The chopping of the Tor Mor 6 small arrival registration form is a staging post to a wholly electronic visitor entry system. Historically, the TM6 was distributed to airline passengers about to land who, always wearily and often unreadably, scribbled their Thai address and local phone number after borrowing their neighbor’s pen. It was abolished for airline passengers as early as July 2022, partly out of covid concerns and partly because it was generally pointless.
However, the form survived for some visitors by land and all by sea until now suspended on October 16 by the Cabinet at least until April 2025. By then, according to the interior ministry, the ETA or Electronic Travel Authorization should be in place for all visa-exempt foreigners, the ones from 93 countries who receive 60 days on arrival. These countries include all the nations providing significant numbers of international vacationers.
These guys and gals, probably by Easter next year, have to apply online for permission to enter Thailand and, on permitted arrival, will be able to pass through immigration’s electronic gates at entry points with a personally-provided QR code. The individuals will likely be refused boarding at airports or refused entry at seaports and border checkpoints unless the bureaucracy has been successfully completed.
Although the ETA, required for every visit, will be notionally free that’s not the end of the story. Thailand will introduce the long-delayed tourist tax of 300 baht by air and 150 baht by land and sea. It has long been argued that collecting cash at entry points would lead to long queues and much frustration by visitors and immigration officers alike. ETA provides the answer by insisting you pay beforehand and electronically by card.
At some stage in 2025 the ETA system will be extended to include all foreigners entering Thailand, including all non-immigrant visa holders such as retirees. Such a system is becoming common worldwide, for example in UK which starts its electronic entry bureaucracy for all visitors next month. Basically, ETA replaces decisions by immigration officers on the ground by prior electronic checking of wannabe entrants.
Before that can happen, Thai authorities have to combine several independent data bases which currently check for passport authenticity, prior travel history, criminal history in Thailand and international warrants. The 300-150 baht tourist tax, eventually to be levied on all foreigners except those with a valid work permit or permanent residence status, will be used to update tourist sites and provide limited insurance for tourists including compensation for loss of limbs or death. It is decidedly not comprehensive medical insurance for all.
Once ETA is fully in place, it will be powered by machine learning and the algorithm used will automatically perform all pre-examination tests. Questions often asked such as “How many times can you do a border run with visa exempt?”, or “Can I use my Destination Thailand Visa again by leaving Thailand and returning the same day?” will be settled remotely. Where technological advancement leaves traditional visa extensions at local immigration offices, or paper trails such as the “housemaster” TM30 and the 90 days report, can only be deferred to our technological future.
