New THIM app is becoming the main way to register your arrival in Thailand
Another piece of arrival paperwork got an upgrade — this one's genuinely aimed at making the border process faster, not slower, so worth knowing about before your next flight in. 📱
What THIM actually is
THIM stands for Thailand Immigration Management — a new app and web platform from Thailand's Immigration Bureau that lets you submit your passport, travel and accommodation details before you fly, generating your Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) in about three minutes. Once it's fully rolled out, the plan is that you won't need to show a separate QR code at the counter anymore — the officer just scans your physical passport and your registration comes up automatically.
Does this replace TDAC?
Not exactly — TDAC itself (the actual arrival card requirement) stays mandatory. THIM is the new front-end for submitting it. Right now, during the pilot phase, both the THIM app and the older TDAC web portal work fine — use whichever's easier. The stated plan is a full migration to THIM as the primary channel by August 2026.
What's planned beyond arrivals
The Immigration Bureau has said THIM is meant to eventually become a one-stop platform for longer-term stuff too — 90-day reporting, extension paperwork, appointment booking. None of that's live yet as far as we can tell, but worth keeping an eye on if you're here on a long-term visa and dread the 90-day-report queue at Thong Sala immigration.
What to actually do
Nothing urgent right now — the old TDAC portal still works. If you want to try the new app before it becomes mandatory, it's available for iOS and Android. See our visa guide for the rest of the entry-paperwork picture.
