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.
When does the Tourist Visa apply? Under which condition are you qualified to apply for Tourist Visa?
Tourist Visa is for foreigners who wish to enter the kingdom for tourism purposes. The holder of a tourist visa is not allowed to work or conduct business in Thailand.
A tourist visa is needed when a person plans to stay in Thailand for tourism purposes longer than is allowed when entering under the visa exemption, or if a person is from a country that has no visa exemption agreements with Thailand.
With the tourist visa, the foreigner can stay in Thailand for up to 30 days (single entry) or up to 60 days (double-entry). This can be further extended at the nearest Immigration Bureau with the fee of 1900 THB.
Tourist Visa to Thailand could either be a Single-Entry or a Multiple-Entry. Single-Entry allows the holder to enter Thailand once, and allowing a continuous stay of 60 days in Thailand. Multiple-Entry Tourist Visa, also called Double-Entry Tourist Visa, allows the holder to enter Thailand on a tourist visa once, leave Thailand, then come back to use the second entry – thus allowing two trips to Thailand on one visa application. Multiple-Entry allows 2 entries into the country, each of 60 days duration. The Double-Entry Tourist Visa holder could spend a longer period in Thailand as compared to Single-Entry, this saves the hassle of processing yet another visa application in a neighboring country.
Travelers could apply Tourist Visa to Thailand at any Thai Consulate or Embassy in any country neighboring Thailand such as Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Singapore. You can also process the application at any Royal Thai Embassy or Consulate outside Southeast Asia such as US, UK, Australia, Canada.
Documents required:
- valid passport
- accomplished Tourist Visa application form
- visa fee
- passport-size photo
- flight itinerary such as confirmed airline ticket with assigned flight number and date of entry and exit to Thailand; evidence of hotel accommodations and hotel bookings; in the event that you will be staying with a friend’s house, a private accommodation, or wherever you will be staying while you are in the Kingdom, you need to indicate the complete valid address in Thailand. The immigration officer would like to assure you will not become a public charge or resort to public funds once you arrived in Thailand.
- the applicant must possess financial means amounting to 20,000THB per person and 40,000THB per family and be able to show proof of funds
**Consular officers reserve the right to request additional documents as deemed necessary
Validity of Visa:
The validity of a single-entry tourist visa is three months, while the double-entry tourist visa is six months.
Period of Stay:
Upon arrival to Thailand, Tourist Visa holder will be permitted to stay in Thailand for a period of not exceeding 30 days or 60 days.
Visa Extension:
If you are currently on a Tourist Visa and you wish to stay longer in Thailand you may do a Visa Extension at the Immigration Bureau.
You may also change the status of your current visa to another type of visa.
The extension of stay as well as the change of certain type of visa is solely at the discretion of the Immigration officer, the immigration officer may require additional documentation such as rent agreement, hotel billing, invitation letter (if staying with a friend) and the full address.
See Thailand Visa services from ThaiEmbassy.com.