Thailand's long-trailed visa rollback stopped being a proposal on Monday. The four Ministry of Interior notifications that halve the country's visa-free stay were published in the Royal Gazette on 31 August 2026, and each one takes effect after fifteen days have elapsed from publication, so the new rules apply from 15 September 2026. From that date, nationals of 60 countries and territories — including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia, Japan and India — may enter visa-free for up to 30 days rather than 60. The 60-day exemption that has covered 93 countries and territories since 2024 is repealed outright. If your Thai stay after mid-September will run past a month, you now need a visa.
Background
Thailand introduced the 60-day visa exemption in July 2024 to speed up its post-pandemic tourism recovery, and it made the country one of the easiest major destinations in the world to enter. Thai security agencies argued the long stay was being used to run unregistered businesses and to string together near-permanent residence through repeated border runs. The cabinet first approved a rollback on 19 May 2026, then revised it and approved a final version on 14 July 2026. At that point the change stalled: implementing notifications only bite once the Royal Gazette prints them, and for six weeks they did not appear. GoMate reported in July that the rules would start fifteen days after publication, with no date set. That gap has now closed.
What the four notifications do
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who also holds the interior portfolio, signed all four notifications on 26 August 2026; the Ministry of Interior forwarded them to the Cabinet Secretariat for publication on 27 August, and the Royal Gazette carried them on 31 August in Volume 143, Special Issue 207 Ngor. The first repeals the notification of 15 July 2024 that created the 60-day exemption. The second sets a 30-day visa-free list of 60 countries and territories. The third sets a 15-day list of two, Seychelles and Mauritius. The fourth cuts visa on arrival, previously open to 31 nationalities, down to three: Azerbaijan, Belarus and Serbia. One change is easy to miss and matters more than the headline number. The repealed 2024 scheme covered entry for tourism, short-term work or business; the new notification covers tourism only, and the work and business wording is not carried forward. There is also a new cap on land crossings: travellers using the 30-day exemption may enter overland no more than twice per calendar year, with nationals of Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore exempted from that limit. Arrivals by air are not capped.
Before and after
- Old: 60 days visa-free for 93 countries and territories, covering tourism, short-term work or business, plus visa on arrival for 31 countries.
- New: 30 days visa-free for 60 countries and territories, tourism only; 15 days for Seychelles and Mauritius; visa on arrival for Azerbaijan, Belarus and Serbia only.
- Land borders: 30-day visa-exempt entries limited to twice per calendar year, except for nationals of Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore. No limit on arrivals by air.
- Bilateral treaties are untouched: China, Russia, Vietnam, Laos, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong and Macao keep 30 days, and Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and South Korea keep 90 days, under separate agreements that these notifications do not repeal.
- Effective date: 15 September 2026. Entries made up to 14 September are judged under the old scheme.
Who it affects
The clearest losers are people who built plans around two months. European winter long-stayers, remote workers trialling Thailand before committing to a longer visa, and anyone visiting family for an extended period all lose half their runway: a British or German traveller who could arrive with no paperwork and stay into a second month will be stamped in for 30 days from 15 September. The narrowing to tourism-only entry hits a different group. Someone flying in for a fortnight of meetings, a conference or short-term project work can no longer rely on the exemption the way the 2024 scheme allowed, and should check whether the trip needs a business visa. The land-border cap lands hardest on people who have used repeat crossings from Cambodia, Laos or Myanmar to hold an effectively continuous stay. Nationals of the 33 countries dropped from the list mostly do not lose visa-free access — they revert to the bilateral agreement they had before mid-2024, which for South Korea and Brazil is more generous than the scheme being repealed.
What to do now
A trip that starts before 15 September is assessed under the current rules, and a stay already granted on arrival is not cut short retroactively. For travel after that date, plan on a visa if you will stay past 30 days: the Destination Thailand Visa, tourist visas and Thailand's other long-stay categories are unaffected by these notifications. If you cross by land, count your entries for the calendar year. If the trip is for work or business rather than sightseeing, confirm the right visa category with a Royal Thai Embassy or the official Thai e-Visa service before you book. Our Thailand country guide at /country-guides/thailand sets out the long-stay routes and what each one costs.
When it takes effect
Published in the Royal Gazette on 31 August 2026, Volume 143, Special Issue 207 Ngor. Each of the four notifications states that it takes effect after the expiration of fifteen days from publication, which is 15 September 2026. All four were signed on 26 August 2026 under the cabinet resolution of 14 July 2026.
Two details to check before you rely on this
The one-time 30-day extension of stay at an immigration office is not addressed by these notifications and is reported to remain available, but it has always been granted at immigration's discretion rather than as a right. And the shift to tourism-only wording has not yet been matched by published guidance on how officers will treat short business trips. If either point decides your trip, put the question to a Royal Thai Embassy or consulate before you travel.
Key Takeaway
Thailand's 60-day visa-free era ends on 15 September 2026. Sixty nationalities get 30 days for tourism only, visa on arrival survives for three countries, and land crossings are capped at two a year.