Thailand could halve visa-free tourist stay from 60 to 30 days
Thailand could halve visa-free tourist stay from 60 to 30 days
2026-04-28
In order to boost tourism, Thailand had expanded its 60-day tourist visa exemption scheme in 2024, while also included an additional 36 countries and territories, for a total of 93. However, in less than two years, the Thai government is considering rolling back the policy, while also cutting the maximum stay to 30 days. That’s because instead of boosting the local economy, the relaxed rules actually created problems such as illegal work and crime. Should the proposed policy take effect, Taiwan would still be included in the list of 57 countries, and still enjoy 30 days of visa-free tourism.
People have fun splashing water on others to celebrate Songkran, the Thai New Year. In 2024, as a measure to boost tourism, the Thai government expanded its 60-day tourist visa exemption scheme to 93 countries and territories. But in less than two years, Thailand is considering reverting to the previous list of 57 countries and territories, while also halving the maximum period of visa-free stay, from 60 to 30 days. It also plans to tighten visitor screenings.
Taiwanese tourist
Frequent traveler to Thailand
I wanted to volunteer, and they told me that there’s a volunteer visa, and that I should apply for it. Before, all I needed was a tourist visa and I could get in and stay for two months, and even extend my stay by another month. But the new policy is no big deal. Thirty days are more than enough if you want to tour Thailand.
Should the new, tightened rules take effect, overstaying as a tourist will be fineable by 500 baht per day, and could even get you blacklisted. As for the shortened list of visa-free countries, Taiwan would still be included. Travel agents also say that the shorter period of visa exemption would be of little impact to typical travelers.
Chen Chien-chin
Travel agency GM
It actually doesn’t make much of a difference. Usually, tourists only spend nine days there, maybe 14 at most. At the time they wanted long-stay tourists like those from Europe, but then discovered that the new scheme wasn’t very effective, and instead made Thailand unsafe.
The Thai government had hoped to attract a greater number of quality tourists with higher spending power. However, statistics showed that the majority of tourists only spend 15 to 30 days in Thailand on average. Instead, many of those that maximize their stay on tourist visa exemption could get involved in illegal work and criminal activities, including scam, causing wide repercussions for Thai society.
Hong Ming-chien
Taiwan Thailand Exchange Association
Currently many people involved in scam rings enter Thailand on tourist schemes. There are just too many of them. Looking at news reports, probably more than 80% are Chinese. The Thai government is now really strict, meaning that foreigners’ activities must strictly align with the type of visa held. If you’re in Thailand for tourism, then you can’t conduct any activities related to business or commerce.
The Thai government hopes that the tightened rules will support quality and sustainable tourism.
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泰國60天免簽恐喊卡 擬恢復逐國審查篩選旅客
2026-04-28
泰國是著名的旅遊勝地，不過當地政府傳出，研議將原本大方給出的60天免簽，縮短為30天，適用國家名單，也可能從93國改為57國，因為數據顯示，遊客旅遊時間不到一個月，加上外籍人士違規亂象不斷，包括非法打工與詐騙案件，才讓當局決定想收緊政策。
整條馬路變成泡泡派對，大家擠爆街頭玩水，泰國著名的潑水節，吸引遊客前來。2024年當地政府，為了刺激觀光，大方開放93個國家免簽入境，但如今傳出要研擬，縮減為57國免簽，天數也砍半，從60天改為30天，同時入境篩查機制，會變得更嚴格。
[[民眾]]
“我做義工，他說有義工簽證啊，叫我要回去辦義工簽證啊。以前都是自己來辦觀光簽證，你就可以進去啊，你可以（停留）兩個月，還可以延期一個月。這樣做也沒關係，泰國要去玩的話，三十天其實也夠了。”
一旦新規上路，如果逾期居留，1天要罰500泰銖，還可能被列入黑名單，幸好台灣預計會留在免簽名單中，天數縮減也對於一般遊客，影響不大。
[[旅行社總經理 陳健欽]]
“其實沒有多大的影響，一般（旅遊）都是九天，甚至到十四天，當初是希望說類似，讓歐洲的遊客讓他們來泰國longstay，發覺好像效果不是說很好，反而造成泰國的治安，也變得很差。”
當初泰國政府希望可以吸引中歐，高品質的長期旅遊，但數據顯示，多數觀光客平均停留只有15到30天，反而是不少有心人士，藉著60天的觀光簽，在當地進行詐騙工作、或是非法打工，造成社會混亂。
[[台灣泰國交流協會創會秘書長 洪銘謙]]
“因為目前他們的這些詐騙集團，就是透過觀光簽來到入境泰國，這些詐騙集團的人數實在太多。新聞播報出來的結果來講，大概八成以上都是中國人，（泰國政府）現在要求很嚴格，就是你來的行為，跟你的簽證名稱必須完全符合，如果你說你來玩，你就不可以從事任何的商務行為。”
為了解決濫用亂象，泰國觀光簽政策，恐怕要再度修改。
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