jaywalker

13 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

Imagine paying for a business/first class ticket or an Elite visa or an expedited arrival service and still facing almost an hour in line.

 

Been there done that w/ a business class ticket. It works for check in and on the plane. You also get off before the hoards of Genghis Khan do.

That's about it. If Air India just arrived before your flight, then.....you wait, and wait, and wait.

Those VIP cards, which I thought would last about 6 months till they decided to change the rules again might actually be worth it....or I could (truthfully) tell them I have a bad back & get a wheelchair.

I feel weird about that though. I can walk 5 miles, but standing for 20 minutes makes me want to almost die.

I need a soapie massage.

No worries anybody. It will change, be recanted, be redacted, be re-written, by October 3017...maybe.

8 minutes ago, terryofcrete said:

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

And.......you quoted me why?

You need to type in your reply so others can see it.

Don't mean be a smart-ass, but I'm confused.

6 minutes ago, masuk said:

Do any of the International airports have a queue for those of us with tin knees, and other problems with standing for a couple of hours?

China Immigration have a section for over 65s or disabilities.

I think they do, though I've never used it.

Just stagger out of the plane & tell them "Old man...Cannot walk". 

Dye your hair brown/black the next day and hit Soi 6.

3 minutes ago, Cats4ever said:

Just came in from Phnom Penh. Was looking at a monster queue. A kind lady suggested I go to priority, due to my venerable age. I did. I hope it was an improvement (still yook over 50 minutes). The queue snailed along. Only half the booths open. doesn't help in positive decision on whether to return to Bangkok.

You're making my back hurt to think about it.

17 minutes ago, jonclark said:

I know what a luddite is. No need 

for a link.

 

But I am glad you agree with me that there are too many IO doing too many unimportant tasks. The UK has approx 8000 officers in its border force (which i suspect os alot less than Thai Immigration) which includes immigration at airports. It has more international airports. More tourists and one could argue equally difficult and complex issues with illegal immigration as Thailand. 

 

But the use of tech has streamlined their functioning giving better results all round.

Don't mean to argue jonclark, but you are preaching to the choir.

Things get STUPID though, when you try to streamline any agency set in their ways. In Thailand, you get the pouty look at best. On the street, you get your head stomped in.

I have tried to....well tell a few that worked for me they were idiots and showed them the proper way to do their jobs.....Ways that would make their work WAY FASTER and EASIER. They just huffed & puffed & pouted for a few days.

I never actually told them they were idiots, I'd just demonstrate something simple, like how to use an air ratchet instead of a manual ratchet, and how keeping my tools organized made me be able to do in one day what took them a week.

They could CARE LESS about efficiency, production, quality etc.

It was all about "Let's milk this job for as long as we can, & if we screw it up, then it might last longer".

3 minutes ago, isco said:

haha ridiculous on all levels. why on earth anyone bothers still coming to thailand is beyond me? went to Cambodia last week (the real land of smiles). got through immigration, visa processed and in a tuk tuk in less than 5 minutes, greeted by happy polite smiling people. then spent 5 days enjoying beer a quarter of the price of thailand. haha no brainer!!

You'd love Thailand too....way deep down if you'd been in Thailand 20+ years ago.

Quite amazing how fast they've managed to make a mess of things.

Cambo is OK though...to each his own. I recall when they had no ATM's and road bandits/highwaymen in Cambo. 

The Cambo IO's are/were corrupt as they get.

Pretty women though!  Have not been there in a while, so mayhaps it is better than Thailand by now at the airports & land crossings.

I was a serial visa-runner on 30 day Visa-on-Arrival with my US passport 2001- 2004.....actually I traveled a LOT around SEA & the Mid-East for a US company & it was cheaper than flying me across the Pacific or Atlantic every few weeks.

I'd hit Koh Kong for 15 minutes, then take my lady to Koh Chang for the weekend. Life was good!

I tried to do some consulting with our Thai customers....They always said "No hab budget"..

Good old days when Swampy wasn't even a twinkle in somebody's eye, and DMK was fast & friendly, as were the IO's.

4 hours ago, missoura said:

Yesterday afternoon at Don Muang domestic departure. Fastest, I have ever seen. All lanes seemed open and the Thai staff were waving people through. Maybe 5 minutes at most.

Only saw one other post about this Missoura, but flying from DMK to Pitsanolouk (or wherever within Thailand) does not require immigration nor customs checks.

2 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

 

Really?

You need to check out lower Sukhumvit. The "litter police" are handing out fines all day long.

Why are they not in Pathum Thani (and many other places) along the canals?

It's a flippin' cesspool. Nah. They just want farangs who drop a ciggie butt = easy Hong Thong money.

11 minutes ago, mikiea said:

if you can afford a thailand vacation , you can afford a taxi to the hotel  .. do not be one of those foreign  assholds that drag two suitcases and a carry on's up and down the MRT and BTS  . i see these assholds every day pushing  and shoving their way onto the cars . have they no shame ? i think not . pathetic they are ......

That's why I never tried it. Not too bad in KL, as all is at ground level and the airport is 50 miles from nowhere & they have luggage racks on the train.

Helps if you have your gun-bearer (wife) to help you though.

9 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

There just doesn't seem to good co-operation between all the stakeholders  and if it keeps up- the problem will be solved- no one will want to come to Thailand because of the chaos.

Already there Bro. 

I agree with you it's a shame. Last time I flew Utapao to Samui & back, I just parked....about 5 cars out there. No parking attendants.

I was there about 5 days.

When I went to leave some Yo-yo appeared & asked me how many days I had parked there. Now there was about 3 cars on 10 acres/24 rai of parking lot, that my Dad's tax money had paid for.

I told him one day. He said "OK. 50 baht".

Utapao is marginally closer than Swampy to Pattaya. Definitely closer to Koh Samet.

It has runways for B-52 bombers. It was an alternative landing site for the NASA Space Shuttle.

They just cannot seem to figure out who is going to line their pockets it would seem?

Oh yeah, they'd have to hire more immigration officers too.

3 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

+1 for the airport link suggestion. 

 

You can change trains at Phaya Thai and get off at Ekkamai BTS. 

 

Total cost 80thb. Time taken 50 minutes. 

Never tried it. How is it with two suitcase and a carry-on bag?

10 minutes ago, LennyW said:

I fly into Swampy a few times a month and i can tell you that over the last 4 - 5 months this has become a lot more common sight, definitely an issue with immigration staff or the lack of, but also you get 2 or 3 fully loaded A380s arriving at the same time and that sure does not help.

 

Just wait till they get the Indians they are pandering to bring in.

Most are nice enough folks, but PEE-YOOO!

I broke my toe once when stepping out of a shower. The Indian guy said "You Americans", and shook his head "You are always bathing" like I was an idiot for taking a shower.

First time I arrived in Abu Dhabi Air India had just landed a 747. Utter, and total chaos.

3 minutes ago, Blackheart1916 said:

I was inbound at Swampy 4pm yesterday, yes there were queues but it took me a reasonable 30 mins to clear, passengers going through at 40 to 60 seconds. Bigger frustration was the 2.5 hrs in a taxi to Ekkamai, the last 500m I jumped out and onto the back of a moto taxi.

Rush hour in traffic. If you'd arrived at 1:00 AM it would have been 2.5 hours at immigration & 20 minutes to Eckamai.

7 minutes ago, jonclark said:

I think you missed the point. Using tech more effectively would free up IO from menial tasks to be redeployed to more important tasks. Not make them unemployed or cut off their rice bowl. 

They are Luddites. That was my main point, also, that ANYTHING, especialy a Thai gov't tries to do will usually take 3 -10 years longer than they say it will take (Pattaya tunnel for example).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite

2 minutes ago, NextStationBangkok said:

They need to divert 50% of the planes to Myanmar and Cambodia to reduce the immigration queue.

They need to staff ALL the immigration desks 24/7.

14 minutes ago, Artisi said:

well, the problem will go away if they don't pickup their act- why would anyone getting screwed by waiting for hours on lousy immigration processing ever recommend visiting Thailand - when in fact they will probably do the exact opposite.   

There's a fool born every minute.

Many come to Thailand. Many are born in Thailand and work for the government.

3 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Wasn't there a sign that "pregnant men" get preferential treatment? Worth a try! 

Good one Bro! I saw that sign!

1 minute ago, spidermike007 said:

 

And the real shame of it all, lies in the fact that in a desperate bid to keep tourism arrival numbers ever on the rise, they are going after a lower quality tourist, than in the past. The hordes arriving on the super low budget tours, just do not bring in that much cash for the local people. The western tourists who used to be far more common here, spent anywhere from $100 to $2,000 a day. It is representative of the astonishing lack of vision this administration, and everyone within it possesses. The hordes just make the entire tourism experience less pleasant, and more challenging for the people, the roads, the airports, the infrastructure, and the destinations. And who really benefits? 

 

The fact is, Thailand is not keeping up with their neighbors, who are trying harder, streamlining their visa process, making it easier to invest, and own land and property, and offering a far warmer welcome to Westerners than Thailand is. 

I recall flying in from Sandland on a tear around town and blowing 20K baht in an afternoon. Not including hotel either. 

Yeah, you are right.

18 minutes ago, ldiablo72 said:

Nice initial greeting to Thailand "rew rew".

Thing is though, most Chinese feel uncomfortable unless they are pissing, spitting, honking their lungs up, and elbowing somebody in the ribs all at the same time.

It makes them feel at home.

4 minutes ago, jonclark said:

I am amazed at just how far tech has come every time I return to the UK and then even more amazed at how Thailand is soo far behind the curve and how inefficiencies of time, money and effort could so easily be rectified. 

 

The number of people in Thailand doing the most menial of tasks is monumental. 

Pfff! The US spent two or three billion USD on the Obamacare website that doesn't work.

If you want something to NOT work online, then leave it up to the government.

Also, those "menial tasks" as you say are their rice bowls. 

4 minutes ago, GR8fun in LOS said:

Mr Whisper I think you may find it relates to the Common Thai practice of forward planning - which rarely extends beyond "mmm what am I having for lunch"?

The "P" in Thailand stands for Planning.

1 minute ago, Jimbo2014 said:

Most Asian countries have really worked to streamline immigration and ensure its a very fast process...  most... except... The Kingdom of Thailand! - which really relies on tourism.  Im not sure what the salary of an immigration officer is but you would think it would be worth a few baht to ensure a positive first impression for tourists and a free flow for business travellers.  

They are usually indifferent or friendly to me....about like anywhere. I almost had one cute female ready for a date (if I had asked her out), just because I said Sawatdee Khrap in perfect Thai (not hard to do). I was much younger back then even though I'm still a hansum man.

Who cares about their attitudes, just staff all the freaking desks when you have 9,000 inbound passengers would be OK.

Unrelated to Thailand, but related to immigration & airports, I've had a few US IO's ask me how long I've been out of the US.

Last time was....Errr...7 years. He said, sounds like fun man. Welcome back.

Got peeled off to the side & extensively grilled by somebody with a badge at Heathrow once, in transit from Abu Dhabi to Miami. Nice enough guy, but he asked me about 75 questions. Still have no idea why, and this was pre-9/11.

Just now, wvavin said:

Cracks usually don't hold that long. There is always a breaking point and this is coming now.

Thai concrete velly good!

2 minutes ago, balo said:

Are they Chinese ?

Who?