Thailand TDAC: How to Fill It In (2026) — Free, 3 Days Before

Thailand's TDAC (Thailand Digital Arrival Card) is a free online form you submit within three days of arriving — and it is not a visa. It replaced the paper arrival card in 2025, it takes about five minutes per traveller, and the only website that issues it is tdac.immigration.go.th.

This is the field-by-field walkthrough, the five mistakes that cause problems at immigration, and exactly when to submit it.

The short version

Cost	Free. No fee, no "processing charge"
Official site	tdac.immigration.go.th — the only one
When	Within 3 days before arrival, including the arrival day
Who	Every traveller, including infants and children — one form each
What you get	A confirmation email with a QR code / reference — show it at immigration
Not the same as	A visa, an e-visa, or a health pass

If you are flying on Friday, submit from Tuesday onwards. Submitting two weeks early does not work — the form is for a specific arrival date and flight.

Field by field

The form is short, but the order of the fields trips people up. Here is what each one wants.

1. Passport type — ordinary passport for almost everyone. Diplomatic and official have their own options.
2. Nationality — as printed on the passport, not your residence.
3. Family name / Given name — exactly as in the machine-readable zone. Family name first. Do not swap them; this is the number one cause of mismatch at the counter.
4. Date of birth — day, month, year as the form's own selector.
5. Passport number — check for the digit-versus-letter confusion (0/O, 1/I).
6. Passport expiry — Thailand expects at least six months' validity on arrival.
7. Occupation — a free-text field; "company director", "teacher", "student" is enough. It is not checked against documents.
8. Country / city of residence — where you actually live.
9. Arrival date and flight number — the flight that lands in Thailand, not your connecting flight.
10. Purpose of travel — holiday, business, transit and so on.
11. Accommodation in Thailand — hotel name plus address. Copy the hotel's address from your booking; "Bangkok" alone is not enough. If you are moving between cities, use the first hotel.
12. Health declaration — a short set of questions; answer honestly.

You then receive a confirmation by email with a reference number and QR code. Save it offline — screenshot it and add it to your wallet or notes app, because airport Wi-Fi is where people discover they cannot open their email.

The five mistakes we see most

1. Submitting too early. The window is three days. A form submitted a month ahead is not valid for that arrival.
2. Name order reversed. Family name and given name must match the passport. Airlines check this against the booking.
3. Wrong flight number. If you change flights, update the card (the site has an "update arrival card" option) or submit a new one.
4. Address too vague. Hotel name plus street address and district; not just the city.
5. Paying a third party. Sites that charge for TDAC are not the government, cannot speed anything up, and sometimes never file the form at all.

What happens if you do not do it

In practice: you join the manual queue at immigration, which at Suvarnabhumi at peak times can add 30–60 minutes, and the officer will ask you to complete the form on arrival. The bigger risk is at check-in, where airlines increasingly verify the confirmation before boarding.

It is free and takes five minutes. There is no upside to skipping it.

Children and families

Each traveller needs a separate TDAC, including infants. Parents submit one per child using the child's own passport details. If you are travelling as a family of four, that is four submissions — do them in one sitting, because the site keeps the session and the process gets quicker after the first.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Thailand TDAC free?

Yes. It is free on the official site, tdac.immigration.go.th. Any site charging a fee is a third party.

How early can I submit the TDAC?

Within three days before arrival, including the arrival day. Earlier submissions are not valid for a later arrival date.

Is the TDAC a visa?

No. It is an entry form, not a permission to enter. Whether you need a visa depends on your passport — check that separately.

Do I need to print it?

Not usually — a screenshot with the QR code is accepted. Printing is a safe backup if your phone battery is a concern on a long flight.

Travelling onward from Bangkok

We are a tour operator, not a visa agency. We do not file TDAC, visas or ETAs for you, and we do not charge for them. What we do is plan the route — and tell you which forms you will need to submit yourself, in what order, for each country on the way.

Compare Bangkok hotel rates for your dates, see our Thailand private tours, or read the overview: visa, ETA or arrival card — what you actually need.

WhatsApp +852 6888 4736 or email info@blisstravel.life.

BLISS TRAVEL plans private tours in Asia, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. This guide follows Thailand's official immigration portal as published at the time of writing; procedures change, so confirm on the official site before you travel. It is not legal or immigration advice and contains no prices.

BLISS TRAVEL is part of ZEUS GROUP