The Short Answer
An Indian passport holder does not need a visa for a holiday in Thailand of up to 30 days. India is on the list of 60 countries and territories whose citizens Thailand exempts from a visa for tourism, set by a Ministry of Interior notification published in the Royal Gazette on 31 August 2026 and in force since 15 September 2026. You are stamped in for 30 days on arrival, free of charge. Until 14 September the same passport got 60 days under a wider scheme, and much of what you will read online still quotes that figure. If you plan to stay longer than 30 days, or you are travelling for work rather than sightseeing, the answer changes: you apply for a Thai e-Visa before you leave India. The Royal Thai Embassy in New Delhi lists the tourist visa at ₹3,000 (about €27) for a single entry with a 60-day stay.
What Immigration Can Ask to See at Suvarnabhumi or Phuket
- A valid passport with a blank page for the entry stamp. The Thai missions ask visa and visa-on-arrival applicants for six months of validity, and meeting the same standard on a visa-free trip avoids questions at check-in
- A Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC), filed online at tdac.immigration.go.th in the three days before you arrive. It is free; the official site says so in its title, and sites that charge for it are not the Immigration Bureau
- A return or onward ticket dated within 30 days of arrival
- Your hotel booking or the address where you will stay
- Money for the trip: cash, a card with statements, or prepaid bookings. The amounts are covered below
- Airlines check the onward ticket at check-in in India, before Thai immigration ever sees you
How Much Money You Should Be Able to Show
Thai officials do not agree on one figure for visa-exempt visitors. The Tourism Authority of Thailand, in a July 2026 notice quoting the Ministry of Interior announcement, gives ฿10,000 per person or ฿20,000 per family for visa-exempt entry, and ฿20,000 per person or ฿40,000 per family for tourist visa holders; children under 12 are not counted. The Royal Thai Embassy in London, in its guidance for the new 30-day scheme, says officers may ask for ฿20,000 per person. Both sources say officers may ask rather than will ask, and the decision to admit you rests with them. Being able to show about ฿20,000 per person (roughly ₹57,500) in cash, card balance or paid bookings covers either reading.
The Exemption Is Written for Tourism
The notification in force since 15 September covers entry for tourism. The scheme it replaced also covered short-term business and work engagements, and that wording was dropped. The Royal Thai Embassy in New Delhi says both things at once: its announcement and its e-Visa FAQ describe the exemption as for tourism, while its main visa page, updated on 16 September 2026, still says tourism and short-term business engagements. Until the embassy settles it, treat meetings, trade fairs and client visits as needing a visa. The business route is the Non-Immigrant B visa, ₹7,000 (about €64) for a single entry with a stay of up to 90 days. Paid work of any kind in Thailand requires a work permit, whatever you entered on.
Staying Longer Than 30 Days
You have two routes. The first is to enter visa-free and ask for an extension once you are in Thailand. The London embassy confirms that visitors on the 30-day exemption may request an extension of up to 30 days at an Immigration Bureau office. It is granted at the officer's discretion, not as a right, and practitioners report the fee as ฿1,900 (about ₹5,460), paid with form TM.7 before your stamp expires. The second route is the tourist visa, applied for before you fly. It gives 60 days on arrival as part of the visa itself, and practitioners report that it too can be extended once, by 30 days, for the same fee. The tourist visa is the safer choice when your return flight is already booked for day 40 or day 55. An airline in India checks your ticket against a 30-day stamp, and an extension you have not yet been granted does not count at check-in.
Applying for the Thai e-Visa From India
Every Thai visa for Indian applicants has gone through the official portal, thaievisa.go.th, since 1 January 2025. Paper applications are no longer taken. You create an account, choose the visa category, upload the passport biodata page, a photograph and the supporting documents, and then pay the fee offline to the mission handling your file. The New Delhi embassy accepts no cash at its counter: it takes a bank transfer or UPI payment to its DBS account, or a cash deposit at a DBS branch, and asks you to email the slip. The consulates in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata set their own payment methods. New Delhi quotes about 14 working days from the day your payment is received, so apply at least three weeks before you fly. The approved visa arrives by email, and you must print it. Neither the airline nor Thai immigration accepts a copy on a phone.
Fees at the Thai Missions in India (September 2026)
- Tourist visa, single entry: ₹3,000 (about €27). Valid 3 months, stay of up to 60 days
- Tourist visa, multiple entry: ₹13,500 (about €124). Valid 6 months, up to 60 days per entry
- Transit visa, single entry: ₹2,500. Up to 30 days
- Non-Immigrant visa (business, study, family and similar), single entry: ₹7,000 (about €64). Up to 90 days
- Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) for remote workers and people on long courses: ₹30,000 (about €275). Valid 5 years, 180 days per entry
- All fees are non-refundable, including when the visa is refused or the application is withdrawn
Three Mistakes That Get Indian Applications Cancelled
The New Delhi embassy publishes its own list, and each item is specific to India. First, the name. Indian passports have no separate middle name, so everything in your given-name line goes in First Name and the Middle Name field stays empty; applications with it filled in are cancelled. Second, where you are. A visa is issued only if you are physically in India for the whole application, you must upload proof of your current address (Aadhaar, a rental agreement or an electricity bill), and the file must go to the mission for the state you are in: New Delhi for the north and north-east, Mumbai for Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and Madhya Pradesh, Chennai for the southern states, and Kolkata for West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and the Andamans. Third, the photograph: colour, 630 by 810 pixels, plain white background, face filling 80 to 85 per cent of the frame. For supporting documents, the embassy still links an older checklist that asks for confirmed flights and accommodation, six months of bank statements and proof of employment. It dates from 2021, so check the list the e-Visa portal shows for your category.
Key Takeaway
Indian citizens can visit Thailand for up to 30 days without a visa, for tourism, under the rules in force since 15 September 2026. File the free TDAC in the three days before arrival and carry an onward ticket within 30 days. For a longer stay, apply for the ₹3,000 tourist visa, which gives 60 days, on thaievisa.go.th while you are in India, at least three weeks ahead. For a business trip, ask the embassy which visa you need, because its own pages disagree.
