Thailand Ends 60-Day Visa-Free Stays (May 2026)

This is the largest reversal of Thailand's tourist entry policy in nearly two years. The 60-day visa exemption introduced in July 2024 was treated as permanent and quickly became a competitive draw for European, North American, and Australian travelers. The Cabinet's May 19 decision unwinds that expansion, citing misuse of the longer window for illegal work, nominee businesses, and links to transnational scam operations. This guide separates what is verified from what is still pending, and walks through what it means for trips you are planning right now.

Tourism and Sports Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul confirmed the Cabinet resolution on May 19, framing the shift as a focus on quality tourists, not simply on making entry easy. The proposal had been driven for several months by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow, who first publicly previewed it at a Bangkok press briefing on March 20, 2026 before formally submitting it to Cabinet.

The decision affects the roughly 93 countries that have been entering Thailand on a 60-day visa exemption since July 15, 2024. Under the new framework, most of those nationalities will revert to a 30-day allowance. A separate Visa Policy Committee will review each country's status against security and economic criteria, and some may end up reclassified to a 15-day exemption rather than 30.

Officials gave three overlapping reasons. None of them are about ordinary tourists, but ordinary tourists are the ones who absorb the change.

• Visa misuse: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the 60-day window has increasingly been exploited by individuals entering as tourists while operating nominee businesses, working without permits, or running call-center scam operations. Reducing the default stay shortens that runway.
• Average stay is much shorter than 60 days: Government data cited in the briefing showed the average foreign visitor stays around 9 days. Officials argued the 60-day default was generous well beyond what tourism actually requires.
• Security and economic screening: Each visa-exempt country will now be re-evaluated by the Visa Policy Committee against both security and economic criteria, opening the door to differentiated treatment by nationality.

• Effective date. The Cabinet has approved the change but it does not take legal effect until published in the Royal Gazette. No date has been set.
• Per-country breakdown. The Visa Policy Committee has not released the final list showing which countries keep 30 days and which drop to 15.
• Treatment of travelers already in Thailand. It is unclear whether visitors holding a 60-day stamp at the moment the rule changes will be allowed to complete the full 60 days or be required to extend or depart earlier.
• Bookings made before the announcement. No grace period for pre-booked trips has been mentioned in official statements.
• Land vs air parity. Whether land arrivals receive the same allowance as air arrivals under the new framework.

Until the change is gazetted, the current 60-day rules still apply for eligible nationalities. Plan based on the rules that are actually law on your date of entry - not on press releases. There is no need to cancel imminent trips. The practical impact depends on how long you intend to stay.

The 60-to-30 day reversal does not sit in isolation. It is part of a wider tightening of Thailand's entry framework that has been rolling out across 2026.

• Land border crackdown: Visa-exempt entries by land are already capped at 2 per calendar year per traveler, aimed at long-running visa-run culture in Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar border towns.
• Country list under review: A separate proposal would shrink the visa-exempt list itself from 93 countries down to roughly 57 - returning closer to the pre-2024 footprint.
• Arrival fee in preparation: A 300 THB landing fee for foreign air arrivals has been approved and is being prepared for rollout, to fund tourism infrastructure and traveler insurance.
• Stricter enforcement at the gate: Immigration officers are more frequently asking for onward tickets, 20,000 THB proof of funds, and hotel bookings, particularly for solo travelers on one-way tickets.

The combined direction is unambiguous: shorter default stays, fewer eligible countries, more checks at the border, and a clearer distinction between tourists and de-facto residents using visa-free entries to live in Thailand.