Thailand cuts visa-free stay to 30 days for Indians, 59 other countries

The country will halve the visa-free stay from 60 to 30 days from Sep 15, affecting Indian tourists and travellers from 59 other countries

Thailand has cut the maximum visa-free stay for tourists from 60 days to 30 days, tightening a relaxation that has made the Southeast Asian country a population travel destination.

 

The new rule will take effect from September 15, after Thailand’s Ministry of Interior published the revised notification in the Royal Gazette on August 31.

 

People of 60 countries, including India, will continue to be eligible for visa-free entry for tourism, but the maximum permitted stay under the visa-exemption scheme will now be 30 days.

 

Thailand has also discontinued the earlier arrangement that allowed eligible visitors to stay for up to 60 days without obtaining a visa.

  

What changes for Indian travellers?

 

For an Indian tourist, the immediate change is the length of stay rather than the entry requirement.

 

Under the revised rules:

 

Indian passport holders can still enter Thailand without obtaining a visa for tourism.

 

The maximum visa-free stay will be 30 days from September 15.

 

Travellers who want to remain in Thailand for longer will have to consider an appropriate visa or other permitted immigration route.

 

The new rules apply to arrivals after the effective date, so travellers should check their permitted stay before finalising longer holidays.

 

The 30-day limit is important for travellers planning extended holidays, workations or trips covering several Thai destinations.

 

A 30-day visa-free period, however, still gives tourists considerable flexibility. For a typical holiday of one or two weeks, the change is unlikely to have a major practical impact.

 

Land-border entries face an additional restriction

 

The revised rules also retain a separate restriction for visa-exempt travellers entering Thailand through land-border checkpoints.

 

Such travellers are generally permitted a maximum of two visa-exempt entries in a calendar year.

 

This could be particularly relevant for people who travel frequently between Thailand and neighbouring countries and rely on repeated visa-exempt entries rather than obtaining a visa.

 

Air travellers should also distinguish between the duration of stay allowed under visa exemption and the rules governing repeated entries. A visa-free entry does not automatically mean that a traveller can keep leaving and re-entering Thailand indefinitely.

 

Which countries are affected?

 

The revised 30-day visa-exemption framework covers 60 countries and territories, including India, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, the UAE, the UK and the US, among others.

 

The notification was issued by Thailand's Ministry of Interior and published in the Royal Gazette on August 31, following Cabinet approval.

 

The government has also repealed earlier Ministry of Interior notices linked to the previous visa-exemption arrangement.

 

What Indians should do before travelling

Indian travellers with trips planned around or after September 15 should calculate their stay based on the new 30-day limit rather than assuming the earlier 60-day allowance still applies.

 

Those planning to stay beyond 30 days should check the eligibility and application requirements for the relevant Thai visa before travelling. They should not assume that a visa-exempt entry can simply be extended to accommodate a longer holiday.

 

For most short-term Indian tourists, the change will not affect entry into Thailand. The main impact will be on travellers who had begun treating the 60-day visa-free period as an option for longer stays.

 

The move therefore marks a tightening of Thailand's tourist entry regime, even as Indian travellers continue to enjoy visa-free access to the country.