14/11/2025
🇹🇭 This is an important announcement from Immigration. Since the introduction of the 60-day visa exemption, a small number of people have been abusing the scheme to work illegally in Thailand. Many were repeatedly doing border runs to obtain another 60 days, as well as extending their stay inside the country.
This crackdown should not affect genuine tourists, as most visitors stay for only about two weeks. If someone leaves the country and returns, Immigration will still allow entry if it is clear they are a real tourist with a confirmed flight home.
This announcement only targets people with numerous visa-exempt stamps in their passport, combined with multiple in-country extensions. Immigration is asking those who wish to stay in Thailand long term to apply for the correct visa. I support this, as it is unfair on genuine tourists who are here for a holiday. Sadly, some genuine tourists will be collateral damage because of this crackdown on people abusing the hospitality if the Thai government.
The official announcement is below:
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In accordance with the policy of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Commissioner General of the Royal Thai Police, Pol.Gen. Kittharath Punpetch, to declare war on cybercrime, today (November 12, 2025), Commissioner of Immigration Bureau, Pol.Lt.Gen. Panumas Boonyalug, convened a meeting with the Deputy Commissioners and Commanders under his jurisdiction to discuss and establish relevant measures, which are divided into 4 key actions:
1. Elevate and intensify the screening of individuals frequently using the visa-exempt scheme (free visa) for entry and exit (in-out) in the manner of a visa run without returning to their country of domicile. If any individual uses the visa run privilege more than 2 times without a justifiable reason, Immigration Bureau will consider denying entry to prevent the use of this opportunity to pose as a tourist to conduct various transactions, instead of applying for the correct visa category as intended.
2. Emphasize the interception of foreign nationals who have a history recorded in the watch-list system in border areas of neighboring countries that are sources of scammers, such as Mae Sot, Tak Province, as they are a high-risk group for participating in illegal activities or becoming victims. This also applies to the group of foreign nationals who have been pushed back/deported from Thailand in the Mae Sot-Myawaddy border area and whose data has been logged in the system; they will also be denied entry without exception.
3. Instruct all Provincial Immigration Offices responsible for inner areas to increase the strictness in granting temporary stay extensions for foreigners who have a history of in-out Visa Run behavior and subsequently apply for an extension. If any foreigner is found with such data or behavior, the visa will not be extended, or the visa will be revoked after authorization and the individual will be deported outside the Kingdom.
4. Instruct all Immigration Bureau Divisions to launch a mass sweep to crack down on foreigners who have overstayed their visas, aiming for tangible operational results.
These measures may affect the speed of passport checks for foreign nationals, Immigration Bureau asserts that they will not affect the tourism sector in any way. On the contrary, they serve to select quality international tourists that will generate revenue for the country with greater confidence.
