Thailand Visa for Indians in 2026: The 30-Day Visa-Free Rules and How to Plan
India stays visa-free for Thailand — 30 days, no fee, stamped on arrival (cut from 60 in July 2026). The free TDAC is mandatory; apply for the e-Visa only if you need longer than 30 days.
On the fourteenth of July 2026, the Thai Cabinet reversed its earlier plan to end visa-free entry for Indian travellers. India stays on Thailand's visa-free list — the only change is that the maximum visa-free stay has been trimmed from sixty days to thirty. If you were following the alarming headlines earlier in the year, this is the calm, practical version of where things actually stand.
Here is the practical information for any Indian travelling to Thailand from mid-2026 onwards.
What changed
From July 2024, Indians enjoyed sixty-day visa-free entry to Thailand simply by showing up with a passport. In May 2026 the Cabinet approved ending that and moving Indians onto a short Visa on Arrival — a plan that unsettled travellers and, by the government's own figures, cut Indian arrivals by nearly a fifth. That plan was never implemented. On 14 July 2026 it was dropped in favour of keeping India visa-free, but capping the stay at thirty days. The new rules take effect fifteen days after publication in the Royal Gazette; we confirm the exact current position for your travel dates before you fly.
How entry works now
Thirty days, visa-free, no fee. You land at Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi or Chiang Mai, the officer stamps your passport, and you may stay up to thirty days. There is nothing to pay and no visa to apply for. The one mandatory step is the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC), which everyone completes online before travel — more on that below. For a trip longer than thirty days, you apply for a Thailand e-Visa in advance, which allows up to sixty days.
The TDAC, which trips people up
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 and takes about five minutes. Children 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, email it to yourself, and show it at immigration on arrival. We file the TDAC for every client and send you the QR code and a checklist.
If you are staying longer than thirty days
Apply for the Thailand e-Visa at the official portal (thaievisa.go.th) or through a registered agent. The documents needed are a passport scan, a photo, the return ticket, hotel bookings and bank statements for the last three months. It is single-entry and allows a sixty-day stay; processing takes roughly seven to fifteen working days, so apply at least three weeks before travel. If you make several Thailand trips in the same year, ask us about a multiple-entry tourist visa, which is a separate category.
Who should choose what
For a trip of up to thirty days — which covers essentially every family holiday and honeymoon — the visa-free entry is all you need, with nothing to pay. For a trip of thirty-one to sixty days, apply for the e-Visa before travel. For repeated visits across the year, consider the multiple-entry tourist visa.
What did not change
Indian passport holders can still freely visit Thailand. The direct flights, the accommodation, the attractions, the food, the currency, the customs rules and daily life as a tourist are all unchanged. Children's entry works the same as for adults.
Cost impact
This is the good news. The fee that worried everyone earlier in the year — the two-thousand-baht Visa on Arrival — did not come to pass. For a normal trip of up to thirty days there is now no entry fee at all; the only visa cost arises if you need the e-Visa for a stay beyond thirty days. Thailand remains one of the best price-to-quality destinations an Indian traveller can pick.
The bottom line
Thailand remains one of the most accessible international destinations for Indians. Thirty days visa-free covers almost every leisure trip, the only paperwork is the free TDAC, and there is no entry fee for a standard visit. Plan the trip, fill the TDAC, and you are sorted. If you are still unsure how the rules apply to your dates, message us and we will confirm within minutes.
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