Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) for Indians: 2026 Step-by-Step Guide

The Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) is a free online form that every Indian traveller, children included, must submit on the Immigration Bureau's official site, tdac.immigration.go.th, within the three days before arriving in Thailand. It takes about 3–5 minutes per person. You enter passport, flight and hotel details, then show the QR code on your phone at immigration.

It is not a visa and it does not guarantee entry. Indians still enter on the 30-day visa exemption, and officers can still ask for a return ticket, a hotel booking and proof of funds. This guide covers the official site, the date trap on overnight flights from India, every part of the form, families, land arrivals and what to do when something goes wrong.

Thailand Digital Arrival Card at a glance

The TDAC replaced Thailand's paper TM6 arrival card on 1 May 2025. Older guides that tell you to fill in a form on the plane, or say there is no pre-arrival registration, are out of date.

The official TDAC website, and how to avoid fake ones

The only official web address is tdac.immigration.go.th, run by Thailand's Immigration Bureau. The page title itself reads "No Fees Required", and the Bureau's main site, immigration.go.th, links to it.

Look-alike sites are a real problem. In March 2026 the Immigration Bureau said at least 10% of foreign arrivals had registered through fraudulent TDAC websites, some of which charge a fee. Data typed into those sites never reaches the immigration system, and scammers can misuse it.

• Check the address. It must be tdac.immigration.go.th. A Thai flag and an official-looking logo prove nothing.
• Never pay. The official form has no payment step. If a page asks for card details, close it.
• Type the address yourself or bookmark it, rather than clicking the first search result.
• Already used a paid site? Submit again on the official site. The system treats your latest submission as the valid one.

The Bureau officially launched its THIM app (Thai Immigration Bureau, on the App Store and Google Play) on 25 September 2026 as a second way to submit the same TDAC. It is not an extra requirement. One TDAC through either channel is enough.

When to submit: the 3-day window and the overnight-flight trap

The official FAQ says the card "should be submitted within 3 days in advance of arriving in Thailand (including the date of arrival)". It stays valid from submission until you land, and the system sends no reminders.

The trap for Indian travellers is the date. Many flights from India leave late at night and land the next morning, and Thailand is 1 hour 30 minutes ahead of IST. The form asks for your arrival date in Thailand, and the window counts back from that day.

• Example: a flight leaving Delhi at 11:30 pm on 19 December lands in Bangkok on 20 December. Your arrival date is 20 December, so you can submit from 17 December.
• Safest habit: submit the day before you fly, after web check-in, when your flight number and dates are final.
• Left it too late? The FAQ promises kiosks and Wi-Fi on arrival, and it lists kiosks at five airports: Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Hat Yai. Krabi is not on that list, so fill it in on your phone before landing there.

What to keep ready before you start

You cannot save a half-finished form and come back later, so gather everything first. For each traveller you need:

• The passport. The form can read the two lines of code at the bottom of the photo page (the MRZ) from a scan or photo and fill in your details.
• Occupation, city and country of residence, and a phone number.
• Arrival date, flight number and the country where you boarded the flight into Thailand.
• Departure date and flight, if booked.
• Your first hotel's name, address, province, district and post code. Copy them from the booking voucher.
• The countries you stayed in during the two weeks before arrival.
• An email address you can open on your phone at the airport.

Type everything in English. A laptop makes long passport numbers and Thai addresses easier to enter than a phone keyboard with autocorrect.

How to fill the Thailand Digital Arrival Card, section by section

Open the official site, choose Arrival Card, then individual or group submission. The form has four parts before you submit.

1. Personal and passport information

• Names: copy the passport exactly. Family name means your surname, and first name means your given name.
• Single-name passports: some Indian passports show only a given name. The official changelog says the Family Name field accepts a dash (-) when there is nothing to enter, so put "-" there and your name under first name.
• Nationality: type the first three letters and pick India (IND) from the list.
• Passport number: use your current passport. After a renewal, it is easy to type the old number by mistake.
• Residence and occupation: where you live now, for example Pune, Maharashtra, India.

2. Trip and accommodation information

• Date of arrival: the date you land in Thailand, not the date you leave India.
• Country where you boarded: the country of the flight that actually lands in Thailand. On a Delhi–Kuala Lumpur–Bangkok routing, that is Malaysia, not India.
• Purpose of travel: the holiday option for a normal tourist trip.
• Mode of travel and flight number: air, then the airline code and number exactly as on your ticket.
• Departure details: fill them in if you have a return flight, and check you haven't swapped the arrival and departure dates.
• Accommodation: the hotel for your first night, with its province, district and post code. On a two-city trip, enter the first stop.

3. Health declaration

List the countries you stayed in during the two weeks before arrival. For a direct trip from home, that is just India. Extra questions, such as proof of yellow fever vaccination, appear only if a country, flight or nationality is on the Ministry of Public Health's list.

4. Preview, submit and save

1. Check the preview and use Edit to fix anything.
2. Enter your email address and accept the terms.
3. Submit, then download the TDAC with its QR code. The system also emails you a copy.
4. Save the PDF or a screenshot offline, ideally on two phones if you are travelling together.

Since October 2026 the confirmation email also says whether you may use the automated eGates. "AUTOMATED BORDER CONTROL - ELIGIBLE" in green means you can; "IMMIGRATION COUNTER - MANUAL PROCESSING" means you queue for an officer. India was not among the 33 nationalities on Suvarnabhumi's arrival eGate list in September 2026, so expect the staffed counter.

Families and groups: one submission for up to 10 people

Every traveller needs a TDAC, infants too. You don't need ten separate sessions, though. Choose group submission and add up to 10 people. After the first traveller, the "Same as Previous Traveler" option copies the trip and hotel details across.

• Enter each child's details from the child's own passport, not the parents'.
• Use an email address that someone in the group can open at the airport.
• Keep the arrival card number from the confirmation. Changing a card later needs that number plus the date of birth and nationality.
• Larger family groups, such as grandparents and cousins travelling together, need a second submission beyond 10 people.

The Indian Embassy in Bangkok has also advised that in group travel, each member should carry the required documents individually. So don't keep every passport, return ticket and hotel voucher on one parent's phone.

Arriving by land, by sea, in transit or with a domestic connection

• By land from Malaysia: you need the TDAC at land borders too. Choose land as the mode of travel and enter the bus or vehicle number. If your trip also takes in Malaysia, that country has its own arrival card; our Malaysia Digital Arrival Card guide covers it.
• By sea: also required. Choose sea and enter the vessel details.
• Transit: not needed if you stay airside and do not pass through Thai immigration. If you leave the airport, even for a few hours, you need one.
• International then domestic flight (for example Mumbai–Bangkok–Krabi): you normally clear immigration at your first Thai airport, so enter the international flight and its arrival date.

Mistakes, changes and forgetting: what happens

You can fix most problems before you land, and a few at the airport.

• Flight or hotel changed? Use "Update Arrival Card" with your arrival card number, date of birth and nationality, then submit again. You can update any time before you enter Thailand.
• Name, nationality or date of birth wrong? The update screen won't change these, so submit a fresh card with the correct details. Only your latest submission counts. Passport number is listed as locked in the FAQ too, so if the update screen will not change it, submit a new card.
• No QR email? Check spam first. If it still hasn't arrived, the FAQ says to contact the immigration officer at the checkpoint.
• Forgot entirely? Use the arrival kiosks or airport Wi-Fi before joining the immigration queue, and expect to lose time.
• Website error? Screenshot the error and show it to airport or immigration staff.

Wrong information is the bigger risk. The FAQ says passengers may be denied entry at the immigration officer's discretion, so check the passport number and dates before you press submit.

At immigration: the TDAC, 30-day visa-free entry and the THB 20,000 check

The Thailand Digital Arrival Card is only one thing the officer can look at. Since 15 September 2026, Indian ordinary passport holders get up to 30 days visa-free for tourism, and the Royal Thai Embassy in New Delhi says this remains in effect until further announcement. Our Thailand visa guide for Indians covers the entry rules in full.

The funds rule catches people out. The Royal Thai Embassy's visa exemption notice covers all 60 countries on the 30-day list, India among them. It says travellers must have cash of or equivalent to THB 20,000 per person or THB 40,000 per family. At about ₹2.80 per baht (9 November 2026), that is roughly ₹56,000 per person or ₹1.12 lakh per family.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand says the funds can be shown in baht, another currency or documents proving access to the money, and that the final decision rests with the officer. Officers don't check everyone. Still, keep some cash plus a recent bank statement or balance screenshot within reach, not in checked baggage. Our Thai baht to INR guide helps with the cash side.

Planning your Thailand trip around the TDAC

On a package, your first-night address is the one that matters for the Thailand Digital Arrival Card. The Bangkok Pattaya tour package and the Thailand family tour package both start with a shared coach from Suvarnabhumi straight to Pattaya. So the TDAC address is your Pattaya hotel, not a Bangkok one. On the Phuket Krabi tour package you land in Phuket and the first hotel is in Patong.

All three are land-only, so you book flights separately. Current prices are below, and every option is on our Thailand destination page.

Working out the full budget? Our Thailand trip cost from India guide breaks down flights, hotels, food and tours in rupees. Combining Thailand with Malaysia? The Thailand vs Malaysia comparison helps you decide how to split the days. For a custom quote, use the enquiry form on this page.

Cover photo: Exec8 / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons