Thailand Cuts Visa-Free Stay to 30 Days: Who Is Affected

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 widely treated as permanent; it lasted 26 months. On 19 May 2026 the Cabinet approved scrapping it, and on 31 August 2026 the Royal Gazette turned that decision into law. From 15 September 2026 the default visa-free stay is 30 days, the exemption list shrinks from 93 countries to 60, and the practical maximum stay without a visa falls from 90 days to 60.

WHAT CHANGES

The rollback began as a Cabinet resolution on 19 May 2026, which Tourism and Sports Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul framed as a focus on quality tourists, not simply on making entry easy. It was driven by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow. What was a resolution then is now law: four Ministry of Interior notifications, published in the Royal Gazette on 31 August 2026 and effective 15 September 2026.

The notifications repeal the 60-day exemption that roughly 93 countries had held since 15 July 2024 and replace it with a 30-day exemption for 60 countries and territories. Seychelles and Mauritius go into a new 15-day tier. Visa on Arrival is cut from 31 countries to three — Azerbaijan, Belarus and Serbia — while India moves the other way, off visa on arrival and onto the 30-day exemption. The exemption now covers tourism only.

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 fraud 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.

• Changeover day. The notifications took effect on 15 September 2026. Travellers who landed on or before 14 September 2026 kept the 60-day stamp they were given; everyone landing from 15 September gets 30 days.
• Extension policy for the 15-day tier. Seychelles and Mauritius are in a new category and the Immigration Bureau has not confirmed whether the usual 30-day extension is open to them.
• How tourism-only will be enforced. The exemption no longer mentions short business visits, but no guidance has been issued on what counts as a business purpose at the counter.
• Future reclassification. The Visa Policy Committee reviews country status against security and economic criteria, so the 60-country list can change again without a new Cabinet decision.

The rules that apply to you are the ones in force on the day you land, not on the day you booked. Since 15 September 2026 that means 30 days for the 60 exempt nationalities; travellers who arrived on or before 14 September 2026 keep the 60-day stamp they were given. There is no need to cancel trips — the practical impact depends only 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 capped at 2 per calendar year per traveller, aimed at the visa-run culture in the Malaysian, Cambodian, Lao and Myanmar border towns. From 15 September 2026 citizens of Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore are exempt from that cap.
• Tourism-only exemption: the new notification drops the wording that covered short-term business, narrowing what the visa exemption is for.
• 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 traveller insurance. It is not being collected yet.
• 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 travellers 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.