AOT and immigration unite to tackle Suvarnabhumi Airport queues

[lavender19]

2 hours ago, mikebell said:

Not at Manchester airport where 2 hours of rudeness by unruly, impolite staff in scruffy surroundings is the norm.

Have to agree there. Only used that s#_*hole once.  Never again. 

[Andyfez]

There's a typically Thai answer to this queue problem.

I recently faced this queue on entry, and ask the security guy at the start of the queue if there was an alternative. He smiled, and pointed me to the VIP lane, which at the time was marked Chinese citizens only.

He explained you simply pay 200 baht.

You get a fast service with a smile in this lane.

Edited February 29 by Andyfez

[mran66]

4 hours ago, mokwit said:

What wheel?

 

They rather try to re-invent the road to fit to their square wheel - with obvious consequences... 

[Cabradelmar]

Thai bureaucracy and efficiency are mutually exclusive. Same as it ever was... 

[mran66]

"These enhancements will incorporate state-of-the-art technology that can scrutinise power banks without requiring passengers to take off their shoes." 

 

Did not know that it is power banks they've been looking from my shoes. Learn something new every day

[scorecard]

5 hours ago, bradiston said:

What a total shambles. There's Srettha running around luring 1000s more tourists and the airport can't cope. Totally Thai.

 

Well he has clearly twice said publicly that he is not satisfied with the service at the airports and demanded change.

 

I'm wondering if the minister and senior officers involved are just ignoring the PM.

 

Also, there would be no doubt all of these activities involve corruption and collusion.

 

Perhaps the snr. staff at the airports are reticent to make changes because it would upset the corruption 'system' already in place. And quite possibly the ministry and airport staff are intimidated by the 'leaders' of the corruption process and therefore there's no action for change. 

[J Branche]

I'm not the sharpest pencil in the drawer but I would hope they look at incoming passenger volumes and times expected and schedule staffing appropriately.   Then get a lead IT guy down and the PM and IT guy discuss if there are cost effective ways to speed up the process.  Maybe discuss implementing a trusted traveler program like Global Entry used in the US.  I understand the PM's concerns to get this figured out before the airport expansion is complete and projected increase of passengers overwhelms the systems even more.

[scorecard]

3 hours ago, david rucker said:

Recent trip to VN. Prior Visa on arrival approved. 1.5 - 2.0 minutes per approval at immigration desk. No biometrics or camera shots. Was impressed.

Same, many times at both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city international airports. 

 

- Get visa and pay for visa on line, easy.

 

- Join any passport arrival line (and there's officers watching the length of the lines and asking arrivees to change to another line if the line they are in seems to be slow). Very new well designed super clean airports.

 

- Show passport and printout of visa approval received by e.mail.

 

- One minute all done and down the stairs to collect check-in luggage (always seems to arrive quite fast). Currency exchange right there (and the VN central bank created rules years back to ensure there's no rip off in terms of exchange rate).

 

- Go outside and take taxi / meet friends etc. 

 

[renaissanc]

Expecting an improvement at Swampy Airport is like expecting the annual renewal of the marriage visa to be simplified.  It's not going to happen because of the mentality and culture at the Head Office of Immigration.  The oldies there still think like 20th century people.

[chuang]

PM you should visit Chiangmai airport too..

Horrible...

[4MyEgo]

4 hours ago, jacko45k said:

The topic here is queues at the airport. What you mention is only done in domestic immigration offices. 

 

Are you suggesting that these immigrations officers at domestic locations around the country cannot support queues at airports, if placed there permanently, thus reducing their paper shuffling/boring duties when reduced to a mere few pages ?

 

A transfer of many would be a solution to the problem, as opposed to creating 800 new positions, e.g. training new staff etc etc.

 

The whole system requires an overhaul and I feel that this would be a permanent solution to a waste of resources and time for many expats living here and tourists arriving here having to wait in long que's, not to mention saving countless trees in the process.

 

[Sig]

Hopefully anyone's negative comments about the lines won't be traceable... My friend was threatened denial of entry recently, unless he deleted his Twitter/X comment about the ridiculous lines at the airport immigration and also apologized for it. I never did ask him how they saw his post.... Whether someone reported it or if somehow they are scanning Twitter/X?? Can't imagine they're sophisticated enough to do that yet. But who knows.... I don't imagine it would be particularly difficult at all. At any rate, the tyrannical response was shocking.

[ikke1959]

2 hours ago, mrfill said:

And with a gigantic puff of smoke, within 24 hours, 200 new immigration officers suddenly appear...

 

Quite an intensive training course it seems....

No need they can use the transferred to inactive post police officers... there are many already..It can't be difficult to stamp a passport I suppose, but as they are inactive already it will be difficult to activate them

[Mario Cosmopolite]

·      the airport was juggling between 5,000 to 6,000 passengers per hour.

  ·      Airports of Thailand (AOT) and Immigration Division 2 are joining hands to tackle a pressing issue

 

Y'see - when you're juggling it's best not to join hands

[grubman]

This is the reason i always purchase fast track departure and arrival, other wise the queues are horrendous and i hate waiting in these queues

 

Most time i have paid for fast track i am passed immigration in a matter of minutes

 

I have had time that i am waiting for my luggage and the only other people waiting are the Thai national that don't queue with all the foreigners line 

 

many time off the plane and in a cab with in 30 minutes 

 

but the queues should not be as long as they are, the last time oi departed i neglected to get fast track due to the lateness of my company booking my flight and it took over 1.5 hour for departures immigration, they7 were stopping the security check because the line for immigration was back up the stairs  near the security check. was a disaster and once i finall got down stairs to immigration there were on 3 or 4 counter open

 

so totally understaffed and no one seemed to care 

 

Let hope that on day they might get it sorted but i'm not holding my breath 

 

[Rimmer]

A flame has been removed

[Will B Good]

So, before Baloo said anything none of these f**kwits knew there were big queues?

[Muzzique]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

Airports of Thailand (AOT) and Immigration Division 2 are joining hands to tackle a pressing issue at Suvarnabhumi Airport

 

I'm not sure holding hands will solve this. 

 

But it will look good when you get the immigration desk. Very friendly. 

[Banana7]

Thailand can expect hundreds of thousands of more tourists in March. Hundreds of thousands of Russians are being kicked out of Sri Lanka in March and will be looking for a new place to avoid the war. Many of the Russians started businesses in Sri Lanka and consequently dominated local businesses. Perhaps Thailand will experience lots of these Russian entrepreneurs in places like Phuket, Pattaya, Bangkok and elsewhere.

 

Let's see if the Thai people will tolerate being dominated by Russians?

 

Also there will be second wave of Russians, after the Russian election in March, because of a potential military draft. Finally, Chinese can come to Thailand without a visa, effect March 3.

 

See:

 

[JemJem]

Fortunately, at Don Meuang, it is not bad. I did Manila-Bangkok a few days ago. Arrived around 10 pm. Took only about 20 minutes to clear the immigration and customs.

[Xonax]

Looks like AOT didn't read or understand TAT's forecasts.

[paulikens]

There's no big mystery It's not anything to do with a lack of staff. It's lack of staff wanting to do anything.  a common problem in Thailand.

[Kalasin Jo]

16 hours ago, Korat Kiwi said:

"These enhancements will incorporate state-of-the-art technology that can scrutinise power banks without requiring passengers to take off their shoes." 

 

I didn't know that we were supposed to transport power banks in our shoes.... That's a new one! 

You noticed that too then. Weird ...

[soi3eddie]

18 hours ago, Smokey and the Bandit said:

UK have long wait times.

 

UK border now has e-gates for pretty much everyone that doesn't require a visa to enter. True, they could do with more machines at times. There is no outbound immigration checks from the UK (except at southern ferry ports or Eurostar where French immigration process before even leaving UK soil - thus no immigration check on arrival in France).

 

 

[jacko45k]

18 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

Are you suggesting that these immigrations officers at domestic locations around the country cannot support queues at airports, if placed there permanently, thus reducing their paper shuffling/boring duties when reduced to a mere few pages ?

 

A transfer of many would be a solution to the problem, as opposed to creating 800 new positions, e.g. training new staff etc etc.

 

The whole system requires an overhaul and I feel that this would be a permanent solution to a waste of resources and time for many expats living here and tourists arriving here having to wait in long que's, not to mention saving countless trees in the process.

 

Yes I am. I believe they are different outfits run by different gov departments. In a topic about queues at the airport, bringing up immigration on say soi 5 Jomtien ,and banging on about the service there, is a different issue, however much you try to link them. 

[mikebell]

21 hours ago, lavender19 said:

Have to agree there. Only used that s#_*hole once.  Never again. 

It is unfortunately the one nearest my family.  On my last year's visit I was harangued in broken English by one of the workers for  putting my case on a belt five seconds before he was going to give me permission. I was 81 and roundly cursed.

[orchidfan]

On 2/29/2024 at 6:07 AM, D M G said:

Visit Singapore and learn

And Hong Kong .....the Imm guys from here DO go on "fact finding " junkets" to SIN a.d HKG etc, but never seem to learn or implement anything once back in LOS.

 

(Spent 20+yrs in HK Dept. of Civil Aviation...so first hand observations and experience in a MUCH busier airport than BKK)

[4MyEgo]

12 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Yes I am. I believe they are different outfits run by different gov departments.

 

Lol, how hard can it be to stamp a passport, that's basically what they do all day, apart from shuffle paper IMO.

[richard_smith237]

3 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

12 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Yes I am. I believe they are different outfits run by different gov departments.

 

Lol, how hard can it be to stamp a passport, that's basically what they do all day, apart from shuffle paper IMO.

 

Jack is correct - each province is assigned personnel and I believe the Airports themselves to operate autonomously from the 'district' they are within. 

 

 

Additionally - how hard is it to sign stamp a passport ??...  the over simplified dumbed down nature of that comment suggests a lack of understanding..

 

- Firstly we have to know which passports can enter Visa Exempt, or need a Visa on Entry, or need a full on Visa before travel etc...

- Then we have to look through the Passport to check if there are any existing Visa's, with re-entry permissions. 

- Then we have to adjust the dates so that the 'permission of stay' is correct for the nationality and entry type.

- Then there is the profiling and looking for those who may seek to abuse the system etc

- Then there is doing all of the above, repetitively, without falling asleep and screwing it up. 

 

 

Thus: there is more to it than flicking open a page and just stamping a book which is implied by your attempted bash.

 

 

 

[4MyEgo]

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Thus: there is more to it than flicking open a page and just stamping a book which is implied by your attempted bash.

 

I have worked in various government departments over the years and brought amalgamated staff in other departmental staff in similar roles to be intergrade into fast track systems with a little tweaking, not hard at all if you have a good look at what is waste.

 

Flicking open one page and just stamping a book is not what I implied, what I implied is a doable upgrade of existing staff with slight training to bring them up to speed while eliminating a lot of unnecessary repetitive paperwork at immigration officers throughout the country.

 

Once the repetitive paperwork is eliminated, and staff brought up to speed (retrained), you would have less immigration officers sitting on their rear ends paper shuffling which is a waste, by doing that, you would sent them on their very way to Swampy and other airports to reduce waiting times for those entering the country, while at the same time saving the government 800 new positions, therefore reducing wastage, time and more money to be allocated through bigger budgets.

 

You believe what you want to believe.