Why this matters right now
On 15 September 2026, Thailand replaces the special 60-day visa exemption that many travellers have used since mid-2024. If your nationality was on that list, a routine holiday or “see how it goes” stay that used to stretch toward two months will, on a fresh entry from that date, usually start at 30 days instead — unless a separate bilateral deal still gives you more.
This is not a rumour cycle. Ministry of Interior announcements were published in the Royal Gazette on 31 August 2026, and official tourism and government communications (including the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Government Public Relations Department) confirm the effective date and the shape of the new framework.
If you are booking flights, planning a land-border hop, or deciding whether a tourist visa, DTV, or another long-stay route is safer, the distinction between “entered on or before 14 September” and “entered from 15 September” is the one that matters.
What exactly is ending
The measure being revoked is the 60-day visa exemption that covered a large set of countries and territories (commonly described as about 93 under the July 2024 expansion). From 15 September that scheme stops for new entries under those rules.
In its place, Thai authorities describe a cleaner split:
- One principal exemption (or VoA) path per country/territory, instead of overlapping privileges that confused travellers.
- A revised 30-day tourism visa exemption for 60 countries and territories.
- A new 15-day tourism visa exemption for two countries (Mauritius and Seychelles).
- A sharply reduced Visa on Arrival list — three nationalities (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Serbia).
Official summaries also stress the policy goals behind the rewrite: national security, tourism and economic interests, reciprocity, reducing overlapping exemption privileges, and steering more travellers toward the e-Visa system when exemption no longer fits.
The 30-day visa exemption (60 countries and territories)
From 15 September 2026, ordinary passport holders from the following places are listed by TAT for visa-free tourism stays of up to 30 days:
Australia; Austria; Bahrain; Belgium; Bhutan; Brunei Darussalam; Bulgaria; 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; Malta; Malaysia; Maldives; 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.
That list includes most of the nationalities that previously treated the 60-day stamp as the default “easy Thailand” entry. The headline change for those travellers is simple: the default exempt stay is halved, unless another arrangement still applies to you personally.
Always double-check your passport country against the live Royal Gazette / embassy wording before you travel. Lists get republished with small naming differences (for example “Czech Republic” vs “Czechia”), and bilateral deals can sit beside the general exemption.
The 15-day exemption and Visa on Arrival
15-day visa exemption: Mauritius and Seychelles.
Visa on Arrival: Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Serbia — at designated checkpoints, under Immigration’s VoA rules and fees (commonly cited as 2,000 THB for VoA in recent guidance; confirm at the port of entry).
If your nationality is not on the 30-day list, the 15-day list, VoA, or a bilateral exemption, plan on obtaining a visa before travel. Do not assume the old 60-day habit still covers you.
Land borders: the twice-per-year cap
For travellers using the new 30-day (and 15-day) exemptions at land-border immigration checkpoints, entries under that exemption are generally limited to twice per calendar year.
Exceptions called out in official tourism messaging include nationals of Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, and Singapore, plus any other nationalities the Minister may designate. Air and sea arrivals are not described the same way in the headline TAT summary — the cap language is aimed at land-border use of the exemption.
Practical takeaway: the old pattern of frequent land “visa runs” on exemption alone gets harder for many passports. If you were chaining short exits to reset a stay, model the year with the two-entry land limit in mind, or move to a visa category built for longer presence.
Purpose of stay: tourism wording matters
Official PRD language is clear that this review covers the 30-day and 15-day visa exemption and VoA schemes for tourism purposes. It does not, in the same breath, rewrite retirement, marriage, education, employment, or DTV categories.
Secondary reporting has also flagged a wording shift versus the repealed 60-day measure: the older special exemption was often described as covering tourism and short-term business contact / similar phrasing, while the new 30-day exemption is framed as tourism. If your real purpose is remote work for a foreign employer, business meetings, or long-term living, treat visa-exempt entry as the wrong tool even if your nationality still qualifies for 30 days. Use the matching visa (for many remote workers, that conversation now also includes the DTV document rules that tightened on 31 August 2026).
If you are already in Thailand (or enter before 15 September)
This is the soft landing in the official notices: foreigners already in Thailand under the current exemption schemes, or who enter before 15 September 2026, may stay until the last date on the immigration stamp in their passport. The September change does not automatically shrink a stay that was already granted.
So:
- Enter on 14 September under the still-valid 60-day framework (if eligible) → keep the stamp you receive.
- Enter on 15 September under the new framework → expect the new bucket for your nationality (often 30 days for former 60-day nationalities).
Extensions after arrival are a separate Immigration decision. Embassy guidance for some nationalities still describes a possible TM.7 tourist extension of up to about 30 days (fee commonly 1,900 THB), granted at officer discretion — not as an automatic right. Do not build a hard itinerary on an extension you have not received.
TDAC and other arrival chores that did not go away
The visa-exemption rewrite does not cancel the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC). Non-Thai travellers still need to complete TDAC on the official Immigration site (tdac.immigration.go.th) within the published advance window (commonly three days before arrival), with the usual exceptions for pure airside transit and border-pass cases. TDAC is not a visa and does not add days to your stay.
If you are a long-stayer, keep TM.30 (address notification by the premises possessor) and 90-day reporting (TM.47) mentally separate from this tourism-exemption story — they remain their own compliance tracks.
Who should change plans before the deadline
Short holiday travellers (under ~30 days): often little drama if you are on the 30-day list — but confirm nationality, TDAC, and onward travel norms at your airline/border.
Six- to eight-week “visa exempt” trips: the old 60-day cushion disappears for new entries. Either shorten the trip, add a tourist visa in advance, or budget time and uncertainty for an in-country extension.
Remote workers and long-stay hopefuls on exemption + border runs: the combination of shorter exempt stays, tourism-only framing, land-border caps, and tighter DTV filing rules (home/PR mission + police clearance from 31 August) pushes many people toward an honest long-stay category instead of improvisation.
Nationalities that fall off easy entry entirely: if you are not on exemption or VoA, get the correct visa before you fly. Airport surprises are expensive.
Practical checklist
- Find your nationality on the 30-day, 15-day, VoA, bilateral, or “visa required” path using official lists — not a screenshot from group chat.
- Decide entry date: before vs from 15 September 2026 changes the stamp you should expect.
- Complete TDAC in time.
- If you need more than ~30 days, choose tourist visa / extension / long-stay visa deliberately; do not assume the old 60-day muscle memory.
- If using land borders on exemption, count toward the two-per-year cap (unless excepted).
- Re-check the Thai embassy for your country in the week you travel — implementing guidance can lag or vary by post.
Sources and limits
Primary references used for this update:
- TAT Newsroom — new 30-day and 15-day visa exemption rules from 15 September (1 September 2026)
- PRD — Revision of Thailand’s Visa Exemption and Visa on Arrival Schemes (4 September 2026)
- Royal Gazette publication date cited in those notices: 31 August 2026; effective 15 September 2026
We are an editorial guide, not Immigration and not a visa agency. Rules can change after publication. Confirm requirements with the Thai embassy or consulate for your nationality and with the Immigration Bureau before you act.
Expanded and reviewed 13 September 2026.