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The Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) is a free online form that every foreign visitor has had to file before entering Thailand by air, land or sea since 1 May 2025. You file it at tdac.immigration.go.th, no earlier than three days before your arrival date, once per person and per entry, and a confirmation with a QR code arrives by email. This guide covers the steps, the fields, the usual mistakes and the fix for each. It is current as of 7 October 2026.
In short
- The TDAC has been mandatory since 1 May 2025 for every foreigner entering Thailand, whatever the visa type, including visa-exempt visitors. It is not a visa (Royal Thai Embassy Abuja, 14 July 2026).
- It is free. File it only at tdac.immigration.go.th: any site that asks for money is an intermediary (Royal Thai Embassy Abuja, 14 July 2026).
- You can file from three days before your arrival date until you clear immigration, and the portal rejects anything earlier (portal manual; Royal Thai Embassy Buenos Aires, 26 February 2026).
- Everyone needs a card, children and babies included, and every new entry needs a new card. One submission covers up to 10 people (portal manual; ThaiLawOnline, 6 October 2026).
- Full name, date of birth and nationality cannot be edited after you submit, so a typo there means a new card. Flight and address can be updated through Update Arrival Card (portal manual).
Who needs a TDAC, and who does not?
The TDAC replaced the paper TM6 card and applies to every foreigner entering Thailand, whatever the visa type, including visa-exempt visitors. Children and babies need one too. The exemptions are narrow: transit without passing immigration control, and entry on a border pass (Royal Thai Embassy Abuja, 14 July 2026; Royal Thai Embassy Athens, 9 April 2025).
The TDAC is not a visa. The exemption now gives 30 days, for tourism only, as explained in the 30-day exemption from September 2026; for a longer stay see Stay in Thailand longer than 30 days.
How many hours before you land should you file?
File no earlier than three days (72 hours) before your arrival date: the portal rejects an earlier filing. You can still file on the day you land, until you clear immigration. Filing a day or two before you fly is sensible, once the flight number and address are final (portal manual; Royal Thai Embassy Buenos Aires, 26 February 2026).
Say your flight leaves Heathrow on Thursday evening and lands in Phuket on Friday at 14:30. The arrival date is Friday, so the window opens on Tuesday, and Thursday afternoon is a comfortable time to file. The date that counts is the date you land in Thailand, not the date you leave home.
Step by step: how to fill in the TDAC
The portal manual describes eight steps. Have your passport, flight number, arrival date, the address of your first night in Thailand and an email address ready. Enter everything in English, even if you switch the interface language (portal manual, checked 7 October 2026; Pattaya Mail, 29 April 2025).
- Open tdac.immigration.go.th and press the "Arrival Card" button. Check the address in your browser bar.
- Enter your passport details: scan the MRZ line, upload an image of it or type the details by hand. After an automatic fill, recheck every field.
- Enter your trip and accommodation details, then press "Continue".
- Answer the health questions if the form asks for them, for example the countries you visited in the last 14 days. Press "Preview".
- Review everything. Fix mistakes with the "Edit" button.
- Enter the email address where the card should arrive.
- Tick the terms and press "Submit".
- Download the card and save the QR code; a confirmation also arrives by email. Note the card number, because you need it to make changes.
In the drop-down lists, type the first three letters of a name and the options appear (portal manual). Guides describe the first-night address as needing every part: accommodation type, province, district, sub-district and street address.
What goes in each field?
The form has five blocks: passport, personal details, trip, accommodation and health (portal manual). We name the fields as 2025 and 2026 guides describe them, and the labels or the order on the portal may differ. The table shows what to enter and what to check before you press Submit.
| Block | What to enter | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Passport and personal details | Family name, first name, passport number, nationality, date of birth, gender, occupation, country and city of residence, phone | Exactly as in your passport. These cannot be changed after submitting |
| Trip | Arrival date, country where you boarded, purpose, mode of transport, flight number | The boarding country and the flight belong to the plane that lands in Thailand |
| Accommodation | Type, province, district, sub-district, first-night address | For a rental use the address in your lease, for a hotel the one in your booking |
| Health | Countries visited in the 14 days before arrival | Answer any extra questions the form asks |
Enter a visa number only if you hold a visa; under the visa exemption you have none. State your real purpose: the exemption is for tourism only (Royal Thai Embassy London, 8 September 2026). Phuket has three districts: Mueang Phuket, Kathu and Thalang. Patong and Kamala sit in Kathu; Karon, Chalong and Rawai in Mueang Phuket; Cherng Talay, Bang Tao and Mai Khao in Thalang.
If you fly in from the UK, US or Australia
Check the date of birth twice, because a month-first habit can swap day and month, and the field cannot be edited later. Type your city and county or state of residence in English. Save the card on your phone before you leave home: roaming data may be off when you land.
Families, children and groups
Every person needs their own card, babies included. A family or a group of up to 10 can file in one submission with the "Add Other Travelers" button, and a "Same as Previous Traveler" option reuses the trip and accommodation details (Royal Thai Embassy Buenos Aires, 26 February 2026; portal manual).
Transit, connections and land borders
Stay in the international area of the airport without passing immigration, and you need no TDAC. Leave the airport, or clear immigration in Bangkok and fly on to Phuket on a domestic ticket, and that is an entry: the card is mandatory, and the same rule applies at land and sea borders (Royal Thai Embassy Athens, 9 April 2025).
On the card, enter the international flight that brings you into Thailand and the address of your first night. Sources read the "Country where you boarded" field differently for connecting flights, and we found no rule in the portal manual, so go by the boarding pass of your last flight. A same-day return from a border trip is a new entry and needs a new card (ThaiLawOnline, 6 October 2026).
Common mistakes and what to do
Most mistakes are in passport details, the address and the timing. Full name, nationality and date of birth are locked after submission, and the Bucharest embassy and ThaiLawOnline add the passport number, so check before you press Submit (portal manual; Royal Thai Embassy Bucharest, 29 May 2025).
| Situation | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A typo in your name, passport number, date of birth or nationality | Those fields are locked | File a new card with the right details and show its QR code at the border |
| Your flight, arrival date or hotel changed | It can be edited | In Update Arrival Card enter the card number, date of birth and nationality, fix the data and download the updated card |
| Wrong first-night address, or the hotel changed | Editable before you enter | Correct it in advance: a mismatch surfaces when the TM30 is checked or when you extend (ThaiLawOnline, 6 October 2026) |
| Filed more than three days ahead | The portal rejects it | Wait for the window and file again |
| You paid a third-party site | The card is free | Check that your confirmation came from the official portal, otherwise file at tdac.immigration.go.th |
| The QR email did not arrive | The card can be reopened | Check spam and the address. Reopen the card in Update Arrival Card with the number, date of birth and nationality; with no number, file a new one |
| No smartphone or no data | Airport computers help | They existed at launch (Pattaya Mail, 29 April 2025), but an airline may refuse boarding without the card |
What else may be checked on arrival
The TDAC alone does not get you in. 2026 guides say an officer may ask for a passport valid for six months with a blank page, an onward ticket and proof of funds: THB 20,000 per person (about USD 600 or GBP 440, at THB 33.6 and THB 45) or THB 40,000 per family (Thaiger, 19 August 2026).
It is worded as "may", and the rule goes back to a 2000 Ministry of Interior announcement that TAT repeated in July 2026. If you plan to stay beyond 30 days, see visa extension in Phuket and TM30 and the 90-day report: the address on your TDAC is later compared with your TM30.
What next
File in the three-day window, save the QR code and prepare your entry papers. If you want to stay longer than 30 days, we help choose the visa and prepare the extension. A typical visit to the immigration office: A 30-day exemption extended in Phuket in one visit.
Date checked: 7 October 2026. If the rules change, we update this guide and the date.
