Thailand visa for Timorese 2026: 30 days by treaty

What changed for Timorese on 15 September 2026

For Timorese passport holders, 15 September 2026 was not a turning point. That date marks a wider update to Thailand's entry rules, but the 30-day visa-free stay for Timor-Leste sits outside that update — it rests on a separate bilateral agreement between Thailand and Timor-Leste that was already in force. Visa on Arrival, which some other nationalities lost or kept only in limited form after that date, was never a route open to Timorese to begin with, so there is nothing to unlearn. In practical terms, if you were planning a trip to Thailand on a Timorese passport, your planning does not change: you still arrive without a visa, still get 30 days, and still deal with the same immigration counters and paperwork as before.

Before you fly

• Make sure your Timorese passport has at least six months of validity left on the day you land in Thailand, plus one blank page, since immigration will not stamp an entry without both.
• Keep at least 20,000 THB per person, or 40,000 THB for a family, in cash or easily shown funds, in case an immigration officer carries out a spot check on arrival.
• File your Digital Arrival Card in the 72 hours before your flight lands, using the Immigration Bureau's online portal, and keep the QR code ready to show at the airport.
• If you plan to cross into Thailand by land more than twice in the same calendar year, remember the visa-free allowance only covers two land entries, so look at an e-Visa for extra trips.

Staying longer than 30 days

If 30 days is not enough, Timorese travellers have a few legitimate ways to stay longer. Inside Thailand, before your stamp expires, you can apply once at an immigration office for a 30-day extension for 1,900 THB. If you know before you travel that you need more time, an e-Visa from thaievisa.go.th gives a single-entry 60-day stay, itself extendable once by 30 days for the same fee. Remote workers or long-course students can look at the Destination Thailand Visa, valid up to five years in 180-day blocks, though it asks for proof of 500,000 THB in funds and must be arranged beforehand. Repeated border runs are not a substitute — visa-free land entries are capped at two a year.

At the airport

At Suvarnabhumi and other Thai airports, Timorese passport holders are not part of the nationality list allowed to use the automated e-gates, so you queue at the Foreign Passport immigration counters instead. Before reaching the counter, have your Digital Arrival Card ready — the officer scans the QR code generated when you filed it online, alongside your passport. There is no separate paper form to fill in beyond that, but allow extra time in the counter queue rather than assuming you can walk straight through an automated gate.

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.