Guide · Thailand · Updated 2026

How to fill the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) in 2026

The TDAC is now mandatory to enter Thailand — no card, no smooth entry. This guide shows you exactly how to fill it, when to submit it, and the small mistakes that get travellers stopped at boarding or held up at immigration. Do it right, once, and walk straight through.

Entry Documents is an independent private company — not affiliated with Thai Immigration. The official TDAC can be submitted for free on the official Thai Immigration website. Our optional paid service simply fills, checks and delivers it for you, with human support.

What is the TDAC — and why it now decides your entry

The Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) is the online form every foreign traveller must complete before entering Thailand. Introduced on 1 May 2025, it replaced the old paper TM6 card. It records your identity, trip and accommodation in advance and produces a QR code you present on arrival. No valid TDAC, and your arrival stops being a formality and starts being a problem.

It is mandatory — and skipping it is a real risk

The TDAC is mandatory for almost all foreign nationals arriving by air, land or sea. Travelling without it — or with details that do not match your passport — can mean being stopped by your airline before boarding, held at immigration while you redo the form, and starting your trip stressed in a queue instead of on a beach. This is not a step to improvise at the airport.

Who needs it

Nearly every foreign visitor — tourists, business travellers and families. Every traveller needs their own card, including children. Requirements can change, so confirm your specific case before you travel.

When to fill it in — timing matters

Complete it shortly before arrival, within a few days of your trip. Too early and it can be rejected; too late and you are filling a government form on airport Wi-Fi with a boarding call overhead. Prepare your information as soon as your trip is booked, and submit close to departure.

Step by step: how to fill the TDAC

1. 1

   Get your passport and trip details in front of you

   You need your passport (exactly as printed on the photo page), your flight or transport details, and the address of your first night's accommodation in Thailand. Guessing any of these is how mistakes start.

2. 2

   Enter your identity exactly as in your passport

   Full name, nationality, passport number, date of birth and sex must match your passport character-for-character. One dropped middle name or a wrong letter can flag your record.

3. 3

   Add your travel information

   Arrival date, mode of travel (air, land or sea), flight or vehicle number, and the country you are boarding from. The arrival date has to be right — it controls whether the card is even accepted.

4. 4

   Enter your accommodation in Thailand

   The name and full address of your hotel or first-night stay. A blank or vague address is one of the most common reasons a card is rejected.

5. 5

   Answer the health and declaration questions

   A short set of standard questions. Answer honestly and consistently with your other travel documents — contradictions get noticed at the border.

6. 6

   Double-check everything, submit, and save the QR code

   Check every single field against your passport before you submit. Then keep the QR code safe — you will be asked to show it on arrival, and a missing or wrong one means trouble at the worst possible moment.

The mistakes that get travellers stopped

Almost every TDAC problem comes from a small data error — not a hard form. These are the ones that turn into real trouble:

• ✕Name spelled differently from the passport — missing middle names, wrong order, dropped accents. This alone gets people stopped.
• ✕Passport number typed with an O instead of a 0, or with stray spaces.
• ✕Wrong arrival date, or submitting too early — outside the accepted window, so the card is refused.
• ✕Accommodation left blank or with an incomplete address.
• ✕Special characters (ø, ñ, ü, ß…) entered in a way the system rejects.
• ✕One traveller submitted — and the rest of the family forgotten at the airport.

Do it yourself, or have it done right

You can fill the official TDAC yourself, for free, on the official Thai Immigration website — and if you are confident every field will be perfect, go for it. But if you are travelling with family, do not read the form's language fluently, or simply do not want to gamble your arrival on a typo, this is exactly where a checked, guided process pays for itself.

Frequently asked questions