Does the visa exemption limit reset each year in Thailand?

My take, most of the crackdown is about tax status for which you would be eligible if in country 180 days of a calendar year, hence getting booted 150-157 days.

New calander year, new tax eligibility timer.

Just my thoughts.

I did get an exemption of 57 days I did have to have a show ticket and she says , no , you're one fifty is one consecutive one fifty , and it does not reset in the new year. 2026 from a senior passport control officer. Get a visa. We have many... etc.. A Southern thai airport immigration. Late december...last year

It resets on january the first, but there's nothing stopping immigration looking back through your passport to see if you have been taking the p*** and they will deny entry

Causing confusion, im leaving for Vietnam lot less hassle and cheaper

Nope, there's no reset and no limit.

Does a retirement Visa with multiple entry mean as many times as you want. ?

In any twelve month period not by end of year restart

There's a growing number of people sitting and waiting in Vientiane...

U by

The only rule that is 100% valid is that all details depend on the mood (and the decision) of the IO, who you present your passport to on the day you arrive. And the second rule is that, if you have done nothing wrong, you generally should not have anything to worry about. If you are someone trying to do 3-4+ visa runs per year to stay long-term on visa exempt stamps, they really shouldn’t reset anything and should tell you to get a visa.

The reset comment from the government was made with regards "extensions' (the new 30 & 7 max per year), not 'exemptions'.

Who knows? Lots of opinions in the subject but nothing definitive.

Ask immigration

Well the new rules now are only 2 visa exempt entry a year

This rules never existed

It did in the past when they did this before

It did for me. I got 60 days returning from Laos

It a rolling from the last 12 months

Probably depends on the officer , western calendar or Thai calendar .. won't be the same reset time 555

I came here in the middle of last year. I got 60 days and then got a 30 day extension. I went to Laos via airplane because they would not let me across the border by car. I got another 60 days and another 30 day extension. I’ll be going to Bangkok shortly and just have an agent handle everything for me that will give me 14 months and then I check in every year and pay ฿20,000. Hopefully that will be the end of it. retirement visa

Yes. It's a per year scenario. I was able to extend 30,even though I had returned 2 times already before applying a third in 2025. My agent said she could only get me a 7-Day extension, considering I've been there already two times in 2025. She recommended I try the airport immigration in Chiang Mai, as opposed to where she goes, and when I did I was able to extend an additional 30 days after disclosing my financial scenario.

There are no new "visa rules" or a new law.

There is no “reset” on January 1st.

There is no limit of two visa-exemptions within a calendar year, and not within a one-year period as well.

Nothing “resets”.

What has changed, mandated from above, is the strict scrutinizing of your number of visa-exempt entries and the thorough check on "visa runners" (actually they meant to say "back-to-back border runners").The new approach taken by border officials is intended to ensure that the option to do a "visa run" is not abused.

Now as far as regarding extensions on visa-exempt entries, it does appear that the Immigration offices are indeed only issuing 7-day extensions if you already got one previous 30-day extension on any visa exempt entry

It is totally up to the discretion of the immigration officer you are in front of when you apply for the extension and they will tell you if you can get the 30-days extension, or if you only get the 7-days extension.

The thing is right now it's totally subjective and up to the officer you are standing in front of when you go to stamp into the country for them to decide if you're a "real tourist" or if they think you're milking the visa exempt entry program.

There's just no real concrete clear directive as far as what's what.

Some people with a 30-days extension already on a previous visa exempt entry reported getting another 30-days extension without any issue, however some have reported they only got a 7-days extension issued. So your experience might vary.

60 + 30 + 60 + 7 = a maximum of 157 days per year... and it seems this is regardless of whether you arrived by air or across a land border (some say that for a land border visa-exempt entry, you cannot get any extension at all)

Visa-exempt entries themselves are not limited, even though some believe that unlimited visa-free entries are possible by air. This is simply not true.

Visa-exempt entries are not limited to two entries per calendar year.

This is a misconception, and some agents and lawyers spread this information to make profit from panicked people.

Many agents and Immigration Volunteers are warning you should not believe those alleged news telling you that visa-exempt entries are limited to two per calendar year. It simply is not true.

In the past visa-exempt entries were limited to two across land borders, this old rule got discontinued on July 15th, 2024. On the paper, visa-exempt entries by air or across land and sea were “unlimited” after this date.

However this word “unlimited” did not describe the real stance of Immigration – THEY decide when your “personal limit” is up, not any text printed on the websites of Thai embassies.

Under certain circumstances, but always at the individual discretion of the border official, multiple visa-exempt entries are possible, like four, five or even more times, if you do not milk the system.

In this case, however, the entry history in your passport and on the immigration central computer must prove that your stays were short-term holidays (like only 2-4 weeks) and the total annual stay is not exceeding 157 days (some will say not exceed 180 days, some will say 150 days – it’s unclear)

And there should be several weeks (or months) abroad between each visa-exempt stay.

Your best proof of not misusing the system is when you can show that you returned to your home country between each visa-exempt stay, or stayed abroad for a long time. And when you show an onward travel proof

ATTENTION: an “onwardticket” can be scolded upon by Immigration and you can be accused of showing a faked ticket, denied entry and being forced to buy a ticket back to your origin.

The intended aim of the new approach was to prohibit "visa runs," where you only entered briefly a neighboring country and then immediately re-entered.

You must be able to prove the planned short stay at the immigration counter—for example, with proof of onward travel or a return journey, such as a flight ticket.

It seems that a border official would consider you being a "genuine" tourist based on such short holiday trips within a year.

In this case, they expect to see on their central computer that you never extended the 60-days visa-exempt stay permit – i.e. maximized – any of these short trips.

The 7-day extension is a REAL extension. It's not the same as the stamp "application for extension denied, you have 7 days to leave the Kingdom", even if to some people it looks like a “grace period”. I have already seen the stamp of a 7-days extension, it takes up half of a passport page. The original “you have 7 days to leave” stamp is smaller, takes something like a quarter up to one-third of the page

What has become clear, is that "per year" can be defined as "per one-year period.

Some people still say they meant “calendar year” but to me this doesn’t make any sense, and we have received several confirmations that nothing “resets in a new calendar year”. The count will be for a full one-year period

Those who want to be on the safe side should obtain a single-entry tourist visa in advance for stays of up to 60 days, with the option to extend for 30 more days. You can do two stints on SETV within a 1-year period, no problem.

Someone entering on a 6-months multi-entry tourist visa (two extensions possible) and a half-year interval outside of Thailand between each METV, is good to go for a maximum of consecutive “touristic” 180 days stay per 1-year period

Thai visa is so confusing

I came on Dec 2 and plan on staying 89 days going to Bail for a week and come back for 40 more days. If they send me home, no big deal. I spend around baht a month. Their loss, I'm flexible. Next year I will stay 90 days and go to Vietnam or Philippines for 6 weeks.

I'm pretty sure the immigration work calendar year.

No

Get a proper visa so You can stop worry

The answer is No

There is absolutely no reset for visa exempt entries. Every entry is judged on your history as interpreted by the immigration officer you will stand in front of

Yes. Immigration just waves everyone through until June.

I can assure you it does not reset, all visas are concurrent !

No!

It is ultimately up to the immigration officer's discretion on how this is interpreted.

Technically, there is no true "reset," especially if your travel history shows multiple back-to-back stays under visa exemption.

You may have better luck entering by land border. Arrivals by air do not appear to be honoring this interpretation, and land borders can vary as well, as each checkpoint seems to apply the rules differently.

We do offer secure options for travelers if needed, including solutions for entry by air, and border but this must be pre-arranged.

But to be clear, we've seen both scenarios happen, so it’s hard to give advice like "if you do X, you won't have any issues." The only consistent rule is that if you are a genuine tourist, you should have no trouble entering on a visa exemption.

I was told by a couple of agents yes.

Depends on your history

@Leila ******

. What did immigration say?

No...

What visa exemption limit? As long as you're not trying to live in Thailand on visa exemptions and extensions then no problems.

The simple fact is that every IO has the power of discretion so the rules are more like guidelines. Personally I just wouldn’t take chances anymore.

If you are asking this question then it’s likely you are staying longer in Thailand now a days so get a proper visa

I decided to get a 60 day tourist visa rather than risk visa waiver

Does this guarantee entry?

Where does this „reset“ thing comes from? Sure not from an official immigration site that says it.

The fact is that from 2026 you can enter 2x with visa exempt+1 30 day extension. The second time you only get 7 days extension.

Officially it is reseted. But in Thailand everthing is possible. Every officer has "own right" to do decision.

Could be "previous 12 months " but seems hard to find out.

Rolling 12 months 

it should reset as its a calendar year thing and not a „past 12 months“ thing.

Honestly if youre planning on a visa exemption visit and you hit the maximum in the second half of 2025 id leave it a few weeks to see what appears on the group. I dont believe, at least I never saw it anywhere, they stated if it was per calendar year or a year from your first entry.

Why don’t you just get a proper visa?

There isn’t any visa exemption limit

I think this reset thing is a myth. Since November I’ve seen people returning on their 3rd, or 4th visa exemption and people being denied for being more than 90 days in the country.

It seems that the old rule - immigration officers can deny you for whatever reason they like - is still in place and this so called limit is at best a guideline that each officer can ignore if they want

If you want some good advice, don’t try spending more than 120 days as a tourist and if you come back, make sure you at least have a Student visa, or DTV

We were told at the Laos border crossing that it is 2 a year now and resetting every January 1st

I know/read a few people who got denied the entry yesterday cuz they said they were too long in Thailand last year and got forced to fly back from where they came

Who knows, some say yes some say no, maybe ask a visa agent

No one really knows best watch group for reports

It has reset

Nobody really knows

But in the ancient times of 2012-2019 it did reset on 1 Jan