Suvarnabhumi Airport opens automated channels to foreign travellers

[TroubleandGrumpy]

4 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Same in UK, though I don’t remember any scans of passport going out other than a glance at check-in and boarding gate.

 

Good to see Thailand moving forward on this and the smiling donkey actually pushing something through that is tangible.  

Yes - but dont give him any credit yuet - until after we see how it actually works.

This could be great and it could be yet another clusterf*** 

Best to wait and see - proof is in the pudding - and judging by the 'cooks' in that photo it might be a dud.

[richard_smith237]

5 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

My passport has biometric chip for some years already. However I went several times out Thailand and came back, and everytime they need my fingerprints and photo.. Should i believe that these machine are working? Even with renewal your visa they need new pictures at the office every year and of course a paper pic,,  

 

The finger prints confirms that your match your Passport - if the prints don't match, you'll face issues.

The same with the photo... thats just normal in many places.

[richard_smith237]

57 minutes ago, SunsetT said:

3 times now when returning to the UK I have tried to use these machines which I know are pretty straightforward. The problem is the machine asks me to remove my glasses and then I cannot read the following steps. Then i do something wrong and I am immediately directed by an assistant to a manned booth. So I never discover what I am doing wrong...lol. I suppose I should insist that the assistant tell me what I do wrong but being very tired, jetlagged and having a train to catch I just want to get through ASAP.

 

'User interface error'.....    some individuals will of course face hiccups...  some people struggle with such things. 

 

I got peeved when in Doha I went to the Immirgration counter... (Immigration are ayholes there), the sent me to the e-gate, I told him I wasnt registered yet (first entry with current residency permissions), he told me to go anyway. I went, machine rejected me, I went to the manned desk and was registered, the system has worked seamlessly since then (arrival and departure). 

 

So... There will definately be hiccups, there always are with automated systems - but for most people it will be quicker and cut queues.

 

Such technology can only be seen as a welcome improvement IMO. 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

3 hours ago, Srikcir said:

17 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

freedom to move in and out via Automatic Gates. 

It's an exit from Thailand channel.

3 hours ago, willr said:

At the moment it's only for departures.

 

Yup - but as soon as the system is working smoothly for foreigners on departure, there is no reason why it can't be implemented on arrival... Thailand only ever takes 'baby steps' towards change... 

 

5 hours ago, wpcoe said:

Hopefully this is only the first phase.  A nice second phase would be automated channels for arrivals.

 

Exactly, it surely will be implemented upon arrival at some point too - its just a matter of getting the 'cronies' to understand that an automated system doesn't mean the worlds criminals will suddenly start flooding to Thailand in greater numbers. 

[ikke1959]

3 hours ago, impulse said:

Seems pretty reasonable that they want to make sure it's your passport, whether by matching fingerprints or facial recognition, obviously every time...

So no need for automatic channels than :)

 

[impulse]

7 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

So no need for automatic channels than :)

 

Automatic channels can check fingerprints and/or facial match and simply flag those with a questionable match for human inspection. Probably 1 in 50 ( though that's just a guess)

 

The way I've seen it work is the machine spits out a receipt that I hand to a human.  If the receipt says "good to go", it takes 5 seconds of face time.

 

And it's not a bad idea to put eyeballs on each person, if only to see if they're packing 20 pounds of exotic animals in their skivvies. It's been known to happen...

Edited December 12, 2023 by impulse

[newbee2022]

18 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

This is an excellent idea... 

 

It makes perfect sense to allow regular visitors the freedom to move in and out via Automatic Gates. 

That's not right. It's only made for OUTBOUND flights!🧑‍🎄

[worldexpress]

6 hours ago, ezzra said:

The quick exit system has been implemented in Australia for several years already where you slide your passport into a machine while your picture is take and away you go, Aussies and non Aussies alike...

Meh. My country has it even easier. No exit formalities whatsoever. 

[Lorry]

8 hours ago, Danderman123 said:

My point is:

 

The dreaded day when the Revenue Department comes to my door, demanding a tax return because they think I'm a tax resident (in Thailand more than 179 days)  my passport stamps can't be used as a defense.

As of now, the RD determines tax residency (i.e. stay in Thailand of 180 days or more) by manually counting passport stamps of each year.

 

1. example: 

Entry Jan 1st, 2024

Exit Feb 2nd, 2024 via automated gate, no stamp

Next Entry: Jan 1st, 2025

 

They will determine you were tax resident in 2024.

 

2. example: 

Entry Jan 1st, 2024

Exit Feb 2nd, 2024 via automated gate, no stamp

Next Entry: March 1st, 2024

 

They will probably figure out that somehow stamps don't add up.

They will not know why,  they have never heard of an automated gate.

How they will handle this? Up to them.

 

[Caldera]

I think this makes perfect sense (for a change). Everything that needs to be checked when exiting the country can be automated, some countries don't even have outbound immigration at all.

 

Unlike with overland travel, nobody needs to see an exit stamp when flying out. If the country you're flying to is interested in where you're coming from, they can ask for the boarding pass - as Thai immigration does.

[Chris Daley]

The British passport is not only the most powerful in the world but it also has a microchip built into containing biometric data that allows me to scan and pass freely.  Of course countries like Thailand are still working on clean drinking water so I wouldn't expect them to have this technology.

[scottiejohn]

32 minutes ago, Chris Daley said:

The British passport is not only the most powerful in the world

BS!

Search the web and you will find many contenders for the title of "most powerful passport in the world"!

Japan is usually the No1!

 

The UK came in joint No6 along with France, Ireland, Portugal!

 2023 Henley Passport Index: The world's most powerful passports (cnbc.com)

Edited December 12, 2023 by scottiejohn

[Kerryd]

6 hours ago, worldexpress said:

Meh. My country has it even easier. No exit formalities whatsoever. 

Same here. I was astounded the last couple times I left Canada and never had my passport checked.

Checked in for the flight, went through the normal Security screen and - I was in the Departure Lounge and heading for my gate. NO Immigration counter - for anyone !!!

I'm sure they did that so they can look down and away and pretend not to notice when "certain" people leave the country. You can literally check in for a flight, get your boarding pass, go to a bathroom or coffee shop and hand off your passport and boarding pass to someone else and then that person can walk through security and get on a plane and no one will be the wiser.

(For example, it's a Indictable Offense to leave the country to join a terrorist organization. But if no one knows you've left the country or where you are going, they can't do anything about it !)