Without either confirmation or a change of mind, the 6 month tourist promotion, extending the tourist visa waiver from 30 to 45 days, and the visa-on-arrival from 15 to 30 days, has finished.
The 45 day visa waiver applied to citizens from 64 countries since October 1 last year and finished yesterday, March 31. Now it’s back to 30 days but can still be extended another 30 days (with a visit to an immigration office in the days before your arrival status runs out, along with a passport photo and 1,900 baht).
The extension, from 30 days to 45 days, last October, was considered likely to be extended until the end of 2023. Both the Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Sports and Tourism Minister had publicly proposed to extend the 45 day visa waiver until the end of this year but any follow up evaporated from public discourse. Media coverage since the start of the year had to rely on speculation without any comment from tourism bodies or Government ministers.
With the election campaign now in full swing the priorities of Thai ministries has been refocussed over the past month.
The big winners from the 45 visa waiver were citizens from Russia who have become Thailand’s most numerous arrivals since November last year. In Phuket, alone, 3-4,000 Russian citizens arrive for holidays on the island, many seeking longer stays. They will now have to be content with a 30 day visa waiver.
Here’s a list of the 64 countries you can get a 30 day visa waiver on arrival in Thailand…
