As of Sept. 1, 2026.
Thailand is halving its visa-free stay to 30 days for 60 countries and territories, including EU member states, the U.K., U.S., Canada, Australia and Japan.
The announcement also caps entries through land border checkpoints at two per calendar year, which limits how often an overland border run can be used to reset the clock.
The Interior Ministry announcement was published in the Royal Gazette on Aug. 31, Volume 143, Special Issue 207 Ngor, signed Aug. 26 by Anutin Charnvirakul as both prime minister and interior minister, and citing cabinet approval of July 14.
It lists exactly 60 countries and territories, numbered in the text. It repeals two earlier 30-day announcements, from March 2019 and June 2022.
The land border provision is the part that has gone largely unreported. Nationals covered by the exemption may enter through a land checkpoint no more than twice per calendar year.
Malaysian, Bruneian, Indonesian and Singaporean nationals are exempt, along with any others the minister designates. Arrivals by air are not capped by this announcement, so the limit applies to overland crossings only.
On timing, the text says the announcement takes effect when 15 days have elapsed from the date of Gazette publication. It does not name a date.
Counting from Aug. 31 gives Sept. 15 or Sept. 16 depending on whether the publication day counts, and Thai drafting convention generally points to the later date. Coverage has settled on Sept. 15. Anyone arriving that week should not assume the older rule still applies.
For anyone planning a stay of more than a month: the new math is thirty days, plus the single 30-day extension that immigration officers can grant, for 60 days at most.
That extension is an Immigration Bureau matter that does not appear in this announcement. A three-month Chiang Mai winter or a four-month Bangkok base now needs a visa arranged before departure.
The Destination Thailand Visa is the usual route for remote workers. Euronews reports it allows 180 days per entry with a further 180-day extension, subject to a 500,000 baht financial requirement and proof of employment outside Thailand.
Related:
Two further consequences follow. Anyone who ends up past 180 days in Thailand in a calendar year becomes a Thai tax resident, and Thailand still taxes foreign income remitted by tax residents. And the two-entry land cap means an overland hop to Vientiane or Penang can only reset the clock twice a year, though flying out and back is not limited by this announcement.
The announcement says nothing about people already in Thailand on a 60-day entry when the change takes effect, and it does not repeal the 2024 60-day announcement — that repeal sits in a separate Interior Ministry document.
Sources
Ministry of Interior announcement on countries and territories granted visa exemption for tourism with stays of up to thirty days — Royal Gazette, Vol. 143, Special Issue 207 Ngor, pages 31–34, published Aug. 31, 2026, signed Aug. 26, 2026 (Thai)
Review of Thailand’s visa exemption and visa privilege measures — Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of Consular Affairs, May 20, 2026 (Thai)
Cabinet reviews visa-free measures — Royal Thai Government, July 14, 2026 (Thai)
Free visa measure adjusted: 60 countries and territories, stays up to 30 days — Thairath, Sept. 1, 2026 (Thai)
Thailand confirms it will cut visa-free stays to 30 days for EU travellers — Euronews Travel, Sept. 1, 2026
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