Visas & Extensions
The common routes in, and the reporting nobody mentions
Thai visa rules change, sometimes at short notice, and they differ by nationality. What follows is the shape of the system so you know what you are looking at — but always confirm the current position with a Thai embassy or Immigration before you travel or commit to anything.
Never rely on a forum post, or on this page, for a date or a figure. Rules and amounts move. Immigration in Hua Hin will tell you the current requirement, and they are used to answering exactly this question.
Coming for a holiday
Most nationalities get a visa exemption stamp on arrival, valid for a set period, with the option of extending once at an Immigration office for an additional stretch. For a two- or three-week trip you need to do nothing at all in advance beyond having a passport with enough validity left.
If you are staying longer than the exemption allows, a tourist visa obtained before you travel gives you more room and avoids doing anything complicated later.
Staying long-term
The common routes for people who settle here:
- Retirement. For applicants over a minimum age, based on either a lump sum held in a Thai bank account or a demonstrable monthly income. Renewed annually from within Thailand.
- Marriage to a Thai national, with its own financial and documentary requirements.
- Business or employment, which comes with a work permit and is tied to the employer.
- Long-term residence programmes aimed at wealthy or skilled applicants, which trade a higher bar for a longer permission and fewer trips to Immigration.
Most of these follow the same pattern: enter on the correct non-immigrant visa, then apply for a one-year extension of stay from inside Thailand. Getting the entry visa type right at the start saves a great deal of difficulty later, so it is worth taking advice before you fly rather than after.
The two obligations people miss
- The 90-day report. Anyone staying long-term must report their address to Immigration every 90 days. It is not a visa renewal, it is just a notification, and it can usually be done online or by post as well as in person. Missing it means a fine.
- TM30. The address notification your landlord or hotel files when you arrive at a residence. It sounds like somebody else's paperwork until you turn up for a 90-day report or an extension and are asked for it.
Keep the paperwork. Your TM6 departure card if you were given one, your TM30 receipt, your 90-day slips, bank letters and the receipts for everything. Thai Immigration runs on documents, and the process is smooth when you have them and slow when you do not. Photograph the lot and keep it in the cloud as well as in a folder.
Hua Hin has its own Immigration office, which is far more pleasant than dealing with Bangkok. Go early, dress tidily, and bring more copies than you think you need — there is a photocopier, but there is also a queue for it.