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Thailand's 60-Day Visa Exemption Ends: What to Do (2026)

Published 12 June 2026

Status — last checked 12 June 2026: The change is approved but not yet in force. No Royal Gazette publication yet; eligible travelers still receive 60-day stamps on arrival. Rules take effect 15 days after publication. We update this page as the situation moves.

Thailand is about to halve its headline visa-free stay. On May 19, 2026, the Cabinet approved revoking the 60-day visa exemption for all 93 eligible countries, dropping most — including the US, UK, Australia, and Germany — to 30 days (Thai Government PRD, Cabinet statement, May 19, 2026).

If your trips run two to three weeks, nothing changes for you. If you stay one to three months — a lot of our readers do — this is the most consequential rule change since the 60-day scheme launched in July 2024. Here’s what’s confirmed, what’s still provisional, and how to plan around it.

Key Takeaways

  • Cabinet approved ending the 60-day exemption on May 19, 2026 (Thai Government PRD) — but it’s not in force until 15 days after Royal Gazette publication, which hasn’t happened as of June 12
  • Most Western passports drop to 30 days, extendable once to 60 — down from today’s 90 (60 + 30)
  • Enter before the effective date and you keep your full 60-day stamp
  • For longer stays: tourist visa (90 days max), METV, or DTV — border runs are being capped

What exactly did Thailand decide?

In May 2026, the Cabinet revoked the 60-day visa exemption for all 93 countries and territories, trimmed the 30-day exemption list from 57 to 54 countries, created a new 15-day tier for 3 countries, and cut Visa on Arrival eligibility from 31 countries to 4 (TAT Newsroom, May 2026).

Nobody keeps 60 days. The longest visa-free stays left are five countries with 90-day bilateral deals: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and South Korea (Pattaya Mail, May 22, 2026).

The reported 54-country list of who lands at 30 days covers the usual tourist origins — US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, the Nordics, Singapore, Taiwan (Nation Thailand, May 21, 2026). One caution: the country-by-country assignments come from Cabinet materials reported by Thai press. They’re provisional until the gazetted text confirms them.

The hardest cut isn’t a Western passport at all: India falls from 60 days visa-free to Visa on Arrival only — 15 days for a 2,000 THB fee.

When does the 60-day visa exemption actually end?

It hasn’t yet, and there’s no announced date. The rules take legal effect 15 days after the Ministry of Interior notifications appear in the Royal Gazette — and as of June 12, 2026, no publication has happened (Siam Legal, June 2026 tracker). Airports are still issuing 60-day stamps.

Two things follow from that 15-day mechanism:

  • There’s always a warning window. The moment the Gazette publishes, you have 15 days’ notice before enforcement. We’ll update the status box above the same day.
  • Entries before the effective date keep their stamp. The change isn’t retroactive — arrive on day 14 of the countdown and your 60 days are yours.

Will it actually happen? Almost certainly. The Cabinet vote is done, the official messaging is unambiguous, and the government has framed it around security concerns. Treat the 60-day stamp as a closing window, not a maybe.

The new ceiling: 60 days, not 90

The visa-exempt ceiling drops from 90 days to 60. Officials confirmed the new 30-day exemption “can be extended once for another 30 days” at immigration (Thailand NOW, May 20, 2026) — same 1,900 THB extension that exists today.

Current rules (still active)New rules (pending Gazette)
Stamp on arrival60 days30 days
Extension at immigration+30 days (1,900 THB)+30 days (1,900 THB)
Max visa-exempt stay90 days60 days
Visa-free entries per yearLand: 2/year; air: uncappedReported overall cap: 2/year (pending confirmation)

The under-reported half of this change is the entry cap, not the day count. A twice-per-calendar-year limit on visa-free entries — announced in the same package — closes the fly-out-fly-back routine that long-stayers have leaned on for years. The 30-day stamp is an inconvenience; the entry cap is the actual end of visa-exempt long-staying.

What are your options for staying longer than 30 days?

Plan the paperwork before the trip instead of around it. As of mid-2026, four realistic routes, cheapest first:

The 1,900 THB extension (in-country). Visit any immigration office in the final week of your stay with the TM.7 form, passport, one 4×6 cm photo, copies of your passport and entry stamp, and your TM.30 receipt (hotels file that automatically — your hotel registers you by law anyway). Same-day processing is normal. Bangkok uses Chaeng Watthana (online queue booking available); Pattaya uses Jomtien Soi 5 — arrive by 8 a.m., queue tickets run out by mid-afternoon.

Tourist visa (TR-60) — the new default for 60+ day trips. Apply online at the official portal (thaievisa.go.th) before you fly: 60 days on entry, extendable once to 90. Base fee around 1,000 THB, varying by country — roughly USD 40 for Americans. Processing typically takes 3–10 business days, so don’t leave it to the airport week.

METV — for repeat visitors. 5,000 THB, six months’ validity, unlimited entries at 60 days each, each extendable. The catch is the paperwork: most embassies want a bank balance around 200,000 THB held for six months.

DTV — for remote workers and serial long-stayers. 10,000 THB, five years, 180 days per entry, extendable to a year per cycle. Requires proof of remote work for non-Thai employers and 500,000 THB (~USD 14,000) in funds. If you spend months in Thailand every year, this rule change is the push to finally get it (ExpatDen, June 8, 2026).

Why is Thailand doing this?

Security, not tourism management. The Foreign Ministry’s stated reasons are illegal work on tourist entries, nominee businesses, and transnational crime — including the scam call-center networks operating around Thailand’s borders (Al Jazeera, May 19, 2026). The 60-day exemption was a post-pandemic tourism stimulus from July 2024; officials concluded the abuse outweighed the boost.

For ordinary tourists, the practical reading is simple: Thailand still wants you — 30 days visa-free with a painless extension is generous by regional standards. What’s ending is the gray zone where “tourist” quietly meant “resident.”

The bottom line

Booked for this summer? Watch the status box at the top of this page — if you land before the effective date, your 60 days are safe. Planning one to three months later in 2026? Budget for either one 1,900 THB extension (up to 60 days) or a tourist visa before you fly (up to 90).

And if your dates are flexible, there’s a quiet upside: the months right after a rule change like this are exactly when flights to Bangkok and guest-friendly hotels are easiest to book — the long-stay crowd thins out before the system finds its new normal. First trip? Start with our first night in Bangkok tips.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Is the 60-day visa exemption already gone?
No. As of June 12, 2026, the change hasn't been published in the Royal Gazette, so the 60-day exemption remains legally in force and airports are still stamping 60 days. The new rules take effect 15 days after publication.
I arrive in July 2026 — do I get 60 or 30 days?
Unknown until the Royal Gazette publishes. If you enter before the effective date, you get the full 60 days and keep them — the change isn't retroactive. The earliest realistic enforcement is late June 2026, so check this page or the TAT newsroom right before flying.
Can I still extend my stay at immigration?
Yes. Officials confirmed the new 30-day exemption can be extended once by 30 days — 1,900 THB at any immigration office. That makes 60 days the new visa-exempt maximum, down from 90 (60 + 30) under current rules.
Does this change the TDAC digital arrival card?
No. The Thailand Digital Arrival Card is a separate entry requirement that's been mandatory for all foreign visitors since May 2025. You still complete it before arrival regardless of how many days you're stamped for.
Are border runs still a way to stay long term?
Effectively no. Land borders already cap visa-exempt entries at 2 per calendar year, and the announced package adds an overall twice-per-year cap on visa-free entries — pending Royal Gazette confirmation. For long stays, a tourist visa, METV, or DTV is the realistic path.

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