Thailand offers four practical entry routes for tourists - visa-free, eVisa, Visa on Arrival, and a consular visa - plus the mandatory TDAC digital arrival card for all non-Thai citizens. Requirements such as fees, maximum stay, passport validity, onward tickets, proof of funds, and route-dependent yellow fever certificates vary by nationality and itinerary.
- Tourists use four regimes: visa-free entry, eVisa, Visa on Arrival, or an embassy visa.
- The TDAC digital arrival card is mandatory for non-Thai citizens - it is not a visa.
- Visa-free entry gives up to 60 days today - but the cabinet approved cutting it to 30 (15 for a few countries) on 19 May 2026, and it takes effect 15 days after Royal Gazette publication, which had not happened as of 26 August 2026. Officers often check onward ticket, accommodation and funds.
- Visa on Arrival costs 2,000 THB for 15 days and needs proof of funds and a return ticket.
- Keep at least 6 months of passport validity and verify your exact case in Timatic.
- Yellow fever proof is required if you arrive from or transited 12+ hours in a risk country.
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
| Example passport and route | Entry status | Fee | Max. stay | Processing | Passport validity | Other requirements | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA, tourism, 14 days, direct / standard transit | Visa-free | 0 | up to 60 days | at the border | typically check 6 months in Timatic; if less, verify | TDAC; often checks of onward ticket, accommodation, and sufficient funds | Thai Embassy Washington, FAQ, TDAC, Timatic |
| India, tourism, 20 days, application filed from India | eVisa | e.g. tourist TR 3,000 INR | 60 days | approximately 14 working days | per embassy and documents; verify in practice | TDAC, accommodation, travel plan, supporting documents per checklist | Royal Thai Embassy New Delhi - visa, Implementation of e-Visa in India, Thai e-Visa |
| India, tourism, 12 days, arrival at a main airport | Visa on Arrival / E-VOA | 2,000 THB | 15 days | usually at the airport / E-VOA pre-filing | official leaflet states min. 30 days of remaining validity; verify in practice against your current route | return ticket within 15 days, verifiable accommodation, funds min. 10,000 THB/person or 20,000 THB/family, photo | VOA PDF, Immigration |
| Pakistan, tourism, 10 days | Consular visa | tourist single-entry 5,000 PKR | per visa type | approx. 5 working days | min. 6 months | bank statement, flight ticket, hotel, further documents; VOA is not available | Royal Thai Embassy Islamabad - FAQ, Visa fees |
| USA, tourism, 10 days, but transit >12 h via a YF-risk country | Visa-free + health condition | 0 | up to 60 days | at the border | as above | mandatory yellow fever certificate based on route + TDAC | WHO PDF, TDAC |
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.
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