What are the current visa-exempt entry rules for tourists in Thailand?

If you max out Visa exemptions and extensions then you will have a problem coming in the third time. If you come in with 60 days Visa exempt and return home after three weeks for a period then you can return as many times as you like as you are considered a tourist.

Let the idiots find out for themselves

It seems to depend on the day, the day of the week, and the time of the day? From experience, always have plan 'B' and a ticket or money to get back home, or to another country!

I came into Thailand on Oct 28, 60 days exempt and 30days extension. I will leave on 25th jan... Usually come back in December which I do yearly and stay for 90days for the holidays.. This time thinking of coming back in June 2026 for 60 days only for riding...will there be any issue with that? Thanks

I come every year times but never do an extension and don't go over the 180 days. Never had been questioned, never had a problem. Even now.

There is no specific limit on visa exempt entry. They are targeting people living here without a visa, they come for 60 get a 30 day extension, cross the border and reset. If you are a genuine tourist you come & return home and do not do extension's then you are fine, you have nothing to worry about. If not then apply for a visa.

Its in a calendar year.

Not true.

Return to your home country, then return

Im guessing (guessing) that there is still some leeway and some people will get away with more than others.

But after 2 I would prepare for the worst case.

I arrived on 29th December, fourth visit in 2025, always two weeks at a time with a return ticket back to UK. Never being questioned, got 60 days visa exempt as usual. Real tourists has nothing to worry about. I will be back for Songkran again this time for three weeks.

You have been confused by some half-witted English and French barstool heroes

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

(theoretically you could get almost 9 months of stay out of the METV but let’s not make it too complicated, as we have received some recent reports that the “last” 2 months admitted stay out of a METV were refused at the border)

I go to Sisaket office and waiting time is about 10 minutes

I couldn’t handle the Qs at Pattaya

Can anyone explain about Thai government logic 🙏🙏🙏

If each of those stays is maxed out to 60 days plus 30 day extension with only a short time between visits you will probably have issues, if only a few weeks for each stay with several months between visits doubtful you would have any issues at Immigration.

It’s all to confusing this Thai government have no idea

As far as I and so many read it 97 days in one year is all your allowed to be in Thailand

Where the odd seven comes from well Thai logic 😭😭

This is why January 5 2026

Low season started in Thailand

Bars restaurants massage shops everywhere not many western farang but lots and lots of Indian 🇮🇳 😭😭😭

I will leave Thailand soon to go to live in Vietnam as we are welcome there and it’s so much cheaper

Sadly so many friends are also leaving Thailand

After 22 years of loving to be in Thailand

There is no official limit on entry's as far as l know, now l come every year times, l believe is your porpoise of coming into Thailand, mine for instance is holidays/ tourism as lm retired.

They are living in the clouds. There have already been people denied entry trying to come back into Thailand after spending the end of last year in Thailand. Nothing resets. They are looking for patterns. If your pattern is 60+30 on visa exempt in July, then another 60+ in October, you better think again about trying to enter in January.