BANGKOK (NNT) - The Immigration Bureau is gearing up for an expected surge in visitors arriving in Thailand for the Chinese New Year, particularly from February 8 to 14, with daily arrivals anticipated to hit 80,000. The preparation follows an incident on January 24 at Suvarnabhumi Airport, where a technical glitch at the automatic biometrics immigration kiosks led to extended queues, as officers were required to manually check travel documents.

 

In response to the upcoming holiday rush, Immigration Bureau Chief Pol Maj Gen Ittipol Ittisarnronnachai convened an urgent meeting to outline safety and efficiency measures at airports. Plans include the deployment of additional immigration officers to manage passenger flow during peak times, aiming to reduce wait times in the airport's immigration area to under 30 minutes.

 

Efforts to prevent a recurrence of system failures at automatic passport kiosks have been a priority, with assurances from the system's contractor that the issues leading to the January breakdown will not reoccur. Technical staff responsible for the biometric system's installation have identified and rectified the fault in the networking equipment, ensuring the system's operational reliability, even in offline mode.

 

The Immigration Bureau is also enhancing its preparedness by having officials from the Immigration Operation Center on standby at the kiosks to address any potential system malfunctions. Pol Maj Gen Ittipol said he will personally inspect the readiness of immigration systems and staff at Phuket and Chiang Mai airports, which are also expected to see a high volume of tourists during the Chinese New Year celebrations.

 

By Naark Rojanasuvan

 

Full story: NNT 2024-02-07

 

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"Immigration Bureau Boosts Staff for New Year Rush"

 

Better late than never... LOL (Yes, I get it; it's about Chinese New Year.)

Edited February 7, 20242 yr by StayinThailand2much

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

In response to the upcoming holiday rush, Immigration Bureau Chief Pol Maj Gen Ittipol Ittisarnronnachai convened an urgent meeting

More chiefs than Indians.

Every time a photo of an endless airport queue appears on social media, they make a statement that all immigration counters were staffed and so it wasn't their fault. If all the counters are already manned, how can they increase staffing above 100%? 🤔

They are really serous this time.

I heard that they have added more comfy chairs to the immigration staff break room.