Foreign Office guidance for anyone planning to visit Thailand from the UK has today been updated. A new Government alert was issued on Tuesday, July 16, regarding how long people from the UK can stay in the south-east Asian nation for.
The FCDO regularly updates its advice for travel to any of 226 nations and territories in a bid to help people make informed decisions and stay safe. Hundreds of thousands of people travel from the UK to Thailand each year.
Previously, anyone arriving by air or land, with a British passport, could stay for 30 days without a visa exemption, as long as their trip was for tourism and/or short-term business engagement purposes. But as June 1, this period has doubled to 60 days.
And now UK visitors can spend even longer in the nation, according to a Gov.uk update, which reads: “The period of stay can be extended for another period not exceeding 30 days. If you intend to stay longer (for work, study or other reasons) you need a visa before you travel.”
Anyone caught overstaying the period of their visa, or visa exemption, will be fined 500 Thai baht (around £10.70) per day, up to a maximum of 20,000 baht (around £428). You also risk being held in detention, deported at your own expense, and banned from re-entering Thailand for up to 10 years.