Thailand visas, exemptions, and border runs
Most travelers land in Thailand under a visa exemption or visa on arrival and only discover the rules after the stamp is already in the passport. The community here is for the practical questions: how many days you get on your passport, whether a land border reset still works, what happens if you overstay by a day, and when an embassy extension is worth the morning in Immigrations.
Exemption length changes by nationality and by policy year. Do not trust a blog from 2019. Check the current Thai Immigration notice or your airline before you fly, then ask here if your case is odd — dual passports, a recent overstay, a work-from-laptop stay that looks longer than tourism.
Airport arrival is usually straightforward if your outward ticket and hotel booking match the days you asked for. Land borders are a different conversation: some nationalities are limited on consecutive exemptions, and the crossings themselves are not always open — the Thailand–Cambodia border has been closed under an active do-not-travel warning. Check the current advisory for your nationality before you build a plan around any land border, then say which border and which passport here, because answers differ.
Extensions inside Thailand (Immigrations in Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Phuket) are a common first-month topic. Bring copies, a photo, and cash for the fee. People here share which offices moved, which ones still take walk-ins, and what to do if your exemption stamp was shorter than you expected.
This is not legal advice. It is travelers and residents comparing what actually happened last month. Ask with your nationality and intended length of stay so replies can be specific.
Guides on visas and entry
From the community
US passport, flying 6 Sep. Do I still file TDAC if I am landing visa-exempt, or is that only if you already have a visa in the passport?
Visas and entry
British passport, landed BKK last Tuesday. Stamp says 60 days. Keep seeing blogs that it dropped to 30 in July. Did anyone with a British passport actually get 30 this month, or is that still not in force?
Visas and entryDoes Thailand need a blank passport page?
US passport, fly 6 Sep. One nearly-full book. I do not want a blog’s “they never look.”
Read more →Visas and entryDoes immigration still ask for 10,000 baht?
TAT put out a reminder on 6 July 2026. It is not a new law. Officers may ask. The 10,000 figure is not the only Interior amount. This is not legal advice.
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Submitted TDAC 4 days before the flight. Sat on pending until I was already in the taxi to the airport. Did I file too early, or is pending just how it looks until they scan it?
Visas and entry
What happens if I overstay Thailand by one day?
A five-night first stay on the usual tourism exemption, which is 30 days for most passports since 15 Sep 2026, with the outbound on day 6. I am asking because the flight can slip, not because we are at the end of a long stay. I am not looking for a “500 baht is cheap” hack.
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Laos visa run or extend in Thailand?
Trip got longer than a beach week. People still sell a Vientiane weekend as a product.
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Tourist extension at Chaeng Watthana last Thursday: in the door at 8:20, out before 11. 1,900 baht, one photo, copies of the passport pages. TM.6 only if they ask. This is what happened to me, not advice.
Visas and entryChiang Mai or Bangkok for a 30-day extension?
Same TM.7 idea, different queues. Officers decide. Not legal advice. Checked 9 Sep 2026: the tourism add-on people describe is 30 days, cash often 1,900 THB, photo, copies, passport. The extension itself was not changed by the September rule change.
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Visa on arrival or exemption for my passport?
Hostel blogs call every entry “visa on arrival.” The free exemption stamp and the paid Visa on Arrival are different products, and mixing them up costs people money at the desk.
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DTV took 11 days for me. If you are sitting on a 60-day stamp and thinking of switching, that is the only number I have. Worth noting for anyone reading later: arrivals from 15 Sep 2026 generally get 30 days instead, so this only applies to stamps issued before that.
Visas and entry
DTV or visa exemption for remote work?
Laptop, overseas employer, not a 10-day beach. I do not want a “digital nomad stamp” that is actually a holiday.
Read more →Visas and entry