Tourism Authority of Thailand

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is the state agency responsible for promoting Thailand as a destination and communicating official tourism policy to international audiences. In May-June 2026 TAT became the primary English-language source confirming that Thailand's cabinet-approved cut from 60 to 30 days of Visa-free entry, approved on 19 May 2026, had not yet taken effect. TAT's newsroom published the entry confirming the Royal Gazette publication requirement: the reduction takes effect only 15 days after three Interior Ministry announcements appear in the Gazette, which had not happened as of late June 2026. As a result, the 60-day Visa-free window remained in force for the 93 countries that had used it since July 2024.

TAT operates under the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and was established in 1960. It manages Thailand's international destination marketing, operates overseas offices across major source markets, and publishes entry-condition guidance that is widely cited by travel agents, airlines, and immigration advisories. Its TAT Newsroom serves as the official distribution channel for government-approved tourism communications in English, which gives its bulletins authority on entry-rule changes even though the binding instrument remains Interior Ministry Gazette publication. TAT's confirmation of the Royal Gazette status is therefore the most reliable near-real-time signal for whether the 30-day rule has activated.

TAT's involvement in the Visa-free debate reflects a structural tension in Thai tourism policy. The agency's mandate is to grow arrivals, yet the May 2026 cabinet decision to halve the Visa-free window was framed around high-spending visitor quality over volume following a 3.4% year-on-year fall in arrivals in Q1 2026. TAT has not publicly dissented from the cut, but its role as the communicator of arrival conditions puts it in the position of managing expectations for a policy change that reduces rather than expands access.