Thailand visa extension for 30 days: fee, documents and where to go

A Thailand visa extension adds up to 30 days to a visa exempt or tourist visa stay. You apply in person at any Thai immigration office, Koh Tao included, on form TM.7, and the fee is 1,900 THB in cash. One extension per entry is available, granted at the officer's discretion, and it does not undo an overstay, change your visa type, or reach the longer extensions that visas such as the DTV use. Since 15 September 2026 the visa exemption itself runs 30 days for most nationalities, so this extension is what takes a visa free stay to 60 days in total.

How much does a Thailand visa extension cost?

The extension costs 1,900 THB, paid in cash at the counter, whichever immigration office you use. The Trat Immigration Office fee list and the Samut Prakan Immigration Office fee list both list "application for extension of temporary stay" at 1,900 THB per time, with no separate rate for the visa exemption or the tourist visa. There is no online payment and no discount for applying early. The only other direct cost is reaching an office: nothing if you already live near one, a ferry ticket and a morning if you live somewhere without a full counter.

What is form TM.7?

Form TM.7 is the application for extension of temporary stay, the one form used for this extension whatever visa you hold. You fill it in at the counter, sign it, and hand it in with your passport. The Chiang Rai Times' walkthrough of the process lists the same form for both visa exempt and tourist visa applicants, and the Koh Tao office uses it too. Printed forms sit at the counter, but nobody fills yours in for you, so bring a pen.

What documents does a Thailand visa extension need?

Six items cover it, and a missing one is the most common reason for a second visit.

Ask your landlord or hotel for the TM30 confirmation on the day you arrive. The Chiang Rai Times' guide lists it among the required papers, and small guesthouses do not always file it unless a guest asks.

How do you extend a tourist visa in Thailand?

You go to the immigration office in person, before your stamped date, with the documents above, and you leave with a new date if the officer approves. The process is the same whether you arrived visa exempt or on a tourist visa (TR): one extension of up to 30 days, once per entry, at the officer's discretion. On the 60 day tourist visa, the same 30 day extension takes a stay to 90 days in total, as our answer on how to get a 60 day tourist visa for Thailand sets out. Processing at the counter usually takes one to two hours, but same day approval is not guaranteed, so budget a morning rather than a lunch break.

Can you extend the 30 day visa exemption in Thailand?

Yes, once, for up to 30 more days, on the same TM.7 form and the same 1,900 THB fee. The Royal Thai Embassy in London describes the exemption as up to 30 days for tourism, with an extension of up to 30 days available through the Immigration Bureau. If you arrived on or before 14 September 2026, you are still on the earlier 60 day exemption, which can also be extended once by 30 days, for up to 90 days in total; our answer on extending the 30 day visa exemption walks through both cases side by side. Either way there is no second extension on the same entry: when the extended date arrives, you leave, switch to a different visa before that date, or overstay.

Where can you extend a visa near Koh Tao and Koh Samui?

On Koh Tao itself, for this exact extension. The island's own immigration office, on the road between Mae Haad and Chalok Baan Kao near the police station, takes form TM.7, the 1,900 THB fee and the same documents as anywhere else, Monday to Friday from 08:30 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 16:30. Island Travel Koh Tao and BAANLYY's island immigration guide, updated on 2 July 2026, both describe the office handling this extension plus 90 day reports and re-entry permits, and nothing longer. A one year extension, a DTV extension or an LTR matter still means the boat to the Samui office in Maenam: our post on the Koh Tao visa extension and the Samui day trip has the ferry times and the full split of which counter does what, and our answer on what the 90 day report is and how to file it online covers the reporting duty that runs alongside an extension.

When should you apply, and what can go wrong?

Apply a few days before your stamped date, not on the last morning. Leave By Check works out the date on your stamp from the rule in force on the day you arrived. The Chiang Rai Times' guide notes that same day approval is not guaranteed and that an officer can ask for a missing copy or a fuller address proof before deciding, which turns a same day job into a second visit. Once the date on your stamp has passed, an application does not undo the overstay: you owe 500 THB for every day past it, capped at 20,000 THB, before you are allowed to leave, according to Samut Prakan Immigration. Our post on overstaying by three days covers what that looks like at the airport.

What can't a Thailand visa extension do?

Five limits matter more than the paperwork.

1. A second extension on the same entry. One extension per entry is the rule, whatever visa you hold.
2. Reaching a longer visa's own extension. The DTV's extension runs up to 180 days and is filed at an office that handles DTV cases, not at a tourist extension counter; see DTV extension in Thailand. A retirement or marriage extension runs a year at a time and asks for financial evidence a tourist extension never sees.
3. Undoing an overstay. Filed after your stamped date, it is refused and the fine still applies.
4. Adding work rights. An extension changes the date on your stamp, not what your visa allows.
5. Overriding officer discretion. Approval is not automatic, and our answer on what a re-entry permit is and when you need one covers the related trap of leaving the country mid extension without one.

For anyone planning months rather than weeks, Visa Check compares the tourist visa and the DTV against the exemption for your nationality, and the Thailand immigration rules guide covers the rest of the paperwork around it, from the arrival card to the 90 day report.

Updated on 26 September 2026. Rules and prices change: confirm with the official source linked above before you act.