TM.30 in Thailand: The 24-Hour Rule Every Tenant and Landlord Should Know

What TM.30 actually is, and why it exists

TM.30 derives from Section 38 of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979): "The owner or possessor of a residence in which a foreigner has stayed shall notify the competent official of the local immigration office within 24 hours from the time of the foreigner's arrival." The original purpose was national-security tracking.

Bangkok Immigration began rigidly enforcing TM.30 in 2019 to the point where missing filings would block visa extensions outright. After backlash and partial relaxations, the 2026 posture sits in the middle: not zero-tolerance, but not negotiable either.

The form itself is short: foreigner's name, passport number, visa type, arrival date, and the address. The owner files it; the foreigner usually never sees it.

Who must file — the legal answer vs the practical answer

Legally: the property owner or "possessor" (which includes a tenant who is themselves a Thai national subletting to a foreigner). If you're a foreigner renting from a Thai owner, the Thai owner files — you have no legal duty.

Practically: most individual condo-unit owners renting to a foreigner for the first time have no idea TM.30 exists. The agent who arranged the lease often doesn't tell them. You sign the lease, you move in, neither of you files TM.30, and six months later you're at Chaeng Wattana Immigration trying to extend your visa stamp and the officer asks for the TM.30 receipt — which doesn't exist.

The officer's discretion at that point is to either issue a small fine and process the extension anyway, or refuse the extension and tell you to come back when the missing TM.30 is sorted. It's a rule the landlord can break and you pay for.

The penalties (what actually gets enforced in 2026)

The statute lists fines from ฿2,000 to ฿100,000. In practice through Q1 2026:

• First missed filing, voluntarily disclosed at extension time: typically ฿1,600-2,000 fine, paid on the spot, extension processed.
• First missed filing, discovered by the officer: ฿4,000-10,000, longer wait, sometimes a written statement required.
• Repeated misses: ฿10,000-20,000 per incident, possible black-mark on visa file, future extensions scrutinized.
• Misses combined with overstay or other compliance issues: significantly higher fines and risk of visa refusal.

For tenants the practical penalty is rarely the cash — it's the lost half-day at Immigration plus worry about the next renewal. For property managers running multiple foreign-tenant units, the cash adds up fast.

When TM.30 must be re-filed

This is the part most foreigners get wrong. TM.30 is not a one-time event at lease signing — it is per-arrival. Specifically:

1. First time you arrive at the residence after lease starts → file within 24 hours.
2. Every time you re-enter Thailand from abroad → re-file within 24 hours of arriving back at the residence (your foreign passport stamp is the trigger).
3. Every time you stay overnight at a different address in Thailand and then return → some Immigration offices require a re-file at your home address; most don't, but Bangkok Immigration in 2024-2025 had a few zealous officers asking.
4. Lease renewal at the same address → no new TM.30 required (the arrival was the trigger, not the contract).

For DTV holders rotating in and out of Thailand 3-6 times a year, TM.30 is a rolling obligation tied to your passport stamps. If your landlord filed once at lease signing and never again, you have a compliance problem that will surface at extension time. See The DTV Visa + Thai Property for the rotation strategy that minimizes this friction.

How TM.30 is actually filed

Three methods, in order of speed:

Method 1 — Online via myimmigration.go.th (preferred since 2022)

The owner registers an account on myimmigration.go.th (Thai national ID required), adds the property, and files TM.30 per occupant per arrival. Filings are timestamped server-side; the "receipt" is a printable PDF the owner sends to the tenant.

Filing time: 5-10 minutes per occupant once registered. Account approval takes 3-7 business days the first time. Repeat filings on existing properties take under a minute.

Method 2 — Walk-in at the local Immigration office

Owner shows up with passport copies, lease, and chanote, fills the paper TM.30 form, gets it stamped. Free. Slow (2-4 hours including queueing). Useful only if the online account isn't approved yet or the system is down.

Method 3 — TM.30 service via property manager or law firm

Several Bangkok property management companies and law firms will file TM.30 on the owner's behalf for ฿300-1,500 per filing. Common where the owner is foreign-resident or the unit is run as a serviced rental.

What to do if your landlord refuses (or doesn't respond)

Some scenarios:

Scenario A — Landlord agrees to file but never does. The most common scenario. Solutions:

1. Send a written follow-up citing Section 38 of the Immigration Act, asking for the TM.30 receipt within 7 days. Legal references work better than politeness alone.
2. If still no action, file TM.28 yourself (see Scenario C). This protects you even though it doesn't substitute for the owner's TM.30 obligation.
3. Document your attempts. At extension time, show the officer your written requests — they'll often process the extension and direct enforcement at the landlord.

Scenario B — Landlord doesn't have a Thai national ID (e.g., foreign owner of a foreign-quota unit). The owner must file via Method 2 or Method 3 — the online portal currently requires Thai ID. Expect online access for foreign owners sometime in 2026.

Scenario C — File TM.28 yourself as protection. TM.28 is the form the foreigner files to notify Immigration of a change of address. It's not a substitute for TM.30, but it creates an Immigration paper trail of your residence that can be shown at extension time. File at the local Immigration office or via the tenant section of the myimmigration portal. You should file TM.28 separately every time your address changes — that's a separate legal obligation on the foreigner.

Scenario D — Move out. If you're three months in, the landlord won't file, and a visa renewal is coming, the friction of changing apartments is small compared to a refused visa extension.

What MangoGo does differently

We surface "TM.30 filed by landlord" as a primary metadata field on every long-term rental listing. The flag means the owner has confirmed in writing during onboarding that they understand TM.30, have a registered myimmigration.go.th account, and will file for each tenant arrival within the 24-hour window. We re-confirm annually as part of our verification cycle.

For the broader picture of legal compliance for foreign tenants — including how lease structures interact with TM.30 obligations — see Foreign Property Ownership in Thailand: The 2026 Guide.

TL;DR cheat sheet

• TM.30 is the owner's legal duty under §38 Immigration Act, but the tenant pays at extension time.
• File within 24 hours of every arrival (lease start, every re-entry from abroad).
• File via myimmigration.go.th (5-10 min, owner needs Thai ID).
• Penalties ฿1,600-20,000 in practice; visa-renewal refusal is the real cost.
• If landlord won't file: ask in writing, file TM.28 yourself, document attempts, escalate to Immigration if needed, consider moving.
• On MangoGo, the "TM.30 filed by landlord" filter eliminates the problem before you sign.

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Sources & further reading. Immigration Act B.E. 2522 §38 (Royal Thai Government Gazette); Immigration Bureau e-filing portal documentation, myimmigration.go.th; Bangkok Immigration Division procedural updates 2024-2025. Companion: The DTV Visa + Thai Property for the rotation pattern most likely to expose you to repeated TM.30 obligations.