Written by the Thai Legal & Immigration legal team · Last reviewed · Editorial policy
What is the TDAC?
The TDAC is the digital version of the arrival card that airlines used to hand out on flights to Thailand. Instead of filling in a paper TM6 on the plane, travellers now register online before departure. The system records who is entering the country, where they will stay and how to reach them, and the immigration officer sees your record when you arrive.
Who must submit it?
The requirement applies to foreign nationals entering Thailand, whatever visa or exemption they travel on — tourists, business visitors, long-stay visa holders and residents returning home alike. Check the official portal for current exemptions, which have included transit passengers who do not pass through immigration and travellers entering on border passes. Thai citizens do not use the TDAC.
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When and how do you file?
File within the 72 hours before your arrival in Thailand, on the official portal only. You receive a confirmation by email; keep it available on your phone or printed for arrival. If your flight, dates or address change after filing, submit an updated registration before you travel rather than explaining discrepancies at the desk.
What information do you need?
Prepare these before you start:
- Passport details exactly as printed in the passport.
- Your arrival flight number (or land/sea crossing details) and date.
- The address of your first accommodation in Thailand.
- Contact details and basic health declaration answers.
- The same information for each family member travelling with you — every traveller needs their own registration, including children.
Mistakes that cause trouble at the border
- Paying a third-party website to 'process' the card — the official portal is free of charge; paid sites are agents, not the government.
- Filing too early, so the registration falls outside the accepted window before arrival.
- A passport number or name that does not match the passport exactly.
- Registering a hotel address, then arriving at a different one without updating.
- Assuming the TDAC replaces a visa — it does not; entry permission is decided separately.
How we help
For most travellers the TDAC is a short online form. Where it becomes part of a larger question — which visa to travel on, how long you may stay, or what to do after arrival — our legal team can assess your situation in a Free Initial Case Assessment and handle the visa side properly. We do not sell TDAC submissions; the official portal is free.
How the TDAC fits into the wider entry process
Entry to Thailand involves three separate layers that travellers often conflate. The first is permission to seek entry: a visa issued by an embassy, a visa exemption for your nationality, or a visa on arrival where eligible. The second is the TDAC, which is simply the arrival record telling immigration who is coming and where they will stay. The third is the decision at the desk, where the officer stamps your permission of stay. None of these replaces the others.
Because the layers are separate, a correctly filed TDAC does not strengthen a weak visa position, and a valid visa does not excuse a missing arrival registration. Treat the TDAC as a travel-formality task on the same checklist as your flight and hotel booking, and treat visa questions as a legal matter to settle well before departure.
Privacy and data handling on the official portal
The arrival card asks for personal, travel and health information that is protected under Thailand's Personal Data Protection Act. Filing on the official government portal means your data goes to the authority that operates the border system. Filing through a look-alike commercial site means handing your passport data, travel plans and contact details to a private company whose data practices you cannot easily verify.
A simple check protects you: the official portal address ends in go.th, the Thai government domain, and it never asks for payment. Any site that charges a 'processing fee' for the arrival card is a private agent adding a margin to a free government form. If you have already paid such a site, the registration may still be valid, but consider whether you want that company to keep your passport details.
Families, groups and travellers with special circumstances
Every foreign traveller needs an individual registration, including infants. In practice one adult usually completes the forms for the whole family, which is acceptable as long as each person's details are entered accurately against their own passport. For group travel such as tours or company trips, each traveller still needs their own record; a group booking reference is not a substitute.
Travellers with special circumstances should allow extra care. If you hold two passports, register with the one you will present on arrival. If you are entering overland on a multi-country trip, file only once your crossing date is firm. If you are returning to Thailand as a resident, the TDAC sits alongside your re-entry permit and your TM.30 address reporting duties — each obligation is separate and each has its own deadline.
What happens on arrival and if you forgot to file
On arrival, the immigration officer retrieves your registration electronically; keeping the confirmation email accessible on your phone speeds this up. If your details match your passport and travel documents, the arrival card adds no time to the process. Problems arise when the record is missing or inconsistent — a different flight number, a misspelled name, or no registration at all.
If you arrive without having filed, expect to be asked to complete the registration before your entry can be processed, which can mean stepping out of the queue with your phone at a busy airport. The reliable fix is preventive: file within the 72-hour window, check the confirmation email arrived, and update the registration if any travel detail changes before departure.
Where the TDAC ends and legal advice begins
The arrival card itself rarely needs professional help — it is a short form on a free government portal. The questions around it often do: which visa category matches your real purpose, whether your planned activities are permitted on that status, how long you may stay, and what reporting duties follow after arrival. Those are questions of immigration law, and the wrong answer can mean a refusal at the desk or an overstay later.
If your trip involves work, a long stay, a business purpose, family circumstances or a previous immigration problem, speak to a licensed attorney before you travel. Our firm offers a Free Initial Case Assessment to map your situation to the correct route, and a formal quotation before any paid work. The decision on entry always rests with the authorities; our role is to make sure your paperwork and your plans are consistent, complete and honest.
Frequent entries, border runs and what officers actually see
Travellers who enter Thailand many times a year sometimes ask whether the TDAC changes how closely their travel history is watched. The honest answer is that immigration has always recorded entries; the digital card mainly makes the record cleaner and faster to retrieve. An officer deciding on your entry can see your pattern of stays regardless of whether the card arrived on paper or through a screen.
This matters most for people using repeated visa-exempt entries or back-to-back tourist visas to live in Thailand informally. The TDAC does not create new rules against that pattern, but it does nothing to protect it either. If your real situation is long-term residence, remote work or retirement, the sustainable route is a visa category built for that purpose. Our team can compare the options for your circumstances in a Free Initial Case Assessment, before a border officer forces the question.
Related services
Frequently asked
Is the TDAC a visa?
Does the TDAC cost anything?
When should I submit my TDAC?
Do children need their own TDAC?
What if my flight or hotel changes after I file?
Does the TDAC apply at land borders and seaports?
I live in Thailand on a long-stay visa. Do I still need it?
Sources & references
- Thailand Digital Arrival Card – official portal — checked 2026-11-03
- Thai Immigration Bureau — checked 2026-11-03
- Thai e-Visa official portal — checked 2026-11-03
General information only, not legal advice. Immigration decisions rest with the Thai authorities.