On 19 May 2026, the Thai Cabinet announced that Indians would move from the 60-day visa-free category back to Visa on Arrival. By the next morning my WhatsApp had filled up with messages from clients, friends, and one mildly panicked uncle, all asking if their Thailand trips were ruined. The short answer is no. The trip itself is unchanged. The paperwork on entry is slightly different. The fee adds a small amount to the cost. The Thai beaches remain in the same place.
Here is the practical information for any Indian travelling to Thailand from mid-2026 onwards.
What changed. Before May 2026, Indians got 60-day visa-free entry to Thailand by simply showing up with a passport. That ends as the new policy takes effect, fifteen days after Royal Gazette publication, expected mid-2026. After the change, you have two options. The Visa on Arrival, where you get the visa at the Thai airport on landing, valid for fifteen days, fee two thousand baht (roughly five thousand nine hundred rupees) payable in cash. Or the Thailand e-Visa, which you apply for online before travel, allows a sixty-day stay, fee around two thousand five hundred rupees.
The TDAC (Thailand Digital Arrival Card) is mandatory for all visitors regardless of which option you choose. Fill the online form up to three days before the flight. It is free.
On the Visa on Arrival process. You arrive at the Thai airport (Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Mai all offer it). Look for the VoA counter, which is separate from the main immigration line and signposted. Bring your passport (valid six months or more beyond arrival), one passport-size photo (some airports have a photo booth nearby for emergencies), your return air ticket within fifteen days, your confirmed hotel booking, two thousand baht in cash (some airports now accept card but cash is safer to carry), proof of funds equivalent to about ten thousand baht per person, and the completed TDAC submitted online. The counter takes about fifteen to thirty minutes depending on the queue. The stamp gives you fifteen days from arrival.
On the e-Visa, which is the better choice for trips longer than fifteen days. Apply at the official Thailand e-Visa portal (thaievisa.go.th) or through a registered agent. The documents needed are a passport scan, a photo, the return ticket, the hotel bookings, and the bank statements for the last three months. Fee around two thousand five hundred rupees, processing time seven to fifteen working days. The e-Visa is single-entry, sixty-day stay. Apply at least three weeks before travel.
The TDAC trips people up, so let me say it again. From 1 May 2025 the digital arrival card replaced the old paper TM6 form. Every visitor must complete it online up to seventy-two hours before arrival. The official portal is tdac.immigration.go.th. It is free. It takes five minutes. Children also need their own TDAC. Do not pay any random website that offers "TDAC services," they are scams, the official site is free. The system gives you a QR code. Save it as a screenshot and also email it to yourself. Show it at immigration on arrival.
Both VoA and e-Visa stays can be extended by thirty additional days at any Thai Immigration office. Fee around nineteen hundred baht. Apply before your initial stay expires.
So who should choose what. For a trip of five to fifteen days, which covers most family trips and honeymoons, the VoA is fine. For a trip of sixteen to sixty days, apply for the e-Visa before travel. If you are making multiple Thailand trips in the same year, consider a multiple-entry tourist visa, which is a separate category and has a different application process.
What did not change. Indian passport holders can still freely visit Thailand. The direct flights, the accommodation, the attractions, the food, all unchanged. The currency, the customs rules, the daily life as a tourist, all unchanged. The children's entry process is the same as adults.
Cost impact. For a seven-day Thailand trip, before the change the visa was zero, no entry fee. After the change, two thousand baht (roughly five thousand nine hundred rupees) for the VoA, or two and a half thousand for the e-Visa if you apply in advance. For a couple, the change adds five to twelve thousand to the trip cost. Not nothing, but not a deal-breaker either, especially given how cheap Thailand otherwise is for an Indian traveller.
The bottom line, which I keep telling clients who are still anxious about the change. Thailand remains one of the most accessible international destinations for Indians. The visa change adds a small amount of paperwork and a small amount of cost. It does not affect the trip experience itself. The Thai beaches, the temples, the food, the friendly people, the price-to-quality ratio at hotels, all of it remains exactly as it was. Plan the trip, fill the TDAC, carry the two thousand baht in cash, and you are sorted.