Anyone who has arrived in Thailand in the past year will be familiar with the pre-arrival paperwork: the Thailand Digital Arrival Card, or TDAC, completed online before boarding. From 2026, that process has taken a further step forward with THIM, the country’s new official immigration app, built to make arrival, and eventually much more of long-stay life in Thailand, considerably more efficient.
After mandatory requirements when entering Thailand from August 2026, understanding how THIM works is genuinely useful groundwork. It is a clear example of just how much smoother the practical side of arrival has become.
What Is the THIM App?
THIM stands for Thailand Immigration Management. It is the official mobile platform of the Thailand Immigration Bureau, developed by Digital Identity Co., Ltd. in partnership with the Bureau, and built on secure cloud infrastructure hosted within Thailand, keeping traveller data within Thai jurisdiction as required by law.
It’s worth being clear about what THIM is and isn’t. The TDAC remains the mandatory arrival card that every non-Thai national must complete within 72 hours of arrival, whether by air, land or sea, and THIM does not replace it.
Other than the TDAC, THIM is also used as a reusable traveller profile, with Digital ID and KYC verification, notifications, and links to further government services. Think of the TDAC as the specific document, and THIM as the fuller system built around it.
How THIM Streamlines the Process
The headline improvement is speed, achieved largely through automation. THIM uses built-in passport scanning to read and populate your details automatically, cutting down on manual data entry and the errors that often come with it. Those who prefer not to use the camera function can still enter their details manually, typically in around 30 to 45 seconds.
The first registration, which includes passport scanning and identity verification against immigration records, generally takes two to three minutes. On subsequent trips, however, your profile carries over: only your flight number, arrival date and accommodation details need updating, cutting the whole process to about a minute.
Other features worth knowing about include:
- Group registration: Allowing one person to submit TDAC details for up to ten travellers at once, useful for families or those travelling with companions
- Amendments: Allowing changes to your TDAC through the app if your travel plans shift
- A multilingual interface: Currently supporting English, Russian, Japanese and Chinese, with further languages planned
- A direct link to the Tourist Police: Built into the app for added peace of mind
One detail is worth flagging clearly: the health declaration section of the TDAC only becomes available within 72 hours of your scheduled arrival, regardless of how early you complete the rest of your details. Your submission, and the QR code generated from it, is not finalised until this final step is done.
The Rollout Timeline
THIM began as a voluntary pilot in mid-2026, running alongside the existing TDAC web portal. Mandatory use for arrival card submission across all entry checkpoints began in August 2026, meaning it has now become the primary channel through which foreign arrivals are expected to register, though the web portal at tdac.immigration.go.th continues to serve as a fallback for those who encounter compatibility issues on older devices.
Getting the Details Right
A handful of small details make the difference between a smooth submission and an unnecessary delay:
- Name fields must match your passport exactly, including any middle name. A single mismatched character can mean resubmitting or facing delays at the counter.
- Long-stay visa holders without a confirmed departure date should use the app’s “cannot provide a departure date” option, rather than guessing a date that may not match their visa stamp.
- The health declaration asks about countries visited in the 14 days prior to arrival, primarily to screen for yellow fever risk; travellers arriving from affected countries will be asked to provide vaccination certificate details.
- The TDAC is always free. Any website charging a fee for submission is not official, use only the THIM app itself, published under the Royal Thai Police, or the official web portal.
What’s Coming Next, and Why It Matters for Long-Stay Residents
THIM’s current functions are only the beginning. The Immigration Bureau’s stated roadmap extends the platform considerably further with planned additions for tourists and also long-stay expats. This includes online queue booking for immigration offices, visa extension applications through the e-Extension system, digital document and stay certificate services, and a digital option for the routine 90-day residence reporting that expats are currently required to complete in person.
The Bureau has been open about its ambitions here. It has described its long-term vision for THIM as a “super app” intended to bring together immigration processes for tourists, expats and long-stay workers into a single platform. Consolidating what has traditionally been a fragmented, paperwork-heavy system. If the 90-day reporting function delivers as planned, it would remove one of the more time-consuming routine obligations long-term residents currently face.
There is reasonable cause for optimism here, given Thailand’s track record with recent digital government initiatives. The biometric systems now used at Suvarnabhumi Airport and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ global e-visa platform have functioned largely as intended since launch.
The Bigger Picture
THIM, on its own, is a relatively modest piece of software: an app that speeds up a form. But it sits within a much broader pattern. One where Thailand has been steadily investing in the
systems that make life easier for the growing number of foreigners who visit or settle here, whether for a fortnight or considerably longer. For anyone weighing up time in Thailand, understanding tools like THIM is a small but genuinely useful part of knowing what to expect, before you’ve even collected your luggage.
If you’re exploring what life in Phuket could look like beyond the airport, from finding the right neighbourhood to understanding the practicalities of long-term stays, our team is happy to talk through what a move here actually involves.
