How many times a year you can enter Thailand without a visa

If you travel to and from Thailand several times a year, you may be wondering, how many times a year can you enter this country without a visa?

After all, thanks to the new visa laws that have been in place for the past couple of years, people have been sent out of Thailand's borders and out of Thai airports for either spending too long in Thailand or not having the proper visa in their passports.

So, how many times a year can you enter Thailand without a visa? Or is your ability to enter the country based on something else?

What it really means to enter Thailand without a visa

First, let's just clarify what it really means to enter Thailand without a visa.

This means arriving in the country without a tourist visa, business visa, educational visa, or any other type of visa already stamped in your passport.

This means that you are given a 30-day stamp when you arrive at the airport in Thailand or cross the Thai border. A stamp that allows you to stay in Thailand for up to 30 days before you need to leave. A stamp that is only issued to citizens of certain countries.

How many times a year you can enter Thailand without a visa

There is actually no law specifying how many times per year you can enter Thailand under the new immigration rules. Instead, there are two other laws to which you need to pay attention.

1. You can only enter the country through the land border twice a year without a visa. If you have already entered the country twice before the 12-month period expires, you are likely to be denied if you try to do so a third time. However, you can enter the country by traveling by air, flying as many times as you want.

2. You can only stay in Thailand for 182 days a year without an appropriate visa allowing you to stay longer. In fact, the current law is not based on how many times a year you are allowed to enter the country, but on how many days you stayed when you did so.

In other words, you can enter Thailand as many times a year as you want without a visa, as long as you do it through the airport and you didn't stay 182 days or longer in a 12-month period.

Other requirements

There are a few other requirements that you should also consider when arriving in Thailand without a visa.

1. You must have a return ticket valid for this 30-day period.

2. You must have 20,000 Thai Baht or the equivalent in foreign currency. In most cases, bank statements are not accepted.

3. Confirmation of housing.

You probably won't be asked about any of these points, but if you are, and you don't meet them, there's a good chance you'll be sent back.

Do you have to get a visa before traveling to Thailand?

If you are on your first trip to the country in the last 12 months and plan to stay 30 days or less, you do not need to apply for a tourist visa or any other type of visa.

If you have visited the country more than once or twice in the past year, it is better to apply for a tourist visa, just in case. This way you are less likely to have problems with immigration, and even less likely to be sent back.

For more information about visas to Thailand, visit the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.