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How to get in Thailand
How to get in Thailand
Ordinary passport holders of many Western and Asian countries, including most ASEAN countries, Australia, Canada, most European Union countries, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia and the United States do not need a visa if their purpose of visit is tourism. Visitors arriving by air receive 30-day permits (except for citizens of Korea, Brazil, Chile and Peru who get 90 days ), but effective December 15, 2008, those arriving by land are only allowed 15 days (visitors from several countries, mostly nearby ones, but notably including Russians, still get 30 days on the land border due to bilateral visa exemption). Thai immigration requires visitors' passports to have a minimum of 6 months validity and at least one completely blank visa page remaining. Visa-on-arrival is available at certain entry points for passport holders of 20 other nations, including India and China. Check the latest scoop from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . By law, you must carry your passport with you at all times
Those with passports from countries not widely known, including European city-states, or have problems with document forgery, should obtain a visa in advance from the nearest Thai embassy. This is true even if visa on arrival is technically permitted. There are reports of tourists being detained using valid passports not commonly presented in Thailand. In addition, ask for a business card from the person or embassy which granted the visa, so they may be contacted on arrival, if necessary. Anyone whose nationality does not have its own embassy in Bangkok, should find out which third country represents your interests there, along with local contact information.
Proof of onward transit, long happily ignored by Thai immigration, has been known to be strictly applied in some instances. (Airlines, who have to pay for your return flight if immigration doesn't let you in, also check this.) A print-out of an e-ticket on a budget airline is sufficient to convince the enforcers, but those planning on continuing by land may have to get a little creative. Buying a fully refundable ticket and getting it refunded once in Thailand is also an option. Land crossings, on the other hand, are a very straightforward process and no proof of onward journey required (unless the border officials decide otherwise).
Overstaying in Thailand is dodgy. If you make it to Immigration and are less than 10 days over, you'll probably be allowed out with a fine of 500 baht per day. However, if for any reason you're caught overstaying by the police ? and drug raids etc are fairly common ? you'll be carted off to the notoriously unpleasant illegal immigrant holding pens and may be blacklisted from Thailand entirely. For most people it's not worth the risk: get a legal extension or do a visa run to the nearest border instead.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Thailand
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Thailand - updated Apr 2024
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Thailand Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.