Foreign tourists flocking back to Thailand - Immigration chiefs act to fill booths at airport/address crowding

[soalbundy]

1 hour ago, Isaan sailor said:

Yup.  And now welcome them to Baht inflation here.

I don't understand where they get the money from, either things aren't as drastic in the West as the media would have us believe or this is the last surge before the great recession.

[ThailandRyan]

3 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

I don't understand where they get the money from, either things aren't as drastic in the West as the media would have us believe or this is the last surge before the great recession.

You may have hit the nail on the head with your last sentence...

[VBF]

1 hour ago, LookMoo said:

Correct.. face mask are totally useless against virus (to small). But good hand hygiene is vital. You scratch your eyes with dirty hand and you are exposed.

I've taken to carrying a small (50ml) bottle of sanitiser EVERYWHERE now 

Here in UK if I'm out I use after shopping and before eating.

Just thinking about getting off baht buses when i return to Pattaya too....

 

As for masks...couldn't agree more ????

[VBF]

6 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

I don't understand where they get the money from, either things aren't as drastic in the West as the media would have us believe or this is the last surge before the great recession.

Bear in mind that quite lot of travellers from the West (specifically UK) are, like me, retired, getting pensions, government grants for heating etc and have no mortgages left to pay. in my case, rising interest rates are INCREASING my monthly income.

Most of my friends are in a similar position.

I of course feel sympathy for the less lucky folk but even with increased prices I'm planning on going to Thailand soon.

[PETERTHEEATER]

4 hours ago, PJ71 said:

This total nonsense.

 

I travel through this airport all the time and have never been processed in 45 seconds, even during covid, total lies.

Just using the fingerprint scan takes longer. Perhaps the MG meant an average of 45 seconds across a specific number of timed entries......????

[Sparktrader]

2 hours ago, khunjeff said:

In over 30 years of traveling to Thailand, I have never seen all the immigration booths manned. In fact, I have very rarely seen more than half manned, even when crowds were flooding back into the duty free area. So if this is real, it would be a massive change. 

 

The last time they made this claim, I actually timed the processing for the people ahead of me in the queue. Some - presumably visa-exempt tourists - were indeed finished in 45 seconds. Many others, though (including me, with a reentry permit) took several minutes - so the idea that they can average under a minute per passenger is probably overly optimistic. 

 

My experience has been that this "help" consists of hiring pouty teenage interns to shout "passport!" and "boarding pass!" in heavily accented English at people entering the queue. 

Phuket was a breeze. 

[3NUMBAS]

he speaks with a forked tongue ,cost of living is diabolical in europe nobodys going long distance

[LoudHailer]

The time going through immigration is nothing compared to the waiting time outside for a taxi. Last evening my taxi queue number was 699. Taxi 17 was the next number called. The taxi spaces were pretty empty. Hundreds of people occupied the seats waiting for taxis that didn't come. I went back inside and got a limo. 

[Onerak]

5 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Guess hotels will start hoiking prices again. Here’s hoping Xi keeps his country locked down or Thailand will end up swamped again. 

Did not they already? Enjoyed Sofitel for 2K/night for my monthly visit to help my ex sugarbabies during Covid. How much are they now?

[goatfarmer]

The biometrics - fingerprinting all fingers on each hand - is a time consuming and questionable process. 

Processing time would be much faster if they simplified this procedure, or better still, abandoned it.

[ThailandRyan]

2 minutes ago, goatfarmer said:

The biometrics - fingerprinting all fingers on each hand - is a time consuming and questionable process. 

Processing time would be much faster if they simplified this procedure, or better still, abandoned it.

So what they just use facial recognition?

[still kicking]

Well I missed my flight back to OZ because of emty boots and false information and had to rebook paid extra and paid for a hotel for 2 days

[sezze]

5 hours ago, PJ71 said:

This total nonsense.

 

I travel through this airport all the time and have never been processed in 45 seconds, even during covid, total lies.

last 2 times ( including now since i am in Thailand ) the process took 30 seconds or less for me . In fact putting the check and controls during covid were a breeze and delight , i think it was less then 10 seconds then .

[Orinoco]

5 hours ago, PJ71 said:

This total nonsense.

 

I travel through this airport all the time and have never been processed in 45 seconds, even during covid, total lies.

I would say about a minute,  I arrived the day after they stormed the red camp in Bangkok a few years back !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Was on a flight with about 30 people on it.

there were empty immigration rows. I was straight through.

very funny.

 

[NRGF]

3 hours ago, khunjeff said:

In over 30 years of traveling to Thailand, I have never seen all the immigration booths manned. In fact, I have very rarely seen more than half manned, even when crowds were flooding back into the duty free area. So if this is real, it would be a massive change. 

 

The last time they made this claim, I actually timed the processing for the people ahead of me in the queue. Some - presumably visa-exempt tourists - were indeed finished in 45 seconds. Many others, though (including me, with a reentry permit) took several minutes - so the idea that they can average under a minute per passenger is probably overly optimistic. 

 

My experience has been that this "help" consists of hiring pouty teenage interns to shout "passport!" and "boarding pass!" in heavily accented English at people entering the queue. 

In my experience this is true but they do also catch the fools that haven't filled in the arrival card or need to find their passport before they to the desk. 

[Kalasin Jo]

4 hours ago, Guderian said:

And they still have those disgustingly unhygienic fingerprint scanners, they were breeding grounds for germs before anyone had ever heard of Covid, but with the winter flu and Covid season kicking off once again my advice is to keep some hand sanitiser handy and use it liberally as soon as your fingerprints have been taken.

The EU Schengen zone of countries is due to introduce finger print checking and other checks at EU international borders early next year. If you needed a visa to enter finger print checks have been done for some years already 

[newnative]

1 hour ago, soalbundy said:

I don't understand where they get the money from, either things aren't as drastic in the West as the media would have us believe or this is the last surge before the great recession.

    I think for lots of people things are not 'as drastic in the West as the media would have you believe...'.   That doesn't mean there aren't people who are hurting--lots of those, too, of course.  But, there are a sizeable number of people in the US who have reasonable retirement incomes and have mostly been stuck at home for two years.  The median 2021 income for US households aged 65 to 74 is over $50,000 and the mean income is over $73,000.  

    Most of the huge 'baby boomer' population has hit retirement age and many have had a good income during their careers and some have also inherited money from their parents.  That's the situation with my five siblings in the US, assorted relatives, and all the friends I know that are also around my same age.  They're all doing ok financially. 

   I know for me, I like to travel and I feel like I lost two years of international travel; I'm looking to make up for lost time.  I doubt I am alone in wanting to get out and see some more of the world while I am still able to.

[Richard1950]

If you have half a mind to go on holiday to Thailand that is all you need, especially with Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia in the same area. At least those countries pretend to like you and give you value for money whereas Thais hate all falangs and rip them off openly. More fool people who are taken in by the land of smiles - there's more sincerity in a crocodile's smile.

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Daughter went to the F1 race in Texas 2 weeks ago. Prior to going she had been the month before for business. Her hotel was $145 a night for her business trip, for the F1 week and weekend the sake hotel was $465  a night......prices are always regulated by supply and demand, and that goes for here as well.

Yes, it is a capitalist world. That is why there are so many poor people.

[Stefanix]

4 hours ago, LookMoo said:

Correct.. face mask are totally useless against virus (to small).

It has been proven that face masks are in fact efficient to curb the spread of Covid. They don't filter out single viruses but prevent the spread of droplets containing virus.

[spidermike007]

When leaving recently, the lines at immigration were 45 minutes. I complained to the officer standing in front and claimed I had a knee injury and she finally relented and let me go onto the Thai side which was about 10 minutes. They could do so such better. They know exactly when numbers of flights are leaving, and if they cared one iota, they could have more lines manned. 

 

Coming back in, the airport was deserted, so immigration was a breeze. 

[alex8912]

2 hours ago, NRGF said:

In my experience this is true but they do also catch the fools that haven't filled in the arrival card or need to find their passport before they to the desk. 

I believe there are no arrival cards anymore. 

[josephbloggs]

3 hours ago, still kicking said:

Well I missed my flight back to OZ because of emty boots and false information and had to rebook paid extra and paid for a hotel for 2 days

So absolutely not your fault at all?  You turned up on time but "empty booths" made you miss your flight.  Hmmmmm, right.

[3NUMBAS]

Why are there no BA flights to Bangkok?

 

 

This is because this route yields low tourist traffic and there is tight price competition from Middle East carriers. “We regularly keep our extensive global network under review and have taken the decision to extend the suspension of our Bangkok service,” BA was quoted by TTG Media as saying.26 Jul 2022

[still kicking]

3 hours ago, NRGF said:

In my experience this is true but they do also catch the fools that haven't filled in the arrival card or need to find their passport before they to the desk. 

There is no Arrival card

[still kicking]

12 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

So absolutely not your fault at all?  You turned up on time but "empty booths" made you miss your flight.  Hmmmmm, right.

Hmmmm yes I lined up in one cue only be told to move to another cue and only a couple was open

[edogthong]

13 hours ago, webfact said:

Spokesman Maj-Gen Cherngron Rimphadee said that the pictures were true.

We're not actually lying to you this time!!! (unlike normal)

[sansaihashbars]

That is fantastic for the Thai government! How much of this boost in tourism can be contributed to the pragmatic approach to cannabis?

[PJ71]

4 hours ago, sezze said:

last 2 times ( including now since i am in Thailand ) the process took 30 seconds or less for me . In fact putting the check and controls during covid were a breeze and delight , i think it was less then 10 seconds then .

No chance

[still kicking]

7 minutes ago, PJ71 said:

No chance

Yes only2 hours for me and I missed my flight