Can I extend my 30-day visa exemption in Thailand and what are my options?

Nov 24, 2023
a year ago
Theresa **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
I am currently in Thailand on a 30 day visa exemption (I am British national) I will be leaving in December, going to Laos for a week but I want to come back to Thailand for just under 2 months after that.

I thought I could apply for a 3 month tourist visa online but because I am out of the UK that doesnโ€™t look possible.

Can I enter Thailand on the 30 days visa exemption and then extend it?

Do I have any other options, other than leaving flying in and out of Thailand? I believe I can use the visa exemption up to 3 times if I arrive by air - is that correct?

Thanks for your help in advance! ๐Ÿ™
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The user is currently in Thailand on a 30-day visa exemption and plans to leave for Laos, wishing to return to Thailand for a little under two months. The user inquired about extending the visa exemption and potential options for re-entry. Commenters confirmed that the user can enter Thailand on the 30-day exemption and then extend it by an additional 30 days at an immigration office. They clarified that while there is no official limit on 30-day entries by air, frequent back-to-back entries could lead to scrutiny at immigration. The user was advised that they may also utilize land border crossings for an additional exemption without needing to fly out.
Tod *********
๐—œ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต๐˜ ๐—œ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ ๐Ÿฏ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—œ ๐—ฎ๐—บ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—จ๐—ž ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ปโ€™๐˜ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ.

Yep, you can't use the eVisa website outside your country (you have to show a flight from your country here to get it approved)

๐—–๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—œ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜?

Yep you certainly can (y) Come back in on a free 30 day visa exempt and then take the one 30 day extension you're allowed on it for 1900baht at the immigration office that serves the area where you stay in thailand.

๐——๐—ผ ๐—œ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜† ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€, ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ณ๐—น๐˜†๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ?

You are allowed TWO free 30 day entry by LAND in a calendar year, no need to fly out and back to get a new 30 day entry stamp

๐—œ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—œ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜‚๐—ฝ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐Ÿฏ ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ณ ๐—œ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ฟ - ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜? Nope, that is not correct, and officially there's no limit to the number of 30 day visa exempt entries you can get by air, BUT what you're not gonna be able to do is live here on back-2-back free entries without getting pulled aside and asked WTH you're doing trying to live here on free stamps OR worse getting denied entry when they think you've had enough free entry.

Your plan is fine, go do your vacation in Lao for a week, come back on a 30 day free entry stamp, take the 30 day extension <- that's the two months you're wanting
Theresa **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Tod ********
thanks so much for your help, Iโ€™m rather new to all this!

Can I get a 1900 bhat visa extension at the immigration office on Ko Pha Ngan

When I come back to Thaikand second time Iโ€™ll be flying from Laos will i need to show onward flight/bus to leave the country.. i was asked this at check in when I flew from india two days ago.
Tod *********
@Theresa *********
you're confusing what an airline requires for you to board a flight here (entering on a free stamp) with what the requirements are to stamp IN to thailand.

Whether you need onward travel is between you and your airline so check with them.

If you're staying down there on the "Island of Misfit Toyz" ๐Ÿ˜‰ ๐Ÿ˜› (aka Koh Phangan) you can certainly use the immigration office there to get your 30 day extension..
Theresa **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Tod ********
thank you!
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