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What should I do if my passport only has a family name while filling out the Digital Thailand Arrival Card?

Digital Thailand Arrival CardDTACThai Visa ApplicationPassport IssuesExpat Travel TipsImmigration HelpName Format Problems
May 16, 2025
a month ago
Anonymous *************
ORIGINAL POSTER
HELP❗️

Hi, I’m filling out the Digital Thailand Arrival Card (DTAC), but my passport only has a family name—no first name. The form won’t accept symbols like "-" and only allows letters. And filling in first name is compulsory. Has anyone dealt with this before or know what I should do? Any help is appreciated! Thank you.
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TLDR : Answer Summary
A user is seeking advice on how to complete the Digital Thailand Arrival Card (DTAC) since their passport only contains a family name and lacks a first name, which the form requires. Several commenters suggest solutions, including entering the last name twice, omitting special characters, or leaving a space. Some discussion surrounds the peculiarities of passports from certain countries that may not include a first name, specifically mentioning Malaysian passports. There are differing opinions on whether it's necessary to know the user's nationality and how consular officials might interpret the naming conventions.
Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC)

WARNING: Only trust Thai government websites with .go.th domains or Thai agent websites with .co.th or .in.th domains, as these require verified Thai registration and cannot be registered anonymously.

The official TDAC form is available at tdac.immigration.go.th, which uses the official .go.th government domain.

The services by AGENTS CO., LTD. does NOT charge any fees for arrivals within 72 hours. If you need to book more than 72 hours in advance, there is a service fee of $8.

Do not trust other sites pretending to be a trustworthy agency. Pay attention to delivery time - the service operated by AGENTS CO., LTD. has 1 minute delivery time for arrivals within 72 hours.

Don't fall for sites pretending to be agents.co.th or the official government tdac.immigration.go.th website. Always double-check the exact domain in your browser.

Scam services may take days to process your application, others may not even do anything. With these TDAC scam services you also need to worry about double charges.

Please watch out for TDAC misinformation spread by fugitive Jesse Nickles and his many fake accounts on Quora, TripAdvisor, Reddit, and other platforms.

TRUSTED TDAC LINKS:

Official Government TDAC Form: tdac.immigration.go.th
Official TDAC form by AGENTS
Official TDAC information page by AGENTS (tdac.agents.co.th)

Henrik *****
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a month ago
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Bob **********
If you can’t get it done you do it at the airport
a month ago
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Bill *********
Your passport doesn’t have a first name is it a real passport?
a month ago
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Elías ********
@Bill ********
 Many Asian people don't use a family/last name, at least not like we use it. If they don't have one, it won't be shown on the passport. I have friends from Indonesia and Burma with no family names. That Indonesian friend told me "some Indonesians" do have family names, but not all. Said so, Aye Chan Phyu and Koh Kwang Yee can be brother and sister, children of the same father and mother, despite not having any word in common.
a month ago
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Bill *********
@Elías *******
 if they have a passport, like that shouldn’t they know how to fill a form out?
a month ago
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Elías ********
@Bill ********
 It depends on the other country also. For example some US or other countries forms for visas have a check box that says "I don't have a last/family name". But if there's a family name space, and it's marked as mandatory, like this case, you'll have to input something or it won't just make it to the next screen.
a month ago
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Elías ********
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Tim ***********
Can you please tell us which country you are from? I find it very interesting that you don't have a first name.
a month ago
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Tim ***********
Okay, I understand the problem now. If someone would apply in Malaysia, the Thai consular officials would of course be familiar with the specific characteristics of Malaysian naming and the depiction of names in Malaysian passports. But outside, this can lead to confusion. However, I think there is no ultimate solution because every consular officer is different and would interpret it differently
a month ago
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David ********
@Tim **********
 many countries only use one name even my country it's up to the family at the birth
a month ago
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David ********
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Tim ***********
@David *******
 Why do we have to make a secret out of it? It's just interesting to know which countries don't have first names. I mean, it doesn't make sense to issue an international passport where there isn't a first name. You have to fill out things like that all the time. I'm just curious and would like to look at a sample passport on the internet to see if there really isn't a first name in it; I can't imagine that.
a month ago
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Genevieve ****
@Tim **********
 most likely a Malaysian passport. It is not that we dont have a first name. We do, but the MRZ in malaysian passports read everything (the entire name) as a last name. Really inconvenient when filling things out like visa applications 😩
a month ago
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Kenneth *******
@Tim **********
 google🙋‍♂️
a month ago
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Tim ***********
@Kenneth ******
 I would like to google it, but therefore I need to know his nationality so I can search specifically for that passport and take a look at it. That's what this is about.
a month ago
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David ********
@Tim **********
 no you don't need country. Just Google " country with one name " that's the beauty of google
a month ago
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William *************
@David *******
 who talks like that "oh hey nice to meet you, what's your name?" - "Google it" - grow up!
a month ago
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William *************
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David ********
@Tim **********
 what is the need for their country. That is not their question why ask
a month ago
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David ********
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Delfina *********
Add your last name twice
a month ago
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Anonymous ******************
This
a month ago
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Anonymous ******************
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Lee-Ann *******
Regarding characters in our name, I just leave a space, omit the character
a month ago
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Anonymous ******************
Leave a space or put it in the same word.

O'Malley = OMalley
a month ago
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Lee-Ann *******
Anonymous participant 259 For your surname I'd do it that way, mine is my first name which is two names separated with a hyphen
a month ago
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Anonymous ******************
Enter it as "LeeAnn" or "Lee Ann" If spaces are allowed

Sounds the same when you say it.
a month ago
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Anonymous ******************
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Michi ********
A lot of people just enter their last name twice.
a month ago
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Delfina *********
You have no first name ? In your passport ?
a month ago
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Dca *****
@Delfina ********
 Sure, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, even before Vietnam only had a name field. Some of these countries may only have 1 name
a month ago
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Paul *******
@Dca ****
 These days, Burmese people have last names. They might be called Tin Tin Aung or something. First name repeated, then last name.
a month ago
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Dca *****
@Paul ******
 There are still not specificied instructions published yet for TDAC like for Thai E–Visa

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a month ago
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Elías ********
@Paul ******
 some Burmese people have, some don't. My friends don't have, I've seen their passports.
a month ago
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Paul *******
@Elías *******
 All of them do these days. I work in Myanmar and know tons of Burmese people. In modern times they all have a first name and a last name.
a month ago
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Elías ********
@Paul ******
 The Myanmar passport has only one field for "Name", whatever name the person has, it's written there in a single line. So if somebody's name is, Aye Chan Phyu (for example), that person could argue any of them are their "last name", if needed, but the passport doesn't specify. I don't know if they have changed it recently, like 1 or 2 years ago? But all "old" passports that haven't expired remain still valid and legal.
a month ago
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Paul *******
@Elías *******
 One of them is a name the others belong to the surname field.
a month ago
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Anonymous *************
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Elías *******
 exactly my passport is like tht. I only have one field for “Name” what do u reckon i do??
a month ago
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Dca *****
@Paul ******
 Besides Myanmar, Indonesians only have 1 name
a month ago
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Dca *****
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