Royal Thai Consulate-General in Chennai

Southern India talks to Thailand through a bungalow-lined stretch of Chamiers Road in Nandanam, where the Royal Thai Consulate-General serves a region whose links to Siam predate every modern border: the maritime routes from the Coromandel Coast carried traders, monks, and ideas across the Bay of Bengal for a millennium, and Tamil merchant communities were fixtures of Siamese ports centuries before either country issued a visa. Today the practical picture is simpler — Indian passport holders fly from Chennai to Bangkok in about three and a half hours and enter Thailand visa-free for up to 60 days — so the consulate-general's counters concentrate on what the exemption does not cover: e-Visa categories for the southern professionals who work, study, and retire in Thailand, and consular care for Thai nationals in the south. The catchment is one of India's most internationally mobile regions, taking in Tamil Nadu's automotive and manufacturing belt, the IT corridors of Chennai and Bengaluru, and Kerala's globally dispersed workforce, with direct Bangkok flights from multiple southern airports feeding Thailand-bound tourism that ranges from temple-circuit travellers to honeymooners heading for Krabi.

The 60-day visa exemption for Indian passports covers the overwhelming majority of trips from southern India — tourism, family visits, and short business travel — with the Thailand Digital Arrival Card, registered free online within three days before arrival, as the only paperwork. Everything longer runs through Thailand's online e-Visa system at thaievisa.go.th: Non-Immigrant B for employment, ED for study, O for family and retirement, and the Destination Thailand Visa for remote workers. Applicants resident in southern India are handled under the Chennai consulate-general within that system; documents are uploaded and fees paid online, and fees are non-refundable, so apply comfortably ahead of fixed travel dates.

For Thai nationals across southern India the consulate-general provides passport issuance and renewal, document legalisation, civil-registration services, and emergency assistance. The consular counter follows the office's split hours — mornings and afternoons with a midday break — and general inquiries go to thaiconsulate.cnn@mfa.go.th or +91 44 4230 0730 and +91 44 4202 0900.

The consulate-general at No. 116 Chamiers Road in Nandanam is open Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 13:00 and again from 14:00 to 17:00 — plan around the midday closure. Ring +91 44 4230 0730 or +91 44 4202 0900, or write to thaiconsulate.cnn@mfa.go.th, before visiting for consular matters, as service-specific requirements and holiday closures are announced in the consulate's notices.

Visa applications are not lodged over the counter — the online e-Visa portal is the only route, and the consulate handles the cases the system assigns to southern India. The Thailand Digital Arrival Card is mandatory for every traveller including visa-exempt Indians. The exemption policy is reviewed periodically, so confirm the current rule close to departure, and remember the office's midday break when timing a visit.