What will happen?
All – yes all – foreigners hoping to enter Thailand by air, land or sea from the beginning of May will need to complete a digital “landing card” form in advance of making their journey. The online form, known as TM6, is not yet available. It will be free. According to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the only exceptions will be those travelling on a Thai passport.
What information will the TM6 require?
You will need the usual biographical details on your passport, together with a local telephone number and your initial Thai address. This information used to be collected on the manual TM6 form which was once handed out to tired passengers just before arrival. That pointless paper system was suspended in stages – first for air arrivals and then for land and sea – and is not currently in use. Immigration staff often could not read the scribbled details anyway written in haste after a long flight. The paper on-arrival TM6, in practice a waste of time as the information was not entered into the immigration system, is being replaced by an online version to be submitted prior to your journey to Thailand.
Does it matter whether I am visa-exempt for 60 days or have a visa?
No. The new rule applies to all non-Thais whether they are visa-exempt, visa on arrival, non-immigrant visa holders, Elite, Destination Thailand Visa, Long Term Residence etc etc. All must fill in the online TM6 form separately from any other embassy or immigration bureaucracy. Also irrelevant is whether or not you have a re-entry permit. None of it makes any difference. Tourists from 93 countries who currently obtain 60 days on arrival without any forms will need to complete the TM6 online. But nothing more.
So the online TM6 isn’t a visa?
It’s not a visa but an entry requirement irrespective of visa status. It is obvious that the key information is for the foreigners to give his or her address in Thailand. In theory, this information is available on a manual TM30 form submitted in paper form soon after arrival. But many tourists and expats do not regularly update their TM30, or have never heard of it, leading to enormous gaps in the immigration data base. The assumption is that the TM30 will disappear and replaced by the online TM6. If foreigners change their address whilst in Thailand, they will presumably be able to update the TM6 on their mobile device.
Why all this fuss about knowing your address in Thailand?
There are lots of reasons: to help track down criminals and unsavory characters, to streamline entry procedures, to reduce manual form filling etc. Embassies for their part are keen that immigration offices know the address of foreigners in Thailand in case of an emergency, eg a relative has died. If foreigners fail to update their Thai address details, and are found out, there will presumably be penalties but that’s another wait and see issue.
Is TM6 different from Entry Travel Authorization?
ETA, a forthcoming pre arrival form for visa exempt categories, has been postponed. They and all other foreigners must use the TM6. Also postponed is the 300 baht entry tax which has been debated for eight years and is still not in operation and won’t be any time soon. TM6 is free. It should be noted that most countries now have some kind of computerized bureaucracy which details the foreigner and his or her local address shortly before arrival.
Will there be more details published by the government?
Yes there are ambiguities, some highlighted in the above paragraphs. The final details hopefully will be announced next month after a briefing meeting for stakeholders on January 31. The immigration bureau has already reviewed the upcoming online system. Eventually the government hopes to integrate the TM6 bureaucracy with other immigration screening procedures. Eventually!
