Thailand is reverting its visa-free tourist stay from 60 days back to 30 days for most nationalities. The Cabinet approved the change, and it takes effect 15 days after it is published in the Royal Gazette. As of early July 2026 that publication has not yet appeared, so 60-day entries are still being granted today, but the notice can be published in any given week and the 15-day countdown is the only lead time operators receive. If you are pricing long-stay Thailand programs for late 2026 or early 2027, this is the kind of ground rule that quietly resets the product underneath you, so it is worth building around now. What follows is a practical read for trade partners planning client trips across our two core destinations, and it pairs with our overview of Thailand and Vietnam entry requirements. It is guidance, not legal or immigration advice, so confirm the current rule for each traveler's nationality on the official sources we link before booking flights or applying for anything.
What is changing
The 60-day visa exemption was introduced in July 2024 to boost tourism and the wider economy, and it was later reported to have been made a standing arrangement rather than a fixed-term trial. The rollback now approved is being driven by concerns about misuse, including illegal work and nominee businesses, not by a preset expiry. The Cabinet has now approved returning to the earlier structure. Under the revised scheme, nationals of 54 countries and territories, which covers the major Western European, Gulf, North American and Australian source markets, are eligible for a 30-day visa exemption. Three others move to a 15-day exemption. The separate visa-on-arrival list is also being reduced to a short set of countries. Bilateral agreements that grant longer stays to specific nationalities, such as the mutual arrangements that keep some travelers at 14, 30 or 90 days, are not part of this revision and continue as before. Because the exact lists and day allowances are set by the authorities and can be adjusted, we treat them as live values, so check the current position for a given nationality on the Thailand e-Visa portal rather than relying on a figure from an earlier trip.
| Entry track | Was (since July 2024) | Becomes |
|---|---|---|
| Visa exemption, 54 countries and territories | 60 days | 30 days |
| Visa exemption, 3 territories (Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles) | 60 days | 15 days |
| Visa on arrival | 31 countries eligible | 4 countries eligible |
| Bilateral agreements (mutual 14, 30 and 90-day treaties) | 14, 30 or 90 days | Unchanged |
Treat the table as the shape of the change, not a booking reference. The counts and the effective date are set by the authorities and can move, so confirm each traveler's nationality on the official portal before you quote.
What has not changed yet
The important nuance for planning is timing. The revised conditions apply only from 15 days after the notice is published in the Royal Gazette, and that publication had not happened as of early July 2026. Until it does, arriving travelers from exempt nationalities still receive the 60-day stamp. The Cabinet also confirmed a transition provision that matters for trips already on the books: foreign nationals who are already inside Thailand, and those who enter before the revised measures take effect, are permitted to remain for the duration of their existing permitted stay. In other words, a client who lands on a 60-day exemption before the switch keeps the full 60 days. The risk is not to trips in progress. It is to programs being sold now for travel after the change, on the assumption that the 60-day window will still be there. Because there is no buyer-notification system beyond the gazette itself, the practical monitoring habit is a quick check of the TAT Newsroom and the gazette, so that when the notice lands you know the countdown has started.
The two-country fix: Thailand 30 plus Vietnam 30
A visa rule does not shrink the demand for a long trip. A traveler who wanted six or seven weeks in Southeast Asia still wants six or seven weeks. The question is only which countries hold that time, and the answer writes itself for a two-country operation. Vietnam offers a 90-day multiple-entry e-visa that is open to all nationalities, applied for and paid online, with no invitation required. That means 30 days in Thailand followed by 30 days in Vietnam rebuilds a 60-day Southeast Asia program that never depended on the Thai extension in the first place. What used to be sold as a Thailand-only long stay becomes a two-country itinerary that is structurally sounder, more varied for the client, and immune to the gazette.
For partners who have not run a combined program before, this is exactly the moment to look at a two-country routing or a Vietnam leg that carries the second half of the stay. The one requirement is a ground partner who operates in both countries and can move a client across the border without you having to validate a new supplier from scratch. Confirm the current Vietnam e-visa validity, entry type and accepted ports on the official Vietnam e-Visa portal when you build the dates.
What this means for programs you are selling now
Programs going out for Q4 2026 and Q1 2027 are the ones exposed, because many were designed while the 60-day window was open and have not been re-modelled for a 30-day cap. There are two honest responses. The first is to shorten the Thailand leg to 30 days, which is a genuinely different product at a different price point and should be presented as such rather than quietly trimmed. The second, and usually the stronger one for a premium client, is to add a Vietnam leg so the total trip length holds. Either way, the move that protects the client relationship is to brief them before they book, so nobody arrives expecting a 45-day Thailand stay they can no longer have. Operators who restructure early are ahead of this. Those who do not will be re-pricing mid-conversation or making an awkward call once the gazette lands. For a sense of how the season and the trip length interact once you have settled the visa question, our guide to the best time to visit Thailand sits alongside this one, and our note on how many days to spend across Thailand and Vietnam helps size the two legs. When a rule looks borderline for a specific nationality, send the client to the official portal rather than guessing, because final responsibility for eligibility always rests with the authorities.