My experience flying into Suvarnabhumi yesterday

[Genmai]

The following is my account of going through Swampy arrivals and my observations on the complete lack of preparation and careless attitude of airport staff despite the very real possibility of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

So my plane landed around midnight last night. I was able to reach the IO's desk around 1am (less than half of the desks staffed as always). 95% of the arriving passengers were all wearing high grade facemasks. Everybody is on board with how serious this virus situation is.

 

Everybody it seems except the staff at the biggest airport of the country which receives the most amount of Chinese visitors and has had the most cases of infections outside of China, the country whose PM assures us everything is 100% under control. Here are some of the things I saw:

 

Several adult and child passengers in the queue who were sneezing and snotty-nosed being passed through completely normally.

 

The same disgusting pens hanging by strings wrapped with layers of grotty scotch tape as always.

 

Only one IO was wearing gloves (a woman).

 

Open coffee mugs at the IO stations.

 

Staff with cheap 20 baht surgical masks on, gaps on all sides. Some pulled the masks down under their noses so they could potentially breathe in the virus better.

 

Staff checking passports and forms in the queue handling everything without gloves.

 

As I said it took me almost an hour to go through immigration. During this time I did not see a single attempt by any staff to clean any surface anywhere. I also saw several push-type bottles of hand sanitizer standing behind the biometrics machines. Not once did I see any staff urge or even suggest to someone that they should use it. In all I counted just one white guy who requested for the bottle and cleaned his hands after finger scanning. Just one.

 

Eventually I get to my IO and hand him my documents. I notice this particular desk does not have a bottle of hand sanitizer at all. He motions to the biometrics scanner to which I respond -

"Do you have disinfectant?"

*looks up, confused* - "What?"

"Disinfectant. For the machine or my hands." - I say, pointing at the scanner

*starts quickly looking through my passport, seemingly unsure if I'm talking about something document related thing before hurriedly motioning to the scanner again*

"No. Dis-In-Fec-Tant." I repeat again slowly, making a hand cleaning motion.

*obviously getting very frustrated with me now as hes grumbling and keeps pointing to the machine* - "What? Scan!"

"Sanitizer. Hand gel. Spray." - I keep trying my options as he obviously doesn't know what I'm talking about but I'm definitely not about to touch this gross machine that probably hasn't been cleaned since morning.

Eventually I side-step the window to lean in close and say to him "You know, for the VIRUS"

Finally he reaches down somewhere and pulls out a bottle of hand sanitizer so i can finally scan my fingers.

 

As I walked past I couldn't help but feel a shudder over how pathetic the entire situation was. I've seen a lot of stupid things here. But seriously, in a place like this, at a critical time like this, not knowing what the hell is a disinfectant/sanitizer/hand gel/spray and getting ****ed off that a visitor would ask for one?

 

Walking further past the baggage belts I had expected there to be some stands with more push bottles, a spray, or at least something for people to occasionally clean their hands. Didn't see a single one. I picked up my bag and walked towards the exit. Surely there would be some alcohol spray just before exiting. Nada. Nothing. I had to walk around inside until I got to a currency exchange place that had one hand gel thing on their counter.

 

Earlier on Monday The Nation published this article: 

Immigration Police join efforts at airports to prevent spread of Wuhan virus (https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1145304-immigration-police-join-efforts-at-airports-to-prevent-spread-of-wuhan-virus/)

 

In it we were told about the following measures that Immigration claimed they would enforce:

 

➤ Enforce an hourly cleanup of passenger screening areas, including the passport checking booths, form filling counters, as well as equipments that have direct contact with passengers, with disinfectant and alcohol spray.

 

➤ All immigration police and airport staff must wear masks and gloves while working or communicating with passengers.

 

➤ Disinfectant dispensers will be provided at passport checking booths and passengers will be encouraged to clean their hands before entering the booths.

 

➤ Passengers’ behaviour will be closely monitored and those who display flu symptoms, such as frequent sneezing and coughing, will be separated from the public. The Department of Disease Control staff will be asked to check their condition.

 

➤ Managers and commanders must monitor their subordinates’ condition and alert medical staff immediately if they display abnormality.

 

Unless the last point (abnormality displayed in subordinates) refers to bouts of retardation and apathy exceeding normal levels, then from my experience every one of these is just a straight up lie. Nobody cleaned anything. One person had gloves. Masks were useless and uselessly worn. Nobody was encouraged to clean their hands. Sneezy snotty sick people were in the queue with everybody.

 

In short, there's not a chance in hell they are going to contain this thing. I advise everyone to plan accordingly.

 

 

[NanLaew]

There's nothing worse than the arrogant, know-it-all, so-called experienced traveler, long-time Thailand visitor or lurker who's totally aware of a possible pandemic and yet gets on an international flight to Thailand which is right next to the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak and is itself chock full of visiting and transient Chinese WITHOUT PACKING AND USING HIS OWN BLOODY HAND SANITIZING GEL.

 

Did the OP bother to buy and wear his own mask? Didn't mention it anywhere. Or is that only required if you're a snotty, grotty Asiatic sort?

[shy coconut]

Deary me, if you are so superior and paranoid, perhaps you should learn the Thai word

for disenfectant instead of making yourself look a numpty repeating a word to a guy

whose job is to check that you are allowed to enter the country.

 

Did you have some kind of drone or CCTV to be able to see into all of the booths

from behind the lines?

[Genmai]

21 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

There's nothing worse than the arrogant, know-it-all, so-called experienced traveler, long-time Thailand visitor or lurker who's totally aware of a possible pandemic and yet gets on an international flight to Thailand which is right next to the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak and is itself chock full of visiting and transient Chinese WITHOUT PACKING AND USING HIS OWN BLOODY HAND SANITIZING GEL.

 

Did the OP bother to buy and wear his own mask? Didn't mention it anywhere. Or is that only required if you're a snotty, grotty Asiatic sort?

Aaah you sure got me there buddy. Yep, I didn’t bring my own hand gel. That’s why I’ve got it all wrong and airport staff are actually doing their utmost best at stopping more potentially infected people from getting through. They’re all taking their job very VERY seriously. I’m a fool and all the precautions are actually being followed through by the airport staff. Oh and the PM really does have it all under control. 

 

Tell me, are you the type of guy who brings his own cutlery to a restaurant? Because let me tell you, there’s nothing worse than the arrogant, know it all, so called experienced eater, long time restaurant visitor or lurker who doesn’t PACK AND USE HIS OWN BLOODY CUTLERY. Or his own airbag/seatbelt when getting in a car. Or his own arrival form. Or the myriad number of things that should be commonplace in certain situations. 

 

No I did not have the forethought to bring my own gel. You know who else didn’t? Literally everybody in the airport at the time. It’s the job of staff in public places to appropriately prepare such items. You know, like in a HOSPITAL?

[shy coconut]

I reckon you're just upset because the IO stamped you in without any extra questions,

hoping you could report about the awful treatment you received.

 

Where are these pens of which you speak and why would you need to use one?

I fill out the form on the plane stating where I'm staying, and flight details etc, but

then again I fly in and out quite often and prepare accordingly.

 

 

[Genmai]

7 minutes ago, shy coconut said:

Deary me, if you are so superior and paranoid, perhaps you should learn the Thai word

for disenfectant instead of making yourself look a numpty repeating a word to a guy

whose job is to check that you are allowed to enter the country.

 

Did you have some kind of drone or CCTV to be able to see into all of the booths

from behind the lines?

 

We were all told by the media and the PM that certain measures were being taken to ensure the control of this virus. What I’m doing is presenting my account of how all of that is false. You want to explain to me how I’m in the wrong for doing that?

 

And no, according to the article I linked the guys job is now not only to check if I can come into the country, it’s also to do his part in containing the infection by certain measures which clearly nobody is doing.

 

As for learning disinfectant in Thai - sure, I’ll do that if you willing teach it to the millions of potentially infected Chinese visitors coming here AND get them to ask for it.

[Gweiloman]

17 minutes ago, Genmai said:

Aaah you sure got me there buddy. Yep, I didn’t bring my own hand gel. That’s why I’ve got it all wrong and airport staff are actually doing their utmost best at stopping more potentially infected people from getting through. They’re all taking their job very VERY seriously. I’m a fool and all the precautions are actually being followed through by the airport staff. Oh and the PM really does have it all under control. 

 

Tell me, are you the type of guy who brings his own cutlery to a restaurant? Because let me tell you, there’s nothing worse than the arrogant, know it all, so called experienced eater, long time restaurant visitor or lurker who doesn’t PACK AND USE HIS OWN BLOODY CUTLERY. Or his own airbag/seatbelt when getting in a car. Or his own arrival form. Or the myriad number of things that should be commonplace in certain situations. 

 

No I did not have the forethought to bring my own gel. You know who else didn’t? Literally everybody in the airport at the time. It’s the job of staff in public places to appropriately prepare such items. You know, like in a HOSPITAL?

You mean.....you mean.... the airport is a hospital?

[adammike]

35 minutes ago, Genmai said:

Aaah you sure got me there buddy. Yep, I didn’t bring my own hand gel. That’s why I’ve got it all wrong and airport staff are actually doing their utmost best at stopping more potentially infected people from getting through. They’re all taking their job very VERY seriously. I’m a fool and all the precautions are actually being followed through by the airport staff. Oh and the PM really does have it all under control. 

 

Tell me, are you the type of guy who brings his own cutlery to a restaurant? Because let me tell you, there’s nothing worse than the arrogant, know it all, so called experienced eater, long time restaurant visitor or lurker who doesn’t PACK AND USE HIS OWN BLOODY CUTLERY. Or his own airbag/seatbelt when getting in a car. Or his own arrival form. Or the myriad number of things that should be commonplace in certain situations. 

 

No I did not have the forethought to bring my own gel. You know who else didn’t? Literally everybody in the airport at the time. It’s the job of staff in public places to appropriately prepare such items. You know, like in a HOSPITAL?

I've ordered my face masks and hand sanitizer for the very reason you are complaining about.

There's no way I am putting my hand on the scanner without having my own sanitizer ready.

[bwpage3]

What exactly did you expect?

 

Common Sense?

 

Did you forget you just arrived in Thailand, the land of NO common sense?

 

In a serious case such as this virus, I would expect you would NOT count on anyone else for your own protections?

 

Certainty not Thai people!

 

 

[AlexRich]

I’d avoid the Far East currently, and certainly wouldn’t wish to be queuing at an airport alongside Chinese passengers. I would imagine that you see a similar scenario at Heathrow, Schipol and JFK .... you won’t  see much better until the WHO declares it an international pandemic. 

 

 

 

[jabis]

Thailand just rose to the top of the leaderboard, after Mainland - deaths have not been updated in 2 days - happy travels ????

[mike787]

Welcome to third world life bro.  It's how they roll.  I am surprised the OP didn't buy hand sanitizer, or jsut simply realize he could go to the nearest washroom and was his hands.  

[Puchaiyank]

From all those ex-expats that managed to escape Thailand before the new Chinese virus invasion...how do you like Thailand now? ????

[Salerno]

7 minutes ago, pdtokyo said:

i can't recall seeing hand sanitizer packaged in small enough bottles to get past the scanners.

Plenty of them:

https://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/buy/65070/enya-hand-sanitizer-aloe-vera-100ml

https://www.amcal.com.au/kenkay-no-rinse-hand-sanitiser---100ml-p-9319598434953

https://resparkle.com.au/product/natural-hand-surface-sanitiser-100ml/

https://trinature.com/Hand-Sanitiser

 

etc.

Edited January 28, 2020 by Salerno

[Salerno]

5 minutes ago, pdtokyo said:

can you help me out with a nice used BMW R1150RT bike in Thailand

Sadly not ...

[daveAustin]

Quote

Some pulled the masks down under their noses so they could potentially breathe in the virus better.

Is it taking longer than normal to get through?

[gunderhill]

4 hours ago, NanLaew said:

There's nothing worse than the arrogant, know-it-all, so-called experienced traveler, long-time Thailand visitor or lurker who's totally aware of a possible pandemic and yet gets on an international flight to Thailand which is right next to the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak and is itself chock full of visiting and transient Chinese WITHOUT PACKING AND USING HIS OWN BLOODY HAND SANITIZING GEL.

 

Did the OP bother to buy and wear his own mask? Didn't mention it anywhere. Or is that only required if you're a snotty, grotty Asiatic sort?

The  guy  points  out, quite  rightly, the TOTAL  failure to protect its  nation from a  virus and all you do is slag him off.

Its  not rose  coloured but 100% blinkers you  have on.

He highlights what Thailand stands for, lip service nothing  more, maybe we should  all  get bio hazard  suits and refuse to take them off for facial recognition cameras at airports also.

Well done that traveller for helping many people now understand that Thailand's doing virtually nothing at its  main airport.

[NanLaew]

33 minutes ago, gunderhill said:

4 hours ago, NanLaew said:

There's nothing worse than the arrogant, know-it-all, so-called experienced traveler, long-time Thailand visitor or lurker who's totally aware of a possible pandemic and yet gets on an international flight to Thailand which is right next to the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak and is itself chock full of visiting and transient Chinese WITHOUT PACKING AND USING HIS OWN BLOODY HAND SANITIZING GEL.

 

Did the OP bother to buy and wear his own mask? Didn't mention it anywhere. Or is that only required if you're a snotty, grotty Asiatic sort?

The  guy  points  out, quite  rightly, the TOTAL  failure to protect its  nation from a  virus and all you do is slag him off.

Its  not rose  coloured but 100% blinkers you  have on.

He highlights what Thailand stands for, lip service nothing  more, maybe we should  all  get bio hazard  suits and refuse to take them off for facial recognition cameras at airports also.

Well done that traveller for helping many people now understand that Thailand's doing virtually nothing at its  main airport.

I defer to the aficionados of the nanny state everywhere. You know who you are.

 

In the meantime, I will carry on doing what has served me well these last 3 score and 3 years on the planet and pay attention and look after myself.

 

FWIW, if anyone else is into DIY health scare prevention, you can buy yourself some disposable P2/N95 grade masks. recommended by several Australian state health authorities for protection in the current circumstances.

 

 

PS: These are NOT available at 7-eleven.

 

 

Edited January 28, 2020 by NanLaew

[faraday]

Personal responsibility.

 

 

 

 

[ICELANDMAN]

43 minutes ago, gunderhill said:

The  guy  points  out, quite  rightly, the TOTAL  failure to protect its  nation from a  virus and all you do is slag him off.

Its  not rose  coloured but 100% blinkers you  have on.

He highlights what Thailand stands for, lip service nothing  more, maybe we should  all  get bio hazard  suits and refuse to take them off for facial recognition cameras at airports also.

Well done that traveller for helping many people now understand that Thailand's doing virtually nothing at its  main airport.

I agree with you, now we have a serious problem now knowing that the government are professional liars

 

[ICELANDMAN]

14 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

I defer to the aficionados of the nanny state everywhere. You know who you are.

 

In the meantime, I will carry on doing what has served me well these last 3 score and 3 years on the planet and pay attention and look after myself.

 

FWIW, if anyone else is into DIY health scare prevention, you can buy yourself some disposable P2/N95 grade masks. recommended by several Australian state health authorities for protection in the current circumstances.

 

 

PS: These are NOT available at 7-eleven.

 

 

Thank you but you not found this anywhere, is too later stock out

 

[thaibeachlovers]

3 hours ago, Genmai said:

Aaah you sure got me there buddy. Yep, I didn’t bring my own hand gel. That’s why I’ve got it all wrong and airport staff are actually doing their utmost best at stopping more potentially infected people from getting through. They’re all taking their job very VERY seriously. I’m a fool and all the precautions are actually being followed through by the airport staff. Oh and the PM really does have it all under control. 

 

Tell me, are you the type of guy who brings his own cutlery to a restaurant? Because let me tell you, there’s nothing worse than the arrogant, know it all, so called experienced eater, long time restaurant visitor or lurker who doesn’t PACK AND USE HIS OWN BLOODY CUTLERY. Or his own airbag/seatbelt when getting in a car. Or his own arrival form. Or the myriad number of things that should be commonplace in certain situations. 

 

No I did not have the forethought to bring my own gel. You know who else didn’t? Literally everybody in the airport at the time. It’s the job of staff in public places to appropriately prepare such items. You know, like in a HOSPITAL?

I fail to understand why you even flew at all if you feel that way. Soooooo, you sat on in an aluminium tube for several hours surrounded by potentially infected people, breathing in recycled air that contains whatever viruses other people on the plane had, then you complain because there wasn't any hand sanitiser at immigration!

 

Things you apparently don't know;

The virus is out in the world already; anyone on your plane could have been carrying it. Infectious people can have no symptoms for up to 10 days.

Takes more than hand sanitizer to stop catching it- have you seen what hospital workers wear? Full body protective suit, goggles, gloves, proper masks that should be changed every time they have contact with a different patient.

Masks don't work after a time, and how many of those masks ordinary people wear are changed ever 10 minutes?

The world is full of viruses, and the only real protection we have is a good, functioning immune system.

Whatever an airport does is really only for show, as nothing in today's world of mass air travel, crowded cities, and unhealthy people will stop it spreading.

 

BTW, an experienced traveler would bring their own pen.

 

[gunderhill]

2 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Whatever an airport does

What it  does and what we are  told is  being done  is the problem here, its  clear that they are  most  likely doing very  little from this  report,  unless of  course there is a photo op or vinyl  board  opportunity.

[thaibeachlovers]

22 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

I defer to the aficionados of the nanny state everywhere. You know who you are.

 

In the meantime, I will carry on doing what has served me well these last 3 score and 3 years on the planet and pay attention and look after myself.

 

FWIW, if anyone else is into DIY health scare prevention, you can buy yourself some disposable P2/N95 grade masks. recommended by several Australian state health authorities for protection in the current circumstances.

 

 

PS: These are NOT available at 7-eleven.

 

 

Do you know how long they remain protective?

The masks we wore in surgery were effective for about 10 minutes. Their only real purpose was to stop people spraying when they spoke ( we all spray incredible amounts when we speak ). Some surgeons don't even bother covering their noses.

[thaibeachlovers]

Just now, gunderhill said:

What it  does and what we are  told is  being done  is the problem here, its  clear that they are  most  likely doing very  little from this  report,  unless of  course there is a photo op or vinyl  board  opportunity.

I thought I pointed out that whatever an institution does ( other than a hospital and first responders ) is at most a publicity exercise and does little in PRACTICAL terms to stop anything. I'm not surprised they don't play along with the charade.

BTW, if the airport really did have effective measures, passengers would have to arrive for check in about 6 hours ahead of time to screen passengers BEFORE boarding. I'm sure there would be a few complaints on here about that. Also, who would pay if the airport had sanitizer at every desk and masks for staff changed every 10 minutes, plus gloves- probably passengers would.

NB, screening AFTER a flight is pointless. All that happened is that lots of other people became infected.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, gunderhill said:

The  guy  points  out, quite  rightly, the TOTAL  failure to protect its  nation from a  virus and all you do is slag him off.

The only actual way to "protect the nation" is to ban all inbound flights and inward cross border travel.

[thaibeachlovers]

3 hours ago, adammike said:

I've ordered my face masks and hand sanitizer for the very reason you are complaining about.

There's no way I am putting my hand on the scanner without having my own sanitizer ready.

Did you do that every time you traveled? It's ALWAYS covered with other people's bacteria, viruses and fecal matter ( many people don't wash their hands after a number 2 ).

Masks? More people have died of influenza this year in one country than world wide from this corona virus.

[KhunKenAP]

Reported in Bangkok Post, "the PM will go to inspect the airport today". All will be in order until he and his entourage leaves. 

[Toosetinmyways]

Surprised it took the OP 1 hour to clear immigration. Watching Thai news today and yesterday there were maybe 10 passengers in view at the BKK immigration.

[tonray]

6 hours ago, Genmai said:

Open coffee mugs at the IO stations.

 

The shame of it all....what's next Donuts ?