The government will temporarily stop the need for international passengers to fill out TM 6 immigration forms to ease passenger congestion at international airports.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said this would help foreign visitors as they were already required to fill out many forms upon arrival. It will also help reduce congestion as international arrival numbers have increased, he added.

Prayut said authorities will evaluate the situation and consider if it needs to be revised, especially if they are unable to trace passengers.

Foreign travellers who enter Thailand by land or sea will still be required to fill out the form.

The move will save around 45.5 million baht a year in printing costs for an estimated 65 million TM 6 forms.

Immigration police can still collect data on arrivals via the biometric systems at airports, while other travel data can be collected from airlines, the government said.

Thais have not needed to fill out a TM 6 since 2017.