Thailand's new digital arrival cards to help improve screening of transnational criminals

By VNA April 28, 2025 | 10:49 pm PT

Phuket International Airport connects to Phuket Island in Thailand. Photo courtesy of the airport

The new Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC), which will replace paper cards from May 1, will help improve the screening of transnational criminals in addition to making arrivals more convenient for visitors, according to Thai immigration officials.

Police Maj Gen Choengron Rimpadee, chief of the Immigration Division 2 at Suvarnabhumi airport, said that the new clearance system will be applied to all international arrivals by sea, air or land.

Travelers must apply at least three days before the date of their planned arrival in Thailand. Applications will be accepted on the TDAC website starting on April 28 for people arriving on May 1.

This new system is a lot better, considering its simplicity and convenience, said Police Maj Gen Choengron, explaining that travelers can access the [digital format] of the arrival card anytime and anywhere, not only when airline or airport staff hand them one as before.

The TDAC system will also be synced with the immigration bureau's biometric database, which allows immigration authorities to check the criminal backgrounds of international arrivals, he said.

With the two systems connected, information regarding international visitors' declared accommodations while in Thailand are automatically sent to the bureau's database, bypassing the usual manual inputting of the information into the computer system, Choengron said.

Thailand's National Police Chief Gen Kittharath Punpetch said that the Immigration Bureau's new system would improve efficiency and help prevent gangs using the country as a base for criminal activities.