Thailand Visa-Free Drops to 30 Days on 15 September 2026: What Changes for Indian, British, American, Australian and Filipino Travellers

Thailand's 60-day visa exemption has an end date. Four regulations published in the Royal Gazette on 31 August 2026 take effect on 15 September 2026, and from that day most visitors who used to get 60 days will get 30. The change has been telegraphed since the Cabinet approved it in May, but the published text settles the details that matter: which passports are on which list, how the one-time extension works, what happens to people already in the country, and a new cap on overland entries.

If you are flying to Thailand this autumn, here is what changes for your passport.

The new framework in one table

The 30-day list, as published by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, is: Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bhutan, Brunei, 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, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, 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 and United States.

Indian passport holders

India stays on the exemption list, which was not a foregone conclusion: an earlier version of the reform would have moved Indian nationals to a 15-day visa on arrival. The published regulations put India in the 30-day group.

In practice, for the Diwali and winter-holiday season:

• A single trip of up to 30 days needs no visa. Submit the TDAC before you fly.
• A trip of 31 to about 60 days can be covered by the one-time extension at an immigration office, but the extension is discretionary. If your itinerary already runs past 30 days, apply for a single-entry Tourist Visa (60 days, 1,000 THB) on the Thai e-Visa portal instead.
• Anything longer than that points to the Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) or a multiple-entry Tourist Visa.

Indian travellers who entered on a 60-day stamp before 15 September keep the full 60 days. See our Diwali 2026 planning guide for Indian passports for how Thailand compares with Dubai, Sri Lanka and Malaysia this season.

British and Irish passport holders

The UK and Ireland are both on the 30-day list. For a typical two-week winter break nothing changes except the stamp in your passport. For the long-stay winter crowd - people who used to string 60 days plus a 30-day extension into a three-month escape - the arithmetic is now 30 plus 30 at most, and the second 30 is not automatic.

The practical options if you want more than a month:

• Tourist Visa (TR), single entry, 60 days, extendable once by 30 - 1,000 THB via the e-Visa portal.
• Multiple-entry Tourist Visa (METV), six months of entries with a 60-day stay each time.
• Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) for remote workers and longer-term visitors.

Apply through the Thai e-Visa portal; the Royal Thai Embassy in London no longer accepts paper tourist applications.

American and Canadian passport holders

The United States and Canada are both on the 30-day list. Most US and Canadian visitors stay well under a month, so the change bites mainly on people combining Thailand with a wider Southeast Asia loop who re-enter several times.

Two points worth noting:

1. 1Re-entries by air are not capped. Each air arrival under the exemption is a fresh 30 days. Immigration officers do retain discretion to question frequent back-to-back entries, as they did under the old scheme.
2. 2Re-entries by land are capped at two per calendar year (see below). If your plan involves crossing from Cambodia, Laos or Malaysia more than twice in a year, get a Tourist Visa.

Australian and New Zealand passport holders

Australia and New Zealand are on the 30-day list. The same guidance applies: short holidays are unaffected, longer stays should be planned around a Tourist Visa rather than an extension you may or may not get.

Australians heading to Thailand over the Christmas and January period should note that the extension has to be applied for in person at an immigration office before the initial 30 days expire, and that offices in Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai are busiest in December and January.

Filipino passport holders

The Philippines is on the 30-day list. Filipinos previously enjoyed 60 days under the 2024 scheme, and before that 30 days under the ASEAN arrangement, so this is a return to the pre-2024 position rather than a new restriction.

Note that the two-per-year land-border cap does apply to Filipino nationals - the exemption from the cap covers Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore only.

Chinese and Brazilian passport holders: unaffected

The regulations published on 31 August govern Thailand's unilateral exemption scheme. They do not touch bilateral agreements, which remain in force on their own terms:

• China: the mutual visa exemption in force since 1 March 2024 continues to give Chinese ordinary-passport holders 30 days per entry, with a cumulative cap of 90 days in any 180-day period.
• Brazil: the bilateral agreement continues to give Brazilian ordinary-passport holders 90 days.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand says other bilateral and related entry arrangements "will continue to apply where relevant", with exemption periods of 90, 30 or 14 days, but its notice does not name the countries. If your passport is not on the 30-day list and you believe a bilateral deal covers you, confirm with the Thai embassy before booking. Our Golden Week guide for Chinese travellers covers Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan for the October holiday.

Who loses visa-free entry

Twenty-one countries drop off the list entirely from 15 September 2026. According to VisasNews' reading of the Gazette, they are: Albania, Andorra, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Kosovo, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Panama, Papua New Guinea, San Marino, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Uzbekistan.

Nationals of these countries need a visa before travel. The single-entry Tourist Visa on the e-Visa portal is the standard route for holidays. Sri Lankan travellers, who had grown used to visa-free Bangkok breaks, are the largest group affected.

The transition rule: entries before 15 September

If you are admitted under the current scheme on or before 14 September 2026, you keep whatever period was stamped at entry - normally 60 days - and it is not shortened when the new rules begin. The 30-day stamp applies to arrivals from 15 September onward.

Extensions applied for after 15 September on a pre-15 September entry are handled at the immigration office's discretion. If you are in that position, apply before your original stamp expires and carry evidence of onward travel and funds.

The one-time extension

The 30-day exemption can be extended once, by up to 30 days, at a Thai immigration office inside the country. The Gazette text makes the extension subject to immigration approval; it is not an entitlement. Guides and immigration offices consistently quote a fee of 1,900 THB, and offices generally want cash, a completed TM.7 form, a passport photo and your TDAC or entry record. Budget half a day in Bangkok, less at provincial offices.

Do not plan a trip that depends on the extension being granted. If the dates matter, get a Tourist Visa.

The two-per-year land-border cap

This is new. From 15 September 2026, travellers using the 30-day or 15-day exemption may enter Thailand across a land border no more than twice per calendar year. Air and sea arrivals do not count toward the cap. The cap does not apply to nationals of Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore, and the Minister may designate further exemptions.

The rule targets the old "border run" pattern, where visitors reset their stay by stepping across to Cambodia or Laos and back. If you travel overland through the region regularly, the answer is a Tourist Visa or the METV, not a third crossing.

TDAC: still mandatory, still free

The Thailand Digital Arrival Card replaced the paper TM6 in May 2025 and is unaffected by these changes. Every foreign visitor submits it online at tdac.immigration.go.th before arrival, whether visa-exempt, on a visa or on a visa on arrival. It is free of charge. Third-party sites that charge a "processing fee" for the TDAC are not official.

When to get a Tourist Visa instead

Get a visa before you fly if any of these apply:

• Your trip is longer than 30 days and you do not want to rely on a discretionary extension.
• You plan more than two overland entries in a calendar year.
• Your nationality is one of the 21 removed from the list.
• You want multiple entries over several months (the METV).

The single-entry Tourist Visa (TR) costs 1,000 THB, allows a 60-day stay, can be extended once by 30 days, and is applied for on the Thai e-Visa portal. Allow at least two weeks for processing in the autumn peak; embassies quote longer during Thai public holidays. Our Thailand visa guide walks through the documents.

Key takeaways

• Sixty nationalities, including India, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines, get 30 days from 15 September 2026.
• One discretionary extension of up to 30 days is available in-country; 1,900 THB is the reported fee.
• Twenty-one countries, Sri Lanka among them, need a visa from 15 September.
• Overland entries under the exemption are capped at two per calendar year.
• China and Brazil are unaffected; pre-15 September entries keep their 60-day stamp.
• The TDAC stays mandatory and free.

If your Thailand dates are not fixed yet, run your passport through our visa checker and confirm the current position on the Thai e-Visa portal before you book.