Where to Get Passport Photos in Bangkok: Shops, Sizes and Tips

If you need passport photos in Bangkok, go to a dedicated ID-photo shop rather than a mall booth: small studios along Sukhumvit, in Sathorn and around the Chaeng Watthana immigration complex take, size and print passport and visa photos while you wait. The two things that decide whether your photos are accepted are the size and background your document asks for, so know those before you sit down.

This guide covers where to find those shops by neighborhood, what the main passport offices ask for, and how to avoid paying for a second set.

Know your photo rules before you go

A Bangkok studio can print almost any size, but it needs you to tell it which document the photos are for. Rules differ by country, and they change, so check the issuing office's own page the day you go.

• UK passport: online applications need a digital photo; paper applications need two identical printed photos 45 mm high by 35 mm wide, with your head (crown to chin) between 29 mm and 34 mm, on a plain light background, taken within the last month.
• US passport: the US Embassy in Bangkok asks for one photo on a white background with each application. The full size and pose rules are on travel.state.gov. Passport services at the embassy are by appointment only, Monday to Thursday, with no walk-ins for non-emergency cases.
• Thai visas and extensions: Thai immigration and e-Visa applications set their own photo size and file format. Bring the form, or a screenshot of the requirement, and show it to the shop.

The UK's own guidance is a useful reminder for every country: photos must be unaltered by software, with no shadows, no glasses unless you must wear them, and a plain expression. Heavy retouching is a common reason for rejection, so politely decline any "beauty" edit a studio offers for a passport shot.

Sukhumvit: Asok and Khlong Toei

Sukhumvit has the densest cluster of quick-photo shops, which suits visitors staying along the BTS line.

Photo Express, Exchange Tower (Asok)

M Studio's Photo Express sits on the lower ground floor of Exchange Tower on Sukhumvit Road, in the Asok area. The shop describes itself as a visa and ID photo studio with photos ready within 20 minutes, and it also does digital printing. It is closed on Sundays, so plan weekday or Saturday errands around it. If you are staying at the Rembrandt Hotel Bangkok on Sukhumvit Soi 18, the tower is a few hundred meters away as the crow flies.

ID Photo Express & Digital Printing, Sukhumvit 22

This shophouse studio on Sukhumvit Soi 22 has well over a thousand Google reviews, more than any other passport-photo shop we found, and its red "express photo" banners in Thai are hard to miss from the street. Check its hours on Google Maps before you go. For a break afterwards, Benjakitti Forest Park is just under a kilometer away.

HOLO+FACE, EmSphere (Phrom Phong)

If you want a portrait studio rather than a quick counter, HOLO+FACE on the first floor of EmSphere lists ID photos alongside headshots and personal-branding portraits, and it takes online reservations. It is the choice when the same session also needs to produce a LinkedIn or work-permit headshot, but tell the photographer at the start that one set is for an official document.

Sathorn and Silom

Photomics, on Sathorn Soi 11 in front of Assumption primary school, advertises visa and work-permit photos on its shopfront. It is practical for people working in the Sathorn and Silom business district, or for anyone heading to an embassy appointment on the south side of the city. Master Photo on South Sathorn Road is another studio in the same district.

Chaeng Watthana: for immigration appointments

Many longer-stay visitors deal with Immigration Division 1 at the Government Complex on Chaeng Watthana Road, in Lak Si district in the north of Bangkok. It is a long way from the central hotel districts, so bring photos with you when you can. If you forget, there are photo services in the surrounding area, including Pro Photo Digital on Soi Chaeng Watthana 14 and Ten Digital & Post Service on the ground floor of Lotus's Chaeng Wattana.

A tip for that trip: the complex handles a lot of visitors, and a missing photo means a second queue. Carrying a spare set, plus the digital file on your phone, costs little and can save an afternoon. If your appointment finishes early, MOCA Bangkok, the Museum of Contemporary Art, is about 3 km from the complex.

How to get it right the first time

1. Bring the specification. Show the shop the exact size, background color and any head-size rule. "Passport size" means different things in different countries.
2. Dress for the background. A white shirt against a white background can make you blend in. A darker top is safer.
3. Ask for the digital file. Many online applications, including the UK's, want a digital photo, and a file lets you reprint without another sitting.
4. Check the print before you leave. Look at the size, the background and the edges. It is easier to fix at the counter than after you reach the embassy.
5. Carry cash and a phone payment option. Small studios differ in what they accept, and the fee is usually posted at the counter.

Where to stay for errands

If a visa run or passport renewal is part of your trip, a hotel near the BTS Sukhumvit line keeps most photo shops and many embassies within reach by rail rather than by taxi. Browse Bangkok hotels by district, and see our Bangkok shopping guide for the malls around Asok and Phrom Phong.

Sources: GOV.UK: Get a passport photo, U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Thailand: Passports, M Studio Photo Express, HOLO+FACE, Google Maps business listings for each shop. Checked September 26, 2026.