Immigration System Malfunction Causes Passenger Backlog

[radiochaser]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Biometric system glitch at Suvarnabhumi Airport causes passenger delays
by Nattapong Westwood

 

Photo courtesy of Matichon

 

Suvarnabhumi International Airport faced significant disruptions early this morning when its biometric immigration system malfunctioned, causing delays and a rapid build-up of passengers. Immigration police swiftly implemented contingency measures to mitigate the impact on flight schedules.

 

In the predawn hours of yesterday, Suvarnabhumi Airport’s immigration department was thrown into chaos as the biometric system encountered technical issues around 4.30am. Chaired by Chaiyapruek Rimphadee, the Immigration Division 2 leader and spokesperson for the Immigration Bureau, a swift response was initiated to address the malfunctioning system.

 

Photo courtesy of Matichon

 

Normally, the processing time from presenting a passport to receiving a stamped clearance by immigration officers at Suvarnabhumi Airport takes no more than 45 seconds per individual. However, due to the system failure, the time required per passenger exceeded one minute. The breakdown also affected the automatic passport control channels, which were unable to function, resulting in extended queues that stretched back to the baggage screening areas, reported KhaoSod.

As passengers bound for international flights quickly accumulated, the queues extended significantly from the usual immigration counters starting from 4.30am. The Immigration Division 2 communicated with the Immigration Checkpoint Technology Center, which oversees the biometric technology, urging an urgent resolution.

 

Full story: The Thaiger 2024-01-25

 

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That picture looks very similar to the immigration line at Newark International Airport, in New Jersey.  Not just once but several times when I returned there from Thailand!

[Derek B]

Thai airport immigration - back to basics.

Use more international airports to share the arrivals workload.

[radiochaser]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Two years in a row I arrived at LAX and a computer malfunction meant I wait in line for two hours. The first time, the IO asked how long I'd been waiting and I said two hours and  I wasn't coming back, and he said 'I hear you'. I did come back though, and the next time I told the IO I'd missed my connecting flight and he told me it didn't matter. And I didn't go back. Especially after an x-ray machine thought silver paper on some mints was a security threat. If their security couldn't tell the difference between paper and explosives ...... 

Off the topic of Thailand, but along the topic of explosives...
I had a transfer of flights in Europe.   They checked my backpack and pulled me aside to ask me a couple of questions.  
Security, First question: Are you an American?  Me: yes.
Security, Second question: Do you reload ammunition?  Me: Yes.   Why are you asking?
Security:   Your backpack tested positive for nitrocellulose explosives.   Me: What happens now?
Security:  You can take your belongings and go to your gate.  Some Americans backpacks test positive for nitrocellulose because of reloading. 
Me: After returning home.   Purchased a new backpack and keeping it out of the reloading area and not using it to carry shooting gear to the shooting range!

[radiochaser]

1 hour ago, NedR69 said:

What are the requirements for passing through the priority lanes?

Business or First class ticket holder, being an old fart (I think 70 or 75), physical disability, and I think having small children may help too.   Ugly don't count, so at least being an old fart is helpful for me.

[Sweet Swede]

Outbound was most impacted and could take up to one hour according to the article. My daughters friend arrive early morning yesterday. She spent 2 hours to pass the passsport check.

[sandyf]

3 hours ago, geisha said:

Don’t they ( government/ immigration) feel ashamed when they see such horrendous queues at their airports ?

One can only assume you are new to air travel.

When you are in the middle of 3 x A380s discharging passengers into a narrow passageway you may understand what "horrendous queue" actually means.

[Drumbuie]

1 hour ago, AAArdvark said:

BBL still uses DOS for all of their in house banking. 

Because it's stable. So do most UK banks because upgrading is expensive and not without risk, if not done carefully. RBS systems meltdown in 2012 was because they outsourced IT to India - where they had no idea how to handle the three 1960s mainframes on which the whole system was built.

 

My experience of Thai banks apps is that they're miles ahead of the UK's, even if Starling which is entirely an online bank. And before you start complaining about your bank branch here, be thankful you have a branch. UK banks are closing most of theirs - worst of both worlds. 

[NRGF]

31 minutes ago, norfolkandchance said:

Wheelchair, Over 70 or white stick and dark glasses.

Travelling with your Thai wife enables you to use Thai immigration, usually a good shortcut. 

 

[Lemsta69]

1 hour ago, AAArdvark said:

BBL still uses DOS for all of their in house banking. 

 

I'm pretty sure DOS doesn't run on mainframes.

[jonclark]

Oddly though when exiting the UK (for UK nationals or foreigners) there is no immigration to go through - Airline counter Check-in, self scan boarding pass, security, done. 

[Peterphuket]

2 hours ago, NedR69 said:

What are the requirements for passing through the priority lanes?

Only over 70 year, but be not surprised when they send you back, it almost happened to me the some day, a high-ranking executive was checking whether his subordinates were doing well, but he himself was not doing well and was whistled back by the subordinates, and I was allowed to continue.

[ujayujay]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

 

SAMUT PRAKAN, Jan 24 (TNA) – A disruption in the immigration biometrics system occurred early Wednesday morning at Suvarnabhumi Airport, leading to a buildup of passengers and prompting swift efforts to address the issue.

 

Pol Maj Gen Choengron Rimpadee, commander of immigration officers at the international airport said the system was currently undergoing repairs, causing delays at the immigration counters. This, in turn, extended the time required for the processing of passport checks from the usual 45 seconds per person to over 1 minute.

 

 

The malfunction primarily impacted the Automated channels for passport checks, leading to severe congestion during peak flight hours, particularly for outbound passengers. The situation escalated quickly, resulting in long queues extending to the baggage inspection points.

The Immigration Technology Center, overseeing the affected technology system has expedited the resolution. Simultaneously, Suvarnabhumi Airport’s immigration checkpoints took immediate action according to their contingency plans, resorting to manual checks conducted by immigration officers and utilizing the airport’s application to identify individuals with potential issues such as warrants or overstays.

 

Source: Thai News Agency 2024-01-24

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

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Thailand, the Hub of Malfunctions

[TroubleandGrumpy]

3 hours ago, mikebell said:

Finnair desk at MAN was diabolical.  Aged 80, I stood for  over an hour whilst a gobby farang woman argued with staff over seating her family en route to BKK.  The fracas attracted staff from other desks till this one was the sole operating outlet.  Throw in the jumped-up little Hitlers on the security queues; surly other staff; scruffy litter-strewn environment and you can see why landing in Bangkok was a breeze for pensioners.

The worst of all time I have ever experienced - and by a long way - was arriving at LA Airport.

Nothing anywhere else experienced or heard about, including this, even comes close to that day. 

Then going from the Int to Dom terminal - what a joke that was too. 

Airports and Airlines get away with it too easy - it is absolutely awful everywhere some days.

[Jaggg88]

5 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

I never noticed that a passportchecking would only take 45 seconds.. 2 to 5 minutes seems to be normal, with pictures and fingerprintgs and a grumpy officer...Anyway Thailand and computers don't match

I suspect they are referring to the actual electronic check of the passport when it is placed in the reader and not the whole clearance process

[bamnutsak]

1 minute ago, Jaggg88 said:

I suspect they are referring to the actual electronic check of the passport when it is placed in the reader and not the whole clearance process

 

I'm not sure but I think I saw something (BP?) about the temporary loss of an automatic connection to APPS/APIS upon scanning of the passport. So the passenger may have to be screened manually against a paper list, or the officer needs to make a specific call/inquiry to the APPS database.

[realfunster]

2 hours ago, jonclark said:

Oddly though when exiting the UK (for UK nationals or foreigners) there is no immigration to go through - Airline counter Check-in, self scan boarding pass, security, done. 

 

Yep - that's the best way to remove the outbound issues...you could then move those IOs to working on the inbound queues as well....

[Irish star]

6 hours ago, geisha said:

“ takes no more than 45”  ? I’m very sorry but it’s certainly more than 2/3 minutes per passenger. All docs in order and never had a problem , travel often internationally, I’ve always been amazed at the time it takes to clear me.  Don’t they ( government/ immigration) feel ashamed when they see such horrendous queues at their airports ? Maybe a silly question, they don’t give a damn.

Never taken me longer than 45 seconds to get thru to departure 

[StayinThailand2much]

Wonder how it impacted flights. Anyone read, or heard of passengers missing their flights?

[biggles45]

There is a priority queue for both out bound and inbound at Swampy. I have used them for 8 years now with no problem and my 45 yr old partner is allowed thru as well. 

[bamnutsak]

6 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Wonder how it impacted flights. Anyone read, or heard of passengers missing their flights?

 

It looks like they held many/most of the departures, with departure delays of 30 - 120 minutes Wed. AM

 

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/airports/bkk/departures

[Peabody]

4 hours ago, Toby1947 said:

3 days at Jomtien seriously,

Yup. Went with a friend last week.
Thursday: get paperwork and MAKE APPOINTMENT

Friday: Submit paperwork
Monday: Pickup passport
 

[PETERTHEEATER]

Luckily there was a backup system.....😀

 

.........utilizing the airport’s application to identify individuals with potential issues such as warrants or overstays

[AustinRacing]

9 hours ago, sumongkhwai said:

It seems highly unlike that a 15 second discrepancy per passport would result in those lines but, I wasn't there and could be wrong,

 

 

"Normally, the processing time from presenting a passport to receiving a stamped clearance by immigration officers at Suvarnabhumi Airport takes no more than 45 seconds per individual. However, due to the system failure, the time required per passenger exceeded one minute"

Read the fine print. Over a minute can be one minute and one second or 10 mins or more!

[khunjeff]

3 hours ago, Jaggg88 said:

I suspect they are referring to the actual electronic check of the passport when it is placed in the reader and not the whole clearance process

 

No, they really do mean beginning to end. They have repeated the claim of "45 seconds to process each passenger" on many occasions over the past year or two, each time a photo of an enormous queue finds its way onto social media.

 

For departures, that claim may not be too far off. For arrivals, it's true for many/most passengers (I used to time each one while waiting to get to the head of the line), but more than a few pax take considerably longer.

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

I find it hilarious that the very next article from Asia Now was about how Thailand aims to be the airline HUB of SE Asia.

 

[impulse]

7 hours ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

The worst of all time I have ever experienced - and by a long way - was arriving at LA Airport.

 

My absolute worst experience in dozens of arrivals in BKK was still better than my best experience in about a dozen arrivals at LAX.  It has always been horrid.  There's always a huge queue either at the IO passport check or the baggage customs inspection.  Sometimes, on both.

 

The only up side is that there's no immigration queue upon leaving the US.

 

[john donson]

the horror... how long waiting? I would piss my pants for sure...

[Chris Daley]

Gotta ask them questions ''where are you flying to today.... where is your onward travel tickets..... what is the name of your hotel..... do you have thai girlfriend''  Someone has to ask the tough questions delay or no delay.

[OJAS]

17 hours ago, PeachCH said:

This could happen not only in Thailand! 

 

Not according to the Thai-bashing brigade on here, though!

 

[impulse]

10 hours ago, Chris Daley said:

Gotta ask them questions ''where are you flying to today.... where is your onward travel tickets..... what is the name of your hotel..... do you have thai girlfriend''  Someone has to ask the tough questions delay or no delay.

 

In 10 BKK arrivals over the past year, visa exempt, I've never been asked any of those questions.  Just a stamp, a smile, and on my way.  Less than a minute.  Fingers crossed, usually after waiting less than 5 minutes in the queue, if there was one.  Several times, I walked right up to the IO.

 

Edit:  I'd add, that's in the cattle class queues.