Thailand cuts visa-free entry to 30 days for EU and UK travellers from 15 September

Four Ministry of Interior announcements published in Thailand’s Royal Gazette on 31 August 2026 repeal the 60-day visa exemption introduced in July 2024 and replace it with a 30-day exemption for 60 countries and territories. The list includes all 27 EU member states and the United Kingdom. The measures take effect 15 days after publication, which means 15 September 2026. The exemption is explicitly tourism-only and does not permit business or work activity. Visa on Arrival has separately been narrowed to Azerbaijan, Belarus and Serbia.

Why this matters

Thailand has been one of the most-used bases for European remote workers taking a winter away from Europe, and the 60-day window was long enough to make a stay there straightforward. Thirty days is not. Anyone planning a Thai winter on the assumption of the old rules needs to rework it around either a shorter stay or a proper visa, and the change lands 15 September, so plans already made for this autumn are affected. The tourism-only wording also matters: the exemption has never been a permission to work, and entering on it while working for clients elsewhere sits in the same grey area it always did, now with half the runway.

Context

The 60-day exemption was introduced in July 2024 as part of a push to attract longer-staying visitors, and this reverses it. Thailand’s Destination Thailand Visa, aimed at remote workers and introduced alongside the 2024 change, is unaffected by these announcements and remains the route for anyone intending a longer stay. For European remote workers the practical effect is that the casual option has narrowed and the formal one has not changed.

What to watch

Whether other Southeast Asian destinations follow. Several have loosened entry rules over the past two years to compete for the same visitors, and a reversal in Thailand may indicate the direction of travel across the region.