Indian holiday-makers may still enter Thailand visa-free for 60 days, but anyone needing an embassy-issued sticker will soon pay more. A Royal Thai Embassy circular dated 22 April lists steep hikes across tourist, non-immigrant and long-term visa classes, effective 27 April 2026. A single-entry tourist visa will cost ₹3,000 (up from ₹2,500) while a five-year multiple-entry non-immigrant visa jumps to ₹30,000. SMART visas for tech entrepreneurs scale from ₹30,000 to a hefty ₹1.2 lakh at the four-year tier. Legalisation and passport services rise, too: document attestation climbs to ₹1,400 and a 10-year Thai passport to ₹4,000. The embassy attributes the revision to increased processing costs and currency fluctuations. It is the first broad-based fee adjustment since pre-pandemic 2019. For Indian corporates rotating staff into Thailand, the timing is awkward. April-May is peak filing season for BOI work permits, meaning HR teams must re-issue invitation letters reflecting the higher government fee. Travel managers should budget an extra 15–20 per cent per traveller, factoring in VFS service charges. The silver lining is that the popular 60-day visa-waiver scheme remains untouched, provided travellers carry ₹23,000 in funds and a return ticket. Mobility advisers say companies may switch short strategy off-sites from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur or Colombo—all of which currently waive visa fees—to contain costs.
Source: The Economic Times
