> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://easythailandvisa.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Thailand Halved Its Visa-Free Stay. Here Is Exactly What Changed. - URL: https://easythailandvisa.com/thailand-visa-rules-changed-september-2026/ - Published: 2026-10-01T01:22:31.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-19T12:23:57.000Z - Description: A friend landed at Suvarnabhumi on 20 September, looked up at the screen above immigration, and found out the thing he had planned three months around no longer existed. - Author: Somchai Jaidee - Tags: Visas & Immigration, Thailand News My friend landed at [Suvarnabhumi](https://easythailandvisa.com/suvarnabhumi-airport-2026-guide/) on 20 September, looked up at the screen above the immigration desk, and found out the thing he had planned three months around no longer existed. He had a flight home booked for the 54th day. The officer stamped him 30. This is not a rumour and it is not a proposal. Four Ministry of Interior notifications were published in the [Royal Gazette](https://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/?ref=easythailandvisa.com) on 31 August 2026 and took effect fifteen days later, on 15 September. Every visa rule you have read since July 2024 is now wrong. Last verified 29 September 2026\. I will keep updating this page as the details firm up. ## The short version Thailand revoked the 60-day [visa exemption](https://easythailandvisa.com/every-country-thailand-visa-guide/) it introduced in July 2024 and rebuilt the system underneath it. The practical maximum stay without a visa fell from 90 days to 60\. The list of countries eligible shrank from 93 to 60. **Nothing changed for 30 of the biggest source markets.** If you hold a British, American, Canadian, Australian, Indian, Japanese or Singaporean passport you still walk in with no visa. You just get 30 days instead of 60, and you can still buy one 30-day extension at immigration for 1,900 baht. That is still 60 days total. ## What the gazette actually said | | Until 14 Sep 2026 | From 15 Sep 2026 | | ----------------------------- | -------------------------- | ------------------------------- | | **Default visa-free stay** | 60 days | 30 days | | **Longest stay with no visa** | 90 days | 60 days | | **Eligible countries** | 93 | 60 | | **Visa on arrival** | 31 countries | 3 countries | | **Shortest tier** | none | 15 days (Mauritius, Seychelles) | | **Purpose covered** | Tourism and short business | Tourism only | | **Land border entries** | Up to 2 a year | Up to 2 a year | If you arrived on or before 14 September you keep the stamp you were given, and the Foreign Ministry has confirmed it will be honoured even though the rules changed around you. Everyone landing from the 15th onward gets the new regime. ## Why they did it Three reasons came out of the cabinet briefing on 19 May. None of them are about tourists, which is part of why tourists are paying for it. The first is abuse. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the 60-day window was being used by people who entered as visitors and then ran nominee businesses, worked without permits, or operated call-centre fraud operations. A 30-day default shortens the runway. The second is arithmetic. Government data quoted in the briefing puts the average foreign visitor stay at about **nine days**. A 60-day default was, in the words of Tourism Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul, aimed at quality visitors rather than simply making entry easy. The third is that every country on the list is now reassessed by the Visa Policy Committee against security and economic criteria. That committee can change the list again. ## The twenty-one who lost it These nationalities had visa-free entry under the 2024 scheme and no longer do. They need a Tourist Visa (TR) [eVisa](https://easythailandvisa.com/visa-on-arrival-vs-evisa-thailand/) before they fly, and their airline will check for it at the gate. Albania, Andorra, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Kosovo, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Panama, Papua New Guinea, San Marino, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Uzbekistan. For most of them this is a net improvement. A TR gives 60 days, and it is extendable by another 30, so 90 days — better than the 30 they get under the exemption. Apply early; consulates are quoting several working days and the fee is set locally, roughly 40 US dollars for a single entry. ## The ones that quietly got better Not every country dropped off the list went away. Twelve fell back onto bilateral agreements that the new notifications did not touch, and in five cases that is a better deal than the general exemption ever was. **South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru still get 90 days.** A Korean passport is now the best visa-free position of any major market. If you have one of these, you have nothing to worry about at all. China, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Laos, Macao, Mongolia, Russia, Timor-Leste and Vietnam keep 30 days by agreement. Cambodia and Myanmar keep 14 days, and for Myanmar that is international airports only. ## Visa on arrival is almost gone It went from 31 countries to three: **Azerbaijan, Belarus and Serbia**. Fifteen days, 2,000 baht, at designated checkpoints, not extendable. India was widely reported as moving onto the visa-on-arrival list and then was not; it stayed on the free 30-day exemption. ## What to do this week Check your passport against the current list, not against a blog post, a forum thread or an airline chatbot. If you need a visa, start the eVisa now rather than next week. And regardless of your nationality, file the Thailand [Digital Arrival Card](https://easythailandvisa.com/thailand-digital-arrival-card-tdac/) within 72 hours before you land — it is mandatory for every foreign visitor, it is free, and skipping it is the single most common way to lose an hour on arrival. **Scam alert.** The arrival card has never cost anything. Thai immigration police warned about copycat sites on day one of the system. If a site asks for a fee to file your TDAC, close it and go to [tdac.immigration.go.th](https://tdac.immigration.go.th/?ref=easythailandvisa.com). ## What Thailand has still not published I would rather tell you the gaps than fill them with guesses. Four things are unresolved as I write this: - Whether the usual 30-day extension applies to the new 15-day tier for Mauritius and Seychelles. Nobody knows. - How "tourism only" gets enforced at the counter. The exemption no longer mentions business visits, but no guidance has been issued on what counts as business. - How the twenty-one removed nationalities are treated on repeat applications. - When the Visa Policy Committee next reviews the 60-country list. The framework is settled and it is law. The operational details are still being written, and they will be written by officials rather than by travel blogs. **More on this** - [A Weekend Trip to Laos Ends Your Thai Long Stay Visa and](https://easythailandvisa.com/thai-re-entry-permit-keep-your-visa/) - [What Happens If Your Arrival Card Does Not Match Your Passport](https://easythailandvisa.com/arrival-card-mismatch-immigration/) - [The Destination Thailand Visa, Explained by Someone Who Has](https://easythailandvisa.com/destination-thailand-visa-dtv-explained/)