TM30 for short-term rental hosts and managers: how to report foreign guests in Thailand

What the law requires

Section 38 of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979) says that the house master, the owner or the possessor of the residence, or the hotel manager where a foreigner with temporary permission to stay is staying must notify the immigration office for that area within 24 hours of the foreigner's arrival. Where there is no immigration office in the area, the local police are notified instead; for Bangkok addresses the report goes to the Immigration Division.

The duty is about the guest, not the building. On 2 November 2026 the Immigration Bureau's spokesperson reminded house owners, condo owners, landlords and anyone renting out rooms that it covers tourists, students, workers and foreign family members staying in a house, rented room or condo, not just hotels and resorts.

Who files when a management company runs the unit

The Act names the house master, the owner or possessor, or the hotel manager. It does not name a rental management company. In practice three set-ups are common, and each needs to be written down:

Do not leave it to the guest. The Act puts the duty on the people who house the foreigner, not on the foreigner. The one twist is a long-let unit: a law firm notes that a tenant who is the house master and hosts a foreign friend can become the person who must file.

How to file TM30

Immigration lists two routes in its November 2026 notice: online through its system at tm30.immigration.go.th, or in person at the immigration office responsible for the area. Law firms also describe filing by post, which is slower and risks missing the 24-hour window.

1. 1

   Set up an account for the property

   The online system needs an initial account set-up with property verification before the first report. Allow time for this before the guest arrives; it is not something to do at midnight on check-in day.

2. 2

   Collect the guest's details at check-in

   Passport personal-details page, the visa or exemption stamp and the latest entry stamp, plus check-in and expected check-out dates.

3. 3

   Submit within 24 hours

   Enter each foreign guest against the property. One online account can hold several foreign occupants, which matters for groups.

4. 4

   Keep the receipt

   Save the confirmation (online) or the receipt slip (in person; offices issue it the same day). It is your evidence if an inspector or the guest asks whether the stay was reported.

For the account and for in-person filing, expect to provide the owner's ID card or passport, the house registration book, proof of ownership or the lease, and the guest's passport copies. Requirements differ between offices, so check with the office that covers your property.

Penalties: what the Act says and what guides claim

Enforcement is real but uneven. Officers inspect accommodation and fine the person running it: in July 2026 a manager of rented accommodation in Rayong was taken for legal action and fined after an inspection. Fines are small next to the Hotel Act penalties, but an unreported guest at an unlicensed villa invites the bigger question of whether the property should be taking paid short stays at all.

What is changing, and how TDAC fits in

Hotel Act and Immigration Act bills

The Cabinet's Hotel Act amendment bill, accepted in principle by the House on 8 July 2026, would move guest registration online and require guest data to be sent to the registrar every 24 hours, with foreign guests passed on to Immigration. A separate Immigration Act amendment passed its third House reading on 30 September 2026; Parliament's report says it revises the rules on reporting foreigners' accommodation and moves some fines back to criminal penalties. Neither had been published in the Royal Gazette by 4 November 2026, so section 38 and section 77 as described here still apply. We follow the bills in Thailand's short-term rental law in 2026.

TDAC is the guest's form, TM30 is yours

Since 1 May 2025 foreign visitors fill in the Thailand Digital Arrival Card online, up to three days before they arrive. It replaced the paper TM.6 card and asks for passport, travel and accommodation details and a health declaration. TDAC is filed by the traveller before entry. TM30 is filed by the host after the guest arrives at the property, and the November 2026 Immigration reminder makes clear that duty is still in force.

A daily TM30 routine for managers with many units

For a company running 30 or 150 units, TM30 is a logistics problem. Late check-ins, group bookings and guests who move between villas are where reports get missed. A routine that works:

1. Every morning, pull today's arrivals across all channels, with the property, guest name, number of guests and nationality where known.
2. Collect passports before or at check-in for every foreign guest, not just the lead booker. Self check-in units need a step that collects passport photos before the door code is released.
3. File the same day, by a named person, property by property. Late-night arrivals are filed first thing the next morning, still inside 24 hours.
4. Record the receipt against the reservation, so anyone on the team can show that the guest was reported.
5. Check yesterday's list each morning for any arrival without a receipt.

Handle passport data under the PDPA

Thailand's Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 has been fully in force since 1 June 2022. Collecting passport details to comply with section 38 can rest on the legal-obligation basis, but the usual duties still apply:

• Tell guests why you collect the copy and how long you keep it (a short privacy notice in the check-in message).
• Collect only what TM30 needs; do not keep extra scans “just in case”.
• Store copies in one access-controlled place, not in staff chat groups or personal phones.
• Delete them when the retention period you stated ends.
• If copies leak, the regulator must be told within 72 hours of the breach being discovered. Administrative fines under the PDPA run up to 3 million THB for some breaches.

Where Propool helps, and where it does not

Propool does not file TM30. You or your team file with Immigration. What Propool gives you is the list to file from: the reservations list and calendar show who arrives at which unit each day, from Airbnb, Booking.com, Agoda and direct bookings, so the morning check starts from one screen instead of three extranets.

See how bookings from every channel reach one calendar in the channel manager guide.

Questions