Travellers from more than 90 countries and territories now get less time in Thailand. Starting this week, the government has scaled back the visa-free stay it expanded during the pandemic, in a push it describes as 'quality tourism' — an attempt to curb misuse of visa privileges and illegal activity by some foreign nationals.
The headline change: over 60 nationalities, including citizens of most Schengen countries, the United States and Australia, will see visa-free stays drop from 60 days to 30. Some other nationalities get 15-day exemptions, and a handful — Azerbaijan, Serbia and Belarus among them — will move to visa-on-arrival instead.
There's a second rule that's easy to miss but potentially bigger: visa-free entries are now capped at two per year. That hits frequent visitors, especially expats and long-stay digital nomads who have used repeated visa runs across borders to stay in the country indefinitely. Those workarounds are exactly what the government says it wants to shut down.
Analysts expect the effects to be uneven. Short holidays of a week or two are unaffected — most visitors never came close to 60 days anyway. The squeeze lands on long-haul itineraries, multi-country Southeast Asia trips and extended stays, and on the rental and property market that serves them, more than on hotels catering to shorter breaks. For anyone planning a slow month-plus in Thailand, the maths just changed: you'll now need a proper visa rather than relying on the exemption.
If you're a standard tourist, not much needs to happen. Check your nationality's current allowance before booking, count your days carefully if your trip crosses the 30-day mark, and remember that each visa-free entry now counts toward your two-per-year limit. If you were banking on a 60-day escape, look at Thailand's tourist visa options instead — the extra paperwork beats an overstay fine at the airport.