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

[hotchilli]

Arrivals has cured itself, with less incoming.
Now the queue has changed direction, people leaving the country.... same issue just changed location.

Except this time add security into the equation.

[phantomfiddler]

This is the world,s worst airport, the thought of going through it terrifies me. In Singapore the average time through immigration is around 30 seconds, so how can a so-called modern airport justify hours waiting in line ? Disgusting performance !

[RichardColeman]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

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

Thai way, blame someone else

[bbbbooboo]

Hmmm.... if there were’nt so many damn aliens coming to Thailand then there wouldn’t be this problem?

[orchidfan]

3 hours ago, Thian said:

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.

Quite right. And in his many countries do you have to remove belts and shoes....not HKG , Singapore or Vietnam from recent memory ?

[SteveK]

Sounds almost as bad as Heathrow.

[Emdog]

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

Imagine that. Totally unexpected. IF someone had brains, it would not be that difficult to determine peak hours for arrivals, departures, etc and staff accordingly. This blame game serves no useful purpose. We don't care who is at fault: fix it.

The arrivals and departures crush makes me think of Yogi Berra line about a restaurant: "Nobody goes there anymore. It's always too crowded".

[Pedrogaz]

Suvarnabhumi is looking less and less like fit for purpose. If two planes come in at once the wait in immigration is foot numbing because only one third to a half of the booths are ever manned......it's a bit like Tesco only having two cashiers manning the tills on the busiest shopping day of the year.

Having waited ages a couple of weeks back.....a booth opened up next to my line and I managed to jump into the new queue as first in line....they then closed the booth I was in. The silver lining is that I didn't have to wait for my luggage; it was already there, having been unloaded by the airport staff when the carousel was used for another flight.

Waiting for any improvement to happen here in Thailand is like expecting to be able to go to Narnia. The management of big faced, no nothing males avoids any improvements and staggers on until someone higher up tells them to do something (usually the wrong thing, which makes it worse).

Running immigration is not rocket science but if you hire idiots to set it up and run it, then don't be surprised when the thing isn't fit for purpose.

The other thing about amazing Thailand is that they spend zillions on PR for tourism, with almost daily positive news about the numbers of tourists coming to Thailand, yet they can't even run a decent immigration service. There must have been 500 Chinese waiting outside the VOA office the last time I came through. How would you like getting off your plane after a long flight, then waiting 5 hours in the VOA line, then another 2 hours in the immigration line??? Another satisfied tourist!!!!

[hioctane]

1 hour ago, Thian said:

At Swampy i sometimes have to take my shoes off but not always...same for the belt.

Can that bodyscanner not see through it? The thing even goes off for a package of cigarettes in my pocket.

They want you take off the shoes so it can be x-rayed. Coming from the US where it is mandatory it becomes a habit whether they ask or not. 
 

The bodyscanner doesn’t like metal. 

 

They specifically say to take everything out of your pockets. So you are holding up the line??

 

It is not that bodyscanner can’t see through it. They just want everything x-rayed.

[chuck holmes]

7 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...

I have been coming and going for twenty five years and l have never seen this problem.

[wgdanson]

1 hour ago, Just Weird said:

Is there an Emigration Bureau in Thailand with RTP Emigration officers?   I'm pretty sure that the personnel who check you in and out are Immigration Officers working for the Immigration Bureau!

Sorry, forgot the lol, 555, JOKE EMOJI

[Thian]

29 minutes ago, hioctane said:

They want you take off the shoes so it can be x-rayed. Coming from the US where it is mandatory it becomes a habit whether they ask or not. 
 

The bodyscanner doesn’t like metal. 

 

They specifically say to take everything out of your pockets. So you are holding up the line??

 

It is not that bodyscanner can’t see through it. They just want everything x-rayed.

Well last flight i didn't take my cigarettes in the basket because my travelpurse was full already. but the bodyscanner found them.

 

Then at the gate i thought: why is that purse so heavy and fat so i checked it and there was a bottle of water which i forgot about...it came through the scanners.....no problem.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, DrTuner said:

The taking off shoe ballet doesn't help either. It's the only airport I've been in the last three years where taking off shoes is required.

 

I think the US started the shoes off gig in the wake of the UK shoe attemped bomber case. The US was still doing it last time I was there a year ago.

 

[Kalasin Jo]

Back in August to my surprise there was no problem at security. The queues were horrendous at the immigration check after it. Nearly missed my flight. Another reason to travel business, despite the cost.

[MarkyM3]

2 hours ago, SteveK said:

Sounds almost as bad as Heathrow.

For me, it usually takes me 15-20 minutes max to pass through Heathrow security flying out from T2, unless my carry on bag is pulled aside during the scan for closer inspection or a swab for explosives or drugs. I generally find it far less hassle than the shambles that sometimes occurs leaving BKK. I used to keep fast-track passes for BKK to try and avoid it, unfortunately that avenue is now closed off unless flying biz at the time. 

 

Inbound to Heathrow, with the automatic passport gates it is usually no more than a few minutes. Last time I arrived back at T2 I went straight through the gate. They have a bigger issue with offloading bags, though flying prem econ or biz reduces that somewhat since they are offloaded first.

 

However.....inbound and outbound at Heathrow for non UK/EU citizens- my gf has had issues with slow processing at T4 (flying Qatar), so she could legitimately complain about the cr@p handling at UK end. Problem is, these flights are largely non-UK/EU so lots of people carrying visas which need scrutiny due to immigration concerns. Throw in a language barrier and there are going to be issues. 

Edited December 2, 2019 by MarkyM3

[MarkyM3]

1 hour ago, chuck holmes said:

I have been coming and going for twenty five years and l have never seen this problem.

All depends when you flight lands I suspect. I have stood in inbound queues at BKK where it was coming out onto the concourse and not helped by people pushing in. Recently has been somewhat better.  

[scorecard]

7 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. 

 

 

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). 

 

 

 

"... but you still have idiots who try and get the wrong stuff through security and hold up the line etc)."

 

Two months back at the final hand carry bag check upstairs at Chiang Mai airport, one line stopped and eventually an officer directed the waiting departing passengers to go to one of the two lines still open.

 

What happened?  A Thai Indian Thai family, father mother and 4 adult kids, several small kids and some aunties or whatever were abusing the x ray staff and attendants (all in Thai language) because they had been told bags of water and many plastic bags of big bottles of shampoo , conditioner and more were.

 

The Indian father was rude, and insulting to the staff and saying Indians have special privileges and the staff were required to be extremely polite to him by law. One of the adult boys stopped his adult sister as she was about to smack the face of the staff member who had confiscated the shampoo etc.

 

I got through on another line and like many others stopped and stepped back and watched the 'event'. Eventually the police came and the whole family were rounded up and taken back out of the departure gate lounge area. The girl who was stopped from smacking the girl attendant was totally abusive to the 2 policemen and they put her in handcuffs prompting her to continuously scream at the top of her lungs.

 

Another farang watching whispered to me 'i'm waiting for the handcuffed girl to spit at the x ray attendant or the cops'.

 

 

 

Takes all kinds. 

[ross163103]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

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

Yeah, running normally.....long queues.

I'm not an airport expert but maybe more security checkpoints/personnel and more immigration counters manned by more immigration officers would help; seems quite simple really.

[observer90210]

A magic mantra with the boys in brown, when challenged...."it's not us, it's them !!"

[Mikeheart]

I was there yesterday and can confirm there was a queue before going up the escalator. I went to Fast Track because of my age and even there it took almost 30 minutes but can confurm that almost all desks were open. Just a lot of people.

Most were tourist heading home after an enjoyable time.

[herwin1234]

not sure why this is news. i visited a lot of airports europe america japan and long lines are not uncommon, especially during holidays, to the point that i missed connecting flights. i never noticed lines in bangkok were exceptionally longer than other lines at other airports. lol.

[PlastikbinLina]

By plane, bus or train all times to get to your destination are about the same. Plane to any international destintion; home to airport 5am  and wait. Fly to another country and then to hotel 12-16 hrs.

Train from Hat Yai to Krung Thep 14-17 hours. 'Rapid Express'

Car from Hat Yai to Krung Thep 14-17 hours. 

Best option New train. Good food Good sleep Wi Fi TV first class service

Edited December 2, 2019 by PlastikbinLina
Spelling error

[wotsdermatter]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

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

Of course, airports around the world do not have the same problem of having so many flights arriving as frequently as at BKK, so it must be the fault of the airlines for not scheduling their flights in conjunction with the immigration officers taking time to have their usual rest breaks, etc.  The fact that Heathrow handled over 200,000+ passengers, landing or departing, every day, with a flight taking off or landing every 45 seconds — about 1,300 a day, becomes totally irrelevant.  I do not have the latest figures but in 2017, Heathrow processed 78million passengers, of whom 94% were international travellers without to many problems, and the numbers are growing.

'nuf sed.

[Wake Up]

12 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...

Unfortunately true at a lot of large airports all over the world. Worst airport by a large margin is Heathrow.  Best airport is Singapore. But seems like bureaucrats at airports all over the world (except a limited few)  do not work. It must be a horrible job to do every day.  

[Flemo]

The good ole blame game. That's real Thai culture

[ubon farang]

19 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...

Well you cant do 2 jobs at once  There is usually a card game going on in the crib hut for the officers or they are asleep and plus you have to allow for 1 person manning the booth  and 2 walking around doing nothing That is why many booths are not manned

[ukrules]

They were not body scanning anyone when I popped out of the country a couple of weeks ago - just the old fashioned metal detector.

 

[Traubert]

16 hours ago, hansnl said:

May one wonder if AOT and Immigration have been ordered to cooperate to get rid of all this irritating tourism?

Like in China?

Whoa whoa whoa whoa, sweet child o' mine...

 

China already had 120m tourists this year, they've actually got stuff to look at like two of the official nine wonders of the world. They have no policy, public or covert to get rid of tourism.

 

So do explain your statement?

 

Obviously you wont, you were just running your mouth for the sake of it, to look wise and informed.

 

Which you aren't.

[Traubert]

Has anyone here ever heard of the International Civil Avaiation Organisation?

 

Including those of you who think this topic is about arriving passengers and not departing ones?

 

Thailand doesn't make the rules, but it does have to abide by them to get anyone at all into the air.

 

Plus, to you 'special' people who say people are leaving in droves, yes, that's because they arrived in droves.

[overherebc]

Simple question.

Why does the IO, after scanning the passport front page have to spend minutes, and I mean minutes, looking at every single page of the passport? 

All your details are on the screen in front of him/her.