Note that my reply

A 30 day Tourist Visa Exemption can now be extended for an additional 15 days inside Thailand, for a fee (1,900 THB?), which would allow for a max. stay of 45 days before you have to exit the country.

was incorrect. It should read

A 30 day Tourist Visa Exemption can now be extended for an additional 30 days inside Thailand, for a fee (1,900 THB?), which would allow for a max. stay of 60 days before you have to exit the country.

This change was made ~ August 28, 2014.


You need to visit an Immigration office to get this extension. You cannot do this at the airport. (You can get a re-entry permit at the airport, which preserves the date on a real visa.) In Bangkok this office is at Chaeng Watthana Road up near DMK airport.

Being able to extend this exemption may not resolve IDB situations where the length of stay exceeds 30 days, but if recent experiences are any indication it seems more likely than in the past.

A friend arrived from the U.S. on a 85 day return ticket, he had no issues departing the U.S.; he just extended 30 days this week at Chaeng Watthana, no problems.

Simple solutions remain: get a real visa (the length of which is unimportant for IDB issues), purchase an onward air ticket (DMK-PNH on FD for example). You can get a 60 day double-entry visa, which with 2 extensions and a single in/out results in 180 day stay.

I am not familiar with the current issues re: land-border crossings but believe these have changed as a result of the Erawan bombers bribing their way in.