Guide · Thailand · Visas and entry
Thailand digital arrival card (TDAC): free and required
The Thailand Digital Arrival Card is free, and every non-Thai national entering by air, land or sea has to submit one before arrival. The official window is three days before your arrival date, and the only official site is tdac.immigration.go.th. It is not a visa, and any page charging a fee is not the Immigration Bureau.
Meet Locale editorialLast checked 9 September 2026Verify before you fly
Not legal or medical advice. Rules change. Verify with Thai Immigration or your embassy before you fly. Last checked: 9 September 2026.
The short version
The Thailand Digital Arrival Card is a free government form, required of all non-Thai nationals, submitted in the three days before you arrive, at one address only:
https://tdac.immigration.go.th
Not legal advice. Requirements change and officers decide at the border. Confirm on the Immigration Bureau portal or with your airline before you fly. Last checked 9 September 2026.
Is it free? Yes — and this is where people lose money
The single most common question about the TDAC is whether it costs anything. It does not.
The form is free on the Immigration Bureau portal. There is no fee, no priority tier, and no payment step in the official flow. What exists instead is a set of copycat sites that clone the layout, buy search ads against "Thailand arrival card", and charge for a submission you can make yourself in about ten minutes.
Use this to tell them apart before you type your passport number into anything:
| Signal | Official Immigration Bureau | Copycat or agent |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | tdac.immigration.go.th (.go.th = Thai government) |
.com, .org, .net, or a lookalike with extra words |
| Cost | Free at every step | Any fee, "service charge", or card form |
| Promises | Submits your card | "Fast track", "guaranteed approval", "priority processing" |
| How you found it | Typed or bookmarked | A sponsored search result |
Bookmark the address before you travel, and check the address bar rather than clicking whichever result appears first. A paid submission is not more valid than a free one, and handing your passport details to an unknown operator is the larger cost.
Who has to file, and when
The Immigration Bureau manual is direct about scope:
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Who | All non-Thai nationals entering Thailand |
| How | Air, land, or sea |
| When | Within the 3 days before your arrival date |
| Language | English |
| Cost | Free |
| Since | 1 May 2025, per UK government guidance |
A visa exemption, a Visa on Arrival, or an e-Visa does not remove the requirement. The arrival card records your entry; it does not decide how long you may stay. For that, see Thailand visa 2026, and note that the tourism exemption changed on 15 September 2026.
What to have in front of you
| Field group | What the Bureau asks for |
|---|---|
| Passport | Names exactly as printed, number, nationality, dates |
| Personal | Contact details as the form requests |
| Travel | Flight number or border crossing, and dates |
| Accommodation | Your first address in Thailand — hotel, hostel, or host |
| Health | A declaration, with extra questions only if your routing is flagged |
You can scan the passport machine-readable zone rather than typing, but the manual advises rechecking what the MRZ retrieved every time. An autofilled name with a missing middle name is a problem you want to find now, not at the counter.
Filing it, step by step
- Open the official portal and choose Arrival Card.
- Enter passport and personal details, or scan the MRZ, then continue.
- Enter trip and accommodation details, then continue.
- Complete the health section if prompted.
- Preview everything and edit anything that does not match the passport.
- Enter the email address that should receive the card.
- Accept the terms and submit.
- Download the card. Keep the PDF or QR on your phone for the whole stay.
Group submissions repeat the same blocks for up to 10 travellers, with a same-as-previous option when the flight and hotel match.
Changing it after you submit
Use Update Arrival Card with your TDAC number, date of birth, and nationality.
Three fields cannot be changed that way: full name as printed in the passport, nationality or citizenship, and date of birth. If one of those is wrong, submit a new card rather than trying to patch it. Officers should see your most recent valid submission.
Friction worth planning around
- Hotel not booked yet. Enter the first night you can actually prove, then update if the booking changes before departure.
- Transit. If you clear immigration into Thailand you are entering. If you remain airside and never enter, follow airline and airport instructions on the day rather than a forum thread.
- Late arrivals. File before you fly. Airport wifi and a dying phone battery are a poor time to discover a typo.
- Airport queue. Have the QR or PDF open before you join the line. Officers may or may not scan it, and carrying it costs nothing.
Common mistakes
- Paying a sponsored search result for a free form.
- Filing more than three days out and assuming it worked.
- Letting the MRZ scan fill a name that does not match the passport.
- Assuming a visa or exemption covers the arrival card.
- Saving only the email, then losing signal at the airport.
After you land
Once you are through, the next two decisions are getting into the city from the airport and getting online with an eSIM or tourist SIM. If your stay might run longer than the stamp you receive, read extending a tourist stay before the date, not after it.
Where this sits on Meet Locale
If a field on the form does not match your passport, ask in Visas and entry with the specific field and your nationality before paying anyone to fix it. Travellers who filed the same week can usually say what the portal accepted.
FAQ
Does the Thailand digital arrival card cost money?
No. The Thailand Digital Arrival Card is free on the Immigration Bureau portal at tdac.immigration.go.th. There is no government fee at any step, and no payment page in the official flow. If a site asks for a card number to "process" or "expedite" your arrival card, you are on a copycat, not the Bureau. Paying one of those sites does not make your submission more valid.
Is the TDAC mandatory, and who has to file one?
It is mandatory for every non-Thai national entering Thailand, whether by air, land or sea. The UK government states the requirement has applied since 1 May 2025. Holding a visa exemption, a Visa on Arrival, or an e-Visa does not exempt you from filing, because the arrival card is a separate record from your permission to enter.
When can I submit the TDAC?
Within the three days before your arrival date. The Immigration Bureau manual describes submitting arrival-card information three days in advance, and the UK government describes the same three-day window. If the portal rejects your date as too early, wait until you are inside the window rather than using a third-party site that claims it can file sooner.
Is there an official TDAC app?
The submission is a web form on tdac.immigration.go.th, completed in a browser. Treat any app store listing that charges for a Thailand arrival card as a third party rather than the Bureau, and check the domain in your address bar instead of trusting an icon. You keep the resulting card as a PDF or QR code on your phone.
What is the TDAC number and where do I find it?
It is the reference on the card you receive after submitting, and it also arrives at the email address you entered. You need it, along with your date of birth and nationality, to open Update Arrival Card if trip details change before you travel. Save the PDF rather than relying on finding the email at the airport.
Can I change the form after I submit it?
Yes, through Update Arrival Card, before you travel. The manual states you cannot change your full name as printed in the passport, your nationality or citizenship, or your date of birth through that route. For any of those three, submit a new correct card, since the latest valid submission is what officers should see.
Can a family or group file together?
Yes, up to 10 travellers per submission. Each person still needs their own passport details entered, and infants are not skipped. Where the flight and accommodation match, the form offers a same-as-previous-traveller option to save retyping, but every passport field should still be checked individually.
What if I arrive without one?
The requirement is to complete the card online before entry, so the safe move is to file it in the window and carry the QR or PDF. If the portal is unavailable close to your flight, follow the instructions given by your airline and Immigration staff on the day rather than paying someone in the arrivals hall to "fix" it.
Sources
- 1Official TDAC portal, Thailand Immigration BureauRetrieved 2026-09-09
- 2Immigration Bureau English TDAC manual (who must file, 3-day window, group limit, update rules)Retrieved 2026-09-09
- 3UK FCDO Thailand entry requirements — digital arrival card required from 1 May 2025, register within 3 days before arrivalRetrieved 2026-09-09