Thailand Weekly Update

Each week 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 update sits at the top, and older weeks drop off after about a month.

Jump to a week: June 22 · June 15 · June 9

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Week of June 22, 2026

Here’s what actually happened this week that touches life here. Skim the ones that apply to you.

1. Immigration is checking for physical cash at the border

Immigration officers have started actually checking proof of funds when you land, something most of us never used to think about. For a general visit the baseline is 10,000 THB per person or 20,000 THB per family, and for some visa categories it doubles to 20,000 per person or 40,000 per family.

The part that catches people out is that they now want to see real money. A balance on your banking app has been waved away as not enough on its own, so cash in hand, whether baht, dollars, euros or pounds, is what satisfies them.

You probably won’t get stopped, but if you fly in and out it’s worth keeping some notes on you. It’s a cheap way to skip an awkward conversation at the desk.

Sources: Travel And Tour World, Thaiger

2. The Cambodia land border is still closed

If a Cambodia border run is part of your routine, cross it off for now. Every official land crossing between Thailand and Cambodia has stayed shut since the conflict flared in June 2025, and while the ceasefire is holding, it’s fragile and the crossings haven’t reopened to normal traffic.

That means the old Cambodia hop for a quick visa reset isn’t an option on the ground. You’ll need to fly out, or pick a different neighbour for your run.

Whatever you decide, check your embassy’s security alerts before you go anywhere near that border.

Sources: U.S. Embassy Thailand, Wikipedia

3. Flash-flood warnings run through June 26

The southwest monsoon is in full swing, and the weather service has flagged 21 to 26 June for isolated heavy rain across the North, upper Northeast, East and South. The real danger isn’t the rain itself, it’s water building up fast enough to cause flash floods and overflows.

If you live near foothills, waterways or low-lying ground, keep an eye on local alerts and don’t leave anything valuable where water collects. Bangkok gets rain most days this month too, so expect the usual streets to flood briefly after the big downpours.

Source: Thai Meteorological Department

4. Private hospital deposits keep climbing

Thai private hospitals keep asking for bigger deposits before they’ll treat you. A planned procedure now typically wants 50,000 to 200,000 THB upfront, and major surgery can run as high as 800,000 THB. Even a single night in a premium private room in Bangkok or Pattaya is 28,000 to 52,000 THB before any treatment.

If you hold an O-A or O-X retirement visa you’re already required to carry insurance, but plenty of people are underinsured for what these places actually charge.

This is a good week to pull up your policy and check two things: your inpatient limit, and whether the hospital bills your insurer directly or makes you pay and claim back. Sorting that out now beats discovering the gap at the admissions desk.

Sources: Pattaya Mail, Thaiger

5. Dengue season is ramping up

Dengue climbs every wet season, roughly June through October, and Bangkok and other built-up areas are the usual hotspots. The mosquitoes that carry it don’t need much to breed: a clogged drain, a plant saucer, a forgotten bucket, a puddle on a building site.

So walk around your place and tip out anything holding water, and keep repellent handy in the evenings. There’s no specific cure for dengue, and it can genuinely knock you flat, so don’t shrug off a sudden high fever, body aches or a rash. Avoiding the bite is the whole game.

Sources: Chiang Rai Times, Nation Thailand

6. The baht is sitting near 33 to the dollar

The baht has drifted to around 32.88 to the dollar as of 19 June, a touch weaker over the past month. Nothing dramatic, but it’s a slightly friendlier rate for anyone moving money in from abroad than we’ve seen lately.

If you’ve been sitting on a transfer or waiting to top up a Thai account, this is a reasonable window. A multi-currency service like Wise usually beats the spread you’ll get at the bank counter.

Sources: Trading Economics, Bank of Thailand

7. The THIM app still doesn’t do your 90-day report

There’s been plenty of buzz about Thailand’s THIM app handling immigration tasks from your phone, but don’t get ahead of it. As of early June it still isn’t doing the 90-day report, and that feature is pencilled in for Phase 2 around October.

So keep filing your 90-day report the way you always have, whether that’s in person, by mail, or through the existing online system. Your window is 15 days before to 7 days after the due date, and missing it means a 2,000 THB fine plus hassle on your next extension.

Sources: Thailand Starter Kit, Thai Law Online

8. Cannabis is still prescription-only

A year on from the reclassification, cannabis flower is still a controlled herb, and buying it legally means getting a PT 33 prescription from a licensed Thai practitioner. The free-for-all is well and truly over: roughly 40% of the shops that opened during the boom have already closed.

If you use it, the casual walk-in-and-buy era is gone. Go through a licensed clinic and you’ll stay on the right side of the rules.

Sources: Cannabis For Thailand, Terms.law

9. Thailand’s first virtual banks launch this year

Thailand’s first virtual banks are due to go live around mid-2026: three app-only banks backed by big names like SCB X and TrueMoney, running entirely through your phone with no branches.

It’s early days, and the terms for foreigners aren’t confirmed yet, so there’s nothing to act on today. It’s worth watching, though, because app-first banking could eventually spare us the branch-by-branch paperwork grind that opening an account currently involves.

Source: Chiang Rai Times

10. PromptPay is now the default way to pay

PromptPay, Thailand’s QR payment system, is now running around 75 million transactions a day, and shops, markets and taxis increasingly expect it. Once you’re set up, it’s the single biggest day-to-day convenience upgrade you’ll get here.

If you have a Thai bank account, link PromptPay to it. Paying becomes a quick scan instead of a hunt for cash, and transfers between people land instantly and for free.

Sources: The Finest Thai, Wise

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Week of June 15, 2026

Here’s what actually happened this week that touches life here. Skim the ones that apply to you.

1. The 60-day visa-free entry is ending

The big one this week: the Cabinet signed off on scrapping the 60-day visa exemption back on 19 May. It isn’t law yet, it takes effect 15 days after it’s published in the Royal Gazette, and as of now that publication hasn’t happened.

When it does land, 54 countries (the US, UK, Australia, Canada and the EU among them) drop to 30 days visa-free, and three countries fall to just 15. If you do visa runs or lean on that 60-day stamp to stay long term, this is your cue to look at a proper long-stay visa rather than riding exemptions.

Sources: TAT Newsroom, Siam Legal

2. Mandatory insurance and a 300 THB entry fee are back on the table

Two travel-related proposals have resurfaced. The Ministry of Public Health wants to make health insurance mandatory for everyone entering Thailand, driven by the pile of unpaid hospital bills left by uninsured foreigners.

Alongside it sits a proposed 300 THB entry fee for air arrivals and 150 THB for land and sea crossings, pitched as part insurance and part tourism tax. Neither is confirmed, and both are stuck in Cabinet review, but the direction is clear enough that frequent travellers should budget for it.

Sources: Bangkok Post, Travel And Tour World

3. Opening a Thai bank account just got harder

Opening a Thai bank account keeps getting harder. Bangkok Bank tightened up in January, and tourist visa and DTV holders can no longer open an account there. You now need a long-stay visa such as a Non-B, Non-O, ED, LTR or a retirement extension, though K-Bank and a few others remain more flexible.

There’s a newer wrinkle too. Some branches now ask you to buy a personal accident policy, roughly 200 to 400 THB a year, just to switch on mobile banking. Go in with a long-stay visa and ask about the mobile banking conditions before you commit to a branch.

Sources: The Pattaya News, Wise

4. The foreign-income tax rules are still in force

The foreign-income tax rules haven’t gone anywhere, so here’s a quick recap for newcomers: since 2024, foreign income you bring into Thailand can be taxed here, while income you earned before 2024 stays exempt when you remit it.

The Revenue Department has floated a grace period that would let you remit foreign income tax-free if you bring it in within one to two years of earning it, applying from the 2026 tax year, but it isn’t enacted yet. Enforcement and scrutiny on expat remittances has stepped up since late last year, so keep clean records of when income was earned and when it came in.

Sources: Bangkok Post, Expat Tax Thailand

5. Monsoon season arrives, with flood warnings across 63 provinces

Rainy season officially began on 15 May, and this week the Meteorological Department warned of heavy to very heavy rain across 63 provinces, with the North, upper Northeast, East and Andaman coast taking the worst of it.

The forecast is for total rainfall about 10% below normal this year with a storm or two expected, so it’s not shaping up to be a disaster year. The real risk is flash floods in low-lying spots and near waterways, so if you’re by a river or up in the hills, stay alert.

Sources: Nation Thailand, Khaosod English

6. The baht is drifting weaker

The baht has been drifting weaker, sitting around 32.7 to the dollar this week and down about 1.2% over the past month. For anyone earning abroad, that’s quietly good news, since your foreign income and pension stretch a little further here.

Nothing dramatic, but if you’ve been waiting to move money in, the rate is tilted slightly more in your favour than it was a month ago.

Sources: Wise, Trading Economics

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Week of June 9, 2026

Here’s what actually happened this week that touches life here. Skim the ones that apply to you.

1. The 60-day visa-free is being cut to 30 days

The Cabinet approved the change on 19 May: 54 countries, down from 93, will get 30 days visa-free, extendable once for another 30. The Royal Gazette hasn’t published it yet, so technically the current 60-day rules still apply, but I wouldn’t count on that lasting.

The stated reasons are grey-market businesses, unauthorised workers and online scam operations, and the practical effect is that the 60-day window introduced in 2024 is being rolled back to the older rules.

If you’re already on a proper long-term visa, your day-to-day doesn’t change. If you’ve been relying on visa exemptions for extended stays, now is the time to talk to an immigration lawyer, because that strategy is finished.

Sources: Al Jazeera, VisasNews

2. Banks are closing the door on tourist and DTV holders

Bangkok Bank now wants one of three things before it’ll open a new account: a non-immigrant visa (retirement, business or marriage), a Thai marriage registration, or property ownership. DTV holders are excluded outright, despite the 180-day stay the visa allows. It’s an anti-money-laundering and mule-account crackdown.

The knock-on effect is real. Without an account you can’t receive salary deposits, pay rent by transfer, build the THB800,000 balance for a retirement visa renewal, or rely on QR payments. CIMB and UOB are still more lenient, though results vary by branch.

If you already have an account and a long-term visa, you’re fine. It’s new arrivals on tourist visas or the DTV who need to plan around this.

Sources: Bangkok Post, Hua Hin Today

3. The airport departure fee jumps 60% from June 20

The international Passenger Service Charge at Thai airports is rising from THB700 to THB1,120 from 20 June, a 60% jump. It applies at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket and Hat Yai, while domestic flights are unchanged.

The fee is baked into your ticket price, so the date that matters is when the ticket is issued, not when you fly. Tickets issued from 20 June carry the new rate, and anything bought before then keeps the old one. If you fly often for visa runs or regional trips it adds up, over THB3,000 a year across four return trips.

Sources: Pattaya Mail, Nation Thailand

4. The THIM immigration app launches in August

Thailand’s immigration app, THIM, is in trial on iOS and Android now, with a full launch slated for August 2026. The planned feature list is genuinely useful: 90-day reporting, visa extensions, electronic document certification and arrival card processing, all free.

For the moment it only handles arrival card pre-registration. The 90-day reporting everyone wants is on the roadmap but not live, so don’t skip your next in-person visit just yet.

If they deliver, this is good news. The August launch will show how much of the roadmap actually arrives on day one.

Sources: Khaosod English, Nation Thailand

5. Health insurance renewals are up about 10%

Thai private health insurance premiums are up around 10% this renewal cycle, and the pressure isn’t easing, with medical cost inflation here running at about 14% a year. On top of that, the OIC co-payment rule that kicked in back in March 2025 means three or more claims worth over 200% of your annual premium trigger a 30% co-pay on everything afterwards.

Basic inpatient cover now runs roughly THB20,000 to THB40,000 a year, with outpatient and dental pushing it higher. Thai hospitals still cost 30 to 50% less than Singapore at comparable quality, but the trend is only upward. Don’t drop coverage to save the premium, since a single admission can run THB100,000 or more.

Sources: Nation Thailand, Thaiger

6. A reform package for long-term foreign residents

The government is pushing a broad reform package aimed squarely at long-term foreign residents: easier business registration, expanded property ownership rights, civil law updates, and reinforced LTR visa benefits like the 10-year stay, fast-track airport and flat 17% income tax for qualifying professionals.

Nothing has fully landed yet, but the direction is unmistakable. Thailand is positioning itself against Singapore and Malaysia for long-term residents and investors, and if your situation here is already clean and documented, that’s mostly good news.

Source: Thaiger