🇹🇭Thailand

The 60 days are on borrowed time

The visa-free stay still is 60 days, and the decision to halve it has already been taken.

• On 19 May 2026 the Thai cabinet approved replacing the 60-day exemption with a tiered system: 30 days for 54 countries and territories - the EU states, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea among them - and 15 days for the Seychelles, the Maldives and Mauritius.
• It is not in force yet. The five Interior Ministry announcements have to appear in the Royal Gazette and take effect 15 days after publication. As of 26 August 2026 that publication has not happened, so 60 days is what you get today.
• This matters if your trip is longer than a month. A stay planned around 60 days could be booked under one rule and flown under another, and the fifteen-day notice is the whole warning you get. Check the Gazette position before you fly, not when you booked.
• Around nine in ten visitors leave within 30 days anyway, so an ordinary two- or three-week holiday is unaffected either way.

Entry regimes

Separate your entry status from your arrival paperwork - they are two different things.

For tourists, Thailand today has four practically usable entry regimes:

• Visa-free entry
• eVisa
• Visa on Arrival
• A classic visa obtained through an embassy or consulate

The TDAC is not a visa. A fifth category sometimes described as e-registration is, for Thailand, functionally represented mainly by the TDAC: a mandatory digital arrival card for non-Thai citizens. Sources: TDAC, TDAC FAQ, Royal Thai Embassy Washington - visa information, Thai e-Visa.

What your entry status depends on

Entry rules are not a simple "list of 70 countries" - they depend on your full profile and route, similar to the Timatic decision system used by airlines. The official eVisa manual assesses eligibility against at least these variables:

• Country/Territory of Passport/TD
• Current Location
• Apply at
• Travel Document Type, Visa Type, Purpose of Visit, and Number of Entries

Sources: Thai e-Visa manual, IATA Timatic.

Health and transit dependencies are a real entry condition, not theory.

• Yellow fever certificate - the WHO requires one for travelers older than 9 months arriving from a country with a risk of transmission.
• It follows your whole route - it also applies if you transited more than 12 hours at an airport in such a country, so assess the route rather than just the final destination.

Sources: WHO yellow fever country list PDF, CDC Thailand travel health.

Example decision table for five scenarios

The data in this table combines official embassies, the official eVisa system, TDAC, and the WHO. Where no uniformly stated primary source for passport validity was found for a specific scenario, the row is deliberately marked verify in Timatic / with your airline.

• Electronic cigarettes and their liquids are illegal to import, sell or possess. They are confiscated at the airport, and possession in tourist areas has led to fines and detention. There is no personal-use exemption.
• Cigarettes are limited to 200 - one carton - and the limit is enforced with fines that dwarf the value of the tobacco.
• Alcohol is 1 litre per adult, which is less than the duty-free shop will happily sell you.
• Cannabis is no longer the free-for-all it was. Since 25 June 2025 it is medical-only: buying, holding or smoking it needs a prescription from a licensed Thai practitioner, valid 30 days, and a foreign medical-cannabis card counts for nothing here. Thousands of the dispensaries that opened after 2022 have closed. Getting it wrong can mean up to a year and a THB 20,000 fine.
• Taking cannabis or kratom out of Thailand is prohibited whatever your status inside it - and it is a drug offence in the country you land in as well.
• THB 450,000 or the foreign-currency equivalent must be declared on arrival.
• The red and green channels at Suvarnabhumi are used properly, and bags are scanned on the way in.

Health, insurance and where to be treated

No vaccination is required to enter Thailand, with one exception: proof of yellow fever vaccination if you are arriving from, or have recently passed through, a country with a risk of yellow fever transmission in Africa or South America.

• Keep routine vaccinations up to date.
• Hepatitis A - recommended for essentially all travellers, because it spreads through contaminated food and water.
• Hepatitis B - worth having if you might get a tattoo or piercing, need medical or dental treatment, or expect sexual contact.

Thailand is a rabies-risk country.

• Do not touch dogs, cats or monkeys, including the habituated monkeys around temples and tourist sites.
• Any bite, scratch or licked broken skin needs washing with soap and water and immediate medical assessment. Post-exposure treatment is widely available in Thai hospitals but has to be started quickly.

Dengue is a daytime risk, year-round.

• It reaches central Bangkok and peaks in the rainy season.
• The mosquito that carries it bites during the day, so repellent is a daytime habit, not just an evening one. Use products containing DEET, Icaridin or PMD.
• Malaria is not a risk in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Samui or the main tourist islands - it is limited to some forested border areas.

Do not drink the tap water. Bottled water is sold everywhere at roughly 7 to 15 THB for 1.5 litres. Ice in established restaurants and cafés is made from purified water and is generally safe.

For minor problems go to a pharmacy first. The Boots, Watsons and Fascino chains are better stocked and more consistent than small independent shops, and pharmacists speak workable English in tourist areas. Many medicines that need a prescription at home are sold over the counter here.

For anything more serious, use a private international hospital:

• Bumrungrad International Hospital, Bangkok - the best-known, with English-speaking staff throughout and a dedicated travel medicine centre.
• Bangkok Hospital and Samitivej, Bangkok - large private networks with international patient departments.

Indicative private-hospital costs:

• Emergency department visit - from about 5,000 THB.
• Specialist consultation - 800 to 2,000 THB.
• X-ray - 1,000 to 3,000 THB.
• Blood tests - 500 to 5,000 THB depending on the panel.

Carry travel medical insurance covering hospitalisation and emergency evacuation, and keep the insurer's emergency number reachable offline. Private hospitals ask for a guarantee of payment or a card before non-emergency treatment, and evacuation from the islands to a mainland hospital is expensive without cover.

The EHIC is not a substitute for travel insurance. The EU itself states that it does not cover private care, repatriation, or lost or stolen belongings. Keep your EHIC for European trips and take out full commercial travel insurance for Thailand, ideally with coverage for traffic accidents - and scooter coverage only if you genuinely meet the licensing conditions. Sources: EU - EHIC FAQ, EU social affairs EHIC note, Smartraveller Thailand.

Accommodation

One rule matters more than any hotel review: stay within about a 10-minute walk of a BTS Skytrain or MRT station. Bangkok traffic is severe and unpredictable, and being on the rail network lets you ignore it. A cheaper room that needs a taxi for every trip usually costs more in time and fares than a dearer one above a station.

• Sukhumvit - the easiest base for a first visit. A modern, expat-heavy corridor of malls, hotels and restaurants strung along the BTS between Asok and Phrom Phong. Widest choice of English-speaking accommodation and the safest area to book at short notice.
• Silom and Sathorn - the financial district by day, one of the city's nightlife centres after dark, and the heart of the LGBTQ+ scene. Unusually transit-rich: BTS runs along Silom Road with Sala Daeng in the middle, the MRT crosses it, and Saphan Taksin connects to the river boats.
• Riverside - quieter and more scenic, along the Chao Phraya. Best if you want old Bangkok, temples and river cruises over shopping malls. River ferries run up to the Grand Palace and Wat Arun, and Saphan Taksin links the area to the Skytrain.
• Khao San and Banglamphu - the backpacker hub, cheap and lively, but it has no BTS or MRT station. Every trip starts with a taxi or a boat. Budget travellers usually get better value near Silom or lower Sukhumvit for a similar nightly rate.

Indicative nightly rates:

At check-in you hand over your passport, not a copy - licensed hotels are legally required to file the TM30 notification of residence for every foreign guest, and they do it from the passport data page. You do not file anything yourself when staying in a hotel. Many hotels also ask for a refundable deposit, either blocked on a card or taken in cash; get a receipt for a cash deposit and check it is returned at checkout.

Book the first two nights before you fly. Arrivals at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang are frequently late at night, and hunting for a room after a long flight is where most first-day problems start.

Where to stay outside Bangkok

SIM and connectivity

The decision that matters is not "which operator" but where and how you want to get online. Five categories are worth comparing: airport tourist SIM, city physical SIM, operator eSIM, international travel eSIM, and roaming with your home operator. A passport is commonly used to register a SIM in Thailand.

In Thai reality:

• The airport option is the most convenient but often not the cheapest.
• A city SIM tends to be economically the best.
• An eSIM is best for travelers who want to be online the moment they touch the runway.

Sources: AIS official, TrueMove H official, dtac official, Reddit - Thailand tourist SIM threads, TAGTHAi Easy Pay.

Pick by what you care about most:

• A hassle-free start - an eSIM or an airport kiosk.
• The lowest price - a city or local SIM in regular retail or an operator shop.
• Network certainty across the whole country - traveler reports most often recommend an AIS-based choice. Grab, Bolt and Reddit communities often note that in big cities the difference between the major networks is smaller than on the islands and away from main routes.

Treat specific prices as indicative - exact plan price lists change faster than visa rules. Sources: Reddit - network/coverage discussions, Phuket/Chiang Mai threads, CDC Thailand packing list - water purification tablets / remote travel note.

Options worth comparing

The table above is deliberately categorical: exact operator packages and local retail prices change too quickly to treat as a fixed price list.

What a tourist SIM actually costs

Prices move by sales channel more than by operator. Two independent checks in 2026 priced the same packages differently, and that spread is the useful answer: the airport counter, the operator's own app and a 7-Eleven are three different price lists.

Budget by the range, not the number: roughly 300-700 THB for a week and 900-1,200 THB for a month. Airport counters run 20-30% above the same operator's city shops, which is the single biggest difference between paying a little and paying a lot.

Buying one when you land

• Suvarnabhumi (BKK) - operator counters sit in the arrivals hall; the AIS desk is by gates 6-7. Only buy from a counter carrying the operator's own branding.
• Don Mueang (DMK), Phuket (HKT) and Samui (USM) all have operator counters in arrivals as well.
• In the city - operator shops in shopping malls, and 7-Eleven or Family Mart for the SIM itself. Convenience stores sell the SIM but activation there is fiddlier than at an operator counter.

Registration is on your passport

• Bring your passport to the counter. The SIM is registered to your name and passport number; Thai rules also involve biometric registration at the point of sale.
• Five prepaid SIMs per passport per operator is the cap, so a lost SIM is not the end of it.

Keeping your home number while you use Thai data

• A Thai SIM is a second line, not a replacement. Put the local SIM or eSIM in the data slot and leave your home SIM active for the bank and account codes that still arrive by SMS.
• Turn data roaming off on the home line and set the Thai line as the default for mobile data, or the phone quietly bills the expensive one.
• Check the phone is carrier-unlocked before you fly. A locked handset takes neither a Thai SIM nor a travel eSIM, and there is nothing to be done about it at the airport.

Practical recommendations

• Cheapest - a city physical SIM or a local operator eSIM, if you do not want to pay the airport premium.
• Easiest - an international eSIM such as Saily activated before departure, from USD 2.99 for 1 GB over 7 days.
• Best coverage - in practice often an AIS-based choice, but in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket the differences tend to be smaller than away from main routes; the exact answer depends on current crowdsourced reports and where your hotel is.
• For a 3-day trip - an international eSIM or an airport tourist pack.
• For 7 days - an airport tourist SIM if you are in a hurry; otherwise a local plan in the city.
• For 30 days - a city or local SIM, or an operator eSIM.

PAY & TOUR and QR payments as a companion to connectivity

A large part of Thailand's micro-economy runs on domestic QR payments, so a non-bank companion is worth knowing about. PAY & TOUR by KBank is an e-wallet and prepaid card for foreign tourists, and the official sales sheet states:

• Where it works - anywhere Visa is accepted, and after linking with TAGTHAi it also supports Thai QR payments.
• Top-up - at a KBank foreign exchange booth.
• Wallet maximum - 100,000 THB.
• Daily ATM withdrawal limit - 10,000 THB.
• Promotion until 31 Dec 2026 - waives both the joining fee and the K-ATM withdrawal fee.

This is a very strong use case for tourists who do not want to deal with cash all the time. Sources: KBank sales sheet, TAGTHAi - how to get Easy Pay, TAT news.

Sockets in Thailand are hybrids taking Type A, B, C and the Thai Type O at 230 V, 50 Hz, so almost any plug goes in - which is the problem.

• The common socket is a round hole crossed by a slot. It accepts American flat pins, Europlugs and the Thai three-pin plug from the same opening.
• Schuko and French plugs fit but earth nothing. Thailand banned the sale of appliances with those plugs for exactly this reason. If you are carrying a European laptop brick with an earthed plug, the earth is not connected.
• American 120 V appliances are the real hazard here. The socket takes a US plug perfectly and then delivers 230 V to it. Check every label for 100-240 V before it goes in the wall.
• Type O is the national standard introduced in 2006 - three round pins, earthed - and new buildings are being wired for it.
• Adapters are cheap and everywhere, from 7-Eleven upwards, so there is no need to buy one at the airport.

Daily budget

Scale the budget by region. Bangkok tends to be more expensive than the north, Phuket is markedly more expensive than Chiang Mai, and island transfers can noticeably raise your daily average.

Local rules and cultural differences

Four legal and cultural notes matter most for tourists today:

• Palaces and temples have a conservative dress code. TAT uses a simple rule: men wear sleeved shirts and long trousers, women wear sleeved tops and below-knee skirts or long trousers.
• Criticizing the monarchy is a criminal offense in Thailand.
• Vaping and e-cigarettes are legally problematic - it is safer not to bring them into the country at all.
• Drones require registration via the CAAT UAS Portal.

The alcohol rule changed in 2026. TAT states that from 29 May 2026, general alcohol sales are permitted from 11:00 to 24:00, with local conditions and place-specific exceptions still applying. Worth knowing after check-in and before your evening shopping.

Sources: TAT temple/palace dress guide, UK FCDO Thailand, CAAT drone registration, CAAT UAS portal, TAT alcohol rules 2026.

Everyday practicalities

Use live map data for shops and services. 7-Eleven is practically ubiquitous, but a 24/7 schedule cannot safely be assumed for every branch, so check the nearest open branches on a map. The same applies to laundries, public toilets and local services: common in tourist zones, but quality and opening hours are local. Sources: 7-Eleven Thailand, GrabFood.

Information last reviewed: 2026-07-16. Items marked unclear/verify should be re-checked close to your travel date.

Money

The currency is the Thai baht. The ECB reference rate as of 16 Jul 2026 was approximately 38.489 THB per 1 EUR.

• Always pay in THB, never your home currency. DCC (dynamic currency conversion) usually worsens the rate for both card purchases and ATM withdrawals. Sources: ECB, Wise - DCC Thailand, Wise - local vs home currency.
• Card acceptance runs on two tracks. Large hotels, shopping centers and chains commonly take cards; at smaller businesses, markets and street food stalls, cash or Thai QR still strongly dominates. This is why TAT and KBank offer tourists TAGTHAi Easy Pay/PAY & TOUR as a bridge between cards and the local QR economy. Sources: TAT - Easy Pay, KBank PAY & TOUR, Reddit - ATM / cash reality.
• Budget 220–250 THB per ATM withdrawal. That is the current practical estimate from recent traveler reports.
• Where you withdraw matters more than which bank. Use an official bank ATM in a controlled space - ideally a bank branch, mall or airport - and withdraw larger amounts less often. KBank's PAY & TOUR is interesting precisely because during its promotional period it advertises a free K-ATM withdrawal fee; this does not apply to regular foreign cards. Sources: UK FCDO - ATM skimming caution, Reddit - 220–250 THB, KBank PAY & TOUR.
• Tap-to-pay works, conditionally. Google lists Google Wallet tap-to-pay support in Thailand, and Apple lists general Apple Pay acceptance on supported contactless terminals. If you have a supported card and the merchant takes contactless, Apple Pay / Google Wallet can work, but the deciding factors are the terminal and your issuing bank. Sources: Google Wallet supported countries, Google Wallet Thailand payment methods, Apple Pay countries and regions.

Do not rely on a single app in Thailand. The best-working combination is Grab + Bolt + 12Go + Google Maps/ViaBus, plus MuvMi in Bangkok.

• Grab - the best documented and the most universal for tourists.
• Bolt - a strong footprint in the main tourist centers, with officially described driver pickup points at all four airports covered here.
• inDrive - tends to be cheaper but is less predictable, and its payment methods depend on location.
• 12Go - very useful for intercity buses, trains, boats and ferry combinations.

Sources: Grab transport TH, Grab explore Thailand, Bolt airports Thailand, inDrive payments, 12Go.

App comparison table

* inDrive coverage of Bangkok/Chiang Mai/Phuket is based mainly on traveler reports; no official consumer city matrix was found, so treat it as unclear/verify.

What to install, in order:

• Always install Grab.
• Add Bolt as a price alternative.
• Use 12Go for intercity trips.
• Use ViaBus for Bangkok.
• Add MuvMi as a bonus in central Bangkok.

Skip Uber. It is not worth including as a default for a Thailand arrival in 2026; current Thai and traveler sources are dominated by Grab, Bolt and inDrive.

An International Driving Permit is required, and the motorbike question decides whether your insurance means anything.

• Police check the permit at roadside stops, particularly in Phuket, Chiang Mai and Pattaya. Driving without it is an offence and, more expensively, means an accident is uninsured.
• A car licence does not cover a motorbike. Renting a scooter on a car licence is the single most common reason travel insurance refuses a medical claim here, and the hospital bill after a scooter accident is the most common large claim in the country.
• The alcohol limit is 0.05 % (50 mg/dl), but 0.02 % if you are driving without a valid licence - which is what you are doing if you have no International Driving Permit. The 0.02 % limit also covers drivers under 20 and provisional licence holders. A single beer can put you over it.
• A helmet is required by law on a motorcycle, and rented scooters in tourist areas are often unregistered and cannot legally be used on a public road at all - check the registration before you take one.
• Traffic drives on the left, and the Bangkok expressways are tolled at barriers with cash or an Easy Pass tag.
• Rural night driving is the risk, not the cities: unlit vehicles, dogs and pickup trucks with no rear lights.

Most common airport taxi scams

Official advice and recent traveler reports repeat three patterns:

• Being approached outside the official queue.
• Claims that a suitcase costs an extra fee.
• Meter manipulation, or attempts to take your ticket from the queue machine.

At BKK and DMK, stick to the official taxi points or the officially marked Grab pickup point, and keep the slip from the taxi queue machine with you until the end of the ride. Sources: UK FCDO Thailand, Reddit - BKK taxi scam with meter, Reddit - manipulated meter at BKK, Reddit - airport taxi advice.

Four situations account for most tourist trouble in Thailand, according to official warnings and community reports - a concrete list is more useful than a generic "Thailand is safe":

• Taxi overcharge and meter scams.
• ATM skimming and card fraud.
• Overpriced or unordered items in restaurants.
• Scooter and jet-ski rentals that ask for your passport as a deposit and then bill you for alleged damage.

In the last 12 months Reddit has carried very specific reports: a manipulated taxi meter at BKK, attempts to charge extra for luggage in airport taxis, and aggressive scooter scams in Phuket demanding tens of thousands of baht. This is no reason to panic, but it is exactly the kind of arrival intelligence to have in mind right after landing.

The practical minimum:

• Never hand over your passport as a deposit.
• Photograph and inspect the scooter's condition before setting off.
• Stick to official taxi points.
• Ignore touts outside the queue.

Sources: UK FCDO Thailand, Smartraveller scams, Smartraveller Thailand, Reddit - manipulated BKK meter, Reddit - airport taxi experiences, Reddit - Phuket scooter scam.

Emergency numbers and key contacts

The best hospital shortlist for a tourist is to save the international hospital nearest to your hotel. As reference points for the main tourist centers, use Bumrungrad Bangkok, Bangkok Hospital Phuket, Bangkok Hospital Chiang Mai, or Chiang Mai Ram Hospital. Sources: Bumrungrad emergency, Bangkok Hospital Phuket, Bangkok Hospital Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai Ram.