The Thailand tourist visa & visa exemption, explained: the new 30-day stay, the +30 extension & the smart way to scout.

What the tourist track is & when to use it

Almost everyone’s Thailand story starts with a short stay. You come to look — to walk the sois, ride the BTS, see whether Phrom Phong or Thonglor or the beach actually fits your life — before you commit money to a lease or a long-stay visa. The tourist track exists for exactly that. It has two doors: visa exemption, the no-application stamp many nationalities get on arrival, and the tourist visa, which you apply for in advance in either single-entry or multiple-entry form. Both are short-stay tools, both can be extended once, and neither authorises work. Used well, a tourist stay is the cheapest, lowest-friction way to make a confident decision about where — and whether — to settle.

The headline numbers

• Visa exemption: 30 days on arrival for the 60 listed countries and territories, extendable +30 — about 60 days total. 15 days for Seychelles and Mauritius.
• Single-entry tourist visa (TR): 60 days per entry, extendable +30; applied for before travel via the official e-Visa portal. Unchanged by the September 2026 reform.
• Multiple-entry tourist visa (METV): valid 6 months, unlimited entries, each up to 60 days (+30 extension per entry). Also unchanged.
• Visa on arrival: now only Azerbaijan, Belarus and Serbia — cut from 31 countries.
• Land-border cap: exemption entries by land are limited to twice per calendar year (Malaysian, Bruneian, Indonesian and Singaporean nationals excepted). No cap by air.
• Extension fee: commonly around THB 1,900 at a Thai immigration office (TM7 form).
• Reporting: your host/landlord files a TM30; no 90-day report on short stays.
• Purpose: the exemption now covers tourism only. The repealed 60-day scheme also covered short-term work and business; that wording is gone.
• Work: not permitted on any tourist entry.

These are the framework, not a guarantee for your case. Day counts, the exemption list and fees are revised over time — as September 2026 demonstrated — and applied at the officer’s discretion. Always confirm against the official Thai e-Visa portal or a Thai embassy before you travel.

The three doors: exemption vs TR vs METV

Requirements by nationality

The single biggest variable is your passport, and Thailand redrew the map on 15 September 2026 around a “one country, one entitlement” principle. The 30-day tourism exemption now covers 60 countries and territories: Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bhutan, Brunei, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, 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 UAE, the United Kingdom and the United States. All 27 EU member states are included. Seychelles and Mauritius get 15 days. Visa on arrival is now only Azerbaijan, Belarus and Serbia.

If your nationality dropped off the old 93-country list, do not assume you now need a visa. Bilateral treaties were not repealed and often cover you: 14 days for Cambodia and Myanmar (Myanmar via international airports only); 30 days for China, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Laos, Macao, Mongolia, Russia, Timor-Leste and Vietnam; and 90 days for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and South Korea — the most generous entitlement on offer. Only nationalities covered by neither the new lists nor a treaty need a visa, available through Thailand’s worldwide e-Visa system.

Across all routes, immigration may ask for proof of onward travel, evidence of funds, and accommodation details, and grants entry at its discretion. Because the list and the day counts are revised periodically, never assume last year’s rule still holds — the September 2026 change is exactly that lesson — so check the current exemption list on the official Thai e-Visa portal or with the Thai embassy for your nationality before booking flights.

The +30 extension, demystified

Whichever door you came through, you can usually buy yourself one more month. The 30-day extension is applied for in person at a Thai immigration office: you complete a TM7 form, attach a passport photo and copies of your passport and entry stamp, pay the government fee (commonly around THB 1,900), and the officer stamps a new departure date. It’s normally a one-time extension per entry and granted at the officer’s discretion. So a 30-day exemption stamp becomes roughly 60 days, while a 60-day TR visa becomes roughly 90; each METV entry can likewise stretch to about 90. That extension is now doing more work than it used to — under the old 60-day exemption it was the difference between two months and three, whereas today it is the difference between one month and two. When the extended date arrives you must leave the country or switch onto a long-stay visa — never let it lapse. See the overstay guide for why.

Border runs & the back-to-back trap

Because tourist entries reset when you leave and re-enter, some people try to live in Thailand by stringing together exemptions and border hops. Immigration is wise to it. Officers scrutinise frequent re-entries and can refuse admission to anyone who looks like a de-facto resident on tourist stamps. An occasional border crossing between genuine trips is unremarkable; a permanent border-run lifestyle is fragile and getting harder — and as of 15 September 2026 it is also formally capped. Exemption entries made at land borders are limited to twice per calendar year (nationals of Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore excepted), which ends the classic bus-to-the-Cambodian-border cycle as a repeatable strategy. Entries by air are not numerically capped, but they remain fully subject to officer discretion, and the reform’s stated purpose was precisely to stop exemption stacking. If you’re reaching for a third or fourth consecutive entry, that’s the system telling you to move onto a real long-stay visa — the DTV, an education visa, or a retirement visa — built for exactly this. More detail in visa runs & border runs.

What a tourist stay does & doesn’t let you do

Common mistakes

The smart play: scout housing on a tourist stay

A short stay is your reconnaissance window — use it deliberately. Rather than committing to a 12-month lease sight-unseen, spend the 60 (or 90) days viewing buildings, testing commutes on the BTS/MRT, and feeling out whether you want city energy or a quieter beach pace. Shortlist areas, check real monthly costs, and only then sign. When you do rent during the scouting phase, expect the usual deposit structure (commonly two months’ security plus one month advance) and confirm fast fibre if you’ll work remotely once you’ve switched to the right visa. Build a realistic number first with the cost-of-living calculator, and map neighbourhoods with the Neighborhood Finder.

Related reading: where to live in Thailand, renting in Thailand, temporary housing, and the first 30 days.

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