Asia Unseen · Thailand
Thailand
The easiest country in Asia for a first trip: solid infrastructure, reliable transport, English spoken throughout the tourist economy. The flip side is that leaving the circuit takes a real effort — but the moment you do, Thailand becomes extraordinary again.
Who it suits: A first trip, families, travellers who want city, mountains and coast without a fight.
- Entry
- 60 days visa-free
- Best months
- Jan · Feb · Nov · Dec
- Budget
- from €30 / day
- Rules checked
- September 2026
Bangkok · Baht (THB) · UTC+7
Can you enter, and for how long
Ordinary passports, tourism. Each rule below comes from the traveller's own government, with the month it was read — not from another guide.
By passport
30 days visa-free
Visa-free for tourism: 60 days entering up to 14 September 2026, 30 days entering from 15 September 2026.
Taken in September 2026 · France Diplomatie — Thaïlande, entrée et séjour ↗
60 days visa-free
60 days visa-free entering up to 14 September 2026; 30 days from the 15th, under the exemption scheme.
Taken in September 2026 · GOV.UK — conseils aux voyageurs, conditions d'entrée ↗
We have not taken this rule from an official source
— so we cannot check it the way we check the others. Rather than transpose the rule from another passport, which gets paid for at a border, we would rather send you to the source.
We have not taken this rule from an official source
the US portal refuses automated reading — so we cannot check it the way we check the others. Rather than transpose the rule from another passport, which gets paid for at a border, we would rather send you to the source.
We have not taken this rule from an official source
the Australian portal refuses the connection — so we cannot check it the way we check the others. Rather than transpose the rule from another passport, which gets paid for at a border, we would rather send you to the source.
We have not taken this rule from an official source
the New Zealand portal does not publish entry rules — so we cannot check it the way we check the others. Rather than transpose the rule from another passport, which gets paid for at a border, we would rather send you to the source.
When to go
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
November to March: dry, breathable, high season, and prices follow. April: 40 °C in Bangkok, but it is the month of Songkran. May to October: monsoon on the Andaman side (Phuket, Krabi) — while the Gulf (Koh Samui, Koh Phangan) stays fine until September and only takes water in October and November. The two coasts do not share a season, and that is the key to travelling outside the expensive months.
What not to do
- Accepting a tuk-tuk offering a tour “for 20 baht” — it is a circuit of shops, and you are the commission
- Buying a temple “closed today, come with me instead” story at the Grand Palace: the temples are not closed
- Booking a full-moon island in the same week without checking the party calendar first
- Treating the 15 September 2026 change as a detail: the date you enter the country decides how long you may stay
Booking your trip
The links below are affiliate links: they change nothing about what you pay, and they fund the writing of these pages. We only put here what we actually use.
Accommodation
The best coverage of small family-run hotels, and free cancellation almost everywhere.
Find a hotel (affiliate link, opens in a new tab)Trains, buses and ferries
The only reliable aggregator for overland transport in Southeast Asia, with real timetables and named operators.
See the routes (affiliate link, opens in a new tab)Activities and guides
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before, verified reviews, and someone to talk to when a boat does not sail.
See what is on (affiliate link, opens in a new tab)The French version of this page also lists a travel insurer. It is not here on purpose: that insurer sells to French residents, and a policy you cannot buy is not a recommendation.
More on Thailand
Sources and data
Entry rules for Thailand are read on these official pages, and re-read every night. When one changes, the page changes and the correction is published in the corrections log, next to what we used to say.
Some source names below are in French, and stay that way on purpose: they are the titles of French government pages. Renaming them in English would make them harder to find, and finding them is the point. The rule for your own passport is read at your own government's portal, named alongside it above.
- France Diplomatie — Thaïlande, entrée et séjour
- Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) — portail officiel
- Thailand Digital Arrival Card — portail officiel
- France Diplomatie — Conseils aux voyageurs
The data behind this page is open: thailande.json, CC BY 4.0.