Arrival registration in Thailand: TDAC and ThiM

Arriving in Thailand has gone digital: instead of the paper form once handed out on the plane, trip details are now submitted online before you land. The main tool is the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC), and from August 2026 the Immigration Bureau is moving its ThiM app (Thailand Immigration Management) to a full launch, cutting registration down to a couple of minutes. Here is what exactly you need to fill in, when, and what to show at passport control.

TDAC instead of the paper TM6

TDAC is the digital arrival card that replaced the paper TM6 form. Foreign travellers complete it before entering Thailand, children included: one card per traveller. The Immigration Bureau’s official service is free. As of this guide’s update the card can be submitted within three days before arrival, including the day you land; after sending, a confirmation with a QR code arrives by email. Rules change, so check the official Immigration Bureau website before your trip.

The ThiM app: registration on your phone

ThiM is the Immigration Bureau’s mobile platform, short for Thailand Immigration Management. A public pilot opened in June, and the full launch was scheduled for August 2026. The app works alongside TDAC: you photograph your passport, the system reads and saves the details itself, then you add where you are staying, your travel information and the purpose of the trip. The bureau expects registration to take no more than three minutes, and a group of up to ten people, a family or a tour, can be registered in one go. Important: during the pilot ThiM stayed optional and did not replace TDAC, so the arrival card still has to be completed. The app is available on iOS and Android; at launch it supports English, Russian, Japanese and Chinese, at least fifteen more languages are promised, and registered users get a round-the-clock Tourist Police hotline.

How to fill it in, step by step

• Get your details ready: passport, flight number and arrival date, the address where you are staying for the first nights, and an email for the confirmation.
• Open the Immigration Bureau’s official TDAC service or the ThiM app. In ThiM, photograph your passport – the details are read automatically, so there is less to type.
• Fill in the trip information: flight, arrival date, purpose of the visit and the exact address of your accommodation, as written in the booking confirmation.
• Submit the form and wait for the confirmation with a QR code by email. Save it offline: a screenshot or a PDF on your phone.

At the checkpoint and without internet

At passport control keep your passport and the TDAC confirmation with its QR code to hand. That is exactly why the confirmation is worth saving offline before departure: a screenshot does not depend on roaming or Wi-Fi after landing. If you have already landed and the card is not filled in, you can register from your phone at the airport over Wi-Fi before going through control – but that is a queue and lost time after a long flight, so it is better done in advance.

Common mistakes

• An incomplete or vague accommodation address: «Patong, a hotel by the sea» will not do. Settle on your accommodation before the flight and copy the exact address from the booking.
• Typos in passport details: the number, the spelling of your name and the dates must match the passport character for character. ThiM lowers the risk by reading the passport from a photo.
• Third-party «helper» sites charging a fee: the official service is free. Fill in the card only on the Immigration Bureau website or in ThiM.

Pre-flight checklist

• TDAC is completed for every traveller, children included; the confirmation with the QR code has arrived by email.
• A screenshot or PDF of the confirmation is saved offline, passport and flight details are to hand.
• The exact address of the first night’s accommodation is written down and matches what the card says.
• Optionally, ThiM is installed – handy for group registration and reaching the Tourist Police; internet on arrival is sorted: an eSIM, roaming or airport Wi-Fi.