Thailand's New Digital Arrival Card Stirs Confusion Among Travellers

[kwilco]

1 hour ago, bdenner said:

How about taking 5 minutes and read the entire thread!!!

You realise that your post is a complete waste as it neither gives advice or reference the thread?

[digger70]

Thailand's New Digital Arrival Card Stirs Confusion Among Travellers.  

 

How  Incredible Stupid is that what can go wrong?  EVERYTHING.

Will this be in  Thai/Chinese/English/Arabic/Jewish/French /Dutch/Russian.

What about the Elderly . Can they Understand All the Stupid Questions ?

Not Computer Savvy /No Smart/ I Phone /Can't Receive a QR Code. Etc.

[khunjeff]

1 hour ago, flexomike said:

They never did away with the TM6 at land borders

 

They did away with it in April 2024.

 

https://thainews.prd.go.th/nbtworld/news/view/225858/?bid=1

[Enzian]

4 hours ago, Acharn said:

but practice shows it doesn't have any value. I

But it does! I'm in Phnom Penh. Why? Because this way I've put off doing a 90 day report for almost 3 more months (and I won't then). I've been to Hong Kong, Penang, Manila, Singapore, all because the 90 day gave me an excuse to get off my rear and see more of the nearby world. It's good, whatever it takes.

And Cambodia has an e-arrival system which is distinct from the evisa, though still causes confusion. But it works, is not difficult, and perhaps it helps them in some way. My question is why Americans can't get an exemption on arrival like with Thailand, but that's their business. (It's also my question with India.)

[Sheryl]

1 hour ago, agogohome said:

Why on earth are you visiting an office, when the online reporting can be done in less than 60 seconds!?

Some Imm offices refuse to accept online reports. Mine does (and not coincidentally demands a bribe to accept them in person). 

[tifino]

15 hours ago, redwood1 said:

How would I present a QR code with my phone?

 

Take a photo of the qr and display it from your phone's Gallery... 

[MarkBR]

13 hours ago, scorecard said:

Another example, the new taxation requirements. After many months still lots of foreigners totally lost and confused. 

 

Surely it would be productive / logical to identify the 'groups' of foreigners who won't be affected and publish this. 

 

e.g. old age pensioners who receive pensions funds every month / 4 weeks from their home country.

 

I'm guessing (just guessing) this is a quite large number of foreigners. Why hasn't the Revenue Department <tax dept.> not (months ago) published the rules etc., pertinent to pensioners?

Most people in positions of power get these positions due to influence & money.  Not competence or merit.

So, all the people deciding these things are often as confused as everyone else.  Welcome to a patronage society.

[tifino]

I am now wondering... we do trips here twice per year (we are here in pattsya right now) so our 2nd trip will be after the affected date. We cpme to our condo, do probably 3 or 4 2nighters at hotels  around the country, with last nights of trip back at condo. So I am fearing thai Mrs is going to be spewing snake venom at me if she has to start doing tm28 inputs? and updates- if our stay is one month only? 

[Pompeygeezer]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

as questions about its implementation remain unanswered just weeks before its anticipated launch.

It starts in may.  How is that weeks away?🤔

[daveAustin]

On 2/5/2025 at 8:42 AM, Patong2021 said:

It looks like none of the complaining contingent  has traveled elsewhere for several years.  It is Thailand that has been lagging behind.  I was in Japan last month and completed similar , but more detailed using the Visit Japan Web. It went quickly.  South Korea, Canada and the USA have similar, e-documentation requirements.

 

Are you going to criticize Japan and South Korea too? System works for them and tourism isn't negatively impacted.   It will only be awkward for those with intellectual limitations, They can use the  help lines if need be. Frequent travelers are enthusiastic and support the change.

 

 

I wish this would go away. 70 year olds are not infirm. If they can manage to swallow their viagras and swoosh about Pattaya, then they can use the  general lines like their younger versions. The people who pay for fast track are often stuck behind these people.

 

 

The only people who are left in a muddle are the intellectually challenged. They system is coming. Whether it is in May or in July is a different story. It isn't difficult to check the requirements prior to arriving. The plan isn't worthless and is necessary. It will reduce paper work and improve processing times. It works i other countries like USA, Canada, Japan, South Korea.

Bots are active today

[Upnotover]

16 hours ago, khunjeff said:

 

They did away with it in April 2024.

 

https://thainews.prd.go.th/nbtworld/news/view/225858/?bid=1

At some specific checkpoints, by no means all.

[xtrnuno41]

Time table to fill in? What it cost? Airconditioned waiting room available for charging your phone?

Still also working on ETA or is this it?

[Burma Bill]

16 hours ago, tifino said:

Take a photo of the qr and display it from your phone's Gallery... 

 

Like the mobile phone shown, mine is also a 3G phone with no photo taking facility - hence no QR Code in a gallery.

 

I shall just show the Immigration Officer my 3G phone and let him/her decide what to do, it is their bureaucratic entry system.  Maybe I can collect a few spare TM6 forms from a land crossing into Thailand from here in Cambodia. 

[khunpeer]

On 2/5/2025 at 6:57 AM, bdenner said:

Great timing. I'm due to return on an international flight on the 2nd May. Looking forward to the confusion in the immigration hall. Being over 70 I usually use the Thai immigration lanes, this could be a challenge!!!

didn't know that 'over-70-ers' could move over to more quiet Thai lanes... i will be flying down to Europe in April and coming back mid May... i'll try that too, as i am 72!

[Fortean1]

On 2/5/2025 at 7:15 AM, gejohesch said:

I didn't know that was possible. Interesting.

Also, if married to a Thai one may use the Thai immigration lines.  My wife and I were the only ones in wheelchairs and no one else.  The plane from South Korea was packed with tourists.  We got to the baggage claim area first.

[Captain Flack]

Some off topic posts have been removed. If you wish to discuss tax, there are long topics already running, this topic is about proposed digital arrival card.

[Middle Aged Grouch]

What about those digital unmanned immigration smart gates on départure of Bangkok airport ?

 

No immigration stamp. One just scans foreign passport in the reader and presto the gates opens. It's really great and for the moment, it works.

 

But on next trip when comming back ? If a troublemaking immigration officer asks "how long you stay last time ?" How to prove that one left before expiration of the Visa as there is no stamp on the passport ??

 

Of course it all goes in a registered immigration database obviously. But on seeing how some nimble brains, are sitting in immigration booths, anything can be possible to make trouble for the farang arriving. They don't like foreigners, but do love our money.

[tifino]

On 2/6/2025 at 1:06 PM, Burma Bill said:

 

Like the mobile phone shown, mine is also a 3G phone with no photo taking facility - hence no QR Code in a gallery.

 

I shall just show the Immigration Officer my 3G phone and let him/her decide what to do, it is their bureaucratic entry system.  Maybe I can collect a few spare TM6 forms from a land crossing into Thailand from here in Cambodia. 

... but without having some form of qr displayable, is it a maybe that you won't even get through CheckIn?? Airlines would be afraid of copping fines for accepting customers who might be stopped from Boarding...  meanwhile what 3G phones don't have a camera? Even 25years ago ye olde NextG 2G etc all have cams...

[Middle Aged Grouch]

On 2/5/2025 at 2:25 PM, tifino said:

I am now wondering... we do trips here twice per year (we are here in pattsya right now) so our 2nd trip will be after the affected date. We cpme to our condo, do probably 3 or 4 2nighters at hotels  around the country, with last nights of trip back at condo. So I am fearing thai Mrs is going to be spewing snake venom at me if she has to start doing tm28 inputs? and updates- if our stay is one month only? 

If she spews venom at you, spit her out. You are providing...not her. Keep her on leech or replace.

[tifino]

9 minutes ago, Middle Aged Grouch said:

If she spews venom at you, spit her out. You are providing...not her. Keep her on leech or replace.

She is  a Year of the Snake so I for the sake of of peace let her win as she says that for this year she has all the power, and I am year of the Pig... Anyway:   I just want to find more about this tm28 khrap before I might need to... In the meantime for us Pattaya residers on our first roadtrip this time about to her maeklong stomping grounds, the hotel here did not ask for my passport!! 

[StevieAus]

On 2/5/2025 at 5:07 AM, redwood1 said:

How would I present a QR code with my phone?

 

Malaysia has a similar system if you don’t have a phone you cannot open the automatic gate and just go to the Immigration desk,

Easy don’t panic

[StevieAus]

On 2/5/2025 at 2:27 PM, Acharn said:

I agree. It dates back to the 1976 counter-revolution. From the reports about people overstaying 1, 2, 5 years the police don't make use of it anyway. I'm sure some bright young bureaucrat got a promotion from suggesting it, but practice shows it doesn't have any value. I don't mind doing it too much, it keeps the Immigration office people familiar with my face, but it takes a couple of liters of gasohol to go and come back.

I think we could all suggest how the whole Immigration system could be simplified using online applications and still providing the perceived security protections.

Having seen how easy it is to renew a Thai passport with my wife and daughter where the few documents required are scanned the photograph taken and the passport arrives in three days at a third of the cost of renewing my Australian passport, the Immigration Department could do the same.

However being a division of the Royal Thai Police Force confirms it’s all about maintaining the bureaucracy and corruption.

After saying that I pass the local Immigration Office daily and it takes me three to four minutes from leaving  the car to returning to complete the 90 day reporting a small price to pay for living here.

[Puccini]

On 2/5/2025 at 6:46 AM, khunjeff said:

 

The proposed 300 baht tourist fee is still postponed indefinitely. In fact, the government mentioned specifically that they didn't want to introduce multiple new systems at the same time in order to prevent confusion (though probably too late for that...).

 

A more interesting question may be what ever became of the proposed ETA, which was supposed to start on Jan 1, was postponed, and is now no longer talked about at all.

 

Good-bye ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation)

 

Hello TDAC (Thai Digital Arrival Card), including the collection of the the tourist tax from travellers who fall into one of the — yet to be defined and announced — categories subject to this tax.

 

Excerpt from the news article TDAC system will replace TM.6 paper form, reducing immigration processing times and improving efficiency in The Nation (highlighting in bold is mine):

 

Quote

 

The Immigration Bureau has also collaborated with other agencies to streamline travel processes, integrating the TDAC with:

The Department of Consular Affairs' E-Visa system

The Department of Disease Control's disease-screening system

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports' tourist fee-collection system

 

 

There we have it, an elegant solution to collect the tourist tax.

 

No details of the process are available yet, but I think it will be akin to the eVisa application. Digital arrival card is a misnomer, it is really a travel authorisation.

1. Fill out and submit the online form a specified minimum number of days before departure.
2. If applicable, pay the tourist tax online as the final step of the online submission of the form.
3. Get the TDAC, with a QR code or whatever, by email and print it out.
4. Present the TDAC at check-in. No TDAC, no boarding pass, simple as that. This requirement will have to be included in the IATA rules. On arrival in Thailand, hand over the passport, TDAC and eVisa, if applicable, to the immigration official.

All we can do now is hold our breath and wait to see how this will play out.

[Samh]

On 2/7/2025 at 10:03 PM, StevieAus said:

Malaysia has a similar system if you don’t have a phone you cannot open the automatic gate and just go to the Immigration desk,

Easy don’t panic

Have the automatic gates been installed in the entry airports yet?

[it is what it is]

On 2/5/2025 at 2:51 AM, tomazbodner said:

Singapore has a bunch of iPads at the writing desks before immigration where people used to fill in arrival cards by pens, but admittedly it was far faster to fill out paper card than going through a bunch of pages of form that looked much like a visa application. When completed I was asking staff there how to get proof I filled it out and was told to take a photo of confirmation page. At the immigration officer's station I could see my information just typed in appear on his screen. This was my first time there after COVID when I was unaware of this change. The plus side of it of course (had I known about it prior to the flight) would have been filling that form at home and saving myself time and trouble at arrival. In SG, that form needs to be filled out by every tourist, but unsure about Singaporeans (unlikely) or their permanent residents (also unlikely).

 

yea, this caught me out the last time i visited singapore, possibly the airline could have mentioned it and i'd have sorted before i arrived. it was time consuming and fiddly to complete on arrival but helpful staff were on hand. all well and good, except there will be considerably more people arriving in thailand than singapore, this really needs to be well planned and appropriately  resourced.

[jonclark]

On 2/5/2025 at 8:42 AM, Patong2021 said:

 

The only people who are left in a muddle are the intellectually challenged. 

 

Also known as Immigration Officers...

[StayinThailand2much]

On 2/9/2025 at 4:58 PM, Puccini said:

3. Get the TDAC, with a QR code or whatever, by email and print it out.

 

Not everyone has a printer at home, and, post-Covid (when many shops where one could go to print out closed) there aren't so many possibilities anymore. So, paying a lot to find a place to print this thing out, or even buying a printer just to travel to Thailand... Not gonna happen. 😆 

[VR333]

It's been mentioned a few times how similar systems in Malaysia, Singapore etc. work. No mobile phone, no laptop etc. no problem. Use the tablets provided at immigration on arrival. The worst thing that will happen, is if lots of people don't bother to register before traveling, you may end up waiting in line to use a tablet etc.

 

If you can post on this forum, you have an internet connection, so most likely you will be able to register beforehand. So many people wanting to find reasons why a new system won't work are simply worrying about nothing.

[Puccini]

On 2/9/2025 at 5:37 PM, Samh said:

Have the automatic gates been installed in the entry airports yet?

 

For arrivals currently only for Thai passports, as far as I know.