Transcript of the above video: 

I have been getting a lot of feedback from folks who want me to do another video on TDAC; we haven't talked about this for a while. I was talking about this in the context of kind of the move to align the tax system if you will with Immigration. Long story short though, this video is exclusively about Immigration. We're talking about the rollout of the Digital Arrival Card System which is coming out in May of 2025.

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from tatnews.org, this is the Tourism Authority of Thailand's news site. Quoting directly, the article is titled: Thailand Digital Arrival Card System set to Launch on 1 May, 2025. Quoting directly: "The Immigration Bureau of Thailand will launch the new Thailand Digital Arrival System on 1 May 2025, replacing the current paper arrival card for foreign nationals. From this date, all foreign visitors must submit their arrival information electronically before entering Thailand, whether by air, land or sea. The TDAC, is part of the Government's broader digital transformation of Immigration procedures and is administered by the Immigration Bureau of Thailand." So if you recall, we were talking about this sometime back where we were talking about, they were calling it the Immigration System or the Thailand Immigration System (TIS). Now it looks like it is being rolled out, that particular initiative is coming out under the auspices of this TDAC system. That said, quoting further: "It is designed to streamline border processing, reduce paperwork and enhance traveller convenience." Yeah it's always hailed as a convenience. Meanwhile, this was never required before. You just arrived, you got a piece of paper on the plane, they would say fill it out; you basically put it through a slot, or you gave it to the Immigration Officer when passing through. Now it's all on you, and you have got to deal with it before you come and all kinds of things. I have got to be honest, I'm not thrilled by this. I have talked about this a lot that there has been this move to try to bring back Thailand Pass which we all got saddled with during COVID. Now let me be clear, I'm okay in this. I mean I've got my Thai Passport; folks with a Thai passport don't have to worry about this, but every other foreigner is literally going to have to deal with this as we will get into further. And I have my concerns about it because as I said, I think it creates extra obstacles especially for Tourists. I think the less obstacles, the less bureaucracy, especially digitized bureaucracy that we can have to get those tourists in the better. But that said, here we are, and it remains to be seen whether or not this will come off or not. 

Based on prior experience, I expect this will probably roll out pretty smoothly because quite frankly folks that are not all that much younger than me, but younger than me, are perfectly okay with everything being digitized. I'm like one of the last guys left that still sort of remembers the analog era and I don't particularly love this digitization stuff. But that said, here we are, and it remains to be seen how this is going to roll out, but if I'm guessing, I expect it will probably be relatively smooth but again we'll see. That said, quoting further: "The online form must be completed before arrival and includes essential travel and personal details." Again, it reminds me a lot of ESTA, the Electronic System for Travel Authorization in the US, and quite frankly, I have problems with that. I don't think that was the best idea for a variety of reasons; I think it's had a terrible impact on tourism if nothing else. Now I do get that there is an impetus in the United States to enforce Immigration Law more strenuously, so we are probably not going to see that go away anytime soon. But that doesn't mean Thailand should be emulating what in my opinion is probably not the greatest plan but okay here we go. That said, quoting further: "Completion of the TDAC will be mandatory for all foreign passport holders, including tourists, business travellers and long-term residents." So again, it looks like Permanent Residents are going to have to go through this as well as probably LTR, everybody it looks like, unless you have a Thai Passport. Quoting further: "Exceptions apply only to travellers transiting or transferring through Thailand without passing through Immigration control and to those entering using a Border Pass." For those asking what's a Border Pass? Border Pass is for folks that are like Cambodians or Laos folks that live on the other side of a border or even Myanmar, that frequently cross over and back on a frequent basis. If you have ever been to any of the border areas, border checkpoints, this isn't infrequent. Those folks are not falling under TDAC, but they have never really exactly fallen under the standard Immigration system. That said, quoting further: "Travellers may submit the TDAC up to three days before their scheduled arrival date. For example, if arriving on 5th May, submission can begin on 2nd May. The system will open for submission starting 28 April to accommodate those arriving on the launch date. To complete the form, travellers should visit Immigration Bureau's official website, tdac.immigration.go.th. Travellers can submit the TDAC individually or is part of a group via the Portal. Information can be updated at any time before travel. Required details include passport information, personal and travel detail details, accommodation in Thailand, and a basic health declaration." So again, it looks a lot like Thailand Pass, and again I personally kind of had my own qualms about this as discussed in many prior other videos. 

That being said, it remains to be seen what this looks like. I'm going to reserve judgment, try to be positive. Hopefully this rolls out fairly smoothly and doesn't have a major detrimental impact on tourism. I do have to admit, it's a good idea by Immigration to roll this out in May which is kind of the height of the low season if you will, or the depths of the low season if you will, so probably not a bad idea on timing. It just remains to be seen just how smooth this will be rolled out and we will certainly be keeping you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.