Short answer
Yes, Pakistani passport holders need a tourist visa before they travel to Thailand. As of 21 October 2026, Pakistanis cannot use visa on arrival and are not visa-exempt, so you apply online through the official Thailand e-Visa system at thaievisa.go.th. A tourist visa allows a stay of up to 60 days, and before you arrive you must also submit the free Thailand Digital Arrival Card.
Do Pakistanis need a visa to visit Thailand?
Yes. A Pakistani passport does not get visa-free entry to Thailand, and Pakistanis cannot use the visa on arrival facility either. You apply for a tourist visa before you travel.
What the official sources say
As of 21 October 2026, Thailand’s 60-day visa-exemption scheme does not include Pakistan, and the Royal Thai Embassy in Islamabad states plainly that visa on arrival is not available for Pakistan and Afghanistan passports. So the two shortcuts other travellers sometimes use, visa-free entry and visa on arrival, are both closed to a Pakistani tourist.
What that leaves
It leaves the tourist visa, applied for in advance. The good news is that the process is now online, and the stay it gives is generous. An agent who tells a Pakistani traveller to pick up a visa at a Thai airport is either mistaken or not being straight with you.
If you are still choosing a destination, compare the entry rules first. The Malaysia visit visa guide, the Dubai visit visa guide and the Saudi visit visa guide explain those routes for Pakistani travellers.
How the Thai e-Visa system works
The way Pakistanis apply for a Thai visa changed at the start of 2025. The paper file at the Embassy is gone, replaced by an online system, but there is one detail that surprises people, so read to the end of this section.
Apply online, since January 2025
As of 21 October 2026, the Royal Thai Embassy in Islamabad applies the Thailand e-Visa system, which came into effect on 1 January 2025. You apply at thaievisa.go.th, the official portal, rather than handing a file over a counter. You must be physically in Pakistan when you apply, and a single account can file applications for yourself and your family together.
Online application, but the fee is paid in cash
Here is the part that catches people out. The application is online, but the visa fee is still taken in cash at the Embassy’s visa counter in Islamabad, not fully online. Processing takes around 14 working days after the fee is received. The approved e-Visa is then emailed to you, and the rules state that a mobile or electronic copy will not be accepted, so you must print it. Plan for the cash payment and the two-week wait, and apply well before your flight.
The tourist visa and the 60-day stay
For a holiday or a family visit, the tourist visa is the one you want. It allows a longer stay than many travellers expect, and it can be extended once inside Thailand.
| Visa | Entries | Validity from issue | Stay per entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tourist visa, single entry | One entry | Use within 3 months | Up to 60 days |
| Tourist visa, multiple entry | Multiple entries | Use within 6 months | Up to 60 days per entry |
| Extension at a Thai immigration office | While you are in Thailand | Applied for before your stay ends | Up to 30 more days, fee 1,900 baht |
| Visa on arrival | Not available to Pakistani nationals | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Validity is not the same as length of stay
The validity is the window in which you must enter Thailand, three months for a single entry visa and six months for a multiple entry one. The stay is how long you may remain once you enter, up to 60 days. Plan your flight inside the validity window and your return inside the 60 days.
Extending your stay
You can apply once at a Thai immigration office, such as the Bangkok Immigration Bureau, to extend a tourist stay by up to 30 more days, for a fee of 1,900 baht. That takes a 60-day stay up to 90 days. Do not plan your whole trip around an extension, but it is useful to know the option exists.
How much does a Thai tourist visa cost, and how do you pay?
The fee is modest, but the only published figure is old, so this is a place to check the live amount rather than trust a number from a blog or an agent.
The published fee is dated
The only tourist visa fee the Royal Thai Embassy in Islamabad publishes is dated 2019, before the 2025 e-Visa switch, so I will not present it as the current 2026 amount. For reference, that page listed a single-entry tourist visa at 5,000 rupees and a multiple-entry one at 25,000 rupees. The fee is paid in cash and is not refunded, whatever the outcome. Confirm the live amount on the e-Visa portal when you apply.
What an agent’s quote should show
- the visa type, single or multiple entry;
- the official visa fee, taken by the Embassy, shown separately;
- their own service charge, on its own line;
- any ticket, hotel or insurance included in a package;
- what happens to your money if the visa is refused.
Because the official fee is small, most of a high quote is someone’s margin. A single lump sum with no breakdown is a reason to slow down and ask questions.
What documents do you need for a Thai tourist visa?
The online form sets out what you upload, and Thai immigration officers can ask for more when you land. Build one file that works for both, and make sure every document is genuine.
Passport and photo
- Passport. At least six months of validity, with an empty page for the visa.
- Photo. A recent passport-style photo, taken within the last six months, as a JPG file under 3 MB, as the e-Visa system asks.
Money, accommodation and travel
Thai sources set out a financial-means figure of 10,000 baht per person, or 20,000 baht per family. That figure is written for visa-exempt and visa on arrival travellers, so treat it as the standard benchmark rather than a fixed tourist-visa line, and carry evidence that the whole trip is affordable.
- a recent bank statement in your own name, with ordinary activity;
- a confirmed air ticket or a hotel booking;
- for employees, a letter from your employer confirming your job and leave;
- business owners can carry registration papers, such as an NTN.
Make sure every document is genuine
The e-Visa announcement warns that supporting documents, especially airline tickets and hotel bookings, must be genuine, and that fakes lead to rejection and possible blacklisting. A fake booking is not a shortcut. It is a fast way to a refusal and a mark against future applications, so book refundable where you can, and keep the real confirmations.
Do you need to fill in the Thailand Digital Arrival Card?
Yes. Separate from your visa, every foreign visitor must submit the Thailand Digital Arrival Card before arriving. It is free, and it took effect in 2025.
What the official sources say
As of 21 October 2026, all foreign nationals entering Thailand by air, land or sea must submit the TDAC, in force since 1 May 2025. You submit it within three days, which is 72 hours, before arrival, on the Immigration Bureau’s own system at tdac.immigration.go.th, and official sources confirm there is no fee.
How to do it safely
- Use only the official system at tdac.immigration.go.th.
- Submit it within the three days, which is 72 hours, before you land.
- Enter your passport details exactly as printed, and check the flight and address fields.
- Keep the confirmation on your phone, with a printed copy in your file.
The TDAC is free and it is not a visa, so it does not replace your tourist visa. A website asking you to pay for an arrival card is not the Immigration Bureau. Every traveller in your group needs one.
What happens at Thai immigration when you land?
An immigration officer checks your passport, your printed e-Visa and your arrival details, and decides whether to admit you. An approved visa does not by itself guarantee entry. The decision is made at the counter.
Questions you should be ready for
- Why are you visiting, and for how many days?
- Where are you staying, and can you show the booking?
- When is your return flight?
- How much money are you carrying, and who is paying for the trip?
- What work do you do in Pakistan?
Answer briefly and truthfully, and let your documents back you up. A traveller who says holiday but has no hotel, no return ticket and very little money gives the officer every reason to look closer.
Can you work in Thailand on a tourist visa, and what if you overstay?
No, you cannot work on a tourist visa, and overstaying is a costly offence. Both carry real consequences, including fines, detention, deportation and a ban on returning.
Working needs a different visa
The Thai foreign ministry states that working in Thailand needs a Non-Immigrant B visa and a work permit, and that even unpaid volunteer work needs a Non-Immigrant visa and a work permit. A tourist visa allows none of this. An employer who tells you to start work on a tourist visa is breaking Thai law and putting you at risk.
Overstaying
As of 21 October 2026, the Immigration Bureau charges a fine of 500 baht per day for overstaying, capped at 20,000 baht, and overstaying can also lead to detention, deportation and imprisonment. Thailand also bars overstayers from returning for set periods. Someone who leaves voluntarily after overstaying can face a ban of one year for more than 90 days, rising to three, five and ten years for longer overstays, while a person who is arrested faces five or ten years. Leave before your permitted stay ends.
Longer stays and the Destination Thailand Visa
If you want much longer than a tourist visa allows, Thailand has a separate route. It is not for an ordinary holiday, but it is worth a line so you know it exists.
The Destination Thailand Visa, or DTV, is a five-year, multiple-entry visa for remote workers, digital nomads and certain soft-power activities, with 180 days per entry and a financial requirement of no less than 500,000 baht. It is applied for through the same e-Visa portal. For a normal family holiday, the tourist visa is the right one, but if your plans are longer, read the DTV conditions on the official portal before you apply.
What happens at the Pakistani airport before you fly to Thailand?
FIA immigration officers check that your passport and visa are genuine and valid, and they may ask about your trip. Visitors should carry a return ticket, accommodation details and proof of funds. Anyone travelling for work needs emigration protection.
What FIA says it checks
As of 21 October 2026, FIA’s published guidance lists these for visit visa travellers: a valid passport, a return ticket, a confirmed hotel booking with advance payment, and sufficient funds. Its Travellers’ Guide says officers ask questions to confirm your identity and the authenticity of your passport and visa, and a second officer re-checks the documents before you enter the departure lounge.
If you are offloaded
Being stopped from boarding is often called offloading. FIA’s guide says the shift in-charge will personally tell an offloaded passenger the reasons, and that if your passport and visa are genuine and valid, with no apparent misdeclaration of facts, immigration staff are not authorised to offload you. FIA’s helplines are 1991 and 051-111-345-786.
The protector requirement for work
Under the Emigration Ordinance 1979, every Pakistani going abroad on a work visa must be protected by the Protector of Emigrants. A person really going to Thailand for a job cannot fix that by holding a tourist visa, and FIA lists a protector stamp among the documents for work visa travellers, not for tourists or family visitors.
How do you spot a fake visa website or a Thailand job scam?
Use only the official Thai e-Visa portal and the official arrival card system, and treat any job that starts on a tourist visa as a scam until proven otherwise. Both problems cost Pakistani families real money.
Fake and unofficial websites
- Look-alike sites with Thailand visa in the name that charge far more than the real fee.
- A site asking you to pay for the free arrival card.
- Emails or messages with an approved visa you never applied for.
- Any page that promises approval, or sells a faster VIP visa.
The official visa route is thaievisa.go.th, and the official arrival card is tdac.immigration.go.th. Type those yourself rather than following a search advert, and check the address before you enter any details.
The tourist visa with a job offer
The usual pattern is a package: a visa, a ticket and a promised job in a restaurant, massage parlour or factory, with the work permit to be arranged after arrival. Thai law allows no work on a tourist visa, so the promise is empty, and the money is usually gone.
- The job starts on a tourist visa, and the permit comes later.
- No BEOE licence can be shown, and there is no job order.
- You are told to say holiday to FIA.
- Payment is in cash with no receipt, or into a personal account.
- Someone keeps your original passport.
Only a licensed Overseas Employment Promoter may recruit people in Pakistan for work abroad. Section 22 of the Emigration Ordinance 1979 makes it an offence for anyone else to take money for a job abroad. The guide to checking a visa consultant in Pakistan sets out the checks and where to report fraud. If you have already paid someone and have doubts, you can book a consultation and bring the receipts and messages.
How do you apply, step by step?
The order below works for most Pakistani tourists and family visitors. Settle the purpose first, and leave plenty of time before your flight.
Confirm the purpose and the visa type
For a holiday or a family visit you need a tourist visa. Pakistanis cannot use visa on arrival and are not visa-exempt, so plan to apply before you travel. Work is a different route and never a tourist visa.
Check your passport and prepare a photo
Your passport needs at least six months of validity and an empty page. Take a recent passport-style photo, taken within the last six months, as a JPG under 3 MB, because the online system asks for it in that format.
Apply online on the official Thai e-Visa portal
Since 1 January 2025, Thai visas for Pakistan are applied for online at thaievisa.go.th, not on paper at the Embassy. You must be in Pakistan when you apply, and one account can file for a family. Upload clear, genuine documents.
Pay the fee and wait for the decision
The online application is submitted first, and the Royal Thai Embassy in Islamabad takes the visa fee in cash at its visa counter. Processing takes around 14 working days after the fee is received, so apply well before your flight.
Print the approved e-Visa
The approved e-Visa is emailed to you. Print it. The official rules say a mobile or electronic copy of the e-Visa will not be accepted, so carry a printed copy to the airline check-in desk and the Thai border.
Submit the free TDAC, then travel and leave on time
Within three days before you arrive, submit the free Thailand Digital Arrival Card online on the Immigration Bureau’s own system. Carry your printed e-Visa, ticket, hotel booking and funds, and leave Thailand before your permitted stay ends.
What goes wrong most often?
Expecting visa on arrival
Some travellers plan to sort the visa at the Thai airport, as nationals of other countries do. Pakistanis cannot. A traveller who books non-refundable flights expecting visa on arrival can lose the lot. Apply for the tourist visa before you book.
Leaving the application too late
The fee is paid in cash at the Embassy, and processing runs to around two weeks. A traveller who applies the week of the flight can miss it. Start early, with a comfortable margin.
Carrying only a phone copy of the e-Visa
The rules say a mobile or electronic copy of the e-Visa will not be accepted. A traveller who relies on a screenshot can be turned away at check-in. Print the e-Visa and carry the paper copy.
Forgetting the arrival card, or paying for it
The TDAC must be submitted within three days before arrival, and it is free. A traveller who forgets it, or pays a fake site for it, starts the arrival on the wrong foot. Use the official system, close to your travel date.
Travelling for a job on a tourist visa
This is the costly one. The traveller pays for a visa and a promised job, travels without protection, and finds no lawful work on arrival. The money is gone, and working on a tourist visa breaks Thai law.
A realistic example
This is a hypothetical illustration, not a real client. Usman and his wife Mariam live in Karachi. Usman runs a small business, and they want a 10-day holiday in Bangkok and Phuket.
- Six weeks before. They check their passports. Both have more than six months left, with empty pages.
- Four weeks before. They book refundable hotels, hold a return flight, and gather a bank statement and Usman’s business papers.
- Three weeks before. Each applies on thaievisa.go.th while in Pakistan, uploads genuine documents, and pays the fee in cash at the Embassy counter.
- Around two weeks later. The approved e-Visas arrive by email. They check names, passport numbers and dates, and print both.
- Two days before. They each submit the free TDAC on the official system.
- At both airports. They carry printed e-Visas, TDAC confirmations, the ticket, hotel bookings and the bank statement, and their answers match their papers.
Nothing in their file is clever. It simply tells one true story, with the paperwork to back it, and they left enough time for the cash payment and the two-week wait.
The version that goes wrong
Now imagine Usman’s worker Bilal, 25. An agent offers a Thailand visit visa with a restaurant job for a large fee, keeps his passport and says the work permit will be sorted once he lands. The agent has no BEOE licence and gives no receipt. If FIA’s questions uncover the plan, Bilal may not fly. If he flies and works, he breaks Thai law, and once his stay ends, remaining is an overstay offence with a daily fine and a re-entry ban.
Key takeaways
- Pakistani passport holders need a tourist visa for Thailand; visa-free entry and visa on arrival do not apply to them as of 21 October 2026.
- Since 1 January 2025 you apply online at thaievisa.go.th, but the fee is paid in cash at the Royal Thai Embassy in Islamabad and processing takes about 14 working days.
- A tourist visa allows a stay of up to 60 days, extendable once at a Thai immigration office by up to 30 days for 1,900 baht.
- Print the approved e-Visa; the official rules say a mobile or electronic copy will not be accepted.
- Submit the free Thailand Digital Arrival Card within three days, which is 72 hours, before arrival, on the official system.
- The published tourist visa fee is dated 2019, so confirm the live amount on the portal; the fee is paid in cash and not refunded.
- Working on a tourist visa is not allowed, and overstaying brings a 500 baht daily fine capped at 20,000 baht, plus possible detention, deportation and a re-entry ban.
Frequently asked questions
Do Pakistanis need a visa to visit Thailand?
Yes. As of 21 October 2026, Pakistan is not on Thailand’s visa-exemption list and ordinary Pakistani passport holders cannot use visa on arrival. The Royal Thai Embassy in Islamabad states that visa on arrival is not available for Pakistan and Afghanistan passports. A Pakistani tourist must obtain a tourist visa before travelling.
Can Pakistanis get a visa on arrival in Thailand?
No. The Royal Thai Embassy in Islamabad says plainly that visa on arrival is not available for Pakistan and Afghanistan passport holders, and Pakistan is not among the countries in Thailand’s 60-day visa-exemption scheme. You apply for a tourist visa in advance, online, before you book non-refundable travel.
How do Pakistanis apply for a Thai visa now?
Online. Since 1 January 2025, the Royal Thai Embassy in Islamabad applies the Thailand e-Visa system, so you apply at thaievisa.go.th rather than submitting a paper file at the Embassy. You must be physically in Pakistan when you apply, and one account can file for yourself and family members together.
How long can I stay in Thailand on a tourist visa?
A tourist visa allows a stay of up to 60 days per entry. A single-entry tourist visa must be used within three months of issue, and a multiple-entry one within six months. You can apply once at a Thai immigration office to extend a tourist stay by up to 30 more days, for a fee of 1,900 baht, giving up to 90 days in total.
How much does a Thai tourist visa cost from Pakistan?
The only fee figure the Royal Thai Embassy in Islamabad publishes is dated 2019, before the e-Visa switch, so I will not present it as the current 2026 amount. It listed a single-entry tourist visa at 5,000 rupees and a multiple-entry one at 25,000 rupees. The fee is paid in cash and is not refunded. Confirm the live amount on the e-Visa portal when you apply.
Do I have to print the Thai e-Visa?
Yes. The official e-Visa rules state that a mobile or electronic copy of the e-Visa will not be accepted. The approved visa is emailed to you, and you must print it and carry the printed copy to airline check-in and to the immigration counter in Thailand. Do not rely on a screenshot on your phone.
What is the TDAC and is it free?
The Thailand Digital Arrival Card is an online form every foreign visitor must submit before arriving by air, land or sea, in force since 1 May 2025. You submit it within three days, which is 72 hours, before arrival, on the Immigration Bureau’s own system at tdac.immigration.go.th. It is free of charge, and it is not a visa, so you still need your tourist visa.
How much money do I need to show for Thailand?
Thai sources state a financial-means figure of 10,000 baht per person, or 20,000 baht per family. That figure is set out for visa-exempt and visa-on-arrival travellers, so treat it as the standard benchmark rather than a tourist-visa checklist item, and carry evidence that the trip is affordable, such as a recent bank statement in your own name.
Can I work in Thailand on a tourist visa?
No. The Thai foreign ministry states that working in Thailand requires a Non-Immigrant B visa and a work permit, and that even unpaid volunteer work needs a Non-Immigrant visa and a work permit. A tourist visa does not allow any work. An employer who offers a job to start on a tourist visa is not offering lawful work.
What happens if I overstay in Thailand?
The Immigration Bureau charges a fine of 500 baht per day for overstaying, capped at 20,000 baht, and overstaying can also bring detention, deportation and imprisonment. Thailand bans overstayers from returning for set periods, from one year up to ten years, depending on how long the overstay was and whether the person left voluntarily or was arrested. Leave before your permitted stay ends.
How long must my passport be valid for a Thai visa?
At least six months, with an empty page for the visa. The Royal Thai Embassy in Islamabad lists one empty passport page and six months of passport validity among the basic requirements. Check this before you apply, because a passport that is close to expiry has to be renewed first.
Can Ch. Bilal Rasheed help me with a Thailand visit visa?
He offers a consultation in Lahore, on WhatsApp or by phone, with general guidance and an immigration advisor’s reading of any agent quote or promised job. No one can guarantee a visa or entry to Thailand. He is an immigration advisor in Pakistan, not a Thai lawyer, and he does not offer job placement.
