BANGKOK, THAILAND – Thailand’s new mandatory Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) is reshaping how millions of visitors enter the country, but its strict address requirement is unsettling many spontaneous travelers.
Digital entry replaces paper, but address rule confuses
Since 1 May 2025, all foreign visitors entering Thailand by air, land or sea must complete the TDAC online before arrival. The digital system replaces paper arrival cards and is linked to e-visa, disease-control and other government databases. Authorities say it will speed up border checks, reduce handwriting errors and support health monitoring.
In practice, one mandatory field is causing most concern: the accommodation address. The form requires details of where the traveler will first stay in Thailand. For hotels, the name and city usually suffice, while for apartments or private homes the system demands full data, including province, district and subdistrict selected from drop-down menus.
Backpackers and flexible travelers, who previously could simply write a rough destination on the paper card and find a room on arrival, now face a dilemma when they have not booked in advance. Official guidance so far is limited. A frequently asked question on the Thai Immigration Bureau site states that travelers need to submit only one TDAC per trip and provide the address of their first place of stay, without listing every city or hotel they might visit.
This may reassure those with at least a first night booked, but leaves others wondering what to enter when no reservation exists.
Pragmatic workarounds, low enforcement and scam risks
Travel experts and online communities recommend a pragmatic approach. They advise entering the address where a traveler most likely intends to stay, such as a familiar hotel in Pattaya or Jomtien, or the address of friends or family. Community consensus is that using a friend’s address is acceptable, and that a plausible hotel address in Bangkok can also be used even without a reservation.
Early experiences at airports suggest that immigration officers focus on whether a TDAC is on file rather than on the accuracy of the address. According to reports, officers verify the digital record and check passports without questioning accommodation details. Actual stays are confirmed separately through the TM30 system, under which hotels, landlords and hosts must report foreign guests’ real addresses to the authorities. In this framework, TDAC functions mainly as a front-end entry and health-control tool rather than a full stay-tracking mechanism.
The system itself has presented further hurdles. Travelers report error messages for correct date formats, rejected email addresses and confusion over how to divide locations between province, district and subdistrict fields, despite the form being available in five languages. After submission, only limited edits are allowed; critical data such as full name, passport number, nationality and date of birth cannot be changed, forcing applicants who make mistakes to start a new form.
The TDAC must be filed within three days before arrival and is valid for a single entry on the specified date. Each new entry into Thailand requires a fresh submission. Group submissions of up to ten people are possible, and travel agencies may complete the form on behalf of clients with their consent.
Some categories are exempt: transit passengers who do not pass immigration, holders of border passes, diplomatic passports or United Nations documents, airline crew and long-stay visa holders whose permission exceeds 90 days. The latter do not need a TDAC but must still report in person to immigration every 90 days.
The digital card is officially free of charge. However, numerous third-party websites have appeared, charging up to 20 euros (about 700–800 baht) for TDAC submissions, sometimes delivering no service or processing applications slowly. Authorities stress that only Thai government sites with the .go.th domain or Thai-registered agencies using .co.th or .in.th are reliable. The official portal is tdac.immigration.go.th.
The TDAC also contains a health declaration. If a traveler’s recent travel history, departure country, nationality or flight originates from places flagged by the Ministry of Public Health, the system requests additional health information. Visitors from yellow fever risk countries – more than 30 African states – may be asked to present an international vaccination certificate. COVID-19 vaccinations are currently not required.
Looking ahead, Thailand plans a dedicated TDAC mobile app and broader integration with online platforms. Self-service kiosks and airport Wi-Fi are available for those who arrive without having completed the form, but using them can lead to longer queues. Regular visitors increasingly set reminders 48 to 72 hours before departure to complete the card in time.
For now, the digital system appears to deliver faster processing for many passengers, while raising new questions about flexibility and data collection. Backpackers in particular see a tension between their spontaneous style of travel and a system that insists on a predefined address – even if, in daily practice, officials seem satisfied as long as the field contains a plausible entry and the identity data are correct.