Do Hong Kong passport holders need a visa for Thailand?

No. Holders of a Hong Kong SAR passport do not need a visa for Thailand. Hong Kong is on the 60-day visa exemption list that took effect on 15 July 2024, so you are stamped in for up to 60 days, extendable once by up to 30 days at the immigration officer’s discretion. A change is pending: on 19 May 2026 the Cabinet approved replacing that scheme with a 30-day exemption, effective 15 days after it appears in the Royal Gazette, which had not happened when this page was checked. Everyone must also file the free Thailand Digital Arrival Card online before arrival.

Visa required

No, visa-free entry on a HKSAR passport

Length of stay

Up to 60 days, extendable once by up to 30 days at the officer’s discretion

Pending change

30-day scheme approved 19 May 2026, not yet gazetted

Purpose covered

Tourism, business engagements, urgent or ad-hoc work

Entry formality

Thailand Digital Arrival Card, online, free, within 3 days of arrival

Passport validity

More than 6 months on entry

Funds

20,000 baht per person or 40,000 per family, in cash or equivalent

Cost

Free

Entry requirements

• A Hong Kong SAR passport with more than six months of validity when you enter. The exemption is attached to the HKSAR passport; a Document of Identity for Visa Purposes needs a visa applied for in advance.
• A Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) submitted at tdac.immigration.go.th within the three days before you arrive. It is free, it is not a visa, and it has to be done again for every entry.
• Cash or the equivalent of 20,000 baht per person, or 40,000 baht per family, which is the stated condition of the exemption and can be checked at the border.
• Be able to show how and when you will leave Thailand. Officers ask for it, and a traveller arriving with no ticket out and no funds is the one who gets a hard time.

What happens on arrival

File the TDAC online in the three days before you fly, using the Immigration Bureau’s own site. It asks for passport details, your flight, where you are staying in Thailand and a short health declaration. Keep the confirmation on your phone.

At the immigration desk you present the HKSAR passport and are stamped in for up to 60 days under the exemption. There is no form to buy and nothing to pay. Check the date written in the stamp before you walk away, because that date, not the scheme, is what you are held to.

If you want longer, apply at an immigration office inside Thailand before the stamp runs out. The extension is for not more than 30 days and is granted at the officer’s discretion, so it is a request rather than an entitlement.

Good to know

• The rule is about to change, and the direction of travel is shorter, not longer. On 19 May 2026 the Cabinet approved revoking the 60-day scheme for all 93 countries and territories and replacing it with a 30-day exemption for 54 of them and a 15-day one for 3. It takes effect 15 days after the Ministry of Interior announcements are published in the Royal Gazette, which had not happened when this page was checked, and the definitive lists are not yet gazetted. Anyone already in Thailand, or arriving before the effective date, keeps the stay they were stamped for. If your trip is longer than 30 days and falls after the change, plan on applying for a tourist visa through Thailand’s e-Visa system rather than assuming 60.
• Hong Kong has a fallback most of the 93 do not. Separately from the 2024 scheme, Hong Kong and Thailand have a bilateral visa-exemption agreement for ordinary passports worth 30 days, listed by the Department of Consular Affairs alongside China, Macao, Laos, Mongolia, Russia and Vietnam. The summary of the 2026 revision published by the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Hong Kong does not put Hong Kong in the 54-country 30-day list; it keeps it under that bilateral agreement instead, at 30 days. The practical effect is the same, 30 days, but it is a summary rather than a gazetted announcement, so treat it as the likely outcome and not the law until the Gazette says so.
• Which book you carry matters. The Thai lists name Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, and the embassies say the exemption is for passports issued by those places, not other travel documents. The HKSAR passport is named outright, so use it. A British National (Overseas) passport is a UK-issued passport, but no Thai government page we could read addresses BN(O) holders specifically, so if you hold both, travel on the HKSAR passport and do not make the BN(O) carry the trip. A Document of Identity for Visa Purposes gets no exemption at all: the consulate in Hong Kong requires a visa, with guarantor letters, three months of bank statements and a DI valid for six months beyond arrival.
• Thailand is close enough to Hong Kong to become a habit, and that is where people get refused. The embassy in London warns that repeated entries under the exemption can lead to denial of entry, and that the 60-day scheme is a temporary policy. Back-to-back visa-exempt stays are exactly the pattern immigration looks for. If you are spending months in Thailand with short trips out, get a visa.
• The TDAC has spawned a cottage industry of paid look-alike sites. The official card is free, at tdac.immigration.go.th, and the embassies say plainly not to pay anyone who asks. It is also not a pre-approval: it is an arrival form, and filing it does not decide whether you are admitted.

Frequently asked questions

Related pages

• Do Hong Kong passport holders need a visa for Portugal?
• Do Hong Kong passport holders need a US visa?
• Do Hong Kong passport holders need a visa for Canada?
• Do Hong Kong passport holders need a visa for Switzerland?
• Check visa requirements for any passport

Other passports for Thailand

• United Kingdom passport holders visiting Thailand
• Bhutan passport holders visiting Thailand
• Republic of the Congo passport holders visiting Thailand

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against the official sources below on 22 August 2026.

• Royal Thai Embassy, Washington D.C. — New Tourist Visa Exemption Scheme (60 Days), effective 15 July 2024: "for up to 60 days period of stay and can be extended for another period not exceeding 30 days. Extension of stay is solely at the discretion of the immigration officer"; 20,000 baht per person or 40,000 per family; the exemption applies only to passports issued by the listed countries, not other travel documents. Read 2026-08-22.
• Department of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand — List of Countries and Territories whose Nationals are entitled to Visa Exemption Scheme for a Period Not Exceeding 60 Days, 15 July 2024 (PDF linked from the Royal Thai Consulate-General, Jeddah): Hong Kong is entry 31 and the UK entry 89; the same document lists Hong Kong under the bilateral 30-day visa-exemption agreements for ordinary passports. Read 2026-08-22.
• Royal Thai Embassy, Brasilia — The revision of Thailand’s visa exemption and VoA schemes: Cabinet approval of 19 May 2026, the 60-day scheme revoked for all 93, a 30-day exemption for 54 and a 15-day exemption for 3, effective 15 days after publication in the Royal Gazette. Read 2026-08-22.
• Royal Thai Consulate-General, Hong Kong — Summary: The revision of Thailand’s visa exemption and VoA schemes, 2026 (PDF dated 20 May 2026): Hong Kong is shown under "Bilateral Agreements 30 days", not in the 54-country list; the United Kingdom is in the 54. A summary, not a gazetted announcement. Read 2026-08-22.
• Royal Thai Consulate-General, Hong Kong — Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC): mandatory for all non-Thai nationals from 1 May 2025, filed online within three days before arrival at tdac.immigration.go.th. Read 2026-08-22.
• Royal Thai Embassy, London — Visa General Information: the TDAC is free and not a visa; British passport holders enter for 60 days without a visa; multiple entries under the exemption may result in denial of entry; the 60-day scheme is a temporary policy. Read 2026-08-22.
• Royal Thai Embassy, Canberra — Entry to Thailand: "Travellers should have a passport with validity of more than 6 months before entering Thailand." Read 2026-08-22.
• Royal Thai Consulate-General, Hong Kong — Additional Requirements for Selected Nationalities and Travel Documents, Hong Kong SAR Document of Identity for Visa Purposes (checklist PDF): DI valid no less than 6 months from arrival, proof of funds, guarantor letters. Read 2026-08-22.

Entry rules change without notice and the official source is always the authority. Confirm with the embassy or immigration portal before you book.