Coming to Thailand as a tourist is extremely easy. Most western countries don’t even require a tourist visa, instead you get an entry stamp upon coming into Thailand at the airport or border (30 days for citizens of the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U.K. Others can look here for a chart of entry stamp durations).

If you are planning on staying longer than 30 days you can either leave the country and return, getting another 30 day stamp on the way in or you can apply for a tourist visa in your home country before coming to Thailand. In either case you may only remain in Thailand on a tourist visa for a maximum of 90 days. You are not allowed to work or conduct business while in Thailand on a tourist visa.

Tourist visas are valid for 60 days and can be extended for an additional 30 days at the nearest immigration office for a fee of 1900 baht. In Bangkok this is at the Office of Immigration Bureau 507 Soi Suan Plu Sathorn Bangkok 10120 (off South Sathorn Road) Phone (662) 28-731-0110. In Chiang Mai the Immigration Office is at 71 Airport Road, 50200 Phone (66) 5-327-7510.

When applying for the tourist visa the following documents are required:

- Passport or travel document with at least 6 months validity

- Visa application form properly completed (Available here)

- One recent 4x6cm passport photo of the applicant

- Airline ticket or eTicket paid in full

- Proof of financial means of 20,000 baht per individual or 40,000 baht per family

- The consular officers reserve the right to demand additional documents as necessary.

If you choose to leave the country and come back in for successive entry stamps please keep in mind that the entry permit stamp requirements were changed in October of 2006. Prior to this you could leave and re-enter Thailand indefinitely getting a new stamp upon re-entry. This is no longer the case. Now you may only use the 30 day entry stamp back to back for a maximum of 90 days, after which you must wait an additional 90 days before another entry stamp will be issued.

If you plan on coming to Thailand long term (longer than 90 days) you now need to apply for the appropriate visa before traveling. If your plans change once you are in Thailand and you decide to stay longer for work or other reasons it is quite easy to apply to change your visa status.

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