How to Submit the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) at Sadao Border

Since May 2025, Thailand has replaced the old paper arrival card with a fully digital one, the TDAC. If you're crossing by road at Sadao, the busiest land border with Malaysia, you need this submitted before you reach the counter. Here's exactly how.

What is the TDAC

The Thailand Digital Arrival Card is an online form that replaces the paper TM6 card travellers used to fill out on arrival. It collects the same information: your passport details, travel details, and where you're staying in Thailand. Every foreign national needs one, whether arriving by air, land, or sea, including at road crossings like Sadao.

It's completely free. The only official site is tdac.immigration.go.th. Any site charging a fee is not official.

When to submit it

Submit within 72 hours before your arrival at the border. The system won't accept it earlier. If you're driving up from Kuala Lumpur or Penang, the safest approach is to fill it in the night before or morning of your trip, once your arrival day is locked in.

Step by step

Fill this in before you leave home or your hotel. Don't rely on finding signal at the border itself.

• Go to tdac.immigration.go.th on your phone or laptop, no app needed
• Select your language, then choose Register and create an account with your email
• Click New Arrival Card and enter your passport details exactly as printed: full name, passport number, nationality, date of birth, expiry date
• Enter your travel details: since you're crossing by land, select Sadao as your port of entry and give your expected arrival date
• Enter your accommodation address in Thailand, hotel name and full address, or wherever you're staying
• Select your purpose of visit, tourism for most travellers
• Complete the health declaration if it applies, listing recent countries visited
• Review everything, then submit

You'll get a confirmation email with a QR code. Screenshot it. That QR code is what the immigration officer checks at the counter, so make sure your phone is charged and the screenshot is easy to find.

Have your passport details ready before you start the form

What you need ready before you start

• A valid passport, at least 6 months validity remaining
• Your Thailand accommodation address
• Your expected arrival date and entry point (Sadao)
• An email address you can access to receive the QR code

Having your accommodation booking open in another tab makes this a two-minute job instead of a ten-minute one.

At the Sadao border itself

Sadao sits in Songkhla province, about 60km south of Hat Yai, directly across from Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah. It's the busiest crossing between the two countries and now runs through a newly opened road and checkpoint complex, opened in July 2026, which replaced the older Danok crossing entirely.

The crossing works in two stages:

• First, Malaysian immigration at Bukit Kayu Hitam, where you get your exit stamp
• Then Thai immigration at Sadao, where you present your passport and your TDAC QR code, and your luggage may be inspected

Officers only need to see the QR code on your phone, no printout required

Officers only need to see the QR code on your phone screen. You don't need to print anything.

Operating hours at Sadao run 05:00 to 23:00 Thailand time (06:00 to midnight Malaysia time). Expect the full crossing, both sides, to take 45 to 90 minutes on a normal day. On Malaysian public holiday eves, it can stretch to 2 to 3 hours, so budget extra time or avoid travelling on those dates if you can.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Submitting the TDAC too early. Outside the 72-hour window, the system simply won't accept it, so don't fill it in a week ahead thinking you're being organised
• Assuming you don't need one for a land crossing. The TDAC applies to every entry point, not just airports
• Not saving the QR code offline. If you lose signal at the border, having a screenshot already saved (not just the email) avoids any hold-up
• Paying a third-party site. TDAC is free, and paid "visa service" sites that charge for it are not official
• Arriving without your accommodation details ready. If you haven't booked yet, use any confirmed address, a change later doesn't cause problems, but the field can't be left blank