BKK airport waiting times

[NanLaew]

12 hours ago, gargamon said:

Those priority tagged business class bags were from the next flight to use that carousel, not the flight you were on. 

 

Then why were they collected by the long-faced ones from the front rows of my flight?

 

Now stop being silly.

[NanLaew]

12 hours ago, proton said:

Had to wait 2.5 hours for bag 2 years ago, and I'd gone through fast lane, broken belt was one of the excuses.

 

Are you over it now?

[gargamon]

4 hours ago, buick said:

 

is the fast track lane that you used  in between the other two immigration halls ?  i believe the fast track is hall 2, while the other two are halls 1 and 3.  when i arrived in early May this year, hall 2 was closed down.  i left (via EVA) in September and return next week.  wondering if fast track is open in it's usual spot (hall 2) or has it moved somewhere else ?  the business class seats on EVA's 787-10 are excellent !!  i do carry on so can't comment on the luggage service.

Dunno. There was no lineup in regular immigration so I just went there. 

[impulse]

33 minutes ago, gargamon said:

Dunno. There was no lineup in regular immigration so I just went there. 

Contrast that with pre-Covid, when the queue would occasionally snake all the way down that incline, almost before you even turned into the immigration sections.  I've been loving this year's shorter queues, but can't say it bodes well for those in the tourism business.

 

Edit:  I'd add that, coming from China, the flights are always pretty full but there are far fewer flights than before, and no non-stops (where there used to be 3-4 each day from my small town of 15 million people).  And a lot of cancelled flights when they didn't fill up, adding half a day to the slog.  Until that gets squared away, I don't see much benefit in the visa exempt to attract Chinese weekenders.  It takes too long on each end of the journey to make it worthwhile for a discretionary trip.

 

Edited October 29, 2023 by impulse

[scorecard]

16 hours ago, vangrop said:

imo you and your son have to take the international lane. I arrived on 17 th October from Doha around 400 people in the plane, together with another plane also around 400 people I guess. Waiting time peanuts, one person in front of me. They are superbly organized now and increased the immigration desks cosequently.

 

Over many years there's been many posts indicating that the occasional roaming immigration officers (generally checking that incoming passengers have the correct completed forms to present with their passport) have asked if the lady in the obvious family together is Thai. Answer yes and quick smart the whole family moved to a Thai line. Many times. 

[khunjeff]

On 10/28/2023 at 1:31 PM, gargamon said:

Please advise what airline did that? Do you use them all the time? EVA would never do that, and if they did I would need to find a new one. BTW, my flight consisted of three segments, and even after that my luggage was still front of the queue in BKK. Did your airline advise you of the fast track immigration for business class? 

 

This was Ethiopian, which is consistently terrible about not expediting priority baggage, but I've had the same experience on many other airlines, including Thai. Only a few carriers really bother to segregate and expedite priority bags, and even those often have problems with luggage that transited en route to the final destination.

 

As for advising me of fast track? Ever since they stopped handing out fast track coupons, I've never had any airline advise me that I was eligible for fast track, ever. I always have it through my visa anyway, so that isn't an issue for me.

[khunjeff]

On 10/28/2023 at 1:35 PM, NanLaew said:

Not all airlines qualify for (or pay for) the fast track immigration service for their Business Class pax at Suvarnabhumi immigration.

 

That hasn't been true since Big Joke got rid of the coupon system. Under the current system, if you show a business class boarding pass from any airline, you can use fast track.

 

On 10/29/2023 at 1:59 AM, buick said:

wondering if fast track is open in it's usual spot (hall 2) or has it moved somewhere else ?

 

The last few times I passed through, hall 2 was being used for all fast track categories except first and business class pax (diplomats, Thai Elite, LTR, etc) - the premium class pax were sent to an area near the queue for Thais. I assume that's a temporary arrangement, but I don't know what the final plan is.

[buick]

On 10/30/2023 at 7:19 PM, khunjeff said:

 

That hasn't been true since Big Joke got rid of the coupon system. Under the current system, if you show a business class boarding pass from any airline, you can use fast track.

 

 

The last few times I passed through, hall 2 was being used for all fast track categories except first and business class pax (diplomats, Thai Elite, LTR, etc) - the premium class pax were sent to an area near the queue for Thais. I assume that's a temporary arrangement, but I don't know what the final plan is.

 

i came through yesterday.  i forgot to check here for any updates.  but you are correct, hall 2 appears to be no good for first and business.  they directed me back to the normal hall (closest to EFG concourse) and the 'fast track' was to the right.  as you say, you go up the ramp in the line that says 'thai passports' and go to the right.  they had 4-6 booths open. 

[buick]

On 10/28/2023 at 4:48 PM, gargamon said:

Dunno. There was no lineup in regular immigration so I just went there. 

 

it appears they've moved the 'fast track' into the normal immigration halls.  for the one nearest the EFG concourse, it is up the ramp to the right side.  i didn't see any reference to 'fast track', i think it is called 'priority' now.  maybe i missed it. 

[cormanr7]

On 10/28/2023 at 5:23 AM, stoner said:

 

are you a thai passport holder ? 

I arrived a few weeks ago at 08.00 on a full Emirates flight. Long que for the west-side immigration, they send people with a non-Thai passport to the east-side immigration (the 'Thai airways side') and was thru in 10 min. Then a long walk to the baggage belt, which was the one on the extreme west side!  I often go to the east side without prompting, at this time passengers from Thai Aw arrivals from Europe have gone and it always seems faster than the west side

In general, even though lines often look horrific they tend to move quite fast and there are normally a lot of immigration booths in operation (they have recently also gotten a new look).

[Mr Dome]

On 10/28/2023 at 6:05 AM, impulse said:

On 4 of my last 6 arrivals this year, I walked right up to the officer without even a queue.  The other 2, there may have been a 5 minute queue.  Visa exempt on US passport.

 

Which is great, except then I had to wait up to 45 minutes at the luggage carousel.

 

It's nothing like it used to be.  Almost sad, really, knowing how many Thai people depend on tourist money.

 

That's relative.

 

Arrived Tuesday evening, landing at 18:20, at immigration at 18:45. Finally got through and to the belt at 19:30 - now showing a different flight but my bag still going round on it.

Many counters not occupied by staff. It doesn't have to be like this.

 

Of course, other nearby countries aren't necessarily better. It once took me 40 minutes to pass immigration to exit Malaysia at KLIA2 (& we know how long the walk from there to your Air Asia Gate can be there).

Edited November 2, 2023 by Mr Dome
Fixed typo

[impulse]

10 hours ago, Mr Dome said:

That's relative.

 

Arrived Tuesday evening, landing at 18:20, at immigration at 18:45. Finally got through and to the belt at 19:30 - now showing a different flight but my bag still going round on it.

Many counters not occupied by staff. It doesn't have to be like this.

 

That's a bummer.  Sounds like the bad old days, though I recall a few arrivals just before Covid where it was in the 2 hour range.

 

I wonder if you're seeing the results of the new visa exempt policy for the Chinese and others.  Arriving from China, I've always been pleased knowing the rest of the flight would be going into a different queue for their visa on arrival.  Though I walk faster than most people, I'll walk even faster for my next arrival so I can pass most of my fellow passengers on the half km walk to immigration.

 

[Mr Dome]

2 hours ago, impulse said:

 

That's a bummer.  Sounds like the bad old days, though I recall a few arrivals just before Covid where it was in the 2 hour range.

 

I wonder if you're seeing the results of the new visa exempt policy for the Chinese and others.  Arriving from China, I've always been pleased knowing the rest of the flight would be going into a different queue for their visa on arrival.  Though I walk faster than most people, I'll walk even faster for my next arrival so I can pass most of my fellow passengers on the half km walk to immigration.

 

I walk very fast as well. We were only allowed to leave the plane at around 18:35. 

 

Arrived at check point # 3, which was closed and we were herded on to # 1, which soon overflowed. I never quite understood how they achieved that cattle drive feel at Suvarnabhumi - I don't get that feeling at other airports upon arrival.

[oldcpu]

As others have noted, I suspect you should have no problem going through the Thai immigration line with your Thai wife.

 

I have a passport from an EU country, and I have been going through the Thai line at immigration, when accompanied by my Thai wife, for the past two decades in both Phuket and Bangkok airports, with no issues.

.

[mpdk78]

It ended up being ok. Much different from last times chaos. We went with my wife in the thai passport lane. Waited after the immigration for the luggage about 10-15m. All in all acceptable👍🏻