Biometrics started at airport - long queues

[Kinnock]

Even though it was a quiet Saturday at Swampy, it took over 50 minutes for the short queue of 6 people to get through Immigration due to the new fingerprint scanners.

 

The Immigration officers looked clueless and confused, and the 'press 4 fingers of right hand' instructions are only in English, so the hoards of Chinese hill farmers, Russian gangsters and obese Middle Eastern women in wheelchairs were struggling to follow the instructions.

 

Expect long delays on a properly busy day.

 

 

Edited May 25, 2019 by Kinnock

[RotBenz8888]

Sounds like it could turn into a nightmare when it's crowded, and possible could people miss their flights.

[NanLaew]

28 minutes ago, Kinnock said:

The Immigration officers looked clueless and confused, and the 'press 4 fingers of right hand' instructions are only in English, so the hoards of Chinese hill farmers, Russian gangsters and obese Middle Eastern women in wheelchairs were struggling to follow the instructions.

Not much of a labeler are you eh, Kinnock?

[NanLaew]

Queue the comments on the Thai's being hopeless, useless, ignorant, clueless... oh, wait.. that one's been done already. Dumb, uneducated, worthless...

Edited May 25, 2019 by NanLaew

[NanLaew]

5 minutes ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Sounds like it could turn into a nightmare when it's crowded, and possible could people miss their flights.

And it might rain heavily as well and they can't even get to the airport in the first place.

[NanLaew]

But!... a good heads-up for those who will be imminently traveling to the enchanted kingdom... like myself.

 

Forewarned is forearmed and all that.

 

Thanks!

[poohy]

22 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Queue the comments on the Thai's being hopeless, useless, ignorant, clueless... oh, wait.. that one's been done already. Dumb, uneducated, worthless...

re airport In this case its looking perfectly like that

The last line is how my thai wife views our neighbors here in the jungle i am too polite to comment but most of the time i feel she has a point

 

[josephbloggs]

Doesn't gel with my experiences at all.  I went out on Monday.  Scanners worked perfectly, had to register both hands and thumb, but I was no more than one minute at the desk and through.  Two minutes at an absolute maximum (I wasn't timing it).

 

Came back yesterday, only had to do one hand (as my prints were already registered from my outbound trip), was through in maybe 45 seconds, and had a very pleasant, smiling and friendly female IO. After my right hand, I put my left on the scanner and the IO even explained to me (in good English) that I did not need to do my left hand as I was already in the system.  That would suggest they know very well how it works and are not sitting there confused. 

 

What's more they had staff wearing uniforms with "Biometrics" written on them on hand at the terminals to help any "Chinese hill farmers, Russian gangsters and obese Middle Eastern women in wheelchairs" who were confused.   Although I didn't see anyone who was confused, it is a very simple procedure indeed.  Oh, also didn't see any Chinese hill farmers, Russian gangsters or obese Middle Eastern women in wheelchairs.

 

50 minutes for 6 people? Either there was something seriously wrong with the system that day, (in which case I am sure they would turn it off) or the OP is exaggerating.  But I've used it twice and no worries at all.

 

The OP is right though that the instructions are not in every single language, but instead they use very simple graphics that explain what to do (and they instruct you themselves if you can't follow simple instructions).

 

 

[Orton Rd]

Land Of Scans

[Inn Between]

1 hour ago, Kinnock said:

it took over 50 minutes for the short queue of 6 people to get through Immigration

 

1 hour ago, Kinnock said:

...so the hoards of Chinese hill farmers, Russian gangsters and obese Middle Eastern women in wheelchairs were struggling to follow the instructions.

 

I guess it's subjective, but I wouldn't refer to 6 people as "hoards". I'm afraid that it would kill my credibility. Claiming to know what people do by simply looking at them in queue doesn't help either.

 

I'm really not saying this to be nasty or critical but only to help (while realizing that my unsolicited help may not be welcome) but I think we could all benefit from reports that have what seem to be consistent and credible info. 

 

[DaRoadrunner]

This is going to be interesting... we Roadrunners don't have fingers.

 

Seriously, the Immigration requirements have gotten ridiculous. What next, implant a chip, or how about an ankle bracelet with GPS so they'll know where we are 24/7. Welcome to Thailand.

[Pilotman]

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

Queue the comments on the Thai's being hopeless, useless, ignorant, clueless... oh, wait.. that one's been done already. Dumb, uneducated, worthless...

this has been going on at London airports for first time none EU visitors, for about 6 years, maybe longer.  My in laws went through the finger print process on their first visit to the UK.  in the US for longer. It's not just a Thai idea.  

Edited May 25, 2019 by Pilotman

[blackcab]

That's interesting. I was in the same airport at about 6pm today and I had a very different experience. It was quiet, and there were 5 or 6 people in the queue in front of me.

 

Everyone was processed quickly and the fingerprint scanners worked efficiently.

[Traubert]

The Immigration officers looked clueless and confused, and the 'press 4 fingers of right hand' instructions are only in English, so the hoards of Chinese hill farmers, Russian gangsters and obese Middle Eastern women in wheelchairs were struggling to follow the instructions.

 

The diagram on the screen shows what to do. You don't need to read anything. They have these all over China's transport system and the 'hill farmers' will have used them previously.

 

Ok, be Sinophobic if it floats your boat but dont tell barefaced lies.

[Kinnock]

1 hour ago, blackcab said:

That's interesting. I was in the same airport at about 6pm today and I had a very different experience. It was quiet, and there were 5 or 6 people in the queue in front of me.

 

Everyone was processed quickly and the fingerprint scanners worked efficiently.

My flight landed around 19:00, queues were short, but did not move for 20 minutes so were backing up, then it took another 30 minutes for 5 or 6 people to get through. All lines started to back up and extended out of the strap barriers.

 

Helpers in blue 'Biometrics' waistcoats started guiding people - both passengers and Immigration Officers - and this seemed to get the lines moving, but very slowly.

 

And this was on a quiet day.

 

Perhaps it will get quicker, but as there can be long queues at peak times without the new scanners, I'm not optimistic.

 

 

[Inn Between]

I see kinnock is confused by the comments made about his or her original post. Somehow, I'm not surprised.

[blackcab]

19 minutes ago, Kinnock said:

My flight landed around 19:00

 

I was on EY408 which landed at 18:02, so I was a few minutes ahead of you. Everything was working smoothly with no problems at all.

 

What I don't understand about your post is why it took 5 or 6 people over 50 minutes to get through the immigration process. If the technology at one counter wasn't working, why did everyone in the queue stand waiting all of that time instead of moving to another counter?

 

There were many immigration counters open when I went through hall 1. Hall 3 was virtually deserted.

[Kinnock]

11 minutes ago, blackcab said:

 

I was on EY408 which landed at 18:02, so I was a few minutes ahead of you. Everything was working smoothly with no problems at all.

 

What I don't understand about your post is why it took 5 or 6 people over 50 minutes to get through the immigration process. If the technology at one counter wasn't working, why did everyone in the queue stand waiting all of that time instead of moving to another counter?

 

There were many immigration counters open when I went through hall 1. Hall 3 was virtually deserted.

I was looking for a shorter queue, or at least one that was moving, but all were static or extremely slow.  They opened two more counters at the end of the hall, and redirected some people, but those lines also stopped.

 

Perhaps there was a system glitch as I arrived in the hall.  I was pleased to see short queues as I walked in, then was frustrated at the slow pace, and noticed the queues backing up outside the strap barriers.

 

But if it was a system issue, it was still very slow once the queues started to move - which is why I think there will be issues on busy days.

 

And even as the Immigration Officers gain experience, many of the passengers will be new, so they will not speed up.

 

[mike787]

Also checking to make sure expats have health insurance...

[bluebluewater]

5 hours ago, Kinnock said:

obese Middle Eastern women in wheelchairs

VERY sexy indeed and offer a tremendous belly dance as well

[Puchaiyank]

I'm guessing urine and stool specimens...if you pass this immigration test...a micro chip under the skin...no more need for 90 day reporting...you will be under constant surveillance...  ????

 

[mike787]

3 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

I'm guessing urine and stool specimens...if you pass this immigration test...a micro chip under the skin...no more need for 90 day reporting...you will be under constant surveillance...  ????

 

You're Brilliant...well said!!  Aint that the truth...

[scotinsiam]

At Swampy now - there were only 4 immigration officers on the booths at departure - that combined with a lot of confused passengers it took 30 minutes to check out of Colditz.

[JaiLai]

Cane through 2/6/19 about 1830, also about 30min, thought it would be longer when I saw the Q...


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[NanLaew]

Came in from Cam Ranh last Sunday around 2 PM and it was a bit crowded. I was in one of those rare queues that serves 2 adjacent and open immigration desks and in my 23 minute Immigration pass-though, I observed it takes the average foreigner about 2 minutes to get past the new biometrics and fingerprints malarkey versus about 12 minutes for the average Chinese.

 

Chose your lines VERY carefully.

[jomtien99]

Last week had a 50 minutes queue to get through immigration. AOT, TAT and Immigration dept. are obviously working hard on your first impression when entering Thailand. 

[madmen]

So who is telling porkies? 3 said through in minutes and 3 said took up to 50 mins. All said it was quite. Tv a world of misinformation 

[JaiLai]

So who is telling porkies? 3 said through in minutes and 3 said took up to 50 mins. All said it was quite. Tv a world of misinformation 

Take an average


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[gk10002000]

finger print scanners for all arriving tourists?  Visa exempt entries and Single Entry Tourist visas?

[gk10002000]

On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 10:57 PM, scotinsiam said:

At Swampy now - there were only 4 immigration officers on the booths at departure - that combined with a lot of confused passengers it took 30 minutes to check out of Colditz.

Do they scan on departure and arrival?