"Suvarnabhumi is hell" screams Thailand's most famous English teacher

[DrTuner]

3 hours ago, BobbyL said:

As a departure airport I think it is great. I have always been able to check in early and the Priority Pass lounges on offer there are far better than any other airport I have been to in Asia. 

The miracle lounges? 6/10 I'd say. They also get overcrowded at times. Granted I haven't been to other ones in Asia.

[JemJem]

I wonder if Mr. Biggs, at least every now and then, follows this forum. If not, I wonder if he somehow knows that such a topic has reached 35 pages (as of now) in quite a short period of time ????

 

Anyway, I like the guy. He seems to be an easy-going and kind fellow; and I usually enjoy reading his columns.

[Scutty]

Don Muang is even worse . 2 hours to get in at 12 oclock at night . Last time I go Thailand . Sri Lanks from now on . 

Nice to see the baldy English teacher is still going strong . Remember him on the micro busses in Bangkok years ago early 90s long before before the skytrains .

[marquis22]

On 7/19/2019 at 3:25 PM, Peterphuket said:

But when you do a trip for example from Hongkong for 2 hours, and have to wait 2 hours again?

But I understand you like it.

Loved it, as only missed probably 30 mins drinking time by the time I got to the hotel, 3 mins walk from an Airport link station.  ???? 

[fusion58]

20 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

It is because he has lived in Thailand for a long time that he is well aware that this 'bar-stool myth' is just that and likely not to reflect real life experiences outside of a beer-bar. 

I’m a non-drinker who’s never set foot inside a bar in Thailand, so my experiences and perceptions have not been informed by such “myths.”

 

Nice try, though.

[Naveen Agrawal1962]

I arrived Suvarnabhumi on 18 July at 7.25 pm.the arrival hall was full, que was as long as it reaches to duty free ship .it took me to clear more than one hour.

There were more than half counters closed 

Why Thailand can't adopt HK immigration model?

They have separate counters for frequent flyers. They need one time registration ,which is valid for 3 years. They Put a bar code  sticker on the back of your passport & pessenger is diverted to manless automatic counter.

It will help to reduce the crowed on immigration counters 

At least one year Visa Holder should be given separate counters. 

[NanLaew]

23 hours ago, wendyfromoz said:

I have to agree it is a terrible airport

Terrible for what?

 

Immigration is the ONLY problem with Suvarnabhumi but I do recall earlier posts in the Suvarnabhumi forum that would go on and on (and on) about toilets, lighting, seating, aesthetics, air conditioning, dining and duty free shopping. If they get immigration sorted, I am pretty sure the ritual whiners will pick up where they left off and wetting their panties whenever anyone mentions Changi.

 

Airports are glorified bus stations and as such get bare minimum transit time from me. Plan accordingly like I did recently and pay 1200 baht for a fast track.

[NanLaew]

Loved my recent ingress and egress at Perth international. The e-gates accept all flavors of ePassports so no need to interact with a human being at all.

[manchega]

Biggsy if you are reading this please do something about the wires hanging down outside my house in village

 

it seems every day another worker adds another wire to the posts, now we cannot see out of window for all wires and post is leaning towards house.  i asked microsoft blokey but he would not answer, perhaps you can do something with it as thai government listen to you

[Fex Bluse]

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

Terrible for what?

 

Immigration is the ONLY problem with Suvarnabhumi but I do recall earlier posts in the Suvarnabhumi forum that would go on and on (and on) about toilets, lighting, seating, aesthetics, air conditioning, dining and duty free shopping. If they get immigration sorted, I am pretty sure the ritual whiners will pick up where they left off and wetting their panties whenever anyone mentions Changi.

 

Airports are glorified bus stations and as such get bare minimum transit time from me. Plan accordingly like I did recently and pay 1200 baht for a fast track.

I'm impressed with your ability to defend all things in this country. ????

 

I suppose standards are not important? 

 

Improvement is also not important? 

 

There are no meaningful differences of performance between Suvarnabhumi and other airports? 

[Mel52]

Lines are long in a lot of places Suvarnabhumi is one of the busiest airports in the world among many other busy airports around the world in major world cities life’s so tough waiting in those lines [emoji23]

 

 

 

 

[BobbyL]

On 7/22/2019 at 4:21 PM, DrTuner said:

The miracle lounges? 6/10 I'd say. They also get overcrowded at times. Granted I haven't been to other ones in Asia.

Yeah, it is by no means amazing, but far better than Tokyo, HK, Singapore, Seoul and New Delhi that me or my wife have visited over the last few years. 

[BobbyL]

30 minutes ago, Mel52 said:

Lines are long in a lot of places Suvarnabhumi is one of the busiest airports in the world among many other busy airports around the world in major world cities life’s so tough waiting in those lines

 

 

 

 

It actually isn't one of the busiest airports in the world for flights or passenger traffic. It is very much midway down the list of the busiest airports, and has been for many years. 

 

I have been to many other busier airports around the world compared to Suvarnabhumi in recent years (New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, London Heathrow, Dubai) and none of them have the same queues at the immigration arrivals. I am from the UK so I won't use Heathrow as an example, but on recent trips to Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong I definitely reckon I was off the plane, through immigration and with my bags on the way out of the airport in the same time it would take me just to pass through the immigration here. It is worlds apart and people remember this. The first thing my parents said to me when they arrived here on holiday earlier this year was that it took a long time to go through immigration. 

 

Is it a huge issue? No, but without constructive criticism these things won't improve for people that live here and use that airport often throughout the year. However, as we know, Thai people don't take constructive criticism well and especially not from a foreigner. 

 

As other people have suggested, people that live here should definitely have designated immigration lanes and not have to be queuing with all the tourists. Again, as many other Asian countries have for their foreign residents. 

[Mel52]

It actually isn't one of the busiest airports in the world for flights or passenger traffic. It is very much midway down the list of the busiest airports, and has been for many years. 
 
I have been to many other busier airports around the world compared to Suvarnabhumi in recent years (New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, London Heathrow, Dubai) and none of them have the same queues at the immigration arrivals. I am from the UK so I won't use Heathrow as an example, but on recent trips to Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong I definitely reckon I was off the plane, through immigration and with my bags on the way out of the airport in the same time it would take me just to pass through the immigration here. It is worlds apart and people remember this. The first thing my parents said to me when they arrived here on holiday earlier this year was that it took a long time to go through immigration. 
 
Is it a huge issue? No, but without constructive criticism these things won't improve for people that live here and use that airport often throughout the year. However, as we know, Thai people don't take constructive criticism well and especially not from a foreigner. 
 
As other people have suggested, people that live here should definitely have designated immigration lanes and not have to be queuing with all the tourists. Again, as many other Asian countries have for their foreign residents. 

Ok thanks for that insight

[NanLaew]

22 hours ago, Fex Bluse said:

I'm impressed with your ability to defend all things in this country. ????

 

I suppose standards are not important? 

 

Improvement is also not important? 

 

There are no meaningful differences of performance between Suvarnabhumi and other airports? 

And I am unimpressed by your ability, albeit predictable, to ignore what I said and label me an apologist for this benighted backwater. So I'll try again: I have no great affection for ANY flying bus station ANYWHERE.

 

This is neither my land or my country but merely a place where I have momentarily hung my hat. Getting in a froth about anything in this country isn't going to change a bloody thing in this country.

 

Knock yourselves out trying and wishing though.

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, BobbyL said:

As other people have suggested, people that live here should definitely have designated immigration lanes and not have to be queuing with all the tourists. Again, as many other Asian countries have for their foreign residents. 

There's already at least 3 methods of expediting oneself through Suvarnabhumi based on ones 'resident' status. AFAIK owning a condo doesn't cut the mustard with many other country's immigration laws either.

[BobbyL]

Just now, NanLaew said:

There's already at least 3 methods of expediting oneself through Suvarnabhumi based on ones 'resident' status. AFAIK owning a condo doesn't cut the mustard with many other country's immigration laws either.

I know there are ways to speed up the process such as paying for the priority lanes, or entering with a Thai wife / child. 

 

However, I am sure there are no lanes for residents that live and work here legally, which I believe there should be. 

[NanLaew]

1 minute ago, BobbyL said:

I know there are ways to speed up the process such as paying for the priority lanes, or entering with a Thai wife / child. 

 

However, I am sure there are no lanes for residents that live and work here legally, which I believe there should be. 

And non-EU's that work in EU countries don't get much in the way of airport immigration benefits either.

 

I've been an international gypsy for the best part of 40 years and lived and worked in more countries than I care to remember but even the ones where I was fully enabled by visas and work permits and allowed to pay taxes, I never got a break at the passport lines at their airports. Ever.

 

What's with all this misplaced sense of entitlement anyway?

[tjo o tjim]

Went through swampy immigration yesterday at 3PM, and it wasn’t miserable, even though we picked the worst line— 45 minutes.  (15 minutes in the switchbacks and 30 in our line.)  The IO was averaging about 50 seconds per person until one problematic group of three held up the line for 7 minutes.  He was then demoralized and slowed down to about 1:30-1:45 per person.  (The adjacent line was about 10 minutes shorter, and one two over was at least 15 minutes shorter, maybe 20.) Someone was checking the lines continuously and it was clear that they were trying to make sure things were going smoothly.  They clearly wanted to relieve our IO and brought a new line on and closed ours somewhere after us.

 

They are making an honest effort, so I will give them some credit.  The problem is still that the process is poor.  They need something close to primary-secondary screening or even three levels.  The first level should identify the person and match them to the passport, and clear as many people in one shot as possible.  The second level should be for people under more complex circumstances— and maybe different processes for different classes.  A third level would be for the people that really block the line.

 

They also should really reconsider the layout of the immigration booths or how they queue people into them.  The staggered booths and deep lines make it harder to keep the flow between lines even.  The switchbacks arguably move too fast; maybe more, shorter switchbacks moving slower would be more effective at smoothing flow.

 

 

[DrTuner]

22 hours ago, BobbyL said:

However, I am sure there are no lanes for residents that live and work here legally, which I believe there should be. 

If I've understood correctly PR holders use the Thai lane. If you're not PR, you're a temp and treated as such. The classification of tourist/pensioneer/etc is just something the immigration police and MFA made up along the way. A temp is a temp, no matter how long they've been here.

Edited July 25, 2019 by DrTuner

[DrTuner]

41 minutes ago, tjo o tjim said:

The IO was averaging about 50 seconds per person until one problematic group of three held up the line for 7 minutes.  He was then demoralized and slowed down to about 1:30-1:45 per person.

The automated electronic gates with facial recognition in Oz never get demoralized and work a treat. Bring on the 4th industrial revolution already, 99.9% of Thais can be instantly replaced with robots. Including IOs.

[tjo o tjim]

24 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

The automated electronic gates with facial recognition in Oz never get demoralized and work a treat. Bring on the 4th industrial revolution already, 99.9% of Thais can be instantly replaced with robots. Including IOs.

I don’t think Thailand’s systems work very well for that.  They had to do a few pictures for me for facial recognition to match up as a simple example.  (Wife was watching IO’s screen.)

 

The gates in Oz work because everyone is pre-cleared.  There is no good reason they wouldn’t be viable here for people with a visa, but for visa waivers it gets complicated.  The heavy hand of the government complicates matters in the process as well.

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

ANOTHER AUSSIE loser trying to feel superior by shouting at thai people.

sometimes the ques are long, sometimes they are not.

and usually they are much better than in most UK / US airports i visited.

not to mention the kind and polite attitude of immigration and customs

in thailand.

the real HELL are airports - even airlines - in anglo saxon countries - UK, US, AUSTRALIA

and of course GERMANY.

there is a real nightmare, there i was humiliatedm searched, strip searched, and spent

much longer time in customs and immigration bulls..t...becuase

there they,  the "5 eyes" of the anglo american empire ,

have to show how rule the world...just like this australian bymper.

 

[intherealworld]

1 hour ago, DrTuner said:

The automated electronic gates with facial recognition in Oz never get demoralized and work a treat. Bring on the 4th industrial revolution already, 99.9% of Thais can be instantly replaced with robots. Including IOs.

But special , Lie mode software would have to be installed

to keep them culturally correct. 

[enjoybeing]

In my opinion, Suvarnabhumi is heaven, especially compared to the bs everyone goes thru in the USA.  Also seems incredibly clean and efficient to me.  

[Swedenlars]

In my opinion, Suvarnabhumi is heaven, especially compared to the bs everyone goes thru in the USA.  Also seems incredibly clean and efficient to me.  

Did I hear efficient ?? 555 555 555

Gesendet von meinem SM-N950F mit Tapatalk

[bkkatl]

In defense of Thailand immigration: immigration and re-entering America at Dallas-Ft. Worth is also hell. 

[bkkatl]

21 minutes ago, enjoybeing said:

In my opinion, Suvarnabhumi is heaven, especially compared to the bs everyone goes thru in the USA.  Also seems incredibly clean and efficient to me.  

I agree. I have waited much longer at LaGuardia and Dallas-Ft. Worth. And Suvarnabhumi is much cleaner than half the airports in America. 

[overherebc]

On 7/24/2019 at 12:23 PM, BobbyL said:

I know there are ways to speed up the process such as paying for the priority lanes, or entering with a Thai wife / child. 

 

However, I am sure there are no lanes for residents that live and work here legally, which I believe there should be. 

Easily done just wait until you're 70+ and it's a lot quicker.

[CNX GUY]

people have to remember that these things are all part of a global tapestry of control.

 

whether it is incredibly painful lines at airport customs or police checkpoints that back traffic up for miles or for construction that takes into account no human need; all of this is designed to inflict pain and to test the limits of what people will accept.

 

that limit seemingly includes everything except maybe starvation; we'll have to see about that one.

 

this is not about any one country's "management".