AoT Launches Measures to Manage Traveler Surge

[snoop1130]

 

BANGKOK (NNT) - Airports of Thailand (AoT) has announced new measures to address an increase in passenger arrivals at Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

 

AoT disclosed that it has implemented measures to reduce delays at baggage claim areas and passenger service times as the number of complaints has been increasing over the past month.

 

To meet surging passenger numbers, the airport’s ground handling operators, THAI Ground (TG) and Bangkok Flight Services (BFS), are recruiting personnel and purchasing additional equipment as a temporary stopgap measure.

 

Authorities are also addressing airport taxi shortages by registering 3,909 cabs for service in the area, with plans to increase this number to 4,500.

 

AoT has meanwhile proposed a temporarily extended period for carriers to provide self-service services, as well as the installation of more automatic passport checkpoints and pre-immigration kiosks. Additionally, it will expand the new priority zone and VOA checking area at its Satellite 1 building, which is scheduled to open in September.

 

The international airport also plans to convert the space between the passenger terminal and Concourse D into a receiving hall for arriving passengers and those with visas on arrival (VOAs). They expect to accommodate 2,000 inbound travelers and 400 people with VOAs every hour.

 

AOT assures that the second phase of the airport’s long-term solution to congestion concerns is now being drafted, with construction slated to begin by the end of this year.

 

Source: https://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news/detail/TCATG230220154531834

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2023-02-20

 

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[ThailandRyan]

Let's hope it speeds things up as well as hoping all immigration booths are up and running at peak times.  My daughters will be flying in to visit soon and the last thing they want after a two day flight from the US is to stand in line for umpteen hours like the last time they came.

[zzaa09]

1 hour ago, ThailandRyan said:

Let's hope it speeds things up as well as hoping all immigration booths are up and running at peak times.  My daughters will be flying in to visit soon and the last thing they want after a two day flight from the US is to stand in line for umpteen hours like the last time they came.

Don't hold your breath.

What they might propose and how they act/practice are two different things. 

The unreasonable and confounding Thai bureaucratic mindset usually misses the boat.

[CartagenaWarlock]

I watched a few tik tok videos. BKK is packed even before the bend to immigration line. Horrible scene.

[bkk6060]

All the major tourist area airports are packed.  Don´t check a bag if you can avoid it.

[SunsetT]

The photo shows Departures not Arrivals.

[Tropposurfer]

11 hours ago, zzaa09 said:

Don't hold your breath.

What they might propose and how they act/practice are two different things. 

The unreasonable and confounding Thai bureaucratic mindset usually misses the boat.

If you've got the $'s you could upgrade their flights to business this way they get to use the priority lane for I.O. and baggage emerges first.

Maybe you might be able to upgrade for part of the leg from the US (I'm not personally familiar with these routes) ... this way you'll not expend as much as if you upgrade for the entire route?

[mikecha]

13 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Let's hope it speeds things up as well as hoping all immigration booths are up and running at peak times.  My daughters will be flying in to visit soon and the last thing they want after a two day flight from the US is to stand in line for umpteen hours like the last time they came.

buy a fast track no need to stand hours

[bangon04]

"recruiting personnel and purchasing additional equipment as a temporary stopgap measure."

 

 

[Millcx]

11 hours ago, zzaa09 said:

Don't hold your breath.

What they might propose and how they act/practice are two different things. 

The unreasonable and confounding Thai bureaucratic mindset usually misses the boat.

They will be quick to coin in the 300 thb

[khunjeff]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The international airport also plans to convert the space between the passenger terminal and Concourse D into a receiving hall for arriving passengers and those with visas on arrival (VOAs).

Since Concourse D is part of the terminal, I'm somewhat confused as to what this actually means... 

[hotchilli]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Airports of Thailand (AoT) has announced new measures to address an increase in passenger arrivals at Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

Staff, technology?

Usually works.

[zzaa09]

17 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Staff, technology?

Usually works.

Here?

Well.......sometimes. 

????

[TooMuchTime]

They just need to add dedicated immigration lines at Arrival/Departure for Americans.

 

Not sure why we have to wait with those other foreign people.

[daveAustin]

4 minutes ago, TooMuchTime said:

They just need to add dedicated immigration lines at Arrival/Departure for Americans.

 

Not sure why we have to wait with those other foreign people.

Lol, or turn all the jets from China back around. 

[Bangkok Barry]

44 minutes ago, TooMuchTime said:

They just need to add dedicated immigration lines at Arrival/Departure for Americans.

 

Not sure why we have to wait with those other foreign people.

They should certainly have a dedicated area, even terminal, for the millions of Chinese they are expecting and who already clog up the place.

[AhFarangJa]

They have decided to build a large revolving platform at arrivals. As you go around on this platform there are large bins for you to deposit your wallets, then at the end you are filtered off to departures. That way they get your money without the added problem of actually having to deal with tourists.

[DFPhuket]

It took my friend arriving Tuesday at 3 PM well over an hour to get through immigration at BKK. The good news was that his bag was out by the time he finally got through. 

[bamnutsak]

Believable first-hand reports are all over the map. Some report 4 minutes (wait at arriving Imm), for an 08:00 arrival on EK, to 2+ hours for an arrival on Qatar in the early afternoon. Some report getting through Imm in 15 min. but then waiting 45 min. for a checked bag. And still others report 1 hour wait in the official taxi queue.

 

Yes, we all know about workarounds: FastTrack, fly in J, don't have checked bags, have a Thai wife, use Grab.

 

Some photos posted yesterday, assuming they are accurately representative, showed massive queues, stretching back into the concourse, making it challenging to get to FastTrack, or the Thai desks.

 

 

[BigStar]

13 hours ago, zzaa09 said:

Don't hold your breath.

What they might propose and how they act/practice are two different things. 

The unreasonable and confounding Thai bureaucratic mindset usually misses the boat.

Or maybe it's just the unreasonable and confounding ANF Poster mindset that usually misses the boat. COVID was supposed to have been the last nail in the coffin for Thai tourism after all the other nails, owing to the intolerable mistreatment of tourists and especially expats.

 

And let's not forget the announcement of the construction of Suvarnabhumi itself was greeted with the usual chorus of sneers. Thailand already had a perfectly good airport, and Only One's Needed. The runways were all going to sink and never be maintained. And it'd never be completed anyway. Then when it was completed, it was deserted, proof that it wasn't needed in the first place, heh heh.  

 

Maybe we should adopt a reasonable and less stupid mindset than usual and just wait and see. 'Course, that would spoil the fun and the piling on.

 

[nigelforbes]

Maybe the too strong Baht is keeping tourists away, there should be more than this, surely!

[Regyai]

All rather damning when an alleged 'surge' defeats their resources.

 

Aircrafts and their contents don't arrive as a surprise do they. Airline slots are preordained, and passenger manifests known. Basically the airport could plot precise arrival numbers to be handled hour by hour.

 

The inevitable cornerstones of Thai pi55 poor planning, complacency and ineptitude at play as ever they were.

[ChrisKC]

How do I get an impression of a "surge" in passengers from a picture with no passengers? 

[sandyf]

2 hours ago, khunjeff said:

Since Concourse D is part of the terminal, I'm somewhat confused as to what this actually means... 

On the basis they are talking arrivals then they should have said "passenger arrival terminal" .

Concourse D is the main drag in the "departure terminal" with the "arrival terminal" on a lower level. I don't think it is directly below departures and they may be referring to space adjacent to arrivals underneath Concourse D.

[bamnutsak]

Reports in the past few weeks for those leaving Thailand seem much more consistent, with waits at check-in of up to 45 minutes, and at security up to 45 minute range, and at departing Immigration of up to 90 minutes. More than a few reports of people missing flights.

 

I guess I might arrive at Suvarnabhumi, for an int'l departure, maybe three or four hours early, just to be safe.

 

 

 

Edited February 21, 2023 by bamnutsak

[bamnutsak]

6 minutes ago, alex8912 said:

You should get Global entry.  Usually zero to 5 min and you're in. Have not had my bags checked  anymore as well. 

Yes, Global Entry is great (plus the card is RealID compliant), but new applications might take 6 - 18 months for the interview. My on-line renewal was processed in ~ two days.

 

Some report that the free Mobile Passport Control app can be useful, in some airports anyway. https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/mobile-passport-control

 

 

 

 

[Rimmer]

A flame has been removed

[bang saen guy]

11 hours ago, SunsetT said:

The photo shows Departures not Arrivals.

Arrivals on Saturday. 3 hours

[alex8912]

1 hour ago, bamnutsak said:

Yes, Global Entry is great (plus the card is RealID compliant), but new applications might take 6 - 18 months for the interview. My on-line renewal was processed in ~ two days.

 

Some report that the free Mobile Passport Control app can be useful, in some airports anyway. https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/mobile-passport-control

 

 

 

 

Yes I'm on my second one but it lasts 5 years which is great. Are you talking about the card for travel to Canada and Mexico? 

[SunsetT]

8 minutes ago, bang saen guy said:

Arrivals on Saturday. 3 hours

.......k i n g farang tourists...555.

 

What time did u arrive?

Edited February 21, 2023 by SunsetT