Long queues at Bangkok airport: Immigration says it wasn't us, points blame at AOT

[webfact]

Long queues at Bangkok airport: Immigration says it wasn't us, points blame at AOT

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

An immigration spokesman responded to reporters after claims on radio station JS 100 that there were terrible queues at Suvarnabhumi airport outbound on Sunday morning. 

 

Pol Col Cherngron Rimphadee said that the problem lay with the body scan and baggage check on the western side of the second floor section. 

 

Downstairs at immigration everything was running normally, he told Thai Rath. 

 

Immigration chief Lt-Gen Sompong Chingduang had told immigration that during peak traffic hours all booths were to be manned. And that is exactly what was happening at immigration. 

 

Without directly saying so Cherngron placed the blame for the queues firmly in the court of the Airports of Thailand PLC who have the responsibility of checking baggage and body scans between check-in and immigration formalities. 

 

He said that immigration did what they could to alleviate the situation that saw many complaints on Sunday. 

 

He said that passengers on many flights were being processed at the same time. 

 

Source: Thai Rath

 

 

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[Matzzon]

I am pretty sure they can share the blame equally.

[shadowofacloud]

It was at departures - a clear sign people are leaving this country in droves. ????

[sammieuk1]

Confirmed a rush to get out????

[petermik]

7 hours ago, shadowofacloud said:

It was at departures - a clear sign people are leaving this country in droves. ????

They are trying to keep folks here so they can claim tourist numbers are going through the roof......

[ezzra]

I always wondered, while often standing in those long, long queues, why have they ever erected many more immigration counters than the number of officers manning them? i have been coming and going to this country for 30 year, and never ever saw all the counters manned no matter how long the wait was...

[johnkirks]

It took us an hour to get through the previous Sunday, from 11.00am, both security and immigration. The queue of passengers were being stopped at the bottom of the escalators going up to screening as the floor up there was full with no room to get off the escalators!!! Standing in the queue up there I was wondering about the strength of the floor? Maybe not made for 4 or 5 hundred people?

[kevin612]

You just simply can’t blame the Thai immigration, why are you at the airport? You are not suppose to be here. Meanwhile, the government encouraged tourism.

[richard_smith237]

If ALL the immigration desks were full, I can't see how Immigration are to be blamed, this time.

 

However, each and every time I have seen huge queues upon arrivals the Immigration desks have been nowhere near full. 

 

 

The issue surely the responsibility of both Immigration and AOT - The Security Screening is an embarrassing choking point, especially with the scores of uneducated passengers who are not prepared with laptops and electronics out etc and can just stroll through easily (this is where the premium lane on departures is good, but you still have idiots who try and get the wrong stuff through security and hold up the line etc). 

 

 

With the Airport expanding there can only be more congestion - I wonder how they are planning on resolving this? Expanding the security screening area, more screening points / x-rays etc?

Increasing the number of Immigration booths and ensuring they are fully occupied at peak times.

Timing the occupancy of of booths on arrival with the expected passenger arrival (i.e. 4x A380's arriving within 10mins etc). 

 

[Reigntax]

Same on the 11th of last month. blocked up and queues to the base of the inclinator and more than an hour to get processed.

[Golden Triangle]

As far as I can remember there are only 3 or 4 security checkpoints up those stairs, totally inadequate for the numbers of outgoing passengers being expected to use them.

[off road pat]

2 hours ago, shadowofacloud said:

It was at departures - a clear sign people are leaving this country in droves. ????

With the high bath, more Thais travell abroad !!! I have seen lots of them in Europe !

[Thian]

42 minutes ago, off road pat said:

With the high bath, more Thais travell abroad !!! I have seen lots of them in Europe !

Nobody expects that they have to take their shoes off, belt off, open laptop, no liquids and so on.....especially the ones who never flew before start arguing and refuse to bin their stuff.

[OnTheRun]

This happened to me a couple of weeks back on my way to Singapore. The queues to get onto the esculator to go up to security were at least 50m at both the east and west security points. Immigration was no busier than usual.

[OnTheRun]

1 hour ago, Golden Triangle said:

As far as I can remember there are only 3 or 4 security checkpoints up those stairs, totally inadequate for the numbers of outgoing passengers being expected to use them.

IIRC If they are all in operation there are 8 at both east and west making a total of 16

[OnTheRun]

3 hours ago, johnkirks said:

It took us an hour to get through the previous Sunday, from 11.00am, both security and immigration. The queue of passengers were being stopped at the bottom of the escalators going up to screening as the floor up there was full with no room to get off the escalators!!! Standing in the queue up there I was wondering about the strength of the floor? Maybe not made for 4 or 5 hundred people?

Roughly the same time as me John, it was ridiculous.

[scottiejohn]

3 hours ago, shadowofacloud said:

It was at departures - a clear sign people are leaving this country in droves. ????

And of course you asked a large number of these departing souls the reason for their departure to make such a statement.

Did you?

[yellowboat]

Avoiding both Bangkok airports on international arrivals starts your frustration free time in Thailand.   There is nothing appealing about either airport. It is all hassles.  

[shadowofacloud]

8 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

And of course you asked a large number of these departing souls the reason for their departure to make such a statement.

Did you?

In case you've missed it ???? : I wasn't at all serious. The smiley at the end of my statement is kind of a giveaway.

[Golden Triangle]

6 minutes ago, OnTheRun said:

IIRC If they are all in operation there are 8 at both east and west making a total of 16

It's been a couple of years since I have been to Swampy, we were on our way to Singapore, we checked in the bags then upstairs to the security check before going down through to immigration and airside, there was just a massive snake of people and it took forever to get through that and then another stupidly long queue through immigration, not nice when one has a dodgy back and knees.

 

The point is that at that time, it didn't appear to me that the facilities were in tune for the amount of people using them, hence my comment. if their are 8 at either side I would suggest that that is insufficient ???? 

[wgdanson]

3 hours ago, ezzra said:

I always wondered, while often standing in those long, long queues, why have they ever erected many more immigration counters than the number of officers manning them? i have been coming and going to this country for 30 year, and never ever saw all the counters manned no matter how long the wait was...

Exactly the same at Tesco!

[scottiejohn]

2 minutes ago, shadowofacloud said:

The smiley at the end of my statement is kind of a giveaway.

I have not got a clue what that so called smiley means.

I would suggest if you are going to make such comments, you do so in a much clearer way.

[Just Weird]

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

If ALL the immigration desks were full, I can't see how Immigration are to be blamed, this time.

 

However, each and every time I have seen huge queues upon arrivals the Immigration desks have been nowhere near full. 

These are not arrivals, they're leaving the country.

[wgdanson]

3 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

I have not got a clue what that so called smiley means.

I would suggest if you are going to make such comments, you do so in a much clearer way.

Yes Shadow, you should have put LOL or 555 and not a little yellow face, smiling and winking, to make it clear that you were joking a little bit !

[wgdanson]

1 minute ago, Just Weird said:

These are not arrivals, they're leaving the country.

Emigration then?

[shadowofacloud]

1 minute ago, scottiejohn said:

I have not got a clue what that so called smiley means.

Have you been locked in a shed for the last 20 years or so? Time to get out, there is a brave new world out there!

 

On a second thought - maybe not, LOL.

[toenail]

Totally a poor design for going through departure security (upstairs) then waiting to go down the escalators (peak hours I guess) to wait 30 minutes in a packed room to go through passport patrol. This area is made for an airport 1/4  the size or volume of people. 

 

I look at the airports in SE & E Asia and their security & passport patrol are more spacious. 

[shadowofacloud]

2 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Yes Shadow, you should have put LOL or 555 to make it clear that you were joking a little bit !

OK. Will make a note to make my little hilarious jokes more explicit, 555.

[scottiejohn]

2 minutes ago, shadowofacloud said:

Have you been locked in a shed for the last 20 years or so? Time to get out, there is a brave new world out there!

 

On a second thought - maybe not, LOL.

You may have 20/20 vision but all I could see is a little yellow blob.  I have looked it up and it appears to be a “winking” emoji, which conveys nothing to me!

[wgdanson]

All that time wasted when the passenger could be in duty free buying Sang Som for more than it is in 7-11.  LOL