29 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 

you can have all the security machinery in the world but it's only as effective as the people operating it. airport security here is incredibly lax compared to back home; i've never put liquid bottles/containers in a plastic bag here, iv'e seen xray operators not paying attention to the scree -, chatting or even no operator present, i forgot to take my tablet out one time and no one noticed, you can see from the behavior and body language of security staff that they are just not 'switched on' as they are back home.

 

Yes, I agree with you.  Often they are just as stringent as anywhere else, but sometimes they appear not to be.  

 

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to be honest i'm stunned that to date all arriving/departing baggage hasn't been scanned - i'm sure it is in most major international airports.

 

All outgoing baggage has always been scanned.

37 minutes ago, Number 6 said:

I used to bring boxes in with my wife from US. Misc stuff. Scanned and opened every time. Each time nothing. Myself and my innocent looking Thai wife off a long flight.

Turning up with boxes is nearly always going to get you flagged.  And after they checked and saw there was nothing you were on your way, no?  I am sure you and your wife look very innocent but what is your point?  They were actually doing their job properly - they don't, and shouldn't, care whether your flight was long or not.

 

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Other than that scan for all in NZ I've never had my bags in secondary search. Hong Kong, Japan, Indo, Europe...

That's because the initial scan has cleared you.  That's the same system they are implementing here - if you have no contraband you won't be pulled up for a secondary search.  If you boxes were scanned prior to the carousel then you and your innocent looking wife would not have been checked at the next stage.  This will improve things for you - you should be thankful.

7 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

Yes, I agree with you.  Often they are just as stringent as anywhere else, but sometimes they appear not to be.  

 

 

All outgoing baggage has always been scanned.

Last year i even had a full water bottle in the plane, i had forgotten it in my handluggage.

Tax collection. 
It is understood, will portray yet another way to extort money from thai citizens and foreign tourists. 

6 hours ago, Number 6 said:

I think this story is bogus. They might place monitors above carousel as future deterrent but I'd suspect the stuff is actually x-rayed in back and tagged. So look for tell tale marks and stickers.

 

This will absolutely slow down baggage processing.

Yes it'll be done "in back", but downstairs actually, below the baggage hall.  It's usually done real time so no reason for it to slow down processing unless your bag is identified as suspicious and removed from the belt for further screening.  You might then see a mark or sticker or more likely they'll just describe it over the radio to their colleagues upstairs.

Edited November 24, 20196 yr by treetops

On 11/24/2019 at 11:44 PM, treetops said:

Yes it'll be done "in back", but downstairs actually, below the baggage hall.  It's usually done real time so no reason for it to slow down processing unless your bag is identified as suspicious and removed from the belt for further screening.  You might then see a mark or sticker or more likely they'll just describe it over the radio to their colleagues upstairs.

Does anyone believe that this new system will not open up a second line of theft from your luggage to go along with the outbound thefts that are constantly reported here

 

Thailand is a the land of unintended consequences, just give me one example of any new procedure, initiated by any agency of the Thai government, that hasn't resulted in initial chaos 

On ‎11‎/‎24‎/‎2019 at 7:51 PM, Number 6 said:

I doubt this.

 

Thailand is looking for revenue. Most rational countries are looking for contraband. But we shall see.

 

No other country scrutinizes my bags as Thailand. OH in NZ they scanned everything thought that was a bit third world. But no, other countries I'm not given a second glace. In US both my wife and myself clear customs and immigration in ten minutes.

Every piece of baggage is scanned in Myanmar incoming including carry on. The way they are re-arranging the green line at exit b at Swampy and have added an extra x-ray machine I would expect it to be the same process soon. Get your bag from the carousel and walk to the green exit x-ray machine and put it through. There was only one extra x-ray machine a few weeks ago but I expect many more to be installed shortly. I'll know next week when I get to swampy yet again.

On 11/24/2019 at 12:52 PM, Just Weird said:

If you have to pay duty, it is levied using Customs Dept rates,  only Thaivisa posters claim otherwise!

 

"Any clarification is welcome".

Call the Customs Dept's English-speaking call centre! 

 

Rubbish. No way to declare excess alcohol and tobacco in thailand. It get's confiscated. and then resold obviously: http://www.customs.go.th/list_strc_simple_neted.php?ini_content=individual_160503_03_160905_01&lang=en&left_menu=menu_individual_submenu_01_160421_01

 

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For the excess quantities of cigarettes, tobacco or alcoholic beverages, they must be dropped in the box provided by Customs, otherwise prosecution will be carried out.

 

Arriving at Swampy from the UK in early September, ALL luggage was x-rayed...collect luggage from carousel, load onto cart, head towards exit, stop at x-ray machine, offload luggage into machine, collect luggage after x-ray, exit arrivals (or not, based on what the machine sees). I was really surprised, I'd been away for four months and figured this was all part of the new system.

On 11/24/2019 at 9:08 PM, josephbloggs said:

All outgoing baggage has always been scanned.

Enter Japan and your luggage is subject to a bag search.  Hit and miss as to what the actual search entails but it's a physical search and politely executed, nonetheless.  

Some inflammatory posts have been removed. 

Smuggling is sumuggling and tax is tax. But to enter a country where bringing in an extra bottle of wine or a few packs of smokes on the quiet is jumped on... Is that what folks really want?