What to do
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Key facts
Start with the active ingredient
Use the live Thai FDA traveler portal to check the actual active ingredient for the actual trip date. Do not classify a medicine from its brand name alone. The portal is the current substance-check and application surface, so an example in an article cannot replace that live result.
If the ingredient's status is unclear, keep the answer unresolved and use the Thai FDA contact in the current guidance. This page does not advise stopping, changing or substituting medication, and a foreign prescription does not by itself establish that Thai entry requirements are satisfied.
Follow the narcotic branch
Thai FDA Version 5 guidance says prescribed narcotic drugs in permitted Schedules II–III, in an amount up to a 90-day supply, require Form IC-2. The request must be made at least 15 days before arrival. Medicines outside the permitted schedules may be prohibited.
Keep the schedule, quantity and timing together when applying the rule. A 90-day maximum does not remove the permit requirement, and a prescription does not replace the form for this branch. Recheck the portal and current Version 5 successor guidance before the application deadline.
Follow the psychotropic branch
For prescribed psychotropic substances in Schedules II–IV, Version 5 says up to 30 days may be carried with a qualifying medical certificate or prescription. A 31–90-day supply requires Form IC-2. The document also gives Customs-document and original-container instructions.
Do not merge this with the narcotic branch: the quantity and document rules differ. Keep the medicine in its original container and follow the Customs pathway in the current official guidance, using the permit where the active ingredient, schedule and quantity require it.
Prepare the current application documents
The FDA application guide dated 2 September 2026 calls the carry-in application IC-1; IC-2 is the permit issued after approval. It requires a passport copy and a physician-signed prescription or medical document issued no more than six months before travel. Use its checklist for the patient, medication, dosage and prescriber details.
Submit through the current official portal and keep the issued permit with the medicines and supporting documents. Completing an application is not approval. Follow the applicable Customs declaration branch, and ask FDA if a document or timing requirement is unclear.
Use the general rule only for ordinary medicine
Thai FDA's general personal-import page says ordinary medicines may be carried for personal use up to 30 days. Its broad page was published in 2023, before Version 5's more specific controlled-substance workflow dated 21 September 2024.
For a controlled ingredient, use the later, specific Version 5 branch rather than the general page's older wording. Schedules, forms and Customs procedures can change, so this is a dated process map—not legal or medical advice and not an ingredient-specific authorization.
Dates, responsibility & checking method
Evidence
Sources
4 dated records support the material facts on this page.
- Guidance for Travelers under Treatment Carrying Personal Medications Containing Narcotic Drugs or Psychotropic Substances into Thailand (opens in a new tab)
Thai Food and Drug Administration, Narcotics Control Divisionprimary documentPublished Checked
- Request Permit for Travelers (opens in a new tab)
Thai Food and Drug Administration, Narcotics Control Divisionofficial governmentChecked
- Bringing of health products into the Kingdom of Thailand (opens in a new tab)
Thai Food and Drug Administrationofficial governmentPublished Checked
- How to submit an online application? Version 3, 2 September 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Thai Food and Drug Administration, Narcotics Control Divisionprimary documentPublished Checked