Visa should be one of the first things you take a look at when traveling to Thailand. Fortunately, U.S., British, Australian, and many other eligible travelers can currently come here for 60 days without applying for a tourist visa in advance. It’s called a “visa-exempt stamp” or a tourist visa waiver.
The visa-exempt stamp can usually be extended for another 30 days at Thai immigration offices. It costs THB1,900 and all required documents can be prepared in Thailand. More information about this can be found on our visa article.
Once the visa extension expires, you may be able to leave Thailand and re-enter to use the visa-exempt benefit again. This may work depending on your travel history and the number of visa-exempt entries you have made. However, it’s recommended to make a proper visa instead to prevent any risks occurring during the immigration check.
If you are planning to stay longer than a visa-exempt stay, or if you aren’t eligible for visa exemption, you may need to make either a single-entry tourist visa or multiple-entry tourist visa. A single-entry tourist visa initially allows you to stay in Thailand for 60 days and can be extended for another 30 days. The maximum amount of days you can stay in Thailand with a single-entry tourist visa is 90 days.
If you’re set on staying in Thailand for more than the 90 days allowed under a Single-Entry Tourist Visa (SETV), the Multiple Entry Tourist Visa (METV), is a great option. Visa validity starts from issue date, not date of entry (unlike the SETV), and METV holders must exit Thailand every 60 days.
You can re-enter as many times as you like within the visa’s 6-month validity and you can request a 30-day extension for each 60-day permission to stay. As the METV allows unlimited entry within the 6-month period, you can get up to about 9 months, or roughly 270 days.
**Here’s how to maximize the METV: After your first 90-day stay (initial 60 days + 30-day extension), you must exit Thailand either by land border or by air to get another 60-day stay, which can be extended again for 30 days, bringing the total number to 180 days.
After the second 90-day stay, you can get another 60-day stay extendable by 30 days if you enter Thailand prior to your METV’s expiry – for example, before the ENTER BEFORE date on the visa. This gives you a grand total of about 9 months on a single METV if you enter Thailand soon after the visa is issued and time your re-entries carefully.
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