Thailand's Immigration Bureau (Royal Thai Police) held the official launch of the THIM (Thai Immigration) application in early October 2026. The app has been downloadable on the App Store, Google Play, and Huawei AppGallery since 1 August 2026. The Bureau reports 600,000+ downloads and 580,000+ users so far.
This note is for OTAs and airlines selling Thailand. It is not legal advice.
What THIM does today
What is planned
The Immigration Bureau says it plans to add queue booking, a certificate of stay, visa extension, 90-day reporting, and visa on arrival at authorised checkpoints. No dates were given. Treat these as a roadmap. They are not current rules.
What stays the same
Why it matters for OTAs and airlines
Official-channel hygiene. With two official channels (the website and THIM), the space for look-alike paid "TDAC" sites grows. Point travelers only to tdac.immigration.go.th or the THIM app published by the Thai Immigration Bureau.
Selfie and NFC steps are a drop-off risk. THIM's NFC and liveness flow is stronger security, and it creates failure points: older phones without NFC, poor lighting. Keep the website TDAC link as the fallback in pre-trip messaging. The usual capture failures are in selfie and liveness failures.
Visa on arrival in the app would change VoA flows. If VoA moves into THIM, OTAs selling to VoA nationalities will need to update pre-trip guidance. Watch for an official date.
Messaging timing. Keep TDAC reminders in the final days before arrival, separate from any e-visa step.
How SimpleVisa helps
SimpleVisa monitors official Thai immigration channels and updates the requirement logic and traveler messaging in partner flows when a rule or channel changes. Talk to sales.
Coverage alerts send one email per rule change for the destinations you pick, from the partner console. Systems can take the same events as webhooks; the shape is in the developer docs. The live requirement for any passport is always in the requirements checker.
Information current at publication (14 Oct 2026), based on the sources below. Not legal advice. Confirm current requirements on the official Thai sources above.
Thailand Digital Arrival Card verified 12 Oct 2026 · Thai Immigration Bureau verified 12 Oct 2026 · THIM on Google Play verified 12 Oct 2026 · TAT Newsroom, THIM introduced, Jun 2026 verified 12 Oct 2026 · The Pattaya News, launch, 5 Oct 2026 verified 12 Oct 2026