Must Read Welcome to Thailand - and welcome to immigration queues!

[Oxx]

1 hour ago, porphyry said:

Just like this everyday in the UK

Except that's not Immigration and it's not arrivals, so off topic.

[HHTel]

8 hours ago, sjaak327 said:

Anyway, I am dying to hear what airports the world over do this, precious few I would think. No western European airport is doing this right now.

Just for starters:

US,

Argentina,

Uruguay,

Panama,

Japan,

Singapore,

South Korea,

Taiwan,

Cambodia,

Malaysia,

Ghana,

Saudi Arabia,

Thailand,

Canada,

France,

United Kingdom,

China.

 

Plus the EU will be introducing fingerprint scans for non-eu citizens in 2020.

 

I think most countries now need to see biometric passport at the airports.

 

 

[Monomial]

I came through Don Muang last night. It took me over an hour to get through the queue, which previously took about 15 minutes for that flight. Not surprisingly, it was the scanners that caused the delay. There were about 6 people walking around with Biometrics written across their chest, watching for problems.

 

Here is the deal. The system they have implemented is fine for small, regional airports. Cambodia used this kind of biometrics at passport control for a while, but they have twice the number of agents and a small fraction of the passengers. But it is totally unacceptable for a passenger count as high as Thailand. They had only 8 immigration desks open, and it was taking an average of 2 minutes to complete a passenger.  That is only 240 passengers an hour they can realistically admit. What moron thought that was sufficient given the traffic coming through that place? Are they incapable of basic math?

 

I recently took a trip to Vancouver via China, and both of those major airports had their fingerprinting system separate from immigration. In fact, I can't imagine why Thailand didn't do this as well. Scratch that...I can. This is Thailand.  Vancouver in particular had over a hundred of these machines. Once you submitted your fingerprints, you got a receipt and simply handed the receipt to the immigration officer. He scanned the QR code and that was it. No wasted time at all. These same 6 guys wandering around the front doing nothing could have been placed in a special biometrics location to help passengers complete the process long before they ever reached the immigration queue.  You just need to have 1) sufficient machines and 2) the right type of machines.

 

Thailand is like the guy who bought the 400 baht blender for his bar instead of the 20,000 baht industrial model, and then is surprised when real orders start coming in and it all goes to fecal matter.

 

In any case, for those of you who travel internationally, be prepared for an excruciating experience getting back into Thailand. This is a cockup on an enormous scale. I can't believe they spent 2 billion baht on it....

Edited June 30, 2019 by Monomial

[sjaak327]

2 hours ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Nonsense.

 

The biggest criminals in Thailand wear uniforms.

Or are actually governing this country.... Oh the irony. 

[sjaak327]

3 hours ago, HHTel said:

Just for starters:

US,

Argentina,

Uruguay,

Panama,

Japan,

Singapore,

South Korea,

Taiwan,

Cambodia,

Malaysia,

Ghana,

Saudi Arabia,

Thailand,

Canada,

France,

United Kingdom,

China.

 

Plus the EU will be introducing fingerprint scans for non-eu citizens in 2020.

 

I think most countries now need to see biometric passport at the airports.

 

 

Time to address the issue I would say, still not a very large list, and some of the countries have a questionable human rights record, what a surprise. As to France, I am guessing only for non-eu citizens, as I work in France regularly, I just cross the border in my car, as do all other citizens, not even a passport check,

 

Cambodia to the best of my recollection scans one (1) finger, and only at the airport. Just as with France highlighting the uselessness of the whole thing.

 

Fear fear and people actually applaud useless measure that do absolutely nothing for security. Placebo. 

Edited June 30, 2019 by sjaak327

[DrTuner]

13 hours ago, White Christmas13 said:

the only people who did not fill in their form where Thais, most foreigners

including Chinese had no problems

That's because Thais don't need to fill the TM6 to enter their own country. My Thai wife has entered Thailand three times this year without it. Have you ever actually gone through the Thai immigration line?

[EricTh]

2 hours ago, Monomial said:

 

 

I recently took a trip to Vancouver via China, and both of those major airports had their fingerprinting system separate from immigration. In fact, I can't imagine why Thailand didn't do this as well. Scratch that...I can. This is Thailand.  Vancouver in particular had over a hundred of these machines. O

The problem with those machines where no officer is watching is that somebody can put fake fingerprints on it.

 

yes, there are such thing as fake fingerprints.

 

The only way I see to reduce the time is to put your hand in once and not three times like what it is now. After all, you need to stand still to get your photo recorded.

 

 

Edited June 30, 2019 by EricTh

[Monomial]

2 hours ago, EricTh said:

The problem with those machines where no officer is watching is that somebody can put fake fingerprints on it.

 

yes, there are such thing as fake fingerprints.

 

The only way I see to reduce the time is to put your hand in once and not three times like what it is now. After all, you need to stand still to get your photo recorded.

 

 

There are 6 Biometrics officers in Don Muang already walking around. They could easily oversee the fake fingerprints problem on a larger array of machines. They do it in every other country, so there is no reason they can not do it here.

[BobbyL]

Argh, sounds like another spectacularly inept implementation of a system in Thailand. 

 

One would surely have to assume that the people overseeing this project didn't look at how other countries have effectively organised a similar system. 

[HHTel]

Of course they didn't look at others.  Thais know best. A country, that rather than use the existing tried and tested wheel which has been with us for thousands of years, they will re-invent it!.

[Geordie59]

What lot of fuss about nothing. 

Many countries now scan finger prints on entry but I don't hear all the complaints.

Many others take your photo just as Thailand did/still does. You often aren't even aware it is happening. 

[bbi1]

19 hours ago, Roy Baht said:

Dude, I know expats who are leaving. For real. And moving to Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, back to their home countries.  I also know people who were planning to retire here but have had to change their plans. You're acting like it's a choice. For most of these people, it's not. They just can't satisfy the visa requirements (800K baht deposit, health insurance) so they are gone.

Bad guys out & good guys in, just like what Thailand wants.

[EricTh]

3 hours ago, HHTel said:

Of course they didn't look at others.  Thais know best. A country, that rather than use the existing tried and tested wheel which has been with us for thousands of years, they will re-invent it!.

Thais don't have the technology.

 

It has already been said they used AI technology like face recognition and finger printing from China.

Edited June 30, 2019 by EricTh

[EricTh]

On 6/29/2019 at 12:34 PM, sjaak327 said:

Not even my own country has my fingerprints. Why would Thailand need them. A passport is still a valid document to travel and enter countries with.

As it stands, Thai immigtation needs about two minutes just to process a single passenger, and now they need even more time. To absolutely no end. Stop with this biometric nonsense

Sent from my SM-J730F using Tapatalk
 

You can buy fake passports on the black market.

 

[Oxx]

4 minutes ago, EricTh said:

You can buy fake passports on the black market.

 

Nasty, racist comment.  It's not only black people that sell illegal, fake passports.

[Salerno]

42 minutes ago, EricTh said:

... and finger printing from China.

German equipment actually https://www.dermalog.com/.

[Chazar]

19 hours ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Worrying to see so many countries attempting to implement these controls especially those with appalling human rights records such as Saudi Arabia.

 

And yet some people still think they are for 'our' benefit.

 

I guess those types of people are so closed minded and weak they can't see the danger.

 

I pity them, stuck in the prison of their own scared minds.

I decided a  long time ago its "them and Us" its  all a  game  all the rule regs do this do that dont speed dont drink or smoke  etc I was once that law abiding upstanding citizen but now they can go screw themselves, Ill avoid  tax and anything else I can, its all about money and control of the people. Got  no respect for any laws now  as they have no respect for us.

[ravip]

On 6/28/2019 at 5:26 PM, Tropposurfer said:

Went through Suwby the other day with business class tickets n sailed right by all the bull.

pays to fly business ????

baggage is first out too.

so long suckers !

Definitely you are of an unique class... Hopefully on the IUCN red list

[DrTuner]

On 6/28/2019 at 6:56 PM, Tropposurfer said:

Went through Suwby the other day with business class tickets n sailed right by all the bull.

pays to fly business ????

baggage is first out too.

so long suckers !

Fast track is better but still nothing to write home about. A few weeks ago took over 10mins in queue (with additional hassle at the elite line I wrote about earlier) and then waiting at the baggage claim another 10mins for the unloading to start. And priority bags were mixed with the others. The incompetence is just everywhere.

[GroupA]

The immigration queues at LAX were at least 3 hours three years ago. The lady was directing everyone into the non-returning US citizen line. I sensed something wrong and left the line and asked the police officer who was nearby. He said we belonged in another line. It was long but not as bad. At the end they only had five IOs processing. I always avoid LAX now. 

At LAX they don't transfer baggage to connecting flights so we had to lug 4 large bags plus carry ons to the domestic terminal. 

 

[Kerryd]

I just went through Swampy yesterday. Plane landed at 12:00. I was at the Immigration queue by 12:18 (arrived in Economy so it took awhile just to get off the plane).

The Immigration queue was full. So full I thought about going to the next area but realized it was probably just as full.

Consigned myself to a long wait and pulled out the phone to catch up on stuff. The line kept moving rather quickly and every couple of seconds I had to move again.

 

Got to the desk, did the fingerprint thing, spoke to the IO about the stamps in my old passport and which number was my "Visa" number (despite what some people think about whether or not they still have a Visa) and then it was off to the luggage.

The carousel was full and displaying the "last bags" notice. Hardly anyone from the plane had gotten there yet (they did a great job getting the bags off the plane it seems). 

Got my bags within a couple minutes and headed for the exit. Stopped by Customs who asked me to place one (of my 3) cases on the scanner. 30 seconds later I was heading for the door.

Met my ride and after a short delay (for her to get the car and meet me) I was on my way by 13:00 !

Literally 1 hour from landing until I was heading away from the terminal. I've made it that fast before, when I was travelling business class and just had a carry-on bag.
I had been anticipating at least an hour to 1 1/2 hours just in the Immigration line but things went really smoothly. 

Far better than the schmozzle that passes as an "International Transfers" desk in Manila where I stood for over an hour watching the complete chaos and seeing scores of people that were behind me being sorted into groups and sent off while I stood there. I finally went to the counter again and luckily was able to spot my boarding pass almost hidden under a keyboard and when I pointed it out, it was given to one of the girls to add to her stack.

All told, it was just over 3 hours for something that should have taken 10 minutes. Going through Swampy was a breeze compared to doing an International Transfer in Manila !

 

Had fun watching as one person would take people's passports and boarding passes and direct them to go wait to the side of the counter. Meanwhile, another girl was photocopying the face page of some passports, then another girl was sorting through the pages and inserting them into the proper passports so that another girl could run the stack of passports off somewhere else, then come back with them 10 minutes later and hand them to another girl who then took all the photocopy pages out and stacked the passports on the counter so that another girl could collect them and start matching the photocopies back to the passports (again) so that another girl could stamp them. (Seriously - I was shaking my head at how messed up it was.) Then the photocopies would be removed again and set aside and a couple girls would grab stacks of passports (but not the boarding passes) and start handing them back.

4 girls waded into the crowd (about 200+ by then) and started calling out names (at the same time) of people they had passports for. They'd hand back the passports (of the people could tell which girl was calling out which name) but they kept the boarding passes.

Then about 15 minutes later they again went into the crowd, this time with the boarding passes, and started calling out names again. They herded people into groups and then, after another 5 minutes, we went around the corner to a security scanner. Once through the scanner we were told to head up the stairs and wait. 

Another 10+ minutes until our "guide" came up and walked us down to a gate (#14) where there was an escalator leading down to the bus. Another 10 minutes or so until they were finally ready and again started calling our names and directing us down the escalator, this time with our boarding passes in hand.

A short wait until the bus was full then it was off to the old terminal. Once there we went through yet another security screening and finally got into the departure area. I checked the time. When I landed I had just over 6 hours before my next flight started boarding.

When I got to the departure area, I had just about 3 hours exactly until my next flight.

I was joking with one guy that it would have actually been quicker to go through Immigration, take a taxi to the other terminal, check in and go through Immigration again. That's what I did on the outbound trip. Flew to Manila, left the airport (had a 17 hour layover), came back, checked in and was in the departure area in less than an hour.

Next time, I will seriously consider paying more to fly on a different airline rather than go through Manila again (unless I do leave the airport and come back again). Really wasn't worth the effort.

[Inuk]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7211141/Facial-recognition-technology-used-Met-Police-wrong-four-five-cases.html

[operator]

Are we looking at the start of a world wide finger printing system. Say the UK police have

a finger print from a crime but it's not on their system.  For a price of course, the Thias

might let them search their system to see if they have a matching finger print.

[Sumarianson]

Just like airline security was introduced, which we all embraced for the obvious reasons, this should not affect most people if it is intended to keep the bad out and let the good in. I see many comments in here suggesting that's how is should be so i don't really see the hassle with it all unless you have something to hide or are just so special we don't think we should queue like everyone else. We are monitored from the moment we step out our doors and probably as we sit in our rooms using any electronic device. Just my opinion.

I will prove to you that everyone has something to hide. Think of something that you know about yourself that you do not want posted on the internet! Secondly, if someone has your fingerprints on file then they can copy them on a 3D printer in silacone and put you at the scene of a crime. If they know the barber or soapy massage you use then they can even put your DNA in the mix. If your government behaved as China does with practicioners of Falun Gong, torturing and killing them to use their body parts for sale! If you stood up to your government, do you not think they would use every and any information about you to discredit or eliminate you? You probably still believe that 9/11 was caused by terrorists in planes! Read what the greatest minds in the world say about giving up your freedoms. A snail has more rights than a human being. They can travel to any country and don't need a passport, visa, carry the right amount of cash, fingerprinting, passport control, baggage checks, no more than 100ml of any liquid, no dangerous water, jam, and you think it is all for your safety? I can see the the terrorist with a spoonful of jam and a bottle of 150mm Chanel trying to hijack a plane. But I will tell you that despite all the scanners and baggage checks the airport itself will give a terrorist group the means to down a plane after all the checks. Just head to the duty free for several molotof coctails and a lighter. Boom!!! You think you are safe in the air and think that terrorists are stupid? Protect your freedoms and those of the rest of mankind.

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[Sumarianson]

 You know my wife and I were just talking about Red Bull guy yesterday. Last I heard they issued an Interpol red notice on him but last I heard he’s still a fugitive last known whereabouts was supposedly Singapore I remember reading somewhere and I believe he has been a fugitive for like 5 years or something like that. I wonder if there are any new updates on him I was meaning to google that yesterday I think I’ll do that now. I also remember reading somewhere that if he can hide out long enough eventually he’ll get away with it supposedly because of something to do with the statue of limitations in Thailand. I find it hard to believe that he could get away with killing a Thai cop accident or not but I guess when you’re a billionaire you can probably get away with a lot. But Red Bull fugitive is one reason why the world has biometrics screening it’s mostly because of terrorism but it serves a lot of purposes mostly catching people on alias name passports.  
lol you know I suddenly got a craving for a Red Bull maybe it’s a good advertisement for their product having a son on the run from justice
 
 

You can still buy Red Bull in 7.

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[CGW]

8 minutes ago, operator said:

Are we looking at the start of a world wide finger printing system. Say the UK police have

a finger print from a crime but it's not on their system.  For a price of course, the Thias

might let them search their system to see if they have a matching finger print.

Do you think the Thai's would introduce the fingerprint system off their own backs? 

[Sumarianson]

Yes. There are some serfs who will gladly do whatever the Authorities order them to do 'for their own safety and protection'.
 
If the Authorities at the airports in future say: 'Right, you must urinate into this bucket, defecate into this tray - and ejaculate into this phial - so that we can identify that it really is you and not a terrorist' - loads of idiots would actually think this was all for their own good, and would happily and eagerly comply. Some people just LOVE being slaves. 'Nothing to fear if you've done nothing wrong'. Oh, pleaaase! Nothing to worry about? In lands that have no democracy or human rights - only the law of Might is Right? No risk, no dangers there? Of course - everything the Authorities demand is purely to 'protect the public'. We can trust the wise and benign Authorities. They know best. We must comply, kowtow, get down on our knees, grovel in the dust and dirt. Come on - we want more degradation and humiliation - don't stop with fingerprints and all the rest. Degrade and criminalise us even further. We love it!
 
The only 'good' all this nonsense serves is to build the prison walls tighter and tighter around us all - while the 1% who control it all are laughing at our utter stupidity, gullibility, and cowardice.
 
 

Well said Eligius. How do people feel these days? Safer than 50 years ago or not? Has technology and more controls stopped the terrorist threat? What about 9/11? A seemingly completely impudent CIA, FBI, MAGIC 12, and all the other highly paid secret instiutions. Why do you pay them? The government makes your life miserable with controls and checks, all of which terrorists can seemingly overcome? Why pay them? If anyone looks into the cost of the Industrial Military Complex, Impudent NASA, CIA, FBI, MIB and any of the many secret projects like DUMBS. They are costing each US taxpayer 95% of the tax generated while the country is rotting and China and Japan have high speed trains and improved infrastructure. People are mad, what do the US spray in the atmosphere to keep those people so dosile.

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[Sumarianson]

It took around 90 minutes to clear immigration at Swampy last week, but I was not bored as I had the entertainment of watching Immigration trying to get the Chinese, elderly, children, babies etc. to use the scanners.  I was truly amazed that my bags hadn't been stolen by the time I got to the baggage hall.  The fingerprint scanning is a system which ensures, because all ten digits are scanned, that foreign criminals cannot escape detection by simply cutting off one of their hands whilst in the LOS, so well worth the extra time needed to scan all one's digits.  No doubt there will be some who will cut off both hands to avoid detection and so I expect that in a few short months the scans will be widened to include toes.  Thereafter, when the criminals cut off their feet as well the system will no doubt be upgraded (at a bargain price of 500 billion Baht?) to include retinal scans, and so on...  
 
Keeping us all safe.

Don't you know that fingerprints can be forged? It is a stupid system and there to create fear.

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[JASON THAI]

Come the end of the year when you will have to go to another desk to pay 20 Baht per day of your stay for insurance & then go & join this queue you will be in the airport for hours, no point in booking a taxi to take you to your hotel as you will not know what time you will get out of the airport, I really feel sorry for families with small children, I don't see people coming back again to Thailand after having to do all this when they can go to other countries with less hassle.

[ravip]

3 hours ago, JASON THAI said:

Come the end of the year when you will have to go to another desk to pay 20 Baht per day of your stay for insurance & then go & join this queue you will be in the airport for hours, no point in booking a taxi to take you to your hotel as you will not know what time you will get out of the airport, I really feel sorry for families with small children, I don't see people coming back again to Thailand after having to do all this when they can go to other countries with less hassle.

Oooooooooooh! Thailand is doomed! Maybe there wont be any foreigners to be seem in TH in a year or two. What will the Thai people do?