Thailand visa for Spaniards 2026: 30 days visa-free

What changed for Spaniards on 15 September 2026

Until 14 September 2026, Spaniards arriving in Thailand visa-free were stamped in for 60 days. A Ministry of Interior regulation, published in the Royal Gazette on 31 August 2026 and effective from 15 September 2026, cut that allowance to 30 days for Spanish passport holders entering without a visa. If you were already stamped into Thailand before 15 September, the 60 days already in your passport still stands. For any Spaniard arriving from 15 September onward, though, the shorter 30-day stamp applies from the moment you clear immigration, so you have half as long to fit in your trip, apply for an extension, or arrange a different visa route before your permitted stay runs out.

Before you fly

• Check that your Spanish passport is valid for at least six months beyond your arrival date in Thailand and has at least one blank page left for the entry stamp.
• Book proof of onward or return travel, since immigration staff can ask Spaniards to show they plan to leave Thailand within their 30-day visa-free stay.
• Carry enough cash or accessible funds to cover a spot check, since Thai immigration can ask individual travellers for 20,000 baht or 40,000 baht for a family group.
• File your Digital Arrival Card in the 72 hours before landing, since every Spaniard entering Thailand must submit it through the Immigration Bureau's portal before reaching the airport.

Staying longer than 30 days

If 30 days is not enough, Spaniards can apply for a single extension of up to 30 days at an immigration office inside Thailand, costing 1,900 baht and requested before your stamp expires. For a longer single trip, apply for a Thai e-Visa at thaievisa.go.th before you travel; approval usually takes 3 to 10 working days and grants Spanish passport holders 60 days on one entry, also extendable once for 1,900 baht. Remote workers and long-course students can instead apply for the Destination Thailand Visa from outside Thailand, valid five years with stays of up to 180 days per entry. Repeatedly leaving and re-entering to reset a visa-free stamp is not a substitute for these routes, and land crossings are capped at two visa-free entries per calendar year.

At the airport

At Suvarnabhumi, Spaniards are among the nationalities allowed to use the automated arrival gates instead of a manned counter, provided you have already filed your Digital Arrival Card, entered visa-free, and are not on your first visit to Thailand. At the gate or the counter, an officer or scanner reads the QR code generated by your arrival card alongside your passport, so keep both ready. If any of those conditions is not met, you simply proceed through a staffed immigration counter instead.

Facts checked on 30 September 2026. Sources: Royal Gazette notifications of 31 August 2026, the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs bilateral list, the Immigration Bureau. Rules change; your embassy has the final word.