Thailand Visa and Passport

Thailand is a very popular tourist spot in Asia, many travelers gear up and head for this country due to its colorful culture. However, entry in Thailand as a tourist entails a number of responsibilities. Any person with the intension to pay the country a visit is required to have both a passport and a visa. Only nationals of countries with which Thailand has visa exemption agreement are allowed to enter the country with only a passport in hand, otherwise a visa should be applied preceding the planned visit.

The countries with which the Thai government has an exception agreement include Austria, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Bhutan, Brazil and Brunei. Canada, China, and Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, and Denmark are also exempted. The same goes with the countries, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, and Italy. The Land of the Rising Sun, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, Luxemburg, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Oman are also allowed to enter the country without a visa. Not outside the list too are Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The nationals of these countries, as well as Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, UAE, United Kingdom, USA, and Vietnam are all allowed to enter without visa.

However, the exemption given to these countries only lasts for a limited period of time. For some of the given countries, the expiration is after a month or 30 days, for others it is roughly half a month or 15 days. Thus, any intension of staying longer than the valid number of days will necessitate a Visa application.

Application of a Thai Visa is almost the same as that of other countries. The documents needed are a passport with a validity of not less than half a year, a filled-out visa application form, a recent 4 x 6 cm. photo, a ticket paid in full, and sufficient finances. A visa fee of 30 USD is needed to be paid upon application.