Will tourist visas for Thailand be obtained online starting January 2025, and what will be the approval time?

Brother. USA passport. 60 days visa free. No visa. No eta. Welcome. Any questions dm me

Here's a few tips... If you know the right terms and the difference between these, you are more likely to get the right answers to your questions:

- Visa Exemption

Nationals from 93 countries can travel to Thailand without having a visa. They enter visa free, get a stamp in their passport and can stay for up to 60 days. (Can be extended with 30 days at an immigration office.)

- Visa on Arrival (VOA)

Nationals from 31 countries can travel to Thailand and get a visa at immigration checkpoints upon arrival. There are some requierments and they pay a fee to get a visa that allow them to stay for up to 15 days. (VOA can not be extended.)

- Tourist visa

A tourist visa is applied for at a Thai embassy/consulate prior to travelling to Thailand. It is valid for 90 days from the date of issue (you must enter within 90 days). With a tourist visa you get a permit to stay in Thailand for up to 60 days*. (Can be extended with 30 days at an immigration office.) This is a single entry visa, sometimes referred to as SETV.

*when the visa exemption changed from 30 to 60 days, there is little to no value of obtaining a single entry tourist visa for nationals from the countries eligible for visa exemption.

- Multi entry tourist visa (METV)

The same as the SETV above, with these differences - It is valid for 6 month, you can enter multiple times within that period and the fee is higher.

- E-visa

An e-visa means that it is an electronic visa. You apply online and get your visa in a pdf-file (prior to e-visa, the visa were usually a sticker in the passport).

The e-visa platform has been in use for years at a lot of Thai embassies and consulates. As of this new year though, the remaining embassies and consulates changed their visa application system from "in-person" to e-visa.

- Visa run

A visa run is when someone exit Thailand to apply for a visa through a Thai embassy/consulate in another country. As of now this is done online, but you have to be present IN the country where you apply. You need to add info such as current location (i.e. entry stamp in passport) and you can get called in for an interview at the embassy/consulate (rare, but it happens). The processing time varies in different embassies (each embassy/consulate have info about their processing time on their webpage). A visa run is likely to take at least a week, longer in several countries.

- Border run (border bounce)

A border run is when someone exit Thailand, just to enter again. The purpose of a border run is to get a new permit to stay (i.e. another visa exemption for 60 days or a new permit to stay for as long as their multientry visa allowes).

- ETA

ETA is short for Electronic Travel Authorization. Please note that this is NOT a visa!

In fact ETA does not exist in Thailand yet. However there is a plan to start using electronic travel authorization for everyone that wish to come to Thailand without obtaining a visa first (for people entering under visa exemption and VOA). They will need to register their travel details in an electronic system and get an authorization prior to their departure.

ETA was initially planned to be implemented gradually from Dec 2024 to June 2025 (hence the rumours), but it has been postponed indefinitely. There is no new date for Thailands ETA-launch. If and when Thailand start to use ETA it will be information about it from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Immigration Bureau... AND it will be published in the Royal Gazette. Before that happens it is all rumours! Loads of them due to old information on the internet (social media, old news articles etc).

- Processing time for visas:

It varies from a few working days to several month, depending on what embassy/consulate you apply through and your nationality (there are restrictions and longer processing time for some nationalities).

Check the webpage for the embassy where you plan to apply.

- Nationality

...or: What country issued your passport?

To add that information is crucial when asking questions related to visa, since the rules are different depending on what passport you hold.

Finally...

- Will e-visa affect visa runs by land? No, the processing time is the same no matter how you travel.

- Will e-visa affect border runs?

No, border runs are done by those who already have a visa, but need a new permit to stay OR people that plan to enter without a visa.

- Will ETA affect visa runs?

No, the plan is for ETA to be used for those who travel without a visa (hence they don't do visa runs).

- Will ETA affect border runs?

Well, since ETA is not launched yet, no one can give a definite answer to that... most likely yes (unless you will be allowed to register details about your future travel plans, while being in Thailand).

I think your confused with the ETA which is not available it's been postponed with no new date set

Either apply for a visa on line through an embassy or enter ( land or air) without a visa for 60 days. You can choose.

Why get a tourist visa? If you are on American passport you can enter on visa exempt for 60 days and extend in country for another 30 days at local immigration office? You can exit and re enter again on a visa exempt and do the same ?

The approval time differs depending on the country you are applying from so check your local Thai Embassy website for their times

Visas have been online for most Thai embassies in the world for years. The only thing that has changed is the final ones that hadnt switched online now have.