Apply here, nowhere else
For a short tourist trip inside the exemption, there is no visa to apply for and no exemption fee to pay. The one form every foreign visitor must file is free. That is exactly where copycat sites make money: charging for a free arrival card, or selling a visa you do not need.
- Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC), Thai Immigration Bureau - the official TDAC portal address as reported in multiple 2026 guides, including a Washington passport and visa service listing. File it free, within 3 days (72 hours) before arrival. It is an arrival card, not a visa.
- Thailand e-Visa portal - the official e-Visa portal address as reported by Thai embassy and consulate guidance. Use this only if your trip needs a visa, for example a stay longer than the exemption allows, or a purpose the tourism exemption does not cover. Select the Thai embassy or consulate for your state of residence inside the portal.
Caution on verification: the TDAC and e-Visa portals could not be rendered by a direct text check on 24 October 2026, because both are interactive government portals. The addresses above are the government domains consistently reported in 2026 guidance, not addresses guessed for this page. Recheck both addresses against the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington and the Thai Immigration Bureau before this page publishes as a guide. If either address fails to load as a Thai government site, do not use a lookalike site instead: check the government site directly.
Entry checklist, short visit
- Visa exemption, 30 days, tourism only: from 15 September 2026, US passport holders are on the revised exemption list of 60 countries and territories, for up to 30 days per entry for tourism. The previous 60-day exemption ended on 14 September 2026. Travellers admitted before 15 September 2026 keep the stay stamped at entry.
- Cost: 0 baht for the exemption itself, and 0 baht for the TDAC. No advance application is needed for the exemption.
- Validity: up to 30 days per entry, as stamped on arrival. The stamp controls, not the booking date and not an older guide.
- Extension: one further period of up to 30 days may be requested at a Thai Immigration office before your permission to stay runs out. The reported fee is 1,900 baht, and the extension is at the discretion of the immigration officer. It is not automatic.
- TDAC, mandatory: every non-Thai national entering by air, land, or sea must submit the Thailand Digital Arrival Card before arrival, within 3 days before arrival, including children. It replaced the paper TM6 form on 1 May 2025. Keep the QR confirmation for immigration.
- Passport and onward travel: passport valid for at least 6 months from entry is the figure reported in 2026 guidance, with at least one blank page. Have a return or onward ticket within your permitted stay, and accommodation details, ready in case an officer asks.
- Funds if asked: reported figures are 20,000 baht per person or 40,000 baht per family, in case an officer asks for proof of funds. Most arrivals are not asked, but do not travel without a way to show support if requested.
- Land entries: visa-exempt entries over land are reported as limited to 2 per calendar year for most nationalities, with exceptions reported for some neighbouring nationalities. Air entries are reported as unlimited. Verify the land cap for your own travel pattern before relying on repeated land entries.
- Transit: transit passengers who do not pass through immigration are reported as exempt from the TDAC. If you pass through immigration, the normal TDAC and exemption rules apply. Verify your exact transit case before travel.
- Not a move, not work: the exemption is for tourism only under the revised scheme. Work, including remote work without the correct visa, and residence need a separate visa route, with its own advice. A longer tourist stay normally needs a Tourist Visa applied for before travel through the e-Visa portal, which is reported as giving up to 60 days per entry.
If your trip is longer than 30 days, do not plan around stretching the exemption. Apply for the correct visa before travel, or plan a lawful extension or exit inside your stamped stay, and get advice if you are unsure which route fits.
Scouting trip budget, fixed maths
Flights are per person, the room is shared, daily spending is per person. Trip total is for all travellers. Per person is trip total divided by travellers, per day is trip total divided by days, with no extra flight added. All figures below are editable examples, not sourced flight or hotel prices. Entry cost is 0 baht on this route, so no entry fee is added to the total. A possible 1,900 baht extension fee is not in the total, because it only applies if you extend inside Thailand.
Worked example, checked: 7 days, 2 travellers, $900 flights per person, $120 room per night, $70 daily per person, 10% buffer. Base is (2 x $900) + ($120 x 7) + (2 x $70 x 7) = $3,620. With buffer, $3,982 total, $569 per day (rounded), $1,991 per person. Flight and hotel figures are editable examples only.
Your result
Estimated trip total, all travellers
Flight and hotel figures here are examples for maths checking only. Replace them with quotes you have actually received. Entry cost on this route is 0 baht, checked 24 October 2026.
From scouting trip to move
A scouting trip answers questions a calculator cannot: which area feels right, what the heat and the commute actually feel like, and whether Bangkok in your travel season is a place you want to live. If the trip goes well, the next step is the move page, not a longer visitor stay.
Sources, checked 24 October 2026
- Revised visa exemption, 30 days from 15 September 2026, 60 countries and territories including the United States, tourism only, Royal Gazette publication 31 August 2026, Royal Thai Embassy in Washington page updated 17 September 2026 calling it the New Tourist Visa Exemption Scheme (30 Days), and Tourism Authority of Thailand account dated 1 September 2026, as summarised in multiple October 2026 guides checked that day, including a guide re-checked against official sources on 7 October 2026 and a guide updated 22 October 2026.
- Extension up to a further 30 days, reported fee 1,900 baht, officer discretion, and land-border cap of 2 visa-exempt entries per calendar year for most nationalities, from the same October 2026 summaries.
- TDAC mandatory for all non-Thai nationals since 1 May 2025, free, within 3 days (72 hours) before arrival, replacing the paper TM6 form, from multiple 2026 guides checked 24 October 2026. TDAC portal address tdac.immigration.go.th and e-Visa portal address thaievisa.go.th as reported in those guides. Neither portal rendered in a direct text check that day, so both addresses must be rechecked against the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington and the Thai Immigration Bureau before publication.
- Tourist Visa (TR) reported as still giving up to 60 days per entry after 15 September 2026, from a guide verified 19 October 2026 against the e-Visa portal and embassy fee pages. The TR fee is not printed on this page because no fee figure was verified for this route on 24 October 2026.
If any figure above has moved since 24 October 2026, the page is out of date until it is rechecked. That is the point of the last-checked stamp. Thailand changed this rule in September 2026, so recheck it again before publication.