Thailand’s new rules do more than halve your stay: tourism only, and two land crossings a year
The 15 September changes also drop business activity from the visa exemption and cap visa-exempt land entries at two per calendar year. Arrive by 14 September and you keep the stay you were given.
Beyond the 60-to-30 headline
Most coverage of Thailand’s 15 September change has reported one thing: the visa exemption drops from 60 days to 30. Two further conditions in the Ministry of Interior announcements, published in the Royal Thai Government Gazette on 31 August, have had far less attention — and both catch Indian travellers.
The first is purpose. The new notification limits the exemption strictly to tourism; earlier wording that also allowed short-term business activity has been dropped. Someone travelling for meetings, negotiations or similar activity will generally need a visa appropriate to that purpose, which for many business cases means a Non-Immigrant B.
The land-border cap
The second is overland entry. Anyone entering Thailand through a land border checkpoint on a visa exemption is capped at two entries per calendar year. Malaysians, Bruneians, Indonesians and Singaporeans are exempt from that cap; Indian passport holders are not.
That matters for the standard Southeast Asia loop. If your itinerary crosses into Thailand overland from Malaysia, Laos or Cambodia more than twice in a year — a common pattern for longer trips and for repeat visitors — the third crossing needs a visa. It does not affect arrivals by air. Our Thailand packages are unaffected, and the visa-free travel guide explains how exemptions differ from visas.
If you are travelling in the next fortnight
There is a transitional rule worth knowing: anyone who enters Thailand on or before 14 September keeps the stay granted on arrival, even after the new rules take effect. So a trip that begins before the cut-off is not retro-shortened mid-holiday.
We could not read the Gazette text itself — the Royal Thai Government Gazette site refused access — so the conditions above are as reported by two independent organisations both citing those 31 August announcements. Confirm your own case with the Royal Thai Embassy or a Thai immigration office if your trip is a business one or involves an overland crossing.
Sources
This report is based on the following published sources. Rules and schedules change — confirm with the issuing authority before you travel.
- Thailand visa changes September 15: the checklist — The Thaiger, 05 September 2026
- Update on Thailand’s new visa exemption and visa on arrival measures — Newland Chase, 05 September 2026
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