Update: One my recent visit (August 2016) I could not find the fast track line anymore. Please keep this in mind while reading the post which was written earlier.
Please also look at the online visa option for Thailand, it helps you to go to a separate counter and beat the queue.
I have been thinking about writing of Thailand visa on arrival for Indian citizens. My first visa on arrival experience has been with Thailand at the Suvarnbhumi International Airport in Bangkok. I am not counting the Nepal experience in this list because if you travel by air to Nepal you just have to show your passport and you can walk off. There is no visa required for Indians to get into Nepal. As Bangkok was going to be my first visa on arrival I was a bit apprehensive. I looked seriously at the list of required documents for tourist visa on arrival. I had all the documents with me as well.
In September, my flight was with Thai Airways. It was a short and pleasant flight. I watched two movies (it was about 4 hour Delhi-Bangkok flight) and the time went by quite easily. Only not sleeping at all leaves me very tired and a bit confused on arrival.
I generally don’t get lost on airports but once I did manage to go to the domestic departures instead of exit at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I made no such blunders at Bangkok though. Soon I was standing at the visa on arrival queue at Suvarnabhumi. I filled the form, took out my picture and was wondering what all documents they would ask for. There are two queues for the visa, one normal and the other fast track. The normal queue costs 1000 Baht and the fast track 1200 Baht. They accept only Bahts at the visa counter and no other currency. You can change money before joining the queue. After a few international trips, I now prefer to carry dollar or pounds as they easily exchange at any airport. I took the express queue.
When my turn came, they just asked for the form, the photo and the money. Once the formalities were done, I showed the visa at the exit counter and there I was at the luggage belt! Duringthis trip to Thailand I exited to Cambodia. It was another visa on arrival but as I was traveling with Tourism Authority of Thailand they took care of my Cambodian visa. When I entered Bangkok again (as my flight to India was from Bangkok) I had to do another visa as I had a single entry visa. The second time as well, the process was exactly the same.
However, I am no way recommending that you don’t carry the requisite documents. There is no way to predict who will be asked what! I had all the relevant documents just in case they asked for it. But my first experience (and second too) of visa on arrival at Bangkok was a breeze.
Useful information…by the way we were asked for $750 on the immigration counter and treated like school kids.
On an Indian passport?
That’s great Mridula.
The one time I got a chance to visit Bangkok was when I had a prior Visa, while many from my Group didn’t have. The process was really smooth & cleared within a few minutes. We had less waiting time 🙂
Good to hear that Anita.
What are the required documents on arrival?
Rajesh click on the link and it will take you to the official website. All the requirements paid out there.
Well, the process was pretty smooth for me too….In-spite of the Photograph on my Passport having no resemblance to what I look now.. 🙂
Ha ha good to hear that.
Wish Malaysia would do it too! Thanks Mri for voting for me at the expats blog award 🙂 Big hug! 🙂
You are most welcome Pallavi and thanks for the hug. 😀
Luckily ,we did not have to stand in queue ,we got everything done in 10 minutes and we were at the luggage belt 😉
Good for you 😀
What a welcome relief from the treatment meted out to Indians in USA. Thanks for sharing.
Never been to US so can’t say!
It is also fairly easy to get a visa in advance in India.. takes 3 days
Yes Shrinidhi but that would mean taking leave! I hoard on them like anything.
Hi,
For applying Visa in advance in embassy, do we need to show the confirmed hotel booking for entire stay or 1-2 days is fine?
What about Visa on arrival, do they ask for hotel booking for entire 15 days?
It all depends on mood of the officers and how previous few people have been. If one or two people ahead of you have created any problem/issue, they will be very careful
I was lucky then!
Thanks for your help, Mridula! Just like yours, it was just a 10 minute procedure. 🙂
Good to hear that you also had a smooth experience 😀 and you are always welcome.
Very useful information. A quick query – is there a travel agency or a travel agent that you personally use to book ahead for these trips? Or do you simply book online as and when you decide to travel?
Sanand the trip was on invitation from Tourism Authority of Thailand so they took care of my entire trip. I know this is not very helpful. But for Nepal I do the tickets myself and use a local agent to do my bookings.
Will they check the living expense of Rs.10,000 with us?
They can ask for anything that is stated in their requirements, it is just that on this trip I was not asked about it.
At Don muong airport they checked everything but suvarnabhumi was fsilry straight forward. There is no need of any travel agents, everything is straight forward and can be managed easily
Thanks for the tips.
Mridula,
We are travelling abroad for the first time..planning for thai beaches…so apart from the list of documents mentioned in the link..what other documents are ppl talking about…secondly…when they ask for instruments of living expense…I hope cash in bank would suffice with me carrying an International Debit Card..otherwise pl enlighten me. Thanks n do pardon the first time nerves we are experiencing…
Hi Vikarm, my best wishes for your trip. They did not ask for anything from me. I was carrying all the listed documents. For spending proof credit card, bank account and international debit card should suffice. I hope it will be as smooth sailing for you as it was for me.
Vikram, at Suvarnabhoomi airport, BKK fast track counter, they don’t ask for any docs, but charge THB 1200. If you stand in the normal queue at Suvarnabhoomi or arrive at Don Muang (which doesn’t have fast track), you have to show return ticket to India and USD 400 in cash per person and pay a THB 1000 fee.
Thanks Jhelum,
Kindly let me know…what will be the best currency to carry in cash…should I carry USD from Delhi.. or we can directly exchange INR to THB at BKK.
Thanks again
hi im abbas ali and im planing to go visit thailand at my friend’s house. and ive decided to take visa on arrival. can you please tell me that if I take visa on arrival that same visa is useful at returning time aswell? and when im getting on plane at my place will they ask me visa and if I say ill take visa at bankok. will they just say ok let me go?
Yes Abbas, the airport staff is aware of visa on arrival for Thailand.
Hi Mridula for spreading useful information.
I am planning to go Thailand in Feb. I am having below queries –
1. Is VOA at Bangkok has limited number of visa distribution per day or something, or they will give visa to everyone arriving there?
2. If I have Bahts in my prepaid bank card, then I can take out cash at atm in Airport?
3. Shall we take Baht or Dollar in prepaid bank card?
Thanks.
Hi Ankur,
As far as I know there are no limits to the number of visas they give at the airport. I have always changed currency either Delhi or Bangkok so I can’t answer the card query. At the visa counter they only take Baht in cash. There are money changers before the visa on arrival counter. Hope this helps a bit.
Hii Mridula,
That was really a helpful article for new travelers. Well I got the points through your post as well as the FAQs people asked here. We as couple are traveling to Bangkok + Krabi in Feb-15. There are a lil bit extra things I wanted to clear if you don’t mind:
1. Is it that we have to carry cash for 10000 Thai baht. Will a credit card suffice? any other document with credit card?
2. Do we get lower currencies too at the Exchange?
3. We have taken a packaged tour. What else do we need to be take care of?
Hi Abhinav,
I have never been asked to show currency in hand but I do carry my bank statement. They have never asked for it as well. I didn’t get your second question, what do we mean by lower currencies? If you have a package I don’t think you need to worry but have you thought of which SIM to carry?
Hey Mridula,
Thanks for replying. Package doesn’t include VISA service, so have to do it on our own 🙂
Well lower currency means like 5/10/20/50 Baht.
Regarding the SIM (I assume u r saying for mobile SIM), I have searched online for many postpaid SIM.
But, the charges are very high like 25-35 Bahts / Min for calls to India. Incoming calls are may be free.
What would you suggest for SIM card?
Any other suggestion / inclusions as a couple??
Abhinav, visa on arrival is a breeze on Suvarnabhumi. Should not pose any problems to you. I always took whatever currency notes they gave and it was never a problem to get the change. For Sim buy AIS prepaid from the airport. Can’t remember the details but it was not too expensive.
Thanks Mridula for your help. Will check.
All the best for your future travels.
hi,
i will be travelling to bangkok in the last week of september with my family as i am going to attend dental conferences in BITEC for four days. we are planning to visit pattaya for 2 days before returning.my questions are –
. what type of visa will be issued to me and my familly…. i mean bussiness for me and tourist for the others.
2. do i need to show all the hotel reservations( bangkok & pattaya) for all the days for visa on arrival, i am not sure for how many days we will stay in bangkok and pattaya(a total of 8 days trip)
Sonali I think all of you can get tourist visa. Also if you join the fast track line they do not ask for documents in detail. In the normal line you need to have a return ticket and hotel reservation. It helps to have all hotel reservations. Also even in the fast track it is always good to have all documents, you never know when they might ask.
Hello sonali..can u tell me whether it was easy to get visa on arrival for conference. What documents did they ask
Hi,
We are a group of 6 traveling to Phuket, Chiang Mai, and Bangkok, we have hotel reservations at Phuket and Chiang Mai, but not Bangkok, we are hoping to check out hotels there and book, would that cause a problem at the On-arrival visa counter.
Hi,
I never have been in such a situation so can’t comment 🙁 Usually on the fast track counter they don’t ask for any papers. But one can never be sure.
Hi, I am travelling to bangkok for one day management conference. Rest i will be touring Thailand for 5 days in different cities. Is Visa on arrival is sufficient or I need to have any another kind of visa. This is not a business conference at all. Should I book my stay earlier or can do it once I enter bangkok
The visa on arrival is enough for tourism. At the immigration they will ask for return tickets and hotel bookings in the normal queue, make sure you have that,
Hi guys we are going to thailand for 5 days next month.
My question is My Passport does not have surname (field is blank)
Can it create ant type of problem for ON ARRIVAL VISA???
As long as it is the same as your passport it should not create a problem!
Hello , I m travelling to Thailand in last week of june..My flight is from Delhi to Krabi via Bangkok Suvarnabhumi with a layover time of 2 hours and 35 minutes..both the flights are of Thai airways..I have 4 questions..please please answer
1) 1) IN DELHI,WILL OUR LUGGAGE BE TAGGED UPTO KRABI OR UPTO BANGKOK?
WILL WE GET BOARDING PASS FOR TG 241 AT NEW DELHI ITSELF OR AT BANGKOK?
2) Is getting visa on arrival at Suvarnabhumi Bangkok the first step ?
3) After we get the visa on arrival , should we go following the signboards of Transfer/Transit to Krabi , or should we go to immigration? thiis is just freaking me out..
4)In worst case scenario, if this VOA process takes such a long time that i miss my connecting flight to krabi,what will happen to my luggage which would have reached Krabi(since it being a connecting flight of same airways)..will thai airways take care of my luggage or will my luggage be also lost by the time i take a later flight n reach krabi?
thanks a lot for your patience
First of all relax!
1. Your luggage would be tagged to Krabi
2. You ask for assistance and say you have a connecting flight and you will be assisted.
3. Ask the airline staff to help you out. They will point out the correct way. I have almost always got out at Bangkok so I don’t remember exactly how they assist people with connecting flights.
4. Relax you will get your flight. Enjoy your trip 😀
Thank you. This was quite useful. I have one question tough: how long before your trip do/can you apply on-line for VOA? Can I apply months in advance or I am expected to apply within a day or two of departure?
Thanks in advance for patiently answering the questions posted here.
Regards,
Manoj
Hi Manoj, I have always tried to do this a few days in advance. Why don’t you try and let me know how early one can apply?
Thanks. Planning to do this a month in advance. Will update on how things go.
I finally did this 3 weeks in advance. There does not seem to be any restriction here. It looks like I could have done it years or decades in advance. I encountered no issues in the process. It was about 45 min wait time in the normal VOA queue. Then 10 min for getting the visa stamped and 10 more mins to go through the immigration. This was at 2 pm on a Friday. I can share my trip journal once I sort through my pictures. Thanks for this page. It was useful.
Thank you for the detailed feedback!
Here’s the travelogue of our trip: http://travel-notes.org/central_thailand