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ResourcesVisa & Immigration LawThailand Immigration LawComparing Thai Special Tourist Visas and Regular Tourist Visas

Comparing Thai Special Tourist Visas and Regular Tourist Visas

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Special Tourist Visas as well as standard Tourist Visas here in Thailand. So what is the difference?

One of the big ones is Special Tourist Visa as we have discussed at length, one can use that Visa come to Thailand and can enjoy as much as 9 months of status on that Visa. Concurrently a standard Thai Tourist Visa, a single entry is issued for a 60 day duration with the option to extend by another 30 days.

One big difference between these two however is although the Special Tourist Visa has a longer duration once in country, you extend for longer under that specific status, it has what I call a “hard-out.” You are required to leave at the end of 9months. You can't convert status, you can't change your visa in the country, you have to go. The way that that rule was set up is yes it is 9 months, yes it's long stay, but 9 months is 9 months and you have to leave. A standard Tourist Visa may and I stress may as this will be circumstantially dependent, it may be possible to convert status and extend status in Thailand under another Visa category that is not the Tourist Visa itself. It is going to be dependent and you shouldn't presume it is just automatically possible to change to another Visa. But if you are looking at options in Thailand with respect to possibly another type of status; Business Visa, Marriage Visa; perhaps even Retirement Visa, again it is going to depend on circumstances whether you will be allowed to convert. With the Tourist Visa, that may be possible, again depending on your circumstances. With the Special Tourist Visa, it is a foregone conclusion that it is not possible. So big difference there between these two types of travel document.