Sri Lankan passport holders will lose visa-free entry to Thailand from September 15, 2026, and must obtain a visa before travelling, under revised entry rules issued by the Thai government.
The Royal Thai Embassy in Colombo set out the change in a “New Visa Measures” notice dated September 4. Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the revised visa exemption and Visa on Arrival measures were published in the Royal Gazette on August 31 and take effect from September 15, the Daily Mirror reported.
What travellers must do
All Sri Lankan travellers will need an appropriate Thai visa obtained before departure. Applications must be submitted online through Thailand’s official e-Visa system, and the embassy in Colombo has said it will not accept applications made in person or in physical form.
Tourist visa applications are expected to take approximately three to seven working days, calculated from the date all required documents have been duly completed and submitted, according to Ada Derana. Non-Immigrant Visa and Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) applications may take longer, as may applications from foreign nationals resident in Sri Lanka or the Maldives who hold valid work or residence permits.
The embassy has cautioned that it reserves the right to request additional documents or information, and that applicants may be asked to attend a visa interview.
Travellers who enter Thailand before September 15 under the existing exemption will be allowed to remain until the expiry of the period granted to them by Thai immigration officers, the Daily Mirror said. The revised measures apply to tourism-related visa exemption and Visa on Arrival arrangements; other visa categories remain subject to their own requirements.
The wider reform
The change completes a review approved by the Thai Cabinet in May, which scrapped the 60-day visa-exemption scheme introduced in July 2024 over concerns about online scam operations, unauthorised foreign workers and grey-market enterprises. That decision was reported at the time without an enforcement date; the August 31 gazette supplies one.
Bangkok says the review weighed national security, tourism and economic interests, reciprocity, the reduction of overlapping visa privileges and the availability of its e-Visa system.
Hiru News, carrying a report by the specialist outlet VisasNews, said the scheme shrinks from 93 countries and territories eligible for 60-day visa-free stays to 60 eligible for 30 days, with 21 nationalities — Sri Lanka among them — losing visa-free access altogether. Several countries removed from the main list keep visa-free entry through separate bilateral agreements, including China, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Laos, Macao, Mongolia, Russia and Vietnam. Mauritius gains a new 15-day exemption.
