On 31 August 2026, the Royal Thai Government Gazette published revisions to Thailand’s visa exemption and Visa on Arrival measures. The revisions take effect on 15 September 2026.

For background, the 60-day visa exemption scheme, which was introduced on 15 July 2024 as a temporary measure to stimulate tourism, allows eligible foreign nationals to enter Thailand without a visa for tourism, short-term business engagements, and urgent/ad-hoc work, with a permitted stay of up to 60 days and an extension of up to 30 additional days can be applied, subject to approval by the immigration officer. With the revisions, eligible nationals may continue to enter Thailand without a visa, but under a restructured framework of shorter, non-overlapping entitlements.

The new measures are summarized below for your reference:

1. Visa Exemption – 30 Days (60 Countries/Territories)

Nationals of 60 eligible countries and territories will be exempted from obtaining a visa for tourism and short business visit purposes and will be permitted to stay in Thailand for up to 30 days.

The eligible countries and territories include:

Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America.

Note that for entries into Thailand through land border checkpoints, the visa exemption privilege may generally be used no more than twice per calendar year, except for nationals of Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, and Singapore

2. Visa Exemption – 15 Days (2 Countries)

Nationals of Seychelles and Mauritius will be exempted from obtaining a visa for tourism and short business visit purposes and will be permitted to stay in Thailand for up to 15 days.

For entry through land border checkpoints, this visa exemption privilege may be used no more than twice per calendar year.

3. Visa on Arrival (“VOA”) – 3 Countries

Nationals of Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Serbia will be eligible to apply for a Visa on Arrival at designated Immigration checkpoints.

Foreign nationals who enter Thailand before the new measures take effect will remain permitted to stay in Thailand for the period of stay already granted upon their entry.

Please also note that nationals of countries not included under the above measures may still be eligible to enter Thailand without obtaining a visa under an applicable bilateral visa exemption agreement between Thailand and their respective country. Permitted stays under those agreements are governed by the terms of the individual treaty and are not affected by the new announcements. Countries already benefiting from a bilateral visa exemption arrangement may therefore not be included in the new visa exemption lists to avoid overlapping privileges. The applicable entry requirements will ultimately depend on the traveler’s nationality.

For any questions regarding the entry requirements to Thailand, please contact the T&S APAC Team.