Which Thai visa fits you in 2026: 30-day exemption, tourist visa, DTV, LTR, ED, retirement and Privilege

Visa-exempt entry to Thailand gives you 30 days if you arrive on or after 15 September 2026, down from the 60 days that had applied since 15 July 2024. The new framework was published in the Royal Gazette on 31 August 2026, and the list of eligible countries and territories fell at the same time from 93 to 60.

The 60 on the new list include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, so most readers of this guide are still exempt, just for half as long. Mauritius and Seychelles get 15 days. Azerbaijan, Belarus and Serbia move to a visa on arrival. Other passports fall under bilateral agreements or need a visa before boarding. The official wording is that the exemption is for tourism, and the government named misuse of the waiver as a reason for shortening it.

The date you arrived decides your stay. Arrive on or before 14 September 2026 and your stamp gives 60 days, extendable once by 30 days. Arrive on or after 15 September 2026 and it gives 30 days, extendable once by 30 days. Permission already granted is not shortened: the date printed in your passport is the one that counts. Our post on why your 60-day stamp still counts works through examples on both sides of the switch.

The land-border cap is the part people miss. Visa-exempt entries through land checkpoints, and ports next to a land border, are limited to two per calendar year. Nationals of Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore are not subject to the cap. The Royal Thai Embassy in London words it more broadly, as two exemption entries per calendar year, so treat a third entry by air as something an officer may question. The monthly border run no longer works as a way of living here, and the border run is dead does the arithmetic for a year.

What the officer can ask for. Proof of accommodation, onward travel within 30 days and 20,000 THB per person in funds, according to the London embassy. Every arrival also needs a free Thailand Digital Arrival Card, filed within three days before landing.

To check your own passport against the current rules, run Visa Check. The wider picture of living here, from islands to tax, starts on our Thailand for digital nomads page.

A 30-day extension costs 1,900 THB, is applied for on form TM.7, and is granted once per entry at the officer's discretion. It turns the new exemption into a stay of up to 60 days for anyone willing to spend a morning at an immigration office.

What to bring. Form TM.7, filled in and signed. Your passport. One photograph of 4 by 6 centimetres. Signed photocopies of the passport photo page and of the entry stamp. Proof of your Thai address, and the TM30 receipt filed by your landlord or hotel if you have it. Cash for the fee. Approval is not automatic, so go early in your window rather than in the last days of your stamp.

Where. Any immigration office handles the TM.7 extension. On Koh Tao it is now done on the island, at the office between Mae Haad and Chalok Baan Kao; the day trip to the Samui office is only for long-stay cases such as DTV and one-year extensions. Our post on the Koh Tao visa extension lists which counter handles what, and the Koh Tao page covers the rest of island life.

After the extension, you leave. When the extended stamp runs out, you exit the country. Flying out and back is legal and common, but each return is a fresh decision by an officer who can see the pattern in your passport, and land re-entries count against the cap of two a year.

Do not let the date slip. Overstaying costs 500 THB a day, capped at 20,000 THB, paid in cash at departure, and the overstay stamp stays in your passport. Leave By Check works out your last legal day from your arrival date, and what happens if you overstay by three days walks through the airport side.

A single-entry tourist visa (TR) gives up to 60 days per entry, plus the same 30-day extension for 1,900 THB, which makes 90 days in total. Since the exemption was cut to 30 days, it is the simplest way to get a full 60 days from a single arrival.

The TR in practice. You apply before you travel on the official Thai e-Visa portal, thaievisa.go.th, through the embassy or consulate that serves your country. The Immigration Bureau reference fee is 1,000 THB; the Royal Thai Embassy in London charges 30 GBP, and other posts set the fee in their own currency. The visa is valid for three months from issue, so book it close to your travel dates. Leaving Thailand on a single-entry TR ends it: a side trip to Malaysia means a new visa or a visa-exempt re-entry on the way back.

The METV. The multiple-entry tourist visa is valid for six months and gives up to 60 days on each entry. The London embassy charges 150 GBP. For someone who wants half a year in Southeast Asia with Thailand as the base and side trips to Vietnam, Laos or Malaysia, it removes the question of whether you get back in on an exemption. It is not a work visa, and every arrival is still an entry decision.

Who should use a tourist visa rather than the DTV. Two profiles. First, anyone whose trip is three months or less. Second, anyone who cannot yet meet the DTV requirements (the 500,000 THB, the police certificate, an application from their own country) but wants to be in Thailand this season. Anyone planning a year should read the DTV section below before paying for a METV.

The full fee list, including every visa and permit in one place, is in Thailand visa costs in 2026, in one table.

The Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) is a five-year multiple-entry visa that lets you stay up to 180 days per entry and work for employers and clients outside Thailand. It costs 10,000 THB, converted by each embassy (300 GBP in London), and asks for proof of at least 500,000 THB in funds. For a remote worker who wants more than a season, it is the only route that does not need a Thai employer, a large income or a six-figure purchase.

Three categories. DTV1 is the workcation category for remote workers, freelancers and foreign talent. DTV2 covers Thai soft power activities such as Muay Thai, Thai cooking courses and medical treatment. DTV3 covers the spouse and children under 20 of a DTV holder.

What changed on 31 August 2026. Two things, and both break older guides. Every new applicant has to supply a police clearance certificate, issued within six months of submission at the London embassy. And applications must be lodged in the country where you are a national or a permanent resident, which closed the routes through neighbouring countries that nomads already in the region had used. Applications submitted and paid before that date follow the old criteria, and existing DTV holders are not affected. Where to apply for the DTV and how long the police certificate takes in six countries cover both changes.

You cannot apply from inside Thailand. The DTV is an e-visa issued through an embassy abroad. There is no in-country conversion from a tourist stamp, which is the most common disappointment we hear about.

Timing and money. Posts expect statements showing the 500,000 THB held over roughly three months, and a lump sum parked just before applying is a common reason for refusal. Add the police certificate, which takes weeks in several countries, and start about three months before you want to fly.

Staying past 180 days. The London embassy describes one extension per entry of up to 180 days at a Thai immigration office. Reports of refusals at some offices push many holders to fly out and re-enter instead; the DTV extension post sets out the fee dispute and the options.

What it does not do. It does not let you work for a Thai company or take Thai clients, and it does not come with a work permit. It does not shield you from Thai tax once you spend more than 180 days in a calendar year in the country, which our tax guide covers. And it does not guarantee a Thai bank account, as the bank account and money guide explains.

The full application walkthrough is in the complete DTV guide.

Three routes buy a longer and calmer stay than the DTV, each with a different entry ticket: income for the LTR, money for Thailand Privilege, and age plus savings for retirement.

The Long-Term Resident visa (LTR). Ten years, granted as five plus five, for a fee of 50,000 THB per person when collected in Thailand (1,500 GBP in London). The Work-from-Thailand Professional category asks for an average personal income of at least 80,000 USD a year over the past two years, or 40,000 USD with a master's degree or higher. Your employer has to be listed on a stock exchange, or be a company with three years of operation and 50 million USD of combined revenue over three years. That clause is why most freelancers and small agency owners cannot use the LTR, however much they earn. You also need health insurance covering at least 50,000 USD, Thai social security, or 100,000 USD held in a bank. In exchange you get a yearly report instead of the 90-day one, no re-entry permit, up to four dependants, and a tax exemption on overseas income that the Board of Investment lists among the LTR privileges. DTV vs LTR works out when the 50,000 THB pays for itself.

Thailand Privilege. A paid membership rather than a visa in the ordinary sense. Bronze is 650,000 THB for five years, Gold 900,000 THB for five, Platinum 1,500,000 THB for ten, Diamond 2,500,000 THB for fifteen, and Reserve 5,000,000 THB for twenty, by invitation only. Members get a stay of one year per entry, according to Thailand Elite Net, a sales agent for the programme. Against a 10,000 THB DTV it looks absurd until you price five years of 180-day cycles, extension queues and flights out, at which point some people decide the Bronze tier buys their weekends back.

Retirement. From age 50, with 800,000 THB in a Thai bank, or a monthly income of at least 65,000 THB, or a combination adding up to 800,000 THB over the year. There are two ways in. The Non-Immigrant O gives 90 days on entry and is then extended inside Thailand one year at a time, at 1,900 THB per extension. The Non-Immigrant O-A is issued abroad for one year (150 GBP in London) and requires health insurance of at least 100,000 USD or 3,000,000 THB. The O-X, at 300 GBP in London for five years, has a much higher money test.

The seasoning rule is where retirement files fail. For an extension on the deposit route, the 800,000 THB has to sit in your Thai account for at least two months before you file and stay there for three months after approval. Money parked for the application and withdrawn afterwards shows up in the account history at the next renewal. Open the Thai account first, because the clock only starts once the money has landed.

The education visa is still a legitimate way to spend most of a year in Thailand learning Thai, and it is no longer a way to buy residence from a school that never sees you. In May 2026, Thailand Elite Net reported that the Immigration Bureau, working with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, had revoked around 10,000 student visas and required institutions to file monthly attendance reports to a central database. That source is not official, so take the number as reported rather than confirmed; the direction of travel is clear either way.

How the ED visa works. You enter with 90 days, then extend inside Thailand while you are enrolled, at 1,900 THB per extension. A Thai language course typically supports nine to twelve months of stay. The school and the course must be recognised by the Ministry of Education. Officers can quiz you on your progress at renewal, and leaving the country during an extended stay without a re-entry permit cancels it. The London embassy fee for a single-entry Non-Immigrant visa is 60 GBP.

What it does not include. No work is allowed on an ED visa, and no work permit attaches to it. Studying Thai does not change the remote work question covered further down this page.

How to choose a school. Ask for the Ministry of Education recognition, ask how attendance is reported, and ask how the school's students fared in May 2026. A school that is vague about any of the three is selling a document rather than a course.

Why the DTV usually wins now. Unless you actually want the lessons, the DTV gives five years for 10,000 THB against a year of school fees plus 1,900 THB per extension, without the attendance file. Thai cooking and Muay Thai sit in the DTV soft power category, so the ED visa now makes most sense for people who genuinely want to learn the language.

A family stay of a year is built on one adult's status, with everyone else attached to it. There are three practical shapes, and the right one depends on which adult visa you can actually get.

DTV dependants. A spouse and children under 20 of a DTV holder apply under DTV3, each with a separate application. Budget one 10,000 THB fee per person unless the embassy handling your file says otherwise, so 40,000 THB for a family of four, still less than one year of most alternatives. The police certificate rule applies to applicants since 31 August 2026; our police certificate post covers what is asked of children. Every family member applies from the country where they hold nationality or permanent residence.

LTR dependants. The LTR allows up to four dependants, a spouse and children under 20, on the same ten-year framework, each meeting the insurance requirement. If you qualify, this is the least stressful family option in Thailand: yearly reporting, no re-entry permits, no 180-day cycle to plan school terms around. The barrier remains the income test and the employer conditions.

Education visas for the children. International and bilingual schools enrol foreign children on education visas and usually tell parents which visa they support for an accompanying parent. This suits families whose income does not reach the LTR bar and whose work is not remote, and it makes the school the centre of your immigration paperwork. Ask the school before you sign anything.

The details that catch families out. Every traveller needs their own Thailand Digital Arrival Card, children included. Children under 15 are not fined for overstay, but they still receive the overstay stamp. And schools usually want to see that the family can stay legally for the whole school year, so settle the visa question before the school question.

The comparison in full is at what visa do I need to move to Thailand with my family for a year, and the DTV dependant paperwork is at can my spouse and kids come with me on a DTV.

Thailand has never written a rule that says answering emails for a company abroad is not work, and the visa exemption is granted for tourism, not as permission to work. That is the grey area in two clauses; everything else is interpretation.

What is clear. Work for a Thai employer or Thai clients requires a work permit, and no tourist entry or tourist visa provides one. The DTV covers work for foreign employers and clients and explicitly not Thai ones. The government named misuse of the visa waiver as a reason for cutting it from 60 days to 30, which tells you how the shortened exemption is meant to be read.

Where enforcement sits. The published enforcement we can document concerns people working in the Thai economy: teaching, bar work, dive shops, selling to Thai customers. Answering emails on a short holiday is not policed at the border. That describes the current landscape, not a promise, and the landscape changed twice in 2026 already. The penalties for working without a permit, restated by the government in September 2026, are in our post on six myths about working remotely in Thailand.

Practical lines that keep you clear of the bright line. Take no money from Thai companies or Thai clients on a tourist entry. Do not advertise services to the Thai market. Do not tell an immigration officer that you are here to work, because the stamp you are asking for says tourism. And if your stay is long enough that any of this feels uncomfortable, apply for the DTV, which was created so that the answer stops being awkward.

If your work involves Thai clients, a Thai company or a local hire, stop reading guides and talk to a licensed Thai immigration lawyer.

The rule of thumb: take the cheapest row that covers the stay you actually want, and only move up when the paperwork of the row below would cost you more in time and flights than the fee of the row above.

Up to two months. The visa exemption, extended once if you need the extra month. Total cost 1,900 THB and one morning at an immigration office.

Two to three months. A single-entry tourist visa, applied for before you fly, extended once. 1,000 THB or its local equivalent for the visa, and 1,900 THB for the extension.

Three to six months, with side trips. The METV, 150 GBP in London for six months of validity and 60 days per entry, if you will be moving around Southeast Asia anyway.

Six months to five years, working remotely. The DTV. One 10,000 THB fee, 500,000 THB of visible funds, a police certificate, and an application filed from your own country. Nothing else in Thailand gives a remote worker this much stay for this little money.

Any length, over 50. The retirement route, from 1,900 THB per yearly extension once 800,000 THB sits in a Thai bank or you can show 65,000 THB a month.

Any length, 80,000 USD income and a qualifying employer. The LTR, for yearly reporting and the overseas income exemption.

Any length, if you would rather pay than queue. Thailand Privilege, from 650,000 THB.

Run your own situation through Visa Check, which ranks these options against your nationality, purpose, length of stay and funds using the same dated rules this guide cites.