Latest News for Expats in Thailand

Every day I round up the Thailand news that actually affects those of us living here: visas, tax, banking, healthcare, cost of living, transport, and the digital systems you deal with day to day. The newest stories sit at the top, and older ones drop off after a couple of weeks.

Jump to: September 15 · Week of September 14 · Week of September 7 · Week of August 31 · Week of August 24 · Week of August 17 · Week of August 10

Advertisement: Looking for expat health insurance in Thailand? Cigna Healthcare offers plans built specifically for expats worldwide. Get a free quote here.

On the Radar: Rule Changes Not Yet Live

Changes that have been announced but are not in effect yet. We re-check these every week so you do not act on a rule that has not actually landed. Last reviewed September 14, 2026.

  • THB450 arrival fee: proposed. The online public hearing at law.go.th is open until 28 September and takes answers from foreigners too. Target start is early 2027, air arrivals first, and it is still unclear whether long-term visa and work-permit holders will be exempt. Nothing to pay yet.
  • Tax on foreign income you remit: the proposed exemption (bring it in the same or next year and pay no tax) is still a draft and stalled ahead of the election. The 2024 rule that taxes remitted foreign income is what is live, so plan around that.
  • THIM immigration app: still a voluntary pilot with no confirmed date for becoming compulsory. Keep using the free TDAC site at tdac.immigration.go.th; queue booking, extensions and 90-day reporting in the app are planned for October.
  • Electricity tariff: the September rate is confirmed, with the first 200 units capped at THB3 a unit and the average falling to about THB3.89. It applies to September usage, so it lands on your mid-October bill. The separate tiered hike for homes over 400 units is still parked.
  • Tougher nominee-business law: enforcement is live and widening. The company, land and provincial registries are now being permanently cross-checked, 36,277 foreign-linked landholding firms are flagged, and high-risk registrations have dropped 81.77% in a year. The stricter legal definitions and penalties, though, are still only proposed.
  • National home disaster insurance: Cabinet approved in principle a state-funded scheme covering flood, storm and earthquake damage for around 30 million households. The start date is still unconfirmed and it is not yet clear whether foreign-owned homes, foreign-owned condos or renters are covered, so wait for an official notice before assuming you are in.
  • Virtual (app-only) banks: the first is now open, with CLICX (Krungthai, AIS, OR) live since June, while Ascend Bank and BankX are delayed to late 2026. Terms for foreigners are still unclear, so there is nothing to act on yet.

September 15, 2026

Weight-loss pens now need a doctor’s prescription

From today, 15 September, injectable GLP-1 medicines such as semaglutide (sold as Ozempic and Wegovy) and liraglutide are specially controlled drugs in Thailand. Pharmacies can only sell them against a doctor’s prescription, and a pharmacist has to dispense them.

If you’re already on one for diabetes or weight management under a doctor’s care, the FDA says you can keep getting it. What ends is picking up a “weight-loss pen” over the counter with no medical check. The FDA points to unsupervised use, counterfeit pens and medicines of unknown origin, and selling without a prescription can now bring fines and prison terms.

Bought one online and not sure it’s genuine? Enter the serial number on the box into the Track & Trace menu on the FDA website, or report a suspect product to the FDA hotline on 1556.

Sources: The Nation, Bangkok Post

Petrol, gasohol and diesel up THB0.85 a litre

Pump prices rose THB0.85 a litre across petrol, gasohol and diesel today, after the Oil Fuel Fund Executive Committee approved the increase on Monday. The fund is paying out about THB770 million a day in subsidies, and the committee pointed to attacks on oil tankers along Middle Eastern shipping routes.

New retail prices: regular diesel THB40.69 a litre, diesel B20 THB35.69, Gasohol 95 THB39.94, Gasohol 91 THB39.57, Gasohol E20 THB34.94 and petrol THB48.93. It’s the third rise at the pump this month, after 2 and 9 September, and fuel is already the biggest line in the cost of owning a car here.

Sources: The Nation

Weekly Roundups

Week of September 14, 2026

This was the week the visa rules everyone had been watching finally bit. From 15 September the visa-exemption stay drops to 30 days, and the same day Sri Lanka comes off the visa-free list. The rest of the week was about pressure being applied: a nationwide cross-check of who really owns the land inside Thai companies, the first two uses of the new deportation rule, and tougher work-permit inspections. Fuel kept climbing too, though the government is quietly holding diesel down.

This Week at a Glance

  • The visa-exemption stay drops from 60 days to 30 on 15 September, land-border entries are capped at twice a year, and Sri Lankan passport holders lose visa-free entry entirely.
  • A permanent cross-check of the company and land registries has flagged 36,277 foreign-linked firms holding land and 7,082 holding condos, and high-nominee-risk registrations have fallen 81.77% in a year.
  • Thailand’s new deportation rule was used for the first time, twice on Koh Samui, both on the vague public-order ground.
  • Work-permit inspections are stepping up nationwide, and 27 occupations stay completely closed to foreigners.
  • Petrol rose again on 9 September, but the government has extended a THB2.40 cut to the wholesale diesel price through 31 October.

1. The visa-exemption stay drops to 30 days on 15 September

The change we have been flagging for weeks is now locked in. Four Interior Ministry announcements gazetted on 31 August take effect on 15 September, cutting the visa-free stay from 60 days to 30 for 60 countries and territories, including the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Japan and all 27 EU states. The same package removes Sri Lanka from the exemption list entirely, so Sri Lankan passport holders now need an e-Visa before they travel.

The part that reshapes daily life is at the land borders, where the 30-day exemption can generally be used no more than twice a calendar year. If you have been hopping across a border to reset your stay, that habit no longer works, and the fix is a proper visa rather than another run. Anyone holding an actual visa, whether retirement, marriage, Non-B, DTV, LTR or Privilege, is untouched, and if you entered before 15 September you keep the stay you were given. Our guide to border runs walks through what still works.

Sources: TAT Newsroom, Nation Thailand

2. The property nominee crackdown now has real numbers

On 4 September the Commerce and Interior Ministries agreed to permanently link the company registry, the land registry and provincial records and keep cross-checking them, rather than run one-off sweeps. The first pass flagged 36,277 foreign-linked companies holding land, across more than a million rai, plus 7,082 holding some 76,840 condo units, concentrated in Bangkok and the tourist provinces.

Recommended Insurance for Thailand Expats

Cigna logo

With Cigna Global, you get a health insurance plan specially customised for Thailand expats. Here's EXACTLY what you get:

  • Annual coverage of 35,000,000 THB
  • Choices of hospitals, including Bumrungrad Hospital and Bangkok Hospital
  • Full coverage for cancer treatment, ICU, and transplants
  • Flexibility to create your own plan
  • Tailored medical support
  • Direct billing
  • Fast claim processing
  • Worldwide emergency coverage
  • Global network of more than 2 million healthcare providers
Advertisement

The pressure is already showing in the numbers. The government says high-nominee-risk company registrations fell from 894 in August 2025 to 163 a year later, a drop of 81.77 percent. Being on the list is not an accusation, and plenty of these are genuine joint ventures, but investigators can now trace former shareholders and who actually funded each purchase. If you own a condo in your own name under the Condominium Act’s 49 percent foreign quota, that is the legal route and it is not the target; if your property sits inside a company, this is the year to make the structure genuinely clean. Our guide to the nominee crackdown covers where the line falls.

Sources: Bangkok Post, Thai Examiner

3. The new deportation rule got its first two uses

The deportation regulation that took effect on 28 August was used for the first time this week. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed orders against an Israeli national on 5 September and a French national on 7 September, both after minor convictions on Koh Samui.

What stands out is that neither order used the regulation’s list of serious criminal grounds. Both leaned on the separate, undefined ground of conduct “contrary to public order, good morals or public welfare.” Both are orders rather than confirmed removals, and no re-entry ban has been reported in either case. The point worth knowing is that there is a right of appeal to the Prime Minister within seven days of being notified, under the 1956 Deportation Act, so an order is not the final word.

Sources: Nation Thailand, Bangkok Post

4. Work-permit inspections are stepping up

The Department of Employment says it inspected 888,620 foreign workers this fiscal year and prosecuted 5,330, and it is pushing the checks harder. Nothing in the law changed; the enforcement intensity did. Twenty-seven occupations stay completely closed to foreigners, including driving for hire, tour guiding, traditional Thai massage, hairdressing and street vending.

Your work permit covers one named job with one named employer, so doing work outside what is written on it is treated the same as having no permit at all, with fines from THB5,000 to THB50,000 plus deportation and a two-year ban. Separately, the company running the e-WorkPermit platform is in a payment dispute with the government on top of a processing backlog, so if you have a renewal in the pipeline, do not leave it to the last week. Our guide to the work permit sets out what a valid permit actually covers.

Sources: Nation Thailand, Hua Hin Today

5. Petrol rose again, but diesel is being held down

Anyone who drives felt the second pump rise in a week. Petrol and gasohol went up again on 9 September, putting gasohol 95 at THB39.09 a litre, up THB1.40 across the two increases. Diesel went the other way: the government has extended a THB2.40-a-litre cut to the wholesale, ex-refinery price through 31 October, using refinery excess profits to stop diesel climbing with it.

That is a cap at the wholesale level, not a discount at the pump, so it holds the line rather than lowering what you pay. August inflation also hit a three-month high of 2.53 percent on fuel and food, so it is worth checking these lines against your own cost of living each month, especially if you live on foreign income.

Sources: Nation Thailand, Nation Thailand

Coming up this week

Plus more on the events page. See all events.

Week of September 7, 2026

The visa story people have been asking about for months finally landed this week. The 60-day exemption is gazetted and its last day is 15 September, and the embassies handing out the Destination Thailand Visa are quietly asking for more paperwork. The rest of the week was the ordinary run of rainy-season life here: heavier fuel bills, flooded roads up north, and a fresh wave of Covid that is wide but not severe.

This Week at a Glance

  • The 60-day visa exemption is now gazetted and ends on 15 September, dropping to 30 days for 60 countries and territories, with land-border entries capped at twice a year.
  • The London and Los Angeles missions now want a police clearance certificate for a DTV, on top of proof of permanent residence.
  • Regular diesel and B20 rose THB0.75 a litre on 2 September, and petrol and most gasohol grades rose THB0.60.
  • The TMD warned of heavy rain and flash floods across the North and Northeast from 4 to 7 September, with the Mekong provinces watching river levels climb.
  • Covid cases are rising again, but the health department says the current strain spreads more easily without causing worse illness.

1. The 60-day visa exemption is gazetted and ends on 15 September

The change we have been telling you to watch the Gazette for is now real. Four Interior Ministry announcements were published in the Royal Gazette on 31 August and take effect 15 days later, so from 15 September the visa-free stay drops from 60 days to 30 for 60 countries and territories, including the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Japan and all 27 EU states. Mauritius and Seychelles get 15 days.

The part that changes daily life most is buried in the fine print. At land checkpoints you can generally use the 30-day exemption no more than twice a calendar year, which closes the old habit of hopping across a border to reset your stay. If that is how you have been staying in Thailand, read our guide to border runs and plan a proper visa instead. Anyone holding an actual visa is untouched, and if you enter before 15 September you keep the full stay you were given.

Sources: TAT Newsroom, Nation Thailand

2. The DTV now wants a police certificate at more embassies

If you are planning a Destination Thailand Visa, the document list is getting longer, one mission at a time. London updated its checklist on 31 August to require a police clearance certificate issued within the last six months, on top of proof of permanent residence, across all three DTV tracks. Los Angeles did the same on 1 September, asking for an FBI criminal certificate issued within three months.

It is not a single nationwide rule yet. The Ho Chi Minh City consulate still asks only for a document showing where you are, with no criminal record check at all, so what you need genuinely depends on where you file. Read the page of the embassy you will actually apply through in the week you apply, not a checklist from a month ago. If you already hold a DTV, none of this reaches you, and our guide to the DTV tracks the current picture.

Sources: Royal Thai Embassy, London, Royal Thai Consulate-General, Los Angeles

3. Fuel prices went up at the pump

Anyone who drives felt this one. From 5am on 2 September, PTT and Bangchak raised regular diesel and B20 by THB0.75 a litre, and petrol and most gasohol grades by THB0.60. After the rise, gasohol 91 sits around THB37.92 and regular diesel around THB39.14 a litre.

It is a small move on its own, but pump prices feed straight into transport and delivery costs, so it is one of the lines worth keeping an eye on in your monthly cost of living.

Sources: Nation Thailand

4. Heavy rain and flash floods hit the North and Northeast

The rainy season is at full tilt. The Thai Meteorological Department warned of heavy to very heavy rain and flash floods across the North and Northeast from 4 to 7 September, driven by a monsoon trough over the upper part of the country. Along the Mekong, Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, Nakhon Phanom and Mukdahan were watching river levels rise by up to nearly five metres, enough to put low-lying ground on the bank under water.

Bangkok was not in the main warning zone, but if you had a road trip north or northeast over the weekend, the low-lying routes were the ones to avoid. Our flash-flood safety guide covers what to actually do when the water comes up fast.

Sources: Thai Meteorological Department, Nation Thailand

5. Covid is climbing again, but not getting worse

The Department of Disease Control logged 99,691 Covid cases and 15 deaths between January and the end of August, a fatality rate of 0.02 percent. The dominant Omicron subvariant spreads more easily but has not caused more severe illness, and fourteen of the fifteen deaths were people over 60 with underlying conditions.

Flu is doing the rounds at the same time, so the usual rainy-season respiratory season applies. If you are older or higher-risk, the sensible move is to skip crowded, poorly ventilated rooms where you can, and know where you would go if you needed care. Our overview of the healthcare system here is a good starting point.

Sources: Nation Thailand

Coming up this week

Plus more on the events page. See all events.

Week of August 31, 2026

A week that was all about tightening the rules for foreigners. A new deportation procedure went live, the Destination Thailand Visa got harder to get and riskier to misuse, and the long-running arrival fee opened a door for us to comment. On the money side, VAT was locked in for another year.

This Week at a Glance

  • Thailand’s new deportation regulation took effect on 28 August, standardising how foreigners who break existing law are removed.
  • Several embassies now want proof of permanent residence for a DTV, and six instructors were arrested on Koh Tao for working on one without a permit.
  • The 60-day visa exemption is still 60 days: the cut to 30 is approved but not yet gazetted.
  • The THB450 arrival fee opened for public comment until 28 September, and foreigners can respond.
  • The 7 percent VAT rate was locked in by royal decree through 30 September 2027.

1. The new deportation rule is now in force

The Prime Minister’s Office Regulation on Deportation took effect on 28 August. It creates no new offences. What it does is give the state one faster, standardised procedure for removing foreigners who break laws that were already on the books, or whose conduct is judged contrary to public order or good morals.

Two of the six grounds reach ordinary residents rather than career criminals: working without a permit, and running a business without the right licence. That is the same ground the nominee-company campaign has been working through all month. If your visa is valid, your work permit matches what you actually do, and your company is properly licensed, nothing here changes for you. If one of those has drifted, this is the year to fix it.

Sources: Government Public Relations Department, Nation Thailand, Bangkok Post

2. The DTV got harder to get and riskier to misuse

Two things shifted for the Destination Thailand Visa. At the application stage, several Thai embassies now want proof of permanent residence in the country where you apply. The Royal Thai Embassy in London, for one, has required proof of permanent residence in the UK, Ireland or a British Overseas Territory since 31 August, so check your own embassy before planning to apply from a third country.

Once you are here, the visa still does not cover paid work for a Thai business. Immigration arrested six foreign scuba instructors on Koh Tao on 20 August, all on DTVs, for teaching without work permits. Genuine remote work for overseas clients is fine; local paid work is not, and it carries a fine of THB5,000 to THB50,000 plus deportation. Our guide to the DTV covers what the visa does and does not allow.

Sources: Royal Thai Embassy, London, Divernet, Bangkok Post

3. The 60-day visa exemption is still 60 days, for now

The change people keep asking about has not happened yet. The Cabinet approved cutting visa-free entry from 60 days to 30 for most nationalities, with 15 days for a couple of countries, but the Interior Ministry announcements only take effect 15 days after they appear in the Royal Gazette, and that has not been published.

Until it is, you still get the full 60 days on arrival, and anyone already in the country keeps their current balance. If you rely on visa-free entry or the occasional border run, watch the Gazette over the next few weeks rather than assuming either rule.

Sources: TAT Newsroom, Nation Thailand

4. You can comment on the THB450 arrival fee until 28 September

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports has opened an online public hearing on the proposed THB450 fee on foreign arrivals, and it takes answers from foreigners as well as Thais. It closes on 28 September. The questionnaire asks whether you agree with the rate, which collection method you prefer, and whether the draft’s definition of a foreign tourist works, with a free-text box at the end.

The fee is still a proposal, earliest start early 2027, air arrivals first. Nothing published says whether long-stay visa holders, work-permit holders or permanent residents would be exempt, and one collection method under discussion is the Thai Digital Arrival Card that every foreign arrival already submits. If it might ever reach your re-entries, this is the month to say so.

Sources: Bangkok Post, law.go.th public hearing, Nation Thailand

5. The 7 percent VAT rate is locked in through 2027

A royal decree published in the Royal Gazette on 23 August keeps the reduced VAT rate at 7 percent until 30 September 2027. It takes effect on 1 October 2026, the day the current rate would otherwise expire, so there is no gap and nothing changes at the till.

The statutory rate under the Revenue Code is actually 10 percent, and the government has trimmed it back to 7 by decree every year since 1999. This is simply the latest renewal, and it holds one of the more predictable lines in the cost of living here.

Sources: Royal Gazette, Revenue Department, Nation Thailand

Coming up this week

Plus more on the events page. See all events.

Week of August 24, 2026

A busy week at the border and on the roads. For once the headline change is good news: Suvarnabhumi is opening its auto gates to far more of us. The rest is a widening nominee crackdown, serious flooding in the North, and the slow grind of the arrival fee and fuel prices.

This Week at a Glance

  • Suvarnabhumi is adding 31 nationalities to its arrival auto gates by the end of August, taking the total to 33.
  • The nominee-company crackdown widened, with a Koh Samui sweep and fresh DSI raids in Pattaya, and officials say the screening is going nationwide.
  • Nan is now a declared disaster zone, with two dead, more than 16,000 people affected and a key bridge down.
  • The THB450 arrival fee was endorsed and heads to a public hearing, still targeting early 2027 and still not law.
  • Pump prices rose 85 satang a litre on 19 August even as the state discounts diesel until 15 September.

1. Suvarnabhumi opens its auto gates to far more of us

For once the immigration news works in our favour. Suvarnabhumi’s arrival auto gates currently take only Thai, Singaporean and Hong Kong passports, and the government says it is adding 31 more nationalities by the end of August, taking the total to 33. That brings in around 6.5 million more travellers a year plus roughly 900,000 holders of certain long-term visas.

The catch is that the exact nationality list and the eligible visa categories are not published yet, and the rollout is phased by which gates are ready and whether you have done the biometric enrolment. If you are already registered from a past trip, you may get access before first-timers. Officials also warned about fake websites charging for the arrival card: the real Thailand Digital Arrival Card is free, so never pay anyone for it.

Sources: Khaosod English, Pattaya Mail

2. The nominee crackdown widened again

The campaign against foreign-owned businesses hidden behind Thai nominees kept moving this week. A sweep on Koh Samui on 15 August screened every company in the district and opened 60 criminal cases against 88 people, 62 of them foreign, over land and buildings worth more than THB1 billion. Days later, on 21 August, the DSI raided three suspected nominee networks in Pattaya holding assets worth hundreds of millions of baht.

This matters if you hold land or a villa through a Thai company whose Thai shareholders never actually funded their shares. Since the start of 2026 the registrar has been asking those shareholders to prove where their share money came from, and officials say the same screening is going nationwide. You are not the target if you own a condo in your own name under the foreign quota, if you rent, or if your company genuinely trades with real Thai capital. If your setup is the shaky kind, our guide to the nominee business crackdown explains what is actually at risk.

Sources: The Nation, Bangkok Post

3. Serious flooding in the North, with Nan a disaster zone

Heavy monsoon rain pushed Nan province into a full flood emergency this week. Two people have died, more than 16,000 have been affected, a bridge on Highway 1256 collapsed, and the Nan River is still rising downstream into Tha Wang Pha. Nan, Phayao and Lamphun have all been told to brace for more.

If you live up north or have travel booked that way, check the actual road status before you drive rather than trusting a navigation app, avoid routes with a history of flooding, and keep a few days of food, water and medicine ready. This is peak rainy season, and if a trip could leave you stranded it is worth having proper travel insurance in place before you go.

Sources: Bangkok Post, Khaosod English

4. The THB450 arrival fee took another step

The long-discussed fee on foreign arrivals moved forward. The National Tourism Policy Committee endorsed a THB450 charge on 14 August, and it now goes to a 30-day public hearing before returning to Cabinet for final approval. The target start is the first quarter of 2027, air arrivals first, with land and sea added later. The flat THB450 replaces an earlier split of THB300 by air and THB150 by land or sea.

There is nothing to pay yet, and the part that matters for residents is still undecided: nobody has said whether work-permit holders, long-term visa holders or people re-entering will be charged. Officials are floating a multiple-entry arrangement tied to the length of your insurance cover, so one payment could cover several entries. Treat any blog that names a fixed launch date as wrong.

Sources: Nation Thailand

5. Pump prices rose even as the state discounts diesel

Fuel got more expensive on 19 August, when OR and Bangchak raised petrol, gasohol and diesel by THB0.85 a litre. That happened in the middle of a state measure cutting THB2.40 a litre off the ex-refinery price of diesel from 16 August to 15 September, so the pump figure still went up despite the subsidy. As of 21 August, Bangkok prices were roughly Gasohol 95 at THB37.69, E20 at THB32.69 and standard diesel at THB38.39.

If your car can run on E20 it is currently a full THB5 a litre cheaper than Gasohol 95, and whether it can is printed on the inside of your fuel filler flap. Our guide to Thai gas stations explains which grade is which so you put the right fuel in the tank.

Sources: Nation Thailand, Bangchak

Coming up this week

Plus more on the events page. See all events.

Week of August 17, 2026

A quieter week for hard rule changes, but two of them land straight on your budget and your calendar: a cheaper electricity tariff from September and heavy monsoon rain across the North. The visa and immigration stories that keep circulating are still, on a closer read, announcements that have not taken effect.

This Week at a Glance

  • Home electricity gets cheaper from September: the first 200 units are capped at THB3 and the average rate falls to about THB3.89 a unit.
  • Heavy rain and flash-flood warnings cover the North and upper Northeast, with waves over 3 metres on both coasts.
  • Wise is letting accounts opened before 21 January stay as they are until October instead of August.
  • The 60-day visa exemption has not changed, because the cut to 30 days is still not in the Royal Gazette.
  • The THIM immigration app is still a voluntary pilot, and the free TDAC website is all you need.

1. Your electricity bill gets cheaper from September

The Energy Regulatory Commission has finalised a new residential tariff for power used from September. The first 200 units every household consumes are capped at no more than THB3 a unit, and the average rate drops to about THB3.89, down from THB3.95.

You do not have to do anything for it. The lower rate shows up on the bill you get in mid-October, which covers September usage. If your place runs under 200 units a month, which is most condos and small houses, you pay below THB3 a unit across the board; if you run heavy air-con above 400 units, the saving is smaller because the excess stays at the standard rate. It is worth checking the per-unit figure on your own September electricity bill to confirm the cap landed.

Sources: Nation Thailand, Bangkok Post

2. Flood warnings across the North and upper Northeast

A monsoon trough sitting over northern Thailand, Myanmar and upper Laos has driven heavy rain across the North and upper Northeast this week, with flash-flood and overflow warnings for provinces including Mae Hong Son, Tak, Phetchabun, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Nan.

If you live up north or in the northeast, watch the local water levels, stay off low-lying roads and riverbanks after heavy rain, and never ride a motorbike through moving floodwater. Both coasts have been seeing waves over 3 metres, so I would hold off on boat trips and island hops when the sea looks rough.

Sources: Nation Thailand, Nation Thailand

3. Wise delays its Thailand account switch to October

Wise is moving its Thailand customers onto a locally licensed entity, but it has pushed back the switch for anyone who opened an account before 21 January. Those accounts keep working as they are until October, instead of the August date first floated, while accounts opened after 21 January move to the new setup now.

The upside of the local entity is PromptPay and QR payments through Wise. The trade-off is that some transfers may run through two currency conversions rather than one, which can raise the fee on multi-currency moves, so it is worth comparing the new rates before a big transfer. I go through what is changing in the guide to Wise’s 2026 changes.

Sources: The Thailand Life, Chiang Rai Times

4. The 60-day visa exemption still has not changed

The plan to cut visa-free stays from 60 to 30 days is approved but not yet law. The Interior Ministry announcements that trigger it have to be published in the Royal Gazette first, and then take effect 15 days after that, and as of this week that publication still has not happened.

So nothing has changed at the border. Eligible nationalities still get 60 days on arrival under the visa exemption, and anyone already in the country keeps their current balance. There is no need to rush a border run over this, and I am watching the Gazette to flag the day it actually lands.

Sources: TAT Newsroom, Siam Legal

5. The THIM app is not mandatory yet

A lot of coverage this month says the new THIM immigration app is now compulsory for arrivals. It is not. THIM is live as a voluntary pilot, and for now it only generates the same Thailand Digital Arrival Card you can still fill in free on the TDAC website.

Keep using the TDAC web portal before you fly in, and file your 90-day report and TM30 the usual way. The larger THIM features, such as online queue booking and in-app 90-day reporting, are slated for October, and I will cover them once they are actually switched on.

Sources: TAT Newsroom, Nation Thailand

Coming up this week

See all events

Week of August 10, 2026

The heaviest floods of the season, a visa cut that still is not law paired with a real border-run crackdown, a strong baht squeezing foreign incomes, a ministerial warning as deportation rules advance, and a floodwater health risk worth taking seriously. Here is what mattered this week, who it touches, and what to do about it.

This Week at a Glance

  • Flash-flood warnings covered 27 provinces and the Mekong rose over a metre, so run-off, not the main river, is the immediate risk across the North and Northeast.
  • The 60-day visa exemption still is not law, so 60 days applies today, but immigration now caps visa-exempt land entries at two a year and reads your full passport history.
  • The baht near 31 to the US dollar means foreign pensions and transfers buy fewer baht than they did a couple of years ago.
  • A minister warned that misbehaving foreigners will face the law as a faster-deportation draft advances, but law-abiding residents are unaffected.
  • Leptospirosis and melioidosis have killed over 100 people this year and spread through floodwater, so cover cuts and avoid wading barefoot.

1. Floods and flash-flood warnings spread across the North and Northeast

This week brought the heaviest flooding of the season so far. The Office of National Water Resources put 27 provinces on a flash-flood watch from August 6 to 9, and the Mekong is running 1.0 to 1.5 metres higher between August 8 and 12 along the whole northeastern border. The North, the Mekong provinces, and parts of the Andaman south took the worst of it.

If you live near a river, a canal, or the foot of the hills, the run-off is the immediate risk rather than the main river, and it arrives fast. I would keep a car off a riverside ground floor for the week and watch the drainage in your soi during the heavy downpours. If you ride, this is the stretch of the year when wet roads do the most damage.

Sources: The Nation, The Nation

2. The 60-day visa exemption still is not law, but the border-run crackdown is real

The cut from a 60-day to a 30-day visa exemption still has not been published in the Royal Gazette, so nothing has changed at the border. Enter Thailand visa-free today and you still get the full 60 days, and anyone already here keeps their balance.

What has changed is how immigration treats repeat entries. Officers now read your whole passport history rather than each stamp in isolation, and visa-exempt land crossings are capped at two per calendar year for most nationalities. If you have been living here on back-to-back border runs at Mae Sai or Aranyaprathet, that is the exact pattern they are trained to flag. If that is you, this is the year to move onto a proper long-stay visa rather than gamble on the next crossing.

Sources: The Nation, TAT Newsroom

3. The strong baht is squeezing foreign incomes

The baht is sitting near 31 to the US dollar, well off the 34 to 35 of a couple of years ago. Thailand pulled in 18.5 million foreign visitors in the first seven months of the year, down 3.19% on last year, and the strong currency is getting part of the blame alongside fewer flights from India.

If you earn in baht this changes nothing. If you live on a foreign pension or move money over from abroad, your dollars, pounds and euros are buying noticeably fewer baht than they used to. Rates move fast, so it is worth timing bigger transfers rather than doing them on autopilot, and the way you send money into Thailand matters as much as the headline rate.

Sources: The Nation, Khaosod English

4. A minister warns foreigners as faster-deportation rules advance

After an Israeli man allegedly threatened a business owner on Koh Samui on August 5, Deputy Interior Minister Worasit Liengprasit went public with a blunt line, that Thailand is home and anyone behaving badly will be dealt with under the law without exception. It lands alongside a Cabinet-approved draft that would let authorities deport foreigners faster on six grounds, from overstay to serious convictions.

The minister was clear it is about conduct, not nationality, so if your paperwork is in order and you stay out of trouble, nothing about your life here changes. The deportation framework is still a draft and not yet law. The practical takeaway is the dull but reliable one: keep your visa current and avoid an overstay, because the file behind your next extension is being read more carefully than it used to be.

Sources: Thai Examiner, Bangkok Post

5. Floodwater is driving a spike in two dangerous infections

With so much standing water around, the Department of Disease Control’s warning is worth heeding: leptospirosis and melioidosis have together killed more than 100 people in Thailand this year, and both spread through contact with mud and floodwater. Leptospirosis alone has hit 2,190 cases, while melioidosis, known as soil fever, is the deadlier of the two.

The protection is simple and cheap. Do not wade barefoot through floodwater, cover any cuts with waterproof plasters, and rinse off if you have been through it. If you come down with a high fever, bad muscle aches or breathing trouble a few days after exposure, see a doctor and tell them you were in the water. People with diabetes and those over 50 are most at risk.

Sources: The Nation