The Short Answer
If you will stay less than 60 days: Medical Tourist (MT) Visa or Visa-On-Entry
If you will stay longer than 60 days: Non-Immigrant Type “O” Medical Treatment
The Long Answer
When traveling, it is always important to have the right kind of visa for your visit in order to avoid any trouble with the local authorities. If you are traveling to receive healthcare in another country, you should obtain a medical visa if at all possible.
Thailand has many different visa types, but if you are traveling for medical care you will likely find the tourist visa most useful.
There are 6 types of tourist visas offered by the Kingdom of Thailand:
1. Tourism and leisure activities
2. Football Trial
3. Recreational learning or training of related activities, e.g. scuba diving, boxing training, Thai massage training, and Thai culinary learning
4. Visiting or staying with family residing in Thailand (less than 60 days)
5. Medical treatment (less than 60 days)
6. Participants of MICE industry (Meeting, Incentives, Convention, Exhibitions) supported by TCEB (Thailand Convention Exhibition Bureau)
When traveling, it is always important to have the right kind of visa for your visit in order to avoid any trouble with the local authorities. If you are traveling to receive healthcare in another country, you should obtain a medical visa if at all possible.
Below are explanations of the various visa types relevant to traveling for medical care.
Visa-On-Entry
(less than 60 days)
Travelers with American passports may enter Thailand without securing a visa in advance. This process is called a visa exemption or a visa-on-entry.
If you choose to enter Thailand via the visa exemption, your visa will permit you to stay in the country for up to 60 days, after which you may apply for an extension for another 30 days. Extension of stay is not guaranteed, but it is rare for an extension to be denied.
When receiving a visa this way, it is considered a tourist visa, meaning that you cannot be legally be employed or do any work in Thailand. The only exception to this is if you are doing “Necessary or Urgent Work or Ad-hoc Work” in which case you must notify the registrar in person at any airport or labor office in Thailand. The processing of this paperwork will take at least one business day and will permit you to work in Thailand for no more than 15 days.
Medical Tourist (MT) Visa
(less than 60 days)
Medical Tourist (MT) Visas may be applied for in advance via the Thai E-Visa Official Website.
As a general rule, be prepared to provide proof of a hospital or clinic appointment, proof of accommodation in the country, and proof that you have enough money to travel and receive treatment in Thailand.
You may be wondering why anyone would apply for a medical visa in advance rather than just use the visa-on-entry. The benefit of applying for a medical visa in advance is that you can confirm that you are approved for a visa before traveling.
Additionally, if you need to stay longer than 60 days for your treatment (such as for processes like chemotherapy or rehabilitation from intensive surgery) you will need to instead apply for a type “O” visa rather than a tourist visa of any variety.
Non-Immigrant Type “O” Medical Treatment
(longer than 60 days)
If you will need to stay longer than 60 days you should not enter Thailand without securing a visa in advance. It can be very difficult to get a Non-Immigrant visa after you have already entered the country on a tourist visa.
Non-Immigrant Type “O” Medical Treatment Visas may be applied for in advance via the Thai E-Visa Official Website.
Help Applying for Visas
You can find guides on how to apply for various Thai visa types on MedicalDefectors.com. I will update with more guides as I write them.
Medical Defectors 
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