If you’ve ever arrived in Thailand bleary-eyed after a red-eye flight, fumbling around for a biro to fill in that tiny white immigration card while the person behind you huffs like a steamed dumpling, rejoice. The Kingdom of Smiles is finally bringing its border control into the 21st century.
As of May 1, 2025, all non-Thai nationals must complete their Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) online at least three days before arrival. No more wrestling with clipboards on the back of someone’s sweaty suitcase at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Instead, it’s one click, one form, one far smoother arrival.
According to the announcement by Air India, which gently nudged its travel partners in a memo last week, the TDAC promises “quick processing,” “one-touch convenience,” and, my personal favourite, “faster immigration.” (No guarantees, however, on the smiles from immigration officers who’ve likely dealt with 700 Australians who didn’t read the memo.)
The new system applies to all non-Thai travellers, meaning whether you’re there for a full-moon party in Koh Phangan or a Buddhist meditation retreat in Chiang Rai, you’ll need to pre-register at https://tdac.immigration.go.th.
A Welcome Shift (Albeit Not Without Teething Issues)
For years, Thailand’s paper-based system has been the bane of seasoned travellers. Those tiny cards—half customs declaration, half Sudoku puzzle—often got lost in carry-ons or, worse, washed into oblivion with your boarding pass. Many a holiday has begun with frantic searches through backpack zippers at the immigration desk, as officers looked on with the warmth of a monk-less monastery.
Now, the TDAC is here to declutter and probably improve the efficiency of Thailand’s high-traffic immigration channels, especially with inbound travellers from Australia, India, the UK, and the US surging post-pandemic.
Will It Work?
Call me cautiously optimistic. Thailand’s digital rollout will depend on how effectively it is communicated. Travel agents, tour operators and airlines will need to do the heavy lifting (or emailing) to ensure passengers know the drill. Given that the form must be submitted no less than 72 hours before arrival, those who tend to pack at midnight for a 6 a.m. flight might be in for a rude awakening.
There’s also the issue of Wi-Fi-challenged travellers and technophobes who still believe “online” means waiting in a queue. For them, one hopes there’ll be a friendly airport liaison and not just a QR code taped to a pillar.
A Nudge Towards Modernisation
Thailand isn’t the first to embrace digital entry forms—Singapore, Australia, and the UAE have long since digitised border entry data. But for a country with one of the busiest tourism pipelines in Southeast Asia, it’s a move worth celebrating.
It’s a small digital step for Thai immigration, but a giant leap for travellers still living in fear of bent pens and broken clipboards.
So, dear travellers, add TDAC to your pre-departure checklist—somewhere between “check visa” and “delete those dodgy Bali photos from your camera roll.”
Now, if only we could digitise jet lag.
