(THAILAND) — Thailand’s Cabinet approved a rollback of the country’s 60-day visa-free entry scheme on 19 May 2026, cutting the stay to 30 days for most eligible nationalities and placing Morocco within the wider group affected by the change.

The policy covers 93 countries and territories. It does not single out Moroccan travelers; Morocco falls within the broader list of countries losing the longer automatic stay period.

Thai authorities tied the change to tighter controls on visa abuse, illegal work, and transnational crime. The new rules do not take effect immediately. They will start 15 days after publication in the Royal Gazette.

That timing leaves the current system in place until the Royal Gazette publishes the measure and the waiting period runs. Travelers entering before then remain under the existing framework.

Stays already granted also remain valid until their original expiry dates. People who entered Thailand under the existing 60-day visa-free entry rules will keep that permission until the end date already issued to them.

Moroccan passport holders now face the same shift as other nationalities in the affected group. Once the change takes effect, the visa-free entry window for most eligible travelers will be 30 days, not 60 days.

The decision marks a reversal of the more generous entry period Thailand had offered under the current scheme. Cabinet approval on 19 May 2026 set the policy change in motion, but enforcement still depends on publication in the Royal Gazette and the required 15-day delay.

That distinction between approval and enforcement matters for travelers with trips already booked. A Cabinet decision changes the policy direction, but the legal start date arrives later, after publication in the Royal Gazette.

Thailand has not ended visa-free entry for Moroccans outright in the material tied to the change. The shift is narrower and more specific: Morocco remains part of a visa-exempt group, but the length of stay moves from 60 days to 30 days once the new rule comes into force.

The practical effect is straightforward. A Moroccan traveler planning a short visit after the effective date will need to build the trip around a 30-day visa-free stay, not the 60-day period available under the current arrangement.

Anyone with an existing stay already stamped or granted does not lose that permission because of the Cabinet move. Those entries remain valid until their original expiry dates, even after the broader policy changes take effect.

Thailand’s use of the Royal Gazette as the trigger for enforcement also leaves a narrow but important window in which the old rule still applies. Until publication occurs, and until the additional 15 days pass, the rollback is approved policy rather than active border practice.

That means travelers and airlines will need to watch the publication date closely. A trip booked around the current 60-day visa-free entry allowance could fall under the shorter 30-day rule if arrival comes after the Royal Gazette publication and waiting period are complete.

Morocco’s inclusion in the affected group places it alongside dozens of other countries and territories covered by the same rollback. The measure applies across the wider visa-exempt list rather than carving out a separate rule for one nationality.

Thai travel-industry coverage and other accounts of the policy shift have described the same sequence: Cabinet approval on 19 May 2026, publication in the Royal Gazette, then implementation 15 days later. The central change remains the same throughout, a reduction from 60 days to 30 days for most affected visa-free arrivals.

Travelers heading to Thailand now need to treat the Royal Gazette publication as the date that starts the countdown. Once that notice appears, the shorter visa-free entry period becomes active after 15 days, while any stay already granted continues until the date originally issued.