Thailand’s plan to roll back its generous 60 day visa exemption to a 30 day limit places the kingdom in the company of countries such as Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Denmark, which are steadily tightening rules for foreign visitors. From shorter stays and tougher scrutiny to higher fees and new security filters, a growing number of governments are recalibrating entry policies in ways that could reshape how and where global travelers move in the years ahead.
Thailand Moves From Open Door To Closer Control
Thai authorities have confirmed agreement in principle to reduce visa free stays for nationals of 93 countries from 60 days to 30 days, only months after expanding the scheme to lure back tourists. The decision, endorsed by a high level committee of tourism, foreign affairs and immigration officials, has not yet taken effect, but officials and industry leaders now treat the shorter stay as a matter of when rather than if. The shift highlights a rapid change in sentiment: from using long visa waivers as a blunt recovery tool to focusing on the quality, legality and security of foreign arrivals.
The 60 day regime, introduced for tourism, short term business and ad hoc work, already allowed visitors to extend their stay by an extra 30 days at an immigration office. In practice, Thai tourism authorities say average trips last around three weeks, meaning a 30 day cap would still exceed typical behavior. That argument has provided political cover for the rollback, with senior officials insisting that legitimate tourists will not be harmed while loopholes for long staying visitors operating in legal gray zones are narrowed.
Behind the scenes, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and the Foreign Ministry have been weighing concerns raised by police, provincial governors and local business groups about foreigners running unlicensed tours, fronting nominee companies and using tourist entries to live and work in Thailand without the proper permits. A special task force including the Tourism Police has been investigating such activities in major hubs such as Phuket, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Koh Samui and Bangkok, and dozens of tourism business licenses have already been revoked.
Officials argue that trimming the visa free stay will make it harder for bad actors to entrench themselves while still providing a comfortable window for standard holidays and business visits. Industry associations that once lobbied for longer stays now back the reduction, saying the 60 day allowance has been disproportionately used by those skirting labor and tax rules rather than by high spending tourists that Thailand is eager to attract.
Tourism Slows As Security And Labor Concerns Rise
Thailand’s visa rethink comes against the backdrop of a softer than expected tourism rebound in 2025 and early 2026. Arrivals this year are tracking roughly 10 percent below last year, and the country has yet to regain its record 2019 volumes, despite strong regional demand during peak periods such as Chinese New Year. While airlines have restored capacity and hotel occupancy has improved, the spending profile of visitors has shifted, with more budget conscious travelers and a surge of digital nomads and long stay guests renting condos rather than staying in traditional accommodation.
Thai authorities say that pattern has generated friction in some communities, with reports of foreign run tour operators undercutting local firms, unlicensed guides working in popular destinations and unauthorized rentals fueling housing and zoning concerns. In response, the government has combined enforcement campaigns with a more restrictive approach to who can stay and for how long. Immigration officers have been instructed to scrutinize repeat entrants arriving on visa exemption more closely and to enforce financial proof requirements that were often laxly applied during the immediate post pandemic recovery.
Security has become an additional driver. Intelligence agencies and police have warned that generous entry rules can be exploited by organized criminal networks, including those involved in online scams, call center fraud and illegal gambling operations run out of tourist hubs. Officials involved in the visa review process say a shorter permitted stay makes it easier to monitor and disrupt such rings without targeting mainstream leisure travelers.
The recalibration underscores a broader regional trend in which tourism hungry nations now try to balance headline visitor numbers with security, housing, labor market and social cohesion concerns. For Thailand, which remains heavily dependent on tourism receipts, any measure that appears to deter visitors is politically sensitive. But the government is betting that a more carefully controlled entry regime will strengthen the country’s reputation as a safe, orderly destination rather than undermining it.
Australia Tightens Pathways While Keeping Tourist Flows Strong
Australia, another heavyweight in global tourism, has spent the past two years tightening visa pathways and monitoring of foreign nationals, even as it courts high value visitors to sustain airlines and hospitality jobs. While short term tourists from key markets still enjoy relatively straightforward visitor visas or electronic travel authorisations, the government has moved decisively to close what it sees as abuse in student, temporary worker and long stay visitor categories.
Officials in Canberra have raised English language thresholds for student visas, cracked down on onshore “visa hopping” that allowed people to transition between different categories to remain in the country, and given immigration officers more discretion to refuse applications they suspect are primarily aimed at work rather than study or tourism. New integrity rules make it harder for education agents and employers to sponsor people into low skilled roles through programs designed for skills shortages.
For holidaymakers, the impact is primarily felt at the margins through longer processing times, more frequent document checks and a sharper distinction between genuine tourists and those seeking to use visitor entries as a back door into the labor market. Industry leaders have expressed concern that the tougher tone could deter some travelers, but the government insists that maintaining the credibility of the visa system is essential to public support for high overall levels of migration and tourism.
The Australian case illustrates how countries can be simultaneously open and defensive. While airports welcome record numbers of visitors from North America, Europe and Asia, the visa architecture behind those arrivals is being recalibrated to foreground security screening, labor market protection and community expectations that long term stays should be both orderly and lawful.
Saudi Arabia’s Stricter Controls On Short Term Workers And Visitors
Saudi Arabia, which has been opening up to international tourism as part of its Vision 2030 diversification drive, has simultaneously taken a tougher line on certain categories of foreign nationals. Authorities have kept in place an indefinite suspension of Temporary Work Visas initiated in April 2025, a move that has disrupted the ability of companies to bring in short term staff across sectors such as construction, IT and events. While some block and short term visas resumed for selected countries after the Hajj season, the freeze on many temporary work arrangements remains a powerful signal of the kingdom’s emphasis on labor nationalization.
The suspension supports an expanded Saudization agenda that requires higher proportions of Saudi nationals in private sector roles, including tourism and hospitality. For foreign workers and the firms that employ them, the policy has injected uncertainty into project planning and staffing models. Recruiters report that companies are increasingly cautious about relying on rotating foreign contractors, turning instead to longer term hires or local talent even when specialized skills are in short supply.
At the same time, Saudi authorities have stepped up enforcement against visitors and residents who overstay or violate visa terms. Recent campaigns have warned that both overstayers and sponsors who fail to report them face heavy fines, possible imprisonment and deportation. Officials have also encouraged citizens and residents to report suspected violators confidentially, positioning visa compliance as a matter of national security and social order.
The combination of ambitious tourism marketing, marquee events and tighter rules for those living and working in the kingdom illustrates a delicate balancing act. Saudi Arabia wants to draw millions of visitors to new destinations along the Red Sea and in Riyadh, yet it is equally determined to manage who can access its labor market, how long they can remain and under what conditions they can regularize their status.
United Kingdom Raises Costs And Adds Security Filters
The United Kingdom, long one of the world’s most visited countries, has taken a different route in reshaping travel norms: steadily raising the price of access and embedding new pre travel screening tools. From April 2025, visa fees for Indians and other nationalities have risen across multiple categories, including short term visitor and student visas. For many travelers, the headline change is a jump of around ten percent for six month visitor visas, which cover the vast majority of leisure and family trips.
Nationals from visa exempt countries now face higher charges for the UK’s electronic travel authorization system. The fee for this pre arrival clearance, which functions similarly to programs in the United States and elsewhere, is set to increase sharply, adding a new layer of cost for millions of visitors who previously entered without any paid pre registration. British officials argue that the system allows them to run security and immigration checks before travelers board a plane or ferry, improving border efficiency and public safety.
Travel industry groups have warned that successive fee hikes, combined with a complex web of rules for different nationalities, risk making Britain less competitive as a city break and study destination, particularly at a time when living costs in London and other major cities remain high. However, ministers maintain that visa income helps fund border operations and that those who can afford international travel can absorb moderate increases.
The United Kingdom’s approach reflects a broader shift toward using pricing as a policy lever. By making visas and electronic clearance more expensive, the government can moderate demand, fund enforcement and signal a preference for higher spending visitors, all without explicitly cutting permitted length of stay for tourists who comply with the rules.
Denmark And The Schengen Area Tighten The Screws
Within Europe’s Schengen zone, which allows passport free movement across most of the continent, individual countries such as Denmark have also tightened aspects of their visa and residency regimes. Danish authorities have in recent years pursued stricter criteria for family reunification, work and study permits, while backing Schengen wide efforts to bolster external border controls and refine screening of visa applicants from high risk regions.
Although the standard Schengen short stay visa still allows most visitors 90 days within any 180 day period, consulates and border guards now make fuller use of interviews, document checks and biometric databases. Repeat visitors who alternate between tourism and informal work face greater scrutiny, and travelers may be asked to show more detailed proof of funds, accommodation and return plans. Copenhagen has supported the European Union’s forthcoming travel authorization system for visa exempt nationals, similar to those deployed in the United States and United Kingdom, which will add another layer of pre screening for millions of non European visitors.
For Denmark, as for many of its neighbors, the issue is not simply tourism but the interaction of short term travel with broader debates over migration, integration and security. Policymakers stress that they remain keen to welcome tourists but that open borders inside Schengen require strong, credible controls at the external frontier. That logic underpins both national tightening and collective initiatives that will touch every traveler heading to Europe for a beach holiday, business meeting or family visit.
The result is a subtle but significant change in the experience of visiting countries like Denmark. Where travelers once focused mainly on accommodation and transport, they are increasingly advised to study visa and authorization rules closely, apply well in advance and expect more intrusive questions at consulates and border crossings.
A Global Recalibration Of Travel Flexibility
Viewed together, these developments in Thailand, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Denmark and beyond point to a global recalibration of how states manage foreign arrivals. The pandemic years temporarily collapsed international mobility, then ushered in a fierce competition for visitors once borders reopened. Governments rushed to expand visa waivers, introduce digital nomad programs and simplify paperwork in hopes of filling hotels and airline seats. Now, with travel volumes largely restored, the pendulum is swinging back toward control.
Security agencies warn of rising cross border crime, from scam centers in Southeast Asia to trafficking networks exploiting lax regimes. Labor ministries worry that temporary schemes designed to plug skills gaps are being used to undercut local workers. Housing and tourism officials field complaints that long staying foreigners have distorted rental markets in already stretched cities. In this environment, shortening permitted stays, raising fees, suspending certain visa types and tightening enforcement are politically attractive tools.
For travelers, the practical impact is a more fragmented landscape of rules. A trip that once required nothing more than a passport and a return ticket may now involve an electronic authorization, higher fees, stricter proof of funds, biometric data and a shorter permitted stay. Those who favor more open borders see this as a retreat from the era of easy global movement. Governments respond that more sophisticated screening and calibrated restrictions are necessary to sustain domestic support for any openness at all.
Thailand’s pending cut from 60 days to 30 days encapsulates this new mood. The country is not closing its doors to visitors, nor is it imposing draconian hurdles on casual tourists. Instead, it is drawing a sharper line between short term leisure travel and quasi residency built on repeat visa free entries. As more countries quietly redraw that line in their own way, the norms that shaped international travel for a generation are being rewritten, one policy tweak at a time.