VISA & Traveling to Thailand

VISA INFORMATION

All participants attending Self Care in Health Care: a Vision for Asia Pacific who do not hold a Thai passport require a visa. However, citizens of countries or regions which have visa exemption with Thailand can enter without a visa for a limited time.

Required Documents

(Please check websites of relevant embassy/consulate for specifically required documents)

  • Passport or travel document with validity not less than 6 months
  • Photograph of the applicant taken within the past 6 months
  • Evidence of travel from Thailand (air ticket booking)
  • Evidence of adequate finance (20,000 Baht per person and 40,000 Baht per family)

PLEASE NOTE: We strongly advise participants to personally check entry and visa requirements before making travel arrangements at least 3 months ahead of time, as there might be country-specific conditions that you are not aware of. For most accurate information, please consult your nearest Royal Thai Embassy for further information.

For more information: Department of Consular Affairs

VISA Letter

A VISA letter can be requested in the online registraiton form. Please click “yes” at the question ” do you require a VISA letter?”. Then you will be asked to provide the detail to be put in the letter, in the registration form. The letter will be prepared and email to your given address.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW!

TIME ZONES

Thailand has only one time zone. Thailand follows UTC+07:00, which is 7 hours ahead of UTC.

ELECTRICAL PLUGS

You may need an adapter in order to plug your appliances into the power sockets.   In Thailand, there are three associated plug types, types A, B and C.  Plug type A is the plug which has two flat parallel pins, plug type B has two flat parallel pins and a grounding pin and plug type C has two round pins. Thailand operates on a 220V supply voltage and 50Hz.

CURRENCY

Thailand’s national currency is Thai Baht (THB), which comes in denominations of 20THB, 50THB, 100THB, 500THB and 1,000THB notes. Coins come in 1THB, 2THB, 5THB and 10THB coins, respectively.

Credit cards such as American Express, MasterCard, Visa, UnionPay and JCB are accepted in Thailand. VISA or MasterCard can be used everywhere credit cards are accepted.  A good tip is to carry multiple credit cards and some cash.  Merchants may impose credit card surcharges in some places.

Traveller’s cheques are not widely accepted in Thailand. You are not recommended to carry travel cheques to Thailand.

Thailand has a Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 7 per cent. You may be able to claim a refund for the GST paid on goods at the Tax Refund Scheme at the Suvarnabhumi Airport or Don Mueang International Airport before departing Thailand. Tourist Refund Scheme facilities are located in the departure are of international terminals.

TIPPING

Tipping is NOT customary in Thailand, there is absolutely NO mandatory requirement to tip anyone, but small gratuities for great service are very much appreciated. However, some hotels, restaurants and cafes will add a 10 percent surcharge to prices.

INTERNATIONAL DIALING CODES

The international dialing code for Thailand is 66.

Further useful Hotline in Thailand is listed here:

  • To call an emergency or accident number in Thailand is 1669.
  • To call a Police is 191.
  • To call a Fire is 119.
LEFT–HAND TRAFFIC

In Thailand, cars, bikes and other vehicles travel on the left-hand side of the road of a bi-directional traffic. Pedestrians also walk on the left-hand side of a path or a corridor in general. Look to your RIGHT first then left to check incoming traffic when crossing a street or road. Same rules apply when you are making turns when driving.