Have you chosen your dates for Bangkok or Phuket? If you are vacationing on a U.S. ordinary passport, read the visa exemption conditions first and complete your TDAC for your arrival date. Keep your passport, flights and hotel reservation beside you so you can enter the details accurately. This guide takes you from preflight documents through passport control and baggage claim.
For tourism on a U.S. ordinary passport, the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington, D.C. states that visa exemption allows up to 30 days, effective September 15, 2026. An extension of no more than 30 additional days may be requested, but the immigration officer decides whether to grant it. A companion traveling on another country’s passport must use the rules for that passport.
The maximum period is not a guarantee that every traveler will receive the same permission. After passport control, read the actual permitted-stay expiration date recorded in your passport and leave within that period. If you intend to work or study, prepare the visa for that activity instead of relying on tourism entry. Longer stays also need a category suited to your purpose and itinerary.
Keep your passport, flight details and hotel confirmation together. Enter your name on TDAC exactly as it appears in your passport, and use the hotel name and English address on your booking. Look at the flight that actually arrives in Thailand: the local arrival date and flight number can differ from the date you leave the United States.
Have your return or onward travel and accommodation details available. If immigration asks where you are staying and when you will leave, explain your actual reservations. You also need to demonstrate adequate travel funds. The embassy’s exemption guidance requires cash equivalent to 20,000 baht per person or 40,000 baht per family. This is evidence of travel funds, separate from TDAC, which has no submission fee.
TDAC is the online arrival card that replaces the paper form. Non-Thai nationals entering Thailand by air, land or sea must complete it before immigration. Children and infants need their own records too.
Submit within the three days before arrival, including the arrival date. Prepare your passport, flight, Thailand arrival date, accommodation address in English and email address. Download the completed document to your phone so you can open it even if the airport connection is unreliable.
Completing the arrival card does not issue a visa. TDAC and visa preparation are separate tasks. If your purpose of travel requires a visa, prepare both the visa and the arrival card.
After leaving the aircraft, follow Immigration / Passport Control signs. Keep your passport, TDAC confirmation and any required visa easy to reach. Answer questions about your purpose and accommodation using your real travel plans.
Once you clear immigration, read your permitted-stay expiration date. Continue to Baggage Claim, collect your bags and pass through customs to the arrivals hall. Follow the declaration procedure if you have goods to declare. Routes differ between Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang and other airports, so also read the guide for your arrival airport.
You do not need TDAC if you transit without passing through Thai immigration. If you leave the airport, or pass immigration to collect and recheck baggage, you do need the arrival card.
If you booked separate tickets, ask your airlines before departure whether your bags will be checked through and whether you must pass immigration in Thailand. An itinerary labeled “transit” may still involve entering the country; prepare TDAC whenever that is the actual route.
Even when you enter visa-free on a U.S. ordinary passport, you must complete TDAC. TDAC is the arrival declaration; a visa depends on your purpose and eligibility. A qualifying tourism trip can use visa exemption, but a work or study itinerary cannot be prepared using TDAC alone.
The embassy’s tourism exemption guidance effective September 15, 2026 allows up to 30 days. Check the actual permitted-stay expiration date after immigration. Plan your departure around the permission you receive, rather than treating the maximum as an automatic entitlement.
Use the local Thailand arrival date on your ticket. A long flight from the United States can cross calendar dates, so do not copy your U.S. departure date. Read the arrival date together with the flight number that brings you into Thailand.
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