Visas and entry

Thailand immigration app THIM: TDAC in 3 minutes, but visa extensions are still done at the office

10/7/2026

Thailand's Immigration Bureau has officially launched THIM, a free app that fills in the TDAC arrival card in about 3 minutes, for the whole family at once. Visa extensions and 90-day reports are not available in it yet. Here is what works now and where to go for everything else.

Thailand's Immigration Bureau has officially launched THIM, its own app for foreigners. It is free, available on the App Store and Google Play, and the interface comes in several languages including English and Russian. The main thing THIM can do right now is fill in the TDAC arrival card in about 3 minutes. How to get your TDAC through THIM: 1. Download the app - the developer listed in the store is Royal Thai Police. Other "TDAC helpers" have nothing to do with the immigration service. 2. Take a photo of your passport's photo page - the details are filled in automatically. Everything is entered in Latin letters, exactly as in the passport. 3. Complete the face check right in the app. 4. Enter your flight, arrival date, accommodation address and purpose of the trip. 5. Submit and save the QR code - you show it at passport control, and it opens even without internet. The card can be submitted no earlier than 3 days before arrival, including the day of entry. One application covers your family or group of up to 10 people. Your profile is saved: on the next trip you only update the flight and dates, and the repeat form takes about a minute. TDAC is still mandatory and still free. If you would rather not install the app, you can fill it in on the official website tdac.immigration.go.th. Sites that ask for money for the arrival card are not official. What THIM does not have yet: visa extensions, 90-day reports, certificates of residence and queue booking at immigration offices. The bureau promises to add all of this in the next phase but gives no dates. So visa-free stays and visas are still extended in person: Pattaya - immigration office in Jomtien Bangkok - Immigration Division 1 at Chaeng Watthana Phuket - immigration office in Phuket Town The 90-day report is required for anyone who stays in Thailand for more than 90 days in a row, for example on a DTV or retirement visa. It can already be filed online, though not in THIM but on the official TM47 portal. Visa-exempt tourists do not need it: 30 days plus one 30-day extension never reach that limit. How long you can stay without a visa is covered in our visa-free news, and the overland visa run limit in our news on two entries a year. If you are coming for the winter, THIM takes five minutes before your flight, and the rest is easier to sort out in advance. For example, a Bangkok - Pattaya transfer from 1,300 baht door to door, a studio at Siam Oriental Tropical Garden on Pratamnak for 13,000 baht a month, 500 metres from the beach, and a Yamaha NMax for 4,000 baht a month to get to immigration and around town without taxis (an international driving licence is required for the scooter). Forward this to friends flying to Thailand in the next few weeks: with THIM they can fill in the arrival card for the whole family in a couple of minutes at home instead of rushing at the airport.