the government confirmed when it approved the reform. The change reaches only entries from 15 September onward.

The change fits a wider pattern in Thailand through 2026, alongside a new framework for deporting foreign nationals who disrupt public order and a proposed tourist entry fee still under discussion, as Bangkok reworks how it manages high-volume tourism.

Sources: Tourism Authority of Thailand; the Royal Gazette regulations of 31 August 2026 (repeal of the 60-day scheme, 30-day exemption list, Visa on Arrival list, and 15-day exemption list).