TDAC, TM30 and the 90-day report are often discussed together, but they solve different problems at different moments. One is completed before entering Thailand, one records where a foreign guest is staying, and one confirms the address of a foreign national who remains in the country for more than 90 consecutive days. Mixing them up can lead to the wrong person chasing the wrong form. This guide separates the three processes and gives international residents a practical record-keeping routine. It reflects official information available on 29 September 2026 and is general guidance, not legal advice; always check the Immigration Bureau and the office responsible for your address before acting.
Start with the simplest distinction: arrival, accommodation and continued stay
The Thailand Digital Arrival Card, or TDAC, belongs to the border-arrival stage. A non-Thai traveller submits travel, passport, health and Thailand-address information before entering the country. TM30 belongs to the accommodation stage. Under Section 38, the house master, owner, possessor of a residence or hotel manager reports that a foreign national is staying at the property. The 90-day notification, commonly called TM47, belongs to continued residence: the foreign national confirms an address after staying in Thailand for more than 90 consecutive days.
Completing one does not automatically complete the others. A TDAC is not a visa and does not replace an extension of stay. A landlord's TM30 filing is not your 90-day report. A 90-day report does not update a new arrival card. Think of them as three separate checkpoints, then keep the acknowledgement from each checkpoint with your immigration records.
TDAC: complete it for each entry before you arrive
The Immigration Bureau's current TDAC FAQ says all non-Thai nationals entering by air, land or sea must submit the online card, apart from stated exceptions such as crew and travellers who remain in transit without passing through immigration. Submit it within the three-day window before arrival, including the arrival date, through the official immigration.go.th service. The official form is free. Use the exact passport details, arrival date, flight or vehicle number, first address in Thailand and a working email address.
A TDAC is for one entry on the expected arrival date, so a later trip requires a new submission. If your hotel, flight or other editable information changes before entry, use the official update function; if a protected identity field is wrong, the FAQ advises submitting a new form, with the latest valid submission used. Save the QR code or PDF offline before travelling. It is a border record, not proof that your accommodation provider has completed TM30.
TM30: confirm what your host or landlord has filed
TM30 is the notification of residence under Section 38. Official Immigration Bureau guidance places the reporting duty on the house master, owner, possessor of the residence or hotel manager and states that the accommodation must be reported within 24 hours of the foreign national arriving there. Hotels normally handle this as part of check-in. In a rented condo or house, the person responsible may be the owner, landlord, authorised agent or property manager, depending on the arrangement.
The practical task for a tenant is to agree responsibility before moving in and request usable evidence after the filing. Ask for the acknowledgement, notification number, screenshot or other record accepted by the local office, and check that your name, passport number and address are correct. Do not assume a lease, utility bill or TDAC is a substitute. Rules on whether a fresh TM30 is needed after travel or a return to the same address can depend on the circumstances and current official practice, so verify with the immigration office responsible for the property rather than relying on an old forum post.
The 90-day report: track continuous days in Thailand
The 90-day notification applies when a foreign national remains in Thailand for more than 90 consecutive days. It is an address notification, not an application to extend permission to stay. The Immigration Bureau states that notification can be made during the period from 15 days before to seven days after the 90-day point for the applicable process. Online reporting has its own eligibility and system instructions, so read the current TM47 manual before relying on it, especially for a first report, a new passport or a record that the system cannot match.
Leaving Thailand generally ends that continuous-stay count, and a new count begins from the latest entry, but your permission to stay, re-entry permission and visa conditions are separate questions. Keep the receipt from every completed report because it shows the next reporting date. A calendar reminder helps, but use the official receipt and entry history as the source of truth rather than assuming every deadline is exactly three calendar months after the previous one.
A sample timeline shows why the forms should not be merged
Imagine you plan to enter Thailand on 12 October and move into a rented Bangkok condo that afternoon. You submit TDAC during the permitted three-day window and save the QR code. When you check in, the landlord or responsible property representative handles the Section 38 accommodation notification and gives you evidence of the TM30 filing. Those are two separate actions even though both contain an address.
If you remain in Thailand continuously, you then track the 90-day point from the relevant entry and prepare the TM47 notification within the official window. If you travel abroad before reaching that point, record the departure and new entry instead of blindly keeping the old reminder. If you change homes, confirm that the new accommodation provider will handle the address notification. This simple timeline is more reliable than keeping one generic note labelled 'immigration'.
Ask four questions before signing a lease
First, who will make the TM30 notification? Second, how quickly will they send you proof? Third, what documents do they need from you? Fourth, who will correct the record if a name, passport number or unit address is wrong? Put the answers in writing. A landlord who cannot explain the process may create avoidable friction when you later need an address-based immigration service.
Address administration belongs in the home-selection process alongside price, commute and building rules. Touristo's guide to testing a Bangkok commute before signing a lease can help you evaluate the daily journey, while our first-30-days checklist brings documents, money, healthcare and local routines into one plan. Add TM30 cooperation to that same checklist before paying a deposit, rather than discovering the gap when another application is already due.
Keep one small immigration folder and verify before every deadline
Create a secure folder containing your passport identity page, latest entry evidence, visa or permission-to-stay record, TDAC confirmation, current lease or accommodation evidence, TM30 acknowledgement and latest 90-day receipt. Name each file with the date and document type. Keep an encrypted digital copy and only share the minimum information required with a verified recipient; passport and immigration records are sensitive personal data.
Before your next arrival, move or 90-day point, open the official page again because forms, portals and local procedures can change. Use the TDAC site for arrival-card information, the official TM30 portal for accommodation reporting and the Immigration Bureau's TM47 guidance for 90-day notification. If the facts of your stay are unusual or records conflict, contact the responsible immigration office or a qualified adviser. The useful habit is not memorising three acronyms—it is knowing which event triggers which record, who must act and where you will keep the proof.
Official immigration guidance and related Touristo checklists
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