Visa Information
Royal Thai Embassies and Royal Thai Consulates-General may issue the following types of visas:
- Transit Visa
- Tourist Visa
- Non-Immigrant Visa
- Diplomatic Visa
- Official Visa
- Courtesy Visa
The Transit Visa is for travelers in transit who will not be staying in Thailand for more than 7 days, visitors from 41 countries are exempt from this requirement.
The Tourist Visa is for tourists and may be issued from any Royal Thai Consulate or Royal Thai Embassy outside of Thailand, it may be Single Entry, Double Entry or Triple Entry and each entry is good for 60 days (which can be extended by 30 days for a fee of B1900 at any Thai Immigration Office. In most cases a Royal Thai Consulate within Asia will only issue a maximum of 2 entries for western applicants, this includes neigbouring countries such as Laos, Malaysia and Cambodia.
A Non-Immigrant Visa is good for 90 days per entry and may be Single Entry or Multiple Entry, a Multiple Entry visa may be used an unlimited number of times before the date indicated on the visa.
Note: A Visa does NOT have an expiry date! It does have a date before which the last entry must occur, but the visa is in force until the expiration of the entry backed by that visa, this can be months after the “use by” date on the visa.
A Non-Immigrant Visa can be issued for many different reasons and hence there are many different classes of Non-Immigrant Visa, for example a Non-Immigrant B Visa is for business, a Non-Immigrant O Visa is an ordinary Non-Immigrant Visa that may be issued for a variety of reasons including visiting friends and family in Thailand.
Many applicants find that Royal Thai Consulates and Royal Thai Embassies in the South-East Asia region are reluctant to issue Non-Immigrant Visas to many western applicants, however it should be simple to apply for a Non-Immigrant Visa in your country of citizenship at a Royal Thai Consulate or a Royal Thai Embassy.
Top Tip: Many people find that a Royal Thai Consulate is much more relaxed about issuing Non-Immigrant Visas than a Royal Thai Embassy. The application form is the same, the rules are the same, but the interpretation and implementation of those rules are vastly different in many cases.
A Diplomatic Visa, Official Visa or Courtesy Visa are special classes of visa, if you are eligible for such a visa then the you would typically know the procedure involved.
Visa Exemption.
Passport holders from 41 countries and 1 special administrative region – Hong Kong SAR – are not required to obtain a visa when entering Thailand for tourism purposes and will be permitted to stay in the Kingdom for a period of not exceeding 30 days on each visit. If such foreigners enter the Kingdom at the immigration checkpoints which border neighboring countries, they will be allowed to stay for 15 days each time, except Malaysian nationals who cross the borderline from Malaysia whose granted period of stay will not exceed 30 days each time.
1. Australia : Commonwealth of Australia
2. Austria : Republic of Austria
3. Belgium : Kingdom of Belgium
4. Brazil : Federative Republic of Brazil
5. Bahrain : State of Bahrain
6. Brunei Darussalam : Negara Brunei Darussalam
7. Canada
8. Denmark : Kingdom of Denmark
9. Finland : Republic of Finland
10. France : French Republic
11. Germany : Federal Republic of Germany
12. Greece : Hellenic Republic
13. Hong Kong : Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
14. Iceland : Republic of Iceland
15. Indonesia : Republic of Indonesia
16. Ireland : Republic of Ireland
17. Israel : State of Israel
18. Italy : Republic of Italy
19. Japan
20. Korea : Republic of Korea
21. Kuwait : State of Kuwait
22. Luxembourg : Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
23. Malaysia
24. Monaco : Principality of Monaco
25. Netherlands : Kingdom of the Netherlands
26. New Zealand
27. Norway : Kingdom of Norway
28. Oman : Sultanate of Oman
29. Peru : Republic of Peru
30. Philippines : Republic of the Philippines
31. Portugal : Republic of Portugal
32. Qatar : State of Qatar
33. Singapore : Republic of Singapore
34. Spain : Kingdom of Spain
35. South Africa : Republic of South Africa
36. Sweden : Kingdom of Sweden
37. Switzerland : Swiss Confederation
38. Turkey : Republic of Turkey
39. United Arab Emirates
40. United Kingdom : United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
41. United States of America
42. Vietnam : Socialist Republic of Vietnam
