Thailand Introduces Online TM6 as Tourism Fee Faces Delays

[webfact]

Picture courtesy: Facebook TAT news

 

In a significant move poised to streamline the entry process for visitors, Thailand is set to launch an online TM6 immigration form from May 1.

 

This development arises as the Ministry of Tourism and Sports gears up to promote the new digital system, which is expected to replace the traditional paper-based forms previously suspended by the cabinet in April 2024. However, the much-discussed 300-baht tourism fee may see delays, amid governmental hesitance to enforce it this year.

 

The digital TM6 form is part of Thailand's efforts to enhance the visitor experience and bolster tourist tracking for safety, amid ongoing concerns about the country serving as a conduit for illicit activities. Natthriya Thaweevong, permanent secretary of the ministry, highlighted that this online system could mitigate safety concerns by improving tourist oversight.

 

In preparation for this change, the ministry has engaged the Immigration Bureau to showcase the online system to its staff, ensuring a smooth transition and understanding across departments.

 

Additionally, a pivotal meeting is slated for January 31, bringing together key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tourism Authority of Thailand, airlines, and the hospitality sector. The goal is to familiarise these parties with the new online form and facilitate communication with arriving foreigners.

 

Mongkon Wimonrat, deputy permanent secretary, emphasised the government’s focus on the digital TM6 to prevent confusion, before considering other entry screening measures. The online system will be mandatory for all foreign arrivals, whether they enter by air, land, or sea, and registration will be free of charge.

Anticipation surrounds the cabinet's expected approval next month, which will give concerned parties ample time to prepare. However, as noted by an anonymous insider from the ministry, the introduction of the online TM6 might overshadow the implementation of the proposed tourism fee, indicating a probable postponement.

 

Given the complexities of smoothly integrating the TM6 system and the country's current entanglements with security issues, there is a belief that this is not the optimal moment to introduce additional fees or entry requirements.

 

The government appears to prioritise ensuring the new process runs without hitches before revisiting the proposed tourism fee and potentially other entry measures similar to an electronic travel authorisation, which has found success in other regions.

 

This transition marks a pivotal step in Thailand's efforts to modernise its immigration processes, aiming to offer a seamless experience for international visitors while maintaining robust security measures, reported Bangkok Post.

 

-- 2025-01-24

 

 

[freedomnow]

Been a while since they tinkered with the immigration rules.

[lamecn]

So, now it's become compulsary for tourists to have a mobile phone and ability for roaming?

[Ralf001]

44 minutes ago, lamecn said:

So, now it's become compulsary for tourists to have a mobile phone and ability for roaming?

 

Those that do not carry a phone would be a very small number.

 

Why the need for roaming when the airport has free wifi ?

 

 

 

[Upnotover]

3 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

 

Those that do not carry a phone would be a very small number.

 

Why the need for roaming when the airport has free wifi ?

 

 

 

Japan has an online arrival app which allows you to complete entry documents in advance and does not require an internet connection to display them.  Works very well.

 

They also have paper forms for non phone people.  As long as these people are kept separate from those that got themselves organised in advance it works.  Back in the day one of the biggest frustrations on arrival at BKK was being stuck behind people in the queue who hadn't filled in their TM6 (at all/properly) and were holding things up filling them in at the desk.

[Tony M]

But what is the point of an immigration arrival card ?  Surely the information/data is entered into the immigration database when the immigration officer scans your passport and enters the required data, including permitted length of stay, into the database. What happens to the written information card ?  Up to 40 million paper cards per year ?  I'm sure the immigration database is shareable with other departments, if required by them.

[watchcat]

55 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Those that do not carry a phone would be a very small number.

 

Will they get a oaper based form.?

[Ralf001]

6 minutes ago, watchcat said:

 

Will they get a oaper based form.?

 

How would I know ?

[lordgrinz]

1 hour ago, Ralf001 said:

Why the need for roaming when the airport has free wifi ?

 

Yeah, because it's always a good thing to connect to a public WIFI in a foreign country. Then its a really good idea to start plugging personal data over that WIFI into an online form run by a foreign country that I wouldn't trust to run a lemonade stand.

[Joseph98765]

and not to mention when the system is down...it will be funnny!

[Oliver Holzerfilled]

1 hour ago, Ralf001 said:

 

Those that do not carry a phone would be a very small number.

 

 

 

 

And of those likely either broke, technology-phobic or extremely paranoid.  Not exactly the high value tourist categories Thailand is seeking.

[redwood1]

Nope...I am just not going to do it....I would prefer to hold up the line and be a problem...

[watchcat]

33 minutes ago, lordgrinz said:

 

Yeah, because it's always a good thing to connect to a public WIFI in a foreign country. Then its a really good idea to start plugging personal data over that WIFI into an online form run by a foreign country that I wouldn't trust to run a lemonade stand.

 

Using a VPN should be safe.

[lordgrinz]

5 minutes ago, watchcat said:

 

Using a VPN should be safe.

 

The number of people using a VPN on their smartphone is so small as to be insignificant. 

[watchcat]

4 minutes ago, Oliver Holzerfilled said:

Not exactly the high value tourist categories Thailand is seeking.

 

I don't care what they're seeking same with banks and Immi use a random number.

[bamnutsak]

How does a virtual TM6...

 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

enhance the visitor experience and bolster tourist tracking for safety

 

?

 

Do Thai authorities plan to track tourists' phones?

 

In theory, tourists can be located by the TM30 system.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[redwood1]

 Thailand's efforts to enhance the visitor experience and bolster tourist tracking for safety, amid ongoing concerns about the country serving as a conduit for illicit activities.

 

 

 

Has anyone here had their travel experience enhanced by the  TM6?

Has anyone here felt safer because of the TM6?

Has anyone here enjoyed being tracked?

Does anyone here think the TM6 has stopped so much as one illicit activitie?

 

 

[Tropicalevo]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The digital TM6 form is part of Thailand's efforts to enhance the visitor experience and bolster tourist tracking for safety

Utter rubbish.

Thailand is a police state and they want to know where everyone is.

End of.

[Tropicalevo]

1 hour ago, Ralf001 said:

 

Those that do not carry a phone would be a very small number.

 

Why the need for roaming when the airport has free wifi ?

 

 

 

I do not use phone apps and have no wifi on my phone.

Never needed it.

It is a phone. It is for talking to people and taking the occasional photo.

[Ralf001]

57 minutes ago, lordgrinz said:

 

Yeah, because it's always a good thing to connect to a public WIFI in a foreign country. Then its a really good idea to start plugging personal data over that WIFI into an online form run by a foreign country that I wouldn't trust to run a lemonade stand.

Hey champ, you need a tissue ?

[realfunster]

Oh FFS, just get rid of the damn thing. Total waste of time, resources and money.

 

One step forward in suspending TM6 last year, now two steps back. 

[StayinThailand2much]

Let me guess, now, either,

 

(1) Each tourist has to hand out the phone to the IO, so that he/she can check the TM6 on the phone (similar to airlines checking ETAs on your phone), or

 

(2) If it is in the system, IOs will spend five minutes to locate each TM6 on the computer... 🧐 

[StayinThailand2much]

19 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

I do not use phone apps and have no wifi on my phone.

 

Sometimes a headache, if you're at the airport, without wifi, or own internet, and staff at the check-in counter want to read visa/ETA emails, and won't accept screen shots.

[Tropicalevo]

2 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

 

Sometimes a headache, if you're at the airport, without wifi, or own internet, and staff at the check-in counter want to read visa/ETA emails, and won't accept screen shots.

 

I print those on pieces of paper.

Never had a problem yet.

And as you say, does not need batteries or wifi.

[Ralf001]

28 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

I do not use phone apps and have no wifi on my phone.

Never needed it.

It is a phone. It is for talking to people and taking the occasional photo.

Yeah, I do not use apps on my phone either... The rare occasion I would enter Thailand I would do it on my laptop before boarding the flight.

[SiamAndy]

Yet another example of the Thai Bureaucratic State trying to prove their worth or value added to their government heads. Other examples: TM30, 90 day reports,fees already built into airfare departure tax, arrival tax (to come within the year). ETA system (to come within the year), proposed revised/reinterpreted income tax rules., foreigner pricing in national parks, dual pricing in hospitals.

 

These pathetic Thai bureaucrats just can't help themselves. Their actions will continue to drive people away in drips and drabs over time.

 

 

[tomazbodner]

Maybe they should consider equipping every visitor with a GPS-enabled ankle monitor!

[lordgrinz]

1 minute ago, tomazbodner said:

Maybe they should consider equipping every visitor with a GPS-enabled ankle monitor!

 

Believe me, if they could, they would.

[DFPhuket]

It is becoming common that tourists must complete an online document in advance. Some places in the region where you do that are Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, Japan, Korea and Indonesia. In all of these countries it speeds up the arrival process either by not requiring an immigration officer to manually enter data or by allowing eGates where you simply scan your passport and the gates open. If Thailand can get this to work and it speeds up the entry, I'm all for it. 

[hkblademan]

If you can’t organise yourself to complete before arriving, you shouldn’t be travelling. The feckless that haven’t completed it should be made to get to the back of the queue again ( this is what Philippine immigration does).