Vietnamese Passports in Thailand: 30 Days Since 15 September 2026

Since 15 September 2026, an ordinary Vietnamese passport gets 30 days without a visa in Thailand, under the bilateral agreement between the two countries. Until 14 September it had 60. EU, Schengen-area, UK, US and GCC passports have had the same 30 days since 15 September: Thailand did not single out Vietnam, and every passport on its old 93-country exemption list lost the 60 days.

This page is for partners whose clients, escorts or tour leaders carry Vietnamese passports, on programmes across our two core destinations. It is guidance, not immigration advice. Check each passport against the official sources before you ticket.

What changed for a Vietnamese passport, and why

Thailand runs two visa-free mechanisms side by side. One is the general exemption scheme, a list of countries and territories whose citizens enter without a visa. The other is a set of bilateral agreements, signed one country at a time. A passport can sit in both, and Vietnam's did.

Vietnam was item 93 on the general exemption list dated 15 July 2024, which gave 60 days. Its bilateral agreement with Thailand, listed in the Department of Consular Affairs table of 12 December 2025, gives 30. Whichever instrument is more generous is the one that counts, and for just over two years that was the 60-day list.

On 15 September 2026 the 93-country list was revoked. The 60-country list that replaced it does not include Vietnam, so the agreement is what is left: 30 days.

Nobody amended the agreement. Nobody had to. Our 30-day exemption guide walks through the same logic for China, Russia, Hong Kong and Cambodia, which lost their 60 days the same way.

The change took effect during King Maha Vajiralongkorn's state visit to Hanoi from 14 to 16 September 2026, his first visit to Vietnam as King, in the 50th year of diplomatic relations between the two countries. No visa measure was announced alongside the visit in the coverage we read. The rule above comes from the Royal Gazette announcements of 31 August 2026.

Who this touches

For most international partners the client is not Vietnamese. The escort or the tour leader might be, and for them the question is not the number of days. Working in Thailand needs the appropriate visa, whatever a passport's visa-free allowance, and leading or escorting a group on a programme is work. Check the visa category for each of them on the official Thai e-Visa site before the series starts, not at the immigration desk.

Mixed groups are simpler than an earlier version of this page suggested. A family with one Vietnamese passport and three EU or UK ones shares one 30-day ceiling, because those passports fell from 60 days to 30 on the same date. A Vietnamese passport is not the shortest in a group of EU, UK, US or GCC passports. Only a passport with a 90-day bilateral agreement, from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the Republic of Korea or Peru, gives a group member longer. The EU and UK passports' 30 days cover tourism only, so a group member travelling on business needs a visa.

For Vietnamese travel companies buying the Thailand leg from us, the change matters less: a five-night Bangkok or six-night Chiang Mai itinerary fits well inside 30 days. The 30-day limit bites only on the long-stay client, so re-check those files, along with the visa of any tour leader or escort working on the programme.

The extension and repeat land entries: both unconfirmed

Visitors admitted under Thailand's visa-exemption scheme may apply once at a Thai immigration office for an extension of up to 30 days, on form TM.7, for 1,900 baht, at the officer's discretion. Whether that extension is open to a Vietnamese passport holder admitted under the bilateral agreement has not been confirmed. Check with Thai Immigration before relying on it, and never sell a leg that depends on it.

Repeat entries by land carry the same uncertainty. Since 15 September 2026, travellers on the 30-day exemption may generally enter Thailand through land-border checkpoints no more than twice per calendar year. Whether that limit also applies to entries under a bilateral agreement, which is how Vietnamese passport holders enter, has not been stated.

Two things the reform did not change

Every visitor still completes the free Thailand Digital Arrival Card online. Submit it within the three days before arrival, and no earlier.

And the passport should be valid for at least six months on the day the traveller arrives, with a blank page for the stamp. That rule is older than the reform and it is the one that still catches people at the counter.

Files to re-check

Pull every Thailand file with a Vietnamese passport on it and sort it by who is travelling. For a client, the arrival date decides: anyone admitted on or before 14 September 2026 keeps the stay shown on their entry stamp, and anyone entering on or after 15 September gets 30 days. For a tour leader or escort working on the programme, the date makes no difference: settle the visa before the first departure, however long the series.

For a long-stay client on a Vietnamese passport, do not plan around exits and fresh visa-free entries by land while the land-border limit is unconfirmed for entries under the agreement. Send us the travel dates, routing and each traveller's passport and purpose through our trade enquiry form to have the programme costed around them. Agencies receive net rates on registration. Our note on travelling between Thailand and Vietnam covers the flights, and our entry rules guide covers the rest of the nationalities in the group. The wider picture for both countries is in the entry requirements overview.