When thawing a turkey before cooking you should place the turkey in the refrigerator to thaw at least 24 hours before cooking it.
You can leave the turkey out for around 30 minutes to an hour before cooking but if you need to thaw the turkey longer than an hour it needs to be refrigerated to keep bacteria from growing on it.
When I get turkey ready for baking for Thanksgiving or Christmas I will have the turkey in the freezer.
Then I will remove the frozen turkey from the freezer 24 hours prior to cooking it and place it in the refrigerator which allows it time to thaw enough to bake in the oven.
If I left the turkey out longer than a few hours it would spoil due to growing bacteria on it.
So always thaw the turkey in the refrigerator and not on the counter at room temperature.