Visas and entry rules

Thailand rewrote its short-stay rules on 15 September 2026: a shorter visa-free stay, for tourism only, a cap on land-border entries and a much smaller visa-on-arrival list. Each rule, with what it says today and when it last changed, is on the entry rules board.

The question most people have is which visa fits the stay they want. A holiday needs nothing but a passport from the exemption list. Two or three months means a tourist visa, applied for online before you fly.

Living here means choosing a long-stay route on purpose: the Destination Thailand Visa for remote workers, the retirement visas for over-50s, or visas tied to marriage, study or a Thai job with a work permit. Thailand visas: which one fits your stay sets them side by side, with costs and the catch for each.

The catch: a visa never guarantees entry. Officers read your travel history, and long runs of back-to-back exemptions draw questions at the desk. The people who get turned away are rarely breaking a rule; they're using a short-stay entry to live here.

Keep a copy of your onward ticket and first-night address on your phone, and check the board the week you fly.