Visas & staying legal
Entry rules, extensions, 90-day reports, TM30 — what the law actually requires.
Visa-exempt entry: the 60-day rule and the approved cut to 30 days
Since 15 July 2024, nationals of 93 countries and territories have been admitted without a visa for up to 60 days, for tourism, business engagements or urgent/ad-hoc work, extendable once at an immigration office for up to 30 more days at the officer's discretion. The list includes most of Europe, the US, UK, Australia, Japan, India, China and the Gulf states; Argentina, Chile and Myanmar enter under separate bilateral agreements with their own periods of stay. That scheme is now on its way out. On 19 May 2026 the Cabinet approved revoking the 60-day exemption for all 93 countries and replacing it with a 30-day exemption for 54 countries/territories, a new 15-day exemption for 3, and a cut of the visa-on-arrival list from 31 countries to 4. The change only takes legal effect 15 days after the Ministry of Interior announcements are published in the Royal Gazette — and as of 11 July 2026 that publication had not been confirmed, so the 60-day rule was still being applied at the border. The forum folklore runs in both directions here: some people still repeat the pre-2024 30-day rule as current, others assume the 60 days is permanent. Neither is right — check the state of the Gazette publication before you fly.
Tourist visas and the eVisa system: validity is not the same as stay
The single-entry Tourist Visa (TR) gives a 60-day stay, stamped on arrival by the immigration officer. The visa itself is valid for entry within 3 months of issue — and this is the single most-confused point in visa forums: the 3-month figure is the window in which you must enter Thailand, not how long you may stay. The MFA's own Q&A spells it out: the duration of stay is 60 days from the date of entry, and you may apply at any immigration office in Thailand for one further 30-day extension. A multiple-entry tourist visa (METV) is valid 6 months, with 60 days per entry. Since 1 January 2025 all applications go through the Thai eVisa system at thaievisa.go.th, launched by the MFA across all 94 Royal Thai Embassies and Consulates-General worldwide. At most missions you apply online from your country of location, pay through the portal, and receive the visa electronically — but online payment reached missions progressively through 2025 and some initially collected payment at the counter, so the exact process still varies by mission. The catch is that each mission still sets its own document list, fees in local currency, and lead times: Singapore, for instance, requires application at least 21 working days before travel, bank statements showing a minimum balance, round-trip tickets and accommodation proof.
Extensions of stay: the 1,900 baht stamp, retirement (800k) and marriage (400k) basics
Every extension of stay rests on section 35 of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979): the Director-General or a designated officer may permit a longer stay, up to one year at a time, on application with the prescribed fee. That fee is 1,900 baht per application (form TM.7), whether you are extending a tourist entry by 30 days or an annual retirement stay — and, per the Immigration Bureau fee schedule, it is not refunded under any circumstances, including refusal. The two big annual extensions have fixed financial tests. Retirement (age 50 or over): a Thai bank account holding at least 800,000 baht — Samut Prakan Immigration's published checklist requires the money in the account 3 months before applying, evidenced by a Thai bank letter certifying the deposit and an ATM slip dated the day of application — or income/pension of more than 65,000 baht per month certified by your embassy or consulate in Thailand. Marriage (the published checklists cover a foreign husband supporting a Thai wife): at least 400,000 baht held in the foreigner's Thai account for 2 months before applying, or embassy-certified income of more than 40,000 baht per month, plus the marriage certificate, the Thai spouse's ID and house registration, family photographs and a map to the home — offices routinely scrutinise the relationship, and Samut Prakan asks for two full document sets. Street-level reality: seasoning periods, extra paperwork and photo requirements genuinely differ between offices, so check your local office's checklist rather than a generic list from a forum.
The 90-day report: an address notification, not a visa event
Section 37(5) of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979) requires any foreigner staying in the Kingdom longer than ninety days to notify immigration of their residence in writing upon completion of each ninety-day period, repeated at every ninety-day interval. The form is TM.47, and the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Los Angeles' guidance allows filing in person, by an authorised person, or by registered mail; an online channel also exists through the Immigration Bureau's TM.47 portal (tm47.immigration.go.th). The folklore corrections matter more than the rule itself. First, the report is in no way a visa extension — the consulate's own page says exactly that; missing it does not overstay you, and filing it does not extend you. Second, the clock does not run from your visa or extension date: it runs in continuous days of stay, and if you leave Thailand and re-enter, the count resets to zero in every case — your next report is due 90 days after that re-entry. Frequent travellers may never owe one at all. Penalties come from section 76 of the Act: a fine up to 5,000 baht plus up to 200 baht per day until compliance. In practice the published tariff is at least 2,000 baht if you report late yourself, and at least 4,000 baht plus the daily amount if you are caught not having reported.
TM30: the landlord's duty that lands on the tenant
Section 38 of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979) puts the duty squarely on the accommodation provider: the householder, the owner or possessor of a dwelling, or a hotel manager who takes in a foreigner with temporary permission to stay must notify the local immigration office within twenty-four hours of the foreigner taking residence — or the local police station where there is no immigration office; in Bangkok, the Immigration Division. The form is TM.30, and notification can be made in person, by an authorised representative, by registered mail, or through the Immigration Bureau's online system at tm30.immigration.go.th. The forum folklore says TM30 is the foreigner's obligation. Legally it is not — the statutory duty and the fine sit with the house-master or hotel, under section 77: a fine up to 2,000 baht, rising to between 2,000 and 10,000 baht for hotel managers. But street-level practice inverts this: long-stayers and immigration lawyers widely report that offices ask to see a current TM30 receipt before processing extensions of stay, 90-day reports or residence certificates — a documentary practice no statute imposes, and expectations vary by office, so an absent landlord's non-compliance becomes the tenant's problem at the counter. Long-stayers renting privately should get the landlord registered on the online system, or hold a signed copy of the receipt, well before any immigration appointment.
Overstay: 500 baht a day, and the bans that start at 90 days
Staying past your permitted date is a criminal offence under section 81 of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979): imprisonment up to two years or a fine up to 20,000 baht, or both. In practice it is settled administratively at departure: 500 baht per day of overstay, capped at 20,000 baht (the cap is reached at 40 days). The re-entry bans come from the Ministry of Interior's Order 1/2558, in force since 20 March 2016, and they run on two tracks. If you surrender yourself — that is, you present yourself at the border or airport and pay the fine: overstay of more than 90 days brings a 1-year ban from the date of departure; more than 1 year, a 3-year ban; more than 3 years, a 5-year ban; more than 5 years, a 10-year ban. If you are arrested and prosecuted instead, the tariff jumps: any overstay under 1 year brings a 5-year ban, and over 1 year a 10-year ban. The folklore correction: an overstay under 90 days followed by voluntary departure carries no ban — but the fine still applies, repeat overstays can get your passport stamped as an immigration-law violator, and arrest at any point (including a routine police check far from the airport) moves you onto the harsher track. Voluntarily walking into the airport and paying is categorically better than being found.
The DTV: 180-day stays for remote workers and soft-power students
The Destination Thailand Visa, introduced in 2024, is a five-year multiple-entry visa granting 180 days per entry. It covers three groups: workcation applicants — digital nomads, remote workers, freelancers and foreign talent working remotely while in Thailand; participants in Thai soft-power activities such as Muay Thai courses, Thai cooking classes, sports training, seminars, music festivals and medical treatment; and the spouse and children under 20 of a DTV holder. The core financial requirement is bank statements for the past three months showing a balance of no less than 500,000 baht, plus purpose evidence: for workcation, two or more of an employment certificate with company registration, an employment contract, or a professional portfolio; for soft-power purposes, confirmation of enrolment or a hospital appointment letter. Each 180-day stay can be extended once, for a further 180 days, at the Immigration Bureau (a government extension fee applies — 1,900 baht under the Immigration Bureau fee schedule); after 180+180 you must leave, and can simply re-enter on the same visa for a fresh 180 days while it remains valid. Applications go through the eVisa system and fees are charged in the local mission's currency (52,000 yen at missions in Japan, 340 US dollars in Ho Chi Minh City, both non-refundable). The scope is the part forums get wrong: the workcation track is for work performed remotely for employers or clients outside Thailand. Taking employment with a Thai employer still requires the appropriate visa and a work permit — the DTV does not provide either.
Re-entry permits: why leaving without one kills your extension
Section 39 of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979) is blunt: if a foreigner with permission for temporary stay leaves the Kingdom, that permission is deemed terminated. The only way to preserve it is to obtain permission to re-enter before departing — the re-entry permit (application form TM.8) — in which case you are re-admitted for whatever time was still remaining on your permitted stay. The fees are 1,000 baht for a single re-entry and 3,800 baht for a multiple re-entry valid for the remainder of your permission, per the Immigration Bureau's published fee schedule. This is where a lot of expensive mistakes happen. The people at risk are those living on an extension of stay — a retirement, marriage, work or DTV extension stamped in-country. Cross the border for a weekend without a re-entry permit and that annual extension is void; you return as an ordinary tourist and must rebuild your status from scratch, including re-seasoning any bank deposit. Holders of a still-valid multiple-entry visa, by contrast, do not need one — each entry on the visa is a fresh admission. The MFA's guidance confirms the permit is applied for at an immigration office before you leave; in long-standing practice it can also be obtained at re-entry permit counters at the major international airports before passing outbound immigration, though queues and hours are not guaranteed.
General information, not legal advice. Laws and practice change; for a decision that matters, confirm with the authority named in the sources or a licensed professional.