Spending 3 to 6 Months in Thailand: The Snowbird Visa Guide

Checked as of October 2026. Exchange rate: ฿33.5 = $1. Fees are from Thai embassy and consulate pages; where a page is old or a figure is only reported, it says so.

Thailand halved the free stay. Your winter plan didn't get the memo.

Until 15 September 2026, a snowbird from the US, Canada, the UK or Germany could land with no visa, get 60 days, extend 30 at Immigration, and cover a three-month winter without filling in a single form at home. That's gone. Visa-free entry is now 30 days. Another 30 if an officer says yes. That's the whole deal.

So the plan most people reach for is the old one, stretched: come in visa-free, extend, fly out, come back, repeat. It looks cheapest. It's now the riskiest. Immigration is reported to be cracking down on exactly that pattern, and the land-border version is capped.

The fix is boring and cheap. Pick the tourist visa that fits the length of your stay, apply from home before you fly, and you'll make fewer exits and answer fewer questions at the counter.

The short version

Notes on the table:

• "Exit" means leaving Thailand and flying back in. Flights and hotels for exits aren't included. Price them yourself.
• Extensions are ฿1,900 each, filed on form TM.7 at a local Immigration office, at the officer's discretion.
• METV fees are the Los Angeles consulate's. Other missions charge differently (below).
• Aged 50+ and staying 3 months? A 90-day Non-O retirement visa is $80 at the LA consulate, with no exits. More below.

Option by option

Visa-free + extension

Passport holders of 60 countries and territories, including the US, UK, Germany, France, Canada and Australia, get 30 days on arrival. That's from the Tourism Authority of Thailand's notice of 1 September 2026.

You can apply for one extension of up to 30 days at Immigration: ฿1,900 (about $57). It's discretionary. Nobody owes you the stamp. So the most you get per visa-free entry is about 60 days.

Two catches:

• Land borders are capped. Visa-exempt entry by land is limited to twice per calendar year (citizens of Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore are exempt from the cap).
• Nordic passports: check first. The TAT notice doesn't name Denmark, Sweden, Norway or Finland. Don't assume you're on the 30-day list. Check the Royal Gazette list or your embassy.

Visa-free is built for trips of a month or two. For a winter, it's the wrong tool.

The single-entry tourist visa (TR)

The workhorse for a 3-month winter. From the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington, DC (updated 27 August 2026):

• $40, valid for 3 months from issue
• Up to 60 days on arrival, plus a 30-day extension in Thailand: a maximum stay of 90 days
• Bank statements showing at least $700 a month for the last 3 months ($2,000 for a family)

London lists it at £30 (fee page dated 2022, so check it). Helsinki: €40, 60 + 30 days.

$40 plus one ฿1,900 extension is about $97 for 90 days, with zero exits. That beats the visa-free route on every count except "no forms."

You apply online at thaievisa.go.th, through the mission that covers where you live.

The multiple-entry tourist visa (METV)

The METV is the snowbird visa most people don't know still exists. It does. Official pages in Los Angeles, London and Helsinki still list it, and there's no notice that the DTV replaced it.

It's valid for 6 months and gives you up to 60 days per entry. Immigration usually grants a 30-day extension on each entry for ฿1,900. That's common practice, not a published rule.

What it costs depends entirely on where you apply:

Americans on the East Coast: the DC embassy's tourist-visa page doesn't list the METV. Check which mission will take your application before you plan around one.

Canadians: fees for Canadian missions weren't part of this research. Check with the Thai mission that covers where you live.

The timing rule that catches people: the 6 months run from the issue date, not from your arrival. Every entry has to happen while the visa is valid. Apply close to departure. A METV issued in July won't get you back in in January.

The DTV

The Destination Thailand Visa is a 5-year visa: 180 days per entry, plus one 180-day extension. $400 at US missions, £300 in London. You need ฿500,000 in funds and proof you qualify: remote work for foreign clients, or a "soft power" activity like a Muay Thai or cooking course. Expect about a month to apply.

For a 6-month winter it means zero exits. If you'll be back every year for five years and you genuinely fit a category, it's the cleanest option on this list.

It is not a snowbird loophole. If you don't do remote work or take a real course, it isn't your visa. The DTV guide covers who qualifies.

Retirement visas (50+)

• Non-O, 90 days. $80 single entry at the LA consulate. Show ฿800,000 or ฿65,000 a month in income. A 3-month winter, zero exits. Whether that 90-day entry can be extended without converting to the one-year retirement extension wasn't something I could verify, so don't plan on stretching it.
• O-A, 1 year. $200. Needs an FBI background check, a medical certificate, and health insurance of at least ฿3M / $100,000. More paperwork than a winter needs, unless you'll come back every year.

Details in Retiring in Thailand: the visa options.

Thailand Privilege

If you'd rather pay than plan: Gold is ฿900,000 ($26,866) for 5 years, up to a year per entry. That's ฿180,000 (about $5,373) a year. It only makes sense if you'll winter here for five straight years and value never thinking about visas. Is Thailand Privilege worth it?

Not sure which category you are at all? Start with which Thai visa fits you.

Border runs in 2026

Here's what's official: two visa-exempt land entries per calendar year. No official cap on air entries that I could find. Air re-entry is at the officer's discretion.

Here's what's reported. The Immigration Bureau's 2026 push is reportedly branded "No Entry, No Stay, No Escape." Reported figures: 29,490 foreigners refused entry as of June 2026, for insufficient funds, no clear itinerary, or a visa-run pattern, and 169,506 names on the advance passenger screening blacklist. Those numbers come from a practical guide citing the Bureau. I couldn't find the Bureau's own release.

Agencies say officers now read your whole passport history, not just the last stamp. Back-to-back visa-exempt entries draw questions. No genuine reason, possible refusal. They also say proof of funds and an onward ticket are sometimes checked, especially at land borders.

Border runs aren't banned. But the honest read is this: one trip out mid-winter to see a neighbouring country is normal travel. Three visa-exempt entries in a row so you can live here is the exact pattern the campaign targets. Getting turned around at the airport with a condo lease and a tee time booked is a bad way to learn that.

Don't build a winter on it.

Snowbird practicalities

TM30 starts on night one. This is the most common myth. TM30 isn't a 90-day thing. It's a first-night thing. Under the Immigration Act, whoever houses you (owner, landlord, hotel) must report your address to Immigration within 24 hours, at every address. Hotels do it automatically. Condo owners and private landlords often don't. In practice, your ฿1,900 extension can stall without the TM30 receipt. Ask your landlord for it before you need it.

90-day reporting only kicks in after 90 days in a row. Form TM.47, free, ฿2,000 if late. Every exit resets the count. So a 90 + 90 METV winter never triggers it. A 180-day DTV entry triggers it once, around day 90. More in the visa admin cheat sheet.

Rent by the month. Law firms say renting a condo for under 30 days counts as a hotel under the Hotel Act and needs a hotel licence. Thirty days or more is a lease. Some condo offices ban short stays outright. Book monthly leases, not chained two-week Airbnbs. Where to base yourself: the best cities for expats. Lease specifics: Renting a condo in Thailand.

Count your days per calendar year. Spend 180 days or more in Thailand in a calendar year and you're a Thai tax resident. The calendar year matters, not the season. November 1 to April 30 is 61 days in year one and 120 in year two. Neither reaches 180. A January-to-June stay is 181 days in one year. That's not a loophole. It's a calendar. What residency means for you: Do I owe Thai tax?

Health cover. Tourist visas and the METV have no insurance requirement. Travel insurance is fine, but many policies cap trip length, so read the maximum-trip clause before a 4–6 month stay. Americans: according to medicare.gov, Medicare "usually doesn't cover health care while you're traveling outside the U.S." Medicare drug plans don't cover prescriptions bought abroad. Some Medigap policies cover foreign emergency care. Check yours. More in health insurance in Thailand.

A sample winter: 5 months on a METV

An American applying through the LA consulate, arriving November 1 and leaving at the end of March:

1. October: apply for the METV on thaievisa.go.th, close to departure. $200. Three months of statements with at least $2,000 each month.
2. Nov 1: arrive. First entry: 60 days. Sign a monthly lease and get the TM30 receipt from the landlord.
3. Late December: extend 30 days at Immigration. ฿1,900.
4. Around day 90, late January: one exit. A short trip abroad, on a flight. The visa must still be valid when you come back in.
5. Back in: second entry, 60 days. That carries you to the end of March.

Visa cost: about $257. Another ฿1,900 (total about $313) if you extend the second entry.
Exits: one. 90-day reports: none, because the exit resets the count.
Days per calendar year: 61 in year one, about 90 in year two.

Common mistakes

1. Planning on the old 60-day stamp. Anything written before September 2026 is out of date.
2. Treating the extension as automatic. It's discretionary, in person, ฿1,900, and in practice needs a TM30 receipt.
3. Land border runs. Two visa-exempt land entries per calendar year. That's it.
4. Stacking visa-exempt entries for a 6-month stay. The pattern officers are reportedly told to look for.
5. Getting the METV too early. Validity runs from the issue date.
6. Applying at the wrong embassy. You apply through the mission covering where you live. Helsinki also wants you physically in Finland or Estonia, with a local bank.
7. Under-funded statements. The bar differs: $700 a month (DC tourist visa), $2,000 balance (LA METV), €6,000 over 6 months (Helsinki METV).
8. A private rental with no TM30. The extension stalls.
9. Chained short Airbnbs. Sub-30-day condo rentals need a hotel licence, and the landlord may not file TM30.
10. Crossing 180 days in one calendar year without noticing.
11. Relying on Medicare or a short travel policy for a 5-month stay.
12. Overstaying a day. Fines and possible bans. Don't improvise. See the visa admin cheat sheet.

Before you go

This is information, not legal advice. Visa rules change, and these were checked as of October 2026.