Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (BKK) · Travel Prep Guide · Last checked 18 October 2026

Visa on Arrival at Bangkok Airport: Fee, Cash and 2026 Rule Changes

Thailand changed its entry rules in 2026, and that matters more than any detail about cash. Before you calculate how much baht to bring for a visa on arrival, you need to know whether you need one at all. This guide sets out what the sources we found say about who needs the visa now, what it costs, how it is paid, and what to carry.

An earlier version of this page said that Thailand introduced a visa on arrival requirement for Indian travellers in 2026. That is no longer what the sources show. It also converted the fee into US dollars, said some counters occasionally accept dollars, said every family member pays a separate fee, and described a 300-baht tourist entry fee as a rollout with shifting dates. We could not support the dollar conversion, the dollar claim or the family claim, so they have been removed. The Indian claim and the entry fee have been replaced with what we could verify. Where a detail rests on a single source, we say so. Everything was last checked on 18 October 2026.

The short version

• Thailand's 60-day visa-free stay ended on 15 September 2026. Most eligible nationalities now get 30 days, according to several reports of rules published in the Royal Gazette on 31 August 2026.
• India is reported to be in the 30-day visa-free group, not the visa on arrival group. Earlier drafts had put India on visa on arrival, likely the source of the old claim.
• Visa on arrival is now reported to apply to only three nationalities: Azerbaijan, Belarus and Serbia.
• If you do need one, the fee on the Thai embassy page we read is 2,000 baht, payable in cash, in Thai baht only, for a stay of up to 15 days.
• The tourist entry fee is not being collected. The latest report we found describes a proposed 450-baht fee still in consultation.
• We could not read the Royal Gazette text itself, so confirm your own nationality with official Thai sources before you fly.

What changed in 2026

The Thai cabinet decided on 19 May 2026 to cancel the 60-day visa-free scheme for more than 90 countries, according to Al Jazeera. The details took months to settle. KPMG's alert of 10 August 2026 said the rules were still waiting to be published, and that they would take effect 15 days after publication.

VisasNews and the Thailand Privilege website, which is run by a commercial agent, both say that four regulations were published in the Royal Gazette on 31 August 2026, in Volume 143, Special Issue 207 Ngor. They say the rules took effect on 15 September 2026. We confirmed the volume, issue and date from the headers of the Royal Gazette PDFs, but the Thai text did not extract cleanly, so we could not read the country lists ourselves.

What the secondary sources report from 15 September 2026:

• A 30-day tourist visa exemption for 60 countries and territories, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and India.
• A 15-day exemption for Mauritius and Seychelles.
• Visa on arrival only for Azerbaijan, Belarus and Serbia.
• Bilateral agreements continue unchanged, with other stay lengths for some countries.
• Travellers who entered before 15 September keep the stay they were given at entry.
• For the 30-day and 15-day exemptions, land border entries are generally limited to twice per calendar year, with exceptions for Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
• A one-time extension of up to 30 days may be available at immigration's discretion. VisasNews notes that this comes from the cabinet framework and not from the regulation itself.

Three independent sources agree on this overall picture, which is why we treat it as confirmed at the secondary level. Treat the details as reports until you have checked the official text.

Why the Indian rule moved

A June 2026 article from The Thaiger, written before the Royal Gazette notices, said India would move to visa on arrival, together with Azerbaijan, Belarus and Serbia. The KPMG alert of 10 August said the opposite, and that India would move from visa on arrival to the 30-day exemption. VisasNews, published after the gazette, says India was removed from the visa on arrival scheme, where it had appeared in early drafts.

That sequence explains why articles from mid-2026 disagree with each other. Our reading is that the early drafts were changed before publication, and that the newer sources describe the final rules. This is the most important thing to check if you travel from India: do not rely on a page dated before September 2026, including older versions of this one.

Who still needs a visa on arrival

On the reports above, only travellers from Azerbaijan, Belarus and Serbia. The Royal Thai Embassy in Copenhagen has a page on the visa on arrival that lists 31 eligible countries, but its list is marked as of 15 July 2024. That list is out of date, and the 31 countries it names, including India, no longer match the reported rules.

If you hold another passport, do not guess. Some nationalities lost visa-free entry as well: Thailand Privilege says 21 nationalities lost it and must now apply for an e-Visa. We could not verify that figure against an official list. The practical step is to check your own nationality on the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs e-Visa site or with the Thai embassy for your country before you book.

The visa on arrival itself

If you are one of the nationalities that still qualifies, the Copenhagen embassy page sets out the terms. It is an official page, but it is undated beyond the 2024 country list, so check it again before you fly.

• Fee: 2,000 baht. The page says cash only, in Thai baht and non-refundable.
• Stay: up to 15 days, for tourism only. Extensions are generally not allowed.
• You need a completed application form, available at designated ports of entry, one recent photo, a passport valid for at least one month with at least two blank pages, and a fully paid onward ticket that can be used within 15 days of entry.
• Proof of means: 10,000 baht per person or 20,000 baht per family.

The page does not say in what form proof of means is accepted, or whether officers check it. We cannot say whether it must be cash. The Thai embassy page does not mention children's fees, so we cannot say whether each family member pays separately.

Getting the cash for the fee

The fee is paid in baht cash, so you need baht before you reach the counter. A visa guide on THAIest, updated in September 2026, says exchange booths sit in the hall just before the visa on arrival counters. That detail comes from one source, so confirm it at the airport. Our guide to the Suvarnabhumi basement counters explains why we suggest changing only what you need there, and comparing the larger exchange afterwards.

Our advice, which is not a sourced fact, is this:

• Bring or buy only the amount for the fee plus a small buffer for the first taxi or train.
• Check the booth's rate against the mid-market rate on your phone before you hand over cash. Our mid-market guide shows the three-step check.
• Ask for the total in baht before you pay.
• If the booth offers to charge you in your home currency, choose baht.

A worked example, with made-up numbers

The rate below is invented. Suppose the mid-market rate on your phone is 36.00 baht per US dollar, and you need the 2,000 baht fee for one traveller.

• At the mid-market rate, 2,000 baht costs 2,000 divided by 36.00, which is about 55.56 dollars.
• A booth offers 34.80 baht per dollar. The gap is 1.20, divided by 36.00, which is about 3.3 per cent.
• At 34.80, 2,000 baht costs 2,000 divided by 34.80, which is about 57.47 dollars.
• The difference is about 1.91 dollars. On a fee this small, the gap is a few dollars, not a reason to skip the booth if you have no baht.

Two travellers would need 4,000 baht, and a family of three, 6,000 baht, if each pays the fee. We did not confirm that children pay, so check before you assume.

What 30 days means in practice

A 30-day exemption is a limit on how long you can stay on one entry. Wikipedia's visa policy page says the 30-day category can be extended by 30 days, and VisasNews adds that the extension is at immigration's discretion and comes from the cabinet framework, not the regulation. Treat an extension as a request that may be refused, not as part of your plan.

The land border limit matters if you travel overland. Visa-exempt travellers can generally cross a land border into Thailand no more than twice per calendar year, with exceptions for Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The sources describe it as a land border limit, and this guide is about arriving by air.

If you booked a trip under the old 60-day rule, the sources say anyone admitted before 15 September keeps the stay they were given. If you arrive after that date, the new limit applies. Our advice, not a sourced fact, is to compare your hotel and onward flight dates with 30 days now, and to ask your airline whether it will check your onward ticket at departure.

How to read a visa article in 2026

Visa advice is easy to get wrong this year because the rules moved three times between May and September. These habits help.

• Check the date. A page written before 31 August 2026 describes drafts, not the final rules.
• Look for the source. A page that names the Royal Gazette volume and issue is more useful than one that says "reports suggest".
• Notice who is writing. Visa agents and e-visa services are commercial, and some of them earn money when you apply through them. Thailand Privilege, VisasNews and similar sites are useful, but they are not the government.
• Count agreement. We treat a claim as confirmed at the secondary level when at least two independent sources agree, and we say plainly that we have not read the official text.
• Ask an official source. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and your nearest Thai embassy are the ones to ask, because they answer for your passport specifically.

The tourist entry fee

An earlier version of this page referred to a flat 300-baht tourist entry fee. The latest report we found, an article from the Siam Legal law firm published on 28 August 2026, says the fee being discussed is now 450 baht. It says the National Tourism Policy Board approved it in principle on 14 August 2026, that a 30-day public consultation was expected to run through late September, and that cabinet approval, Royal Gazette publication and a 180-day implementation window were still to come. It says foreign visitors are not paying it yet, and that collection from air arrivals is realistically early to mid 2027 at the earliest.

That article is a law firm's commentary and it is now seven weeks old. We could not find a later report, so we do not know whether the consultation has ended. The sensible approach is to assume you are not charged now, and to check the position closer to your date of travel.

The arrival card

Thailand also has a digital arrival card, the TDAC. The official site's page title says that no fee is required, and KPMG says changes to the TDAC system were planned to support entry and exit monitoring. The pages we could load do not say who must complete the card or how far ahead, so we cannot give a deadline. Check the official TDAC site before you fly, and treat any site that charges for it with caution.

What we could not confirm

• The official country lists in the Royal Gazette notices. The PDFs did not extract readably, so every list comes from secondary sources.
• That India is in the 30-day group in the final regulation. Three secondary sources agree, but we have not read the regulation.
• The current visa on arrival country list from an official site. The embassy page's list is dated July 2024.
• Whether proof of means must be shown in cash, and whether officers check it.
• Whether children pay the visa on arrival fee.
• Whether the 450-baht tourist fee consultation has ended.
• Who must complete the TDAC and how far ahead.
• Whether the figure of 21 nationalities losing visa-free entry is accurate.

A simple plan

1. Check whether your nationality needs a visa, a visa on arrival or a visa exemption, using the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs or your nearest Thai embassy, not a page dated before September 2026.
2. If you need a visa on arrival, prepare the form details, a photo, your onward ticket and proof of means.
3. Carry or plan to buy 2,000 baht in cash per applicant, plus a small buffer.
4. Check the booth's rate against the mid-market rate before you change.
5. Complete the arrival card on the official site only.

FAQ

Do Indian travellers need a visa on arrival for Thailand?
The sources we found, which are published after the Royal Gazette notices, say India is in the 30-day visa exemption group and was removed from visa on arrival. Confirm with an official Thai source before you travel.

How much is the visa on arrival?
The Royal Thai Embassy in Copenhagen says 2,000 baht, cash only, in Thai baht, and non-refundable.

Can I pay the visa on arrival by card?
The embassy page we read says cash only in Thai baht. Do not plan on a card.

How long can I stay on a visa on arrival?
Up to 15 days, for tourism only, with extensions generally not allowed.

Is there a tourist entry fee now?
The latest report we found says no. A 450-baht fee has been approved in principle and is not yet collected.

Sources and how we checked them

Checked on 18 October 2026. Where we call something confirmed, at least two of these sources agree. Several are commercial companies promoting their own services.

• Al Jazeera, news outlet, Thailand to slash tourist visa-free stays, 19 May 2026.
• KPMG, advisory firm, GMS Flash Alert 2026-209, 10 August 2026.
• VisasNews, visa news site, Thailand cuts visa-free stay to 30 days on 15 September 2026, 31 August 2026.
• Thailand Privilege, commercial agent site, 30-day visa exemption article, updated 16 September 2026.
• The Thaiger, news site, Thailand scraps 60-day visa-free stay, 25 June 2026.
• Royal Thai Embassy, Copenhagen, official page, visa on arrival (country list as of 15 July 2024).
• Royal Thai Embassy, New Delhi, official visa page, 30-day visa exemption for Indian passport holders effective from 15 September 2026, updated 16 September 2026 (checked 30 October 2026).
• Royal Thai Embassy, New Delhi, official update on the visa exemption scheme for Indian passport holders, 27 July 2026 (checked 30 October 2026).
• Royal Gazette, official, Volume 143 Special Issue 207 Ngor, 31 August 2026 (headers only readable).
• Siam Legal, law firm, Thailand's foreign tourist fee, 28 August 2026.
• THAIest, travel site, visa on arrival guide, updated September 2026.
• Official TDAC site, page title only.

Editorial note: The counter, rate and airport information in this guide is editorial and is not paid for. Rates and fees change, so confirm the final rate at the counter before exchanging.