Your first weeks in Thailand: the stamp, your landlord's 24 hours and the first ninety days

In your first weeks in Thailand you don't register with any municipality. What takes its place is a series of reports each with its own clock, and the first runs before you land. The find is in an announcement from the Thai embassy in The Hague: since 15 September 2026 you may as a Dutch national stay in Thailand without a visa for only thirty days, with at most an extension of thirty days that the immigration officer grants at his discretion. Whoever thinks "I'll fly there first and sort out the visa on the spot" therefore has little room. The pitfall after that is the date that counts: not the validity of your visa, but the stamp you receive on arrival.

What do you arrange before you land?

Since 1 May 2025 every foreigner fills in the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) before arrival, the digital successor of the paper arrival card. You do that online with the Immigration Bureau, preferably in the three days before your arrival, with your passport details, your travel details, your first address and a health declaration. You can update the details until you travel. The TDAC number is asked for again later, for example in the LTR application, so keep the confirmation.

Which date counts after arrival?

The embassy explains the difference, and it is the most important paragraph of your first weeks. The validity of a visa is the period in which you can use the visa to enter Thailand. The permitted period of stay is decided by the immigration officer on arrival, and it is on the stamp in your passport. For a non-immigrant visa that is at most ninety days per entry, for the O-A visa one year. All the clocks below count from that stamp.

Which clocks run in your first months?

When	What	Who
in the 3 days before arrival	fill in the TDAC	you
within 24 hours of arrival	TM30: report that a foreigner is staying at the address	your landlord, hotel or head occupant
first weeks	open a bank account, apply for proof of address	you
as soon as you have income in Thailand	13-digit tax number from the Revenue Department	you
after 90 days, and then every 90 days	address report at the immigration office where you live, or at the police if there is no office	you
before the date on your stamp	extension at Immigration	you
at 180 days in a calendar year	you are a tax resident	automatically

The TM30 is not your duty, but you notice it when it's missing: it is your proof of address for the bank, the driving licence and the extension, and it applies with an LTR visa too. Agree on it before signing your rental contract; see renting in Thailand.

If you enter without a visa, thirty days is your whole margin. Changing to another visa and extending your stay is at the discretion of the immigration officer. So apply for your O-A or LTR from the Netherlands, so that you land with a stay of a year or longer instead of a month.

What do you do in the first weeks?

A bank account, as early as possible. For the extension in Thailand the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asks for an account in Thailand or proof of income, together at least 800,000 baht. Which papers the bank asks for, and why you should start early, is in a bank account in Thailand.

A proof of address. The immigration office issues a residence certificate based on the TM30, which you need for your driving licence. What else you bring for it is in car and driving licence in Thailand.

A tax number, as soon as you have income in Thailand. The BOI writes for LTR holders with income in Thailand that you apply for it at any Revenue Department office. On the Thai tax return you fill in that thirteen-digit number, and also your partner's.

What comes after ninety days?

At the end of your first ninety days you report your address at the immigration office where you live, and after that every ninety days again for as long as you stay. That is not an extension; it is a separate report. The extension itself you apply for before the date on your stamp, with the proof of your account or income. How those deadlines touch each other is in the four clocks of your Thai stay, and the full order in the journey at /thailand.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Thailand or go straight to step 5.1 in the open plan.