According to Thai Immigration Law B.E. 2522 (1979) Immigration Act of Thailand, any foreign citizen who wishes to enter the Kingdom of Thailand is required to obtain a Visa from a Royal Thai Embassy or a Royal Thai Consulate-General prior to entering Thailand.

If you are a foreigner and you want to visit Thailand for tourism purposes, here is how to get a Tourist Visa:

Documents required:

• have a passport or travel document with validity of not less than 6 months;
• Visa application form completely filled out
• recent passport photos
• flight itinerary
• the applicant must possess means of living expenses amounting to 10,000THB per person and 20,000THB per family accordingly.

**Consular officers reserve the rights to request additional documents as deemed necessary

Validity of Visa:

Upon entering Thailand by plane, you have to check whether your country belongs to Visa on Arrival or Visa Exemption Scheme category as it varies per nationality. The earlier, you will get 15 days (Visa on Arrival), while the latter you will get a maximum of 30-day period of stay. The Visa on Arrival is applied at the Immigration checkpoint at the airport. If your country belongs to Visa Exemption, you will automatically get 30-day visa. If your country doesn't belong to the two categories, you have to go to Thai Embassy and apply for tourist visa. If you want to extend your period of stay beyond that date, you have to do Visa Extension, or you may need to apply for an appropriate visa validated by a Royal Thai Embassy or a Royal-Thai Consulate General depending on your purpose of stay.

Foreign citizens that come by road from a neighboring country shall obtain only 15 days instead of 30 days of visa exemption. This restriction does not apply to Malaysian citizens who will receive 30 days visa even if they come by road.

If you want to stay in Thailand at a longer period, you can apply for another type of visa: 90- Day Thai Visa or a 1-Year Non-immigrant Visa.

90- Day Thai Visa

The validity of this type of visa would be one visa for one entry (single entry visa)- it will allow you 90-day duration of stay from date of arrival to Thailand.

1-Year Non-immigrant Visa

It will give you multiple entries to Thailand. From the date of arrival to Thailand, you can stay for a period of 90 days per entry. You can go to the nearest border (about 4 hours away from Bangkok) so you can renew your stay for another 90 days in Thailand. The period of validity of this type of visa would be one calendar year.

 

What is Thai-Cambodian Single Visa?

Thai-Cambodian Single Visa is an agreement implemented by two countries Thailand and Cambodia. Under this scheme, tourist visas obtained at the embassies of either Thailand or Cambodia on its first port of call will be valid for entry into both countries. It was launched December 27, 2012 at all of both countries' consulates and embassies. Foreign ministers of 5 countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam) have discussed about the single visas, but Thailand and Cambodia were the first to sign an agreement and first to decide to implement the scheme. The two countries were the first to implement, because Cambodia had a computer network that could connect well with that of Thailand. Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar will adopt single visa system later, once their computer networks are ready to adapt.

ACMECS (Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy) is known as "single visa pact," a joint development scheme involving the 5 ASEAN nations: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. These nations were selected to be included in the joint scheme due to their economic potential and being strong tourism suppliers. It was initiated by Thailand and set up on 2003 but only implemented last 27th December. Under the ACMECS Single Visa, tourist from non-ASEAN countries could apply entry visa at Thai or Cambodian embassies or consulate offices for two destinations. Under this system, tourist visas obtained at the embassies of either Thailand or Cambodia will be valid for entry into both countries, therefore will reduce the need to visit two embassies. The single visa (Thailand-Cambodia joint entry visa) would benefit the tourism industry in both Thailand and Cambodia. One of the benefits would be for the rise in tourism if ASEAN is combined as a single destination. It will be more convenient for tourists to travel between two countries if they need to apply one visa for both countries, however the fees that would apply would be the one that covers entry into both countries. The visa cost and length of the stay is identical to the standard tourist visa and based on the individual country’s regulations. A Thailand tourist visa costs THB1,000 for 60 days, while Cambodia charges US$25 for 30 days.

Tourists from 35 countries could enter Thailand and Cambodia with single visa. The scheme is of course irrelevant to nationalities who already have visa-free entry for both countries, but it will assist those who would normally need to apply for visas at both embassies before starting a trip to Southeast Asia.

List of 35 Countries eligible for the ACMECS Single Visa:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bahrain, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, India, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States of America.

A reputable law firm could assist you of your thai visa application.

 

Countries who belong to the visa exemption rule who entered Thailand by air on a 30-day stamp, can get a 7 day extension. The same set of countries under the visa exemption rule, who entered by a land border and obtained a 15-day stamp upon entry to Thailand, can still get a 7-day extension of stay.

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If you are older than 50 years of age then you can apply for a retirement visa in Thailand and retire and make Thailand your home away from home.

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If you are married to a Thai citizen then you can apply for a Thai Marriage Visa. This is a 3 month visa but very useful.

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If you are considering visitng Thailand then it is always best to apply for a Thai tourist visa. The reasons are sound and here is why you need a Thai tourist visa.

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