Incompetent Immigration Experience: A Complete Nightmare

[Crossy]

cubes check this: i had to put my carry on thru the xray. it did not have a tag. i could care less, that bag wasnt going to leave my sight. the guy on the other end of the machine insisted. so i put the tag on my bag and put an X on it (name) and tossed it thru. the tags were not property of the airport but a number of airlines. the guy put a big stamp on it (the indians LOVE to stamp things). i tore the tag off and tossed it at the guy. the really funny thing is .. he wasnt insulted and didnt care. his job: to stamp tags! this is the insanity of india.

sorry of topic. time for lunch.

Hmmm, you were very lucky to get past the big Indian chap checking the tags at the gate, no tag / no stamp, it's back to the x-ray for you old son.

It's security (to demonstrate the bag has been x-rayed), and, incredibly, it's for your own good

[wintermute]

You should try Riyadh KSA mate at least 2 hours every time - the Thailand in noramlly slow when they are having IS problems

Well, i'm comparing an international airport with others in the region who are all competing to be the travel "hub" of Asia. Saudi Arabia is a closed basket case country that isn't trying to draw tourism so it's apples and oranges.

Thailand's attempts thus far to become a world class air hub is pretty laughable.

[nick2k]

granted, I don't travel out as much as I used to. but in the several dozens time that I have done so in the past, I didn't see much difference from waiting in line here then waiting in line in other countries.

[cubes2]

cubes check this: i had to put my carry on thru the xray. it did not have a tag. i could care less, that bag wasnt going to leave my sight. the guy on the other end of the machine insisted. so i put the tag on my bag and put an X on it (name) and tossed it thru. the tags were not property of the airport but a number of airlines. the guy put a big stamp on it (the indians LOVE to stamp things). i tore the tag off and tossed it at the guy. the really funny thing is .. he wasnt insulted and didnt care. his job: to stamp tags! this is the insanity of india.

sorry of topic. time for lunch.

[cubes2]

granted, I don't travel out as much as I used to. but in the several dozens time that I have done so in the past, I didn't see much difference from waiting in line here then waiting in line in other countries.

It's a brand new airport, that's the bad thing.

[ercorn]

I think it`s better than DM airport used to be.

[mrtoad]

I still find Heathrow, Bahrain and Delhi worse.

In agreement though with wintermute on the fact that they are trying to promote it as a hub, and really it is not comparable to the places they are trying to compete with such as KL, HK and SIN.

I think the use of the word HUB really means hyped up bullshit.

Edited August 3, 2007 by mrtoad

[besth]

A couple days ago I flew in after the long holiday weekend and the immigration queue was probably the most screwed up thing i've ever seen in any airport. It was even worse than the last time that I flew in. I estimated there were at least 10+ immigration counters open with slow as molasses frowning immigration officials acting the role of incompetent turds. The people waiting were VERY upset and the line did not move at any of the counters for a solid 20 minutes. I observed what the officials were doing at each counter and saw the following..one bored looking female official chatting with her friend. One sitting there staring blankly at a screen and not moving. one shuffling paperwork back and forth and slowly, another actually LEFT the counter to go get a drink and stopped to chat with her friend.

Finally one of the immigration pu yais told people in our line to shift over to a newly opened section about 30 meters away in a different part of the airport. A few people took off running to that counter and it slowly filled up to a large slow moving queue as well.

All told it took a solid hour to get stamped through. In contrast my experiences in Changi and Hong Kong took about 15+ minutes with about as many people waiting in line. Things aren't even this bad at Los Angeles International..the longest wait i've had there was 30 minutes even with the new homeland security song and dance regulations.

So you joined one of 10 somewhat long queues. None of them moved at all for 20 minutes. In total it took you an hour to get stamped through.

Nobody through for 20 minutes, then the (long) queue to where you were was cleared in another 40 minutes. Sounds like computer problems (do I hear "they should have informed us"? )

[Humphrey Bear]

You should try Riyadh KSA mate at least 2 hours every time - the Thailand in noramlly slow when they are having IS problems

And Jeddah. Never use Dammam - if I have to go to the Eastern Province I land in Bahrain and take a limo over the causway.

But they have Saudis manning the counters, so you expect a total ######-up.

The topic is SU-boom and Thai officials, who are not nearly as screwed up as the RHs

[giruz]

And you're saying, cubes2, that you wouldn't be quite happy with your missus taking you through the same way? Yeah right.

Well put it this way,

when the day comes and your ten deep at the Thai immigration counter Falang and Thai wife each, I know exactly what will happen.

Get to the back of the foreigner line.

Enjoy it whilst you can.

TIT.

I just used the airport twice in the last 10 days.

Toilettes were clean (count 3 with my parents that landed a week ago)

Immigration was fast (<10min) the two times I used and I did pass under the 'thai national' queue even tough I don't a Thai wife nor passport. (However, my gf is thai).

My parents did immigration in less than 20min

cheers

g.

[Tinkelbell]

All the complaining about Thai Immigration, long queues, time to clear? The last time I returned to the UK, via thiefrow, big mistake, the queues were horrendous and certainly not many smilely faces behind the counters.

Can't honestly say I've had any major problems with queues commining in and over the last three years was comming inand out every couple of months. Best of all though is when the missus is with me, she just takes me through the Thai only counter with no problems.

Every time when I flew in and had to go through the immigration counters, never had problem with that. But my last trip to BK (several months ago) was different. As all passengers from my flight were queueing at the counters for 'Foreign Visitors', I ( a Thai) was glancing around for the sign 'Thais Only'. To my surprised, there were none. I felt strange. By that time it already had more than two dozens of Thai passport holders milling around, unsured what to do. I spot a small group of immigration officails (both genders) were sitting and chatting near the right corner which is opposited the counters.

Seeing no sign 'Thais Only' posted and the officials were doing nothing, I approached the group and asked the lady in Thai.....where is the counter for us-Thais ? She casually walking toward the far right empty counter and asked for my Thai passport. While she checking my documents, I turned back and see more than 50 persons queqed behind me.

After more than 31 hours on the road ( from US town to BK), every moment counted, I almost couldn't open my eyes for any longer. And I had to put up with this.

I found this episod was not up to par the profesional level. There was no supervisor to direct the traffice, cleared the queues, or answer the problems...etc.

[Big A]

big a-hole

Nice one!! Love you, too.

[cubes2]

Got to laugh as your log-in name does invite that a little bit.

[tijnebijn]

maybe it also depends on what time you arrive . When more airplanes are landing at the same time its normal to have longer queus . My flight from A'dam always arrives in the early morning and never have experienced long queus .

I think it depends on arrival time .

[wintermute]

maybe it also depends on what time you arrive . When more airplanes are landing at the same time its normal to have longer queus . My flight from A'dam always arrives in the early morning and never have experienced long queus .

I think it depends on arrival time .

That's a rather poor excuse for the airport's long queues and waiting time. Most international airports have schedules and rotating rosters that assign more people during crunch time. If they fail to anticipate "prime time" arrival/departure schedules then that means they are using static scheduling and are just incompetent thus my point still stands.

[chinthee]

This "time of day" theory is interesting, from more angles than one. For the past few trips to India and back, I've arrived very early morning back to BKK, around 5AM. Immigration was a snap.

However, the place was lousy with taxi touts. AOT had them by baggage claim, and there were lots of others who hit me up outside customs. However, on other threads, I've heard that they were recently undisturbed by these touts and they were non-existant.

I wonder if it is an enforcement thing, that there are pockets of time when the taxi touts know they can do this, and other times they lay low?

[wintermute]

However, the place was lousy with taxi touts. AOT had them by baggage claim, and there were lots of others who hit me up outside customs. However, on other threads, I've heard that they were recently undisturbed by these touts and they were non-existant.

It sounds like rules enforcement is indeed lax during early morning hours so the scumbag touts come out of the woodwork to ply their elicit trade. That is a potentially big problem if you consider the abuse that can occur if someone took advantage of the "non peak" hours for nefarious purposes.

Edited August 5, 2007 by wintermute

[chinthee]

However, the place was lousy with taxi touts. AOT had them by baggage claim, and there were lots of others who hit me up outside customs. However, on other threads, I've heard that they were recently undisturbed by these touts and they were non-existant.

It sounds like rules enforcement is indeed lax during early morning hours so the scumbag touts come out of the woodwork to ply their elicit trade. That is a potentially big problem if you consider the abuse that occur if someone took advantage of the "non peak" hours for nefarious purposes.

My last trip home through BKK was several weeks ago. I reported it on one of the airport threads. I came through with a big fat farang partner of mine with lots of luggage, and we must have looked like a good target. I was asked by the baggage claim if I wanted a limo by a nice girl with an AOT badge; I was hit up about 2 times outside customs, and since I had my car at the airport, we waited by the lift to go to the parking garage. I was also hit up a few times there. In all cases, I mentioned that they were polite, nicely dressed, and upon my responding in Thai, immediately left. Evidently, they have found some formula to continue.

[skippybangkok]

Well Skippy, those two little not well signed immigration areas are now closed to normal passengers. One is for air crew and the other is for those passengers filling out the visa application forms on arrival.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo ( Screaming / Kicking )......... That was a little jewel that place, it was great..... Well, just got my PR, so hopfully can go through Thai channel ?. Maybe less people there.

By the way, just flew our today, and I always go one level lower than the normal one when going through security scan, no queue. When will they cut this one too

[mikethevigoman]

i dont have that problem. i have an apec business travel card which allows me to take the short cut.

Smart@ss

[Eureka]

This "time of day" theory is interesting, from more angles than one. For the past few trips to India and back, I've arrived very early morning back to BKK, around 5AM. Immigration was a snap.

However, the place was lousy with taxi touts. AOT had them by baggage claim, and there were lots of others who hit me up outside customs. However, on other threads, I've heard that they were recently undisturbed by these touts and they were non-existant.

I wonder if it is an enforcement thing, that there are pockets of time when the taxi touts know they can do this, and other times they lay low?

Easily explained.

The taxi touts are back inside the Airport at their Immigration desks later in the day. Therefore we can understand their lack of energy as they are tied from the previous shift as a tout and there are a lack of touts outside as they are in uniform inside at that time of day.

[Ricardo]

Does anyone remember the promises, under a previous administration, that the Immigration-Experience at the new airport would last less than 30 seconds ? Whatever happened to that standard-of-excellence ? Or was it just bulls*it ?

P.S. my kids are still awaiting their promised free-computers, and our village poor aren't yet able to move into the new low-cost housing, as announced by that same source.

[petedk]

A couple days ago I flew in after the long holiday weekend and the immigration queue was probably the most screwed up thing i've ever seen in any airport. It was even worse than the last time that I flew in. I estimated there were at least 10+ immigration counters open with slow as molasses frowning immigration officials acting the role of incompetent turds. The people waiting were VERY upset and the line did not move at any of the counters for a solid 20 minutes. I observed what the officials were doing at each counter and saw the following..one bored looking female official chatting with her friend. One sitting there staring blankly at a screen and not moving. one shuffling paperwork back and forth and slowly, another actually LEFT the counter to go get a drink and stopped to chat with her friend.

Finally one of the immigration pu yais told people in our line to shift over to a newly opened section about 30 meters away in a different part of the airport. A few people took off running to that counter and it slowly filled up to a large slow moving queue as well.

All told it took a solid hour to get stamped through. In contrast my experiences in Changi and Hong Kong took about 15+ minutes with about as many people waiting in line. Things aren't even this bad at Los Angeles International..the longest wait i've had there was 30 minutes even with the new homeland security song and dance regulations.

Uhm I have exactly the opposite experience. A few weeks ago my wife and I traveled to Hong Kong. We arrived at immigration at 10.45 am and passed through at 12.01. Yes, that's right we waited 1 hour and 15 minutes!!!! Even my wife who is very patient started to complain.

The queue was one of these winding queues where you from side to side as you approach the desk. As far as I remember there were about 5 or 6 of these queues and each one was serviced by 8 desks. I noticed people in other queues seemed to be moving faster but it wasn't until we almost reached the desk (after a good 50 minutes that I saw the reason. In all the other queues all 8 desks were manned. In our queue only 3 desks were manned.

Anyway upon arrival in Bangkok I decided to do a time check through immigration. It took 5 minutes! No complaints whatsoever.

[geriatrickid]

Things aren't even this bad at Los Angeles International..the longest wait i've had there was 30 minutes even with the new homeland security song and dance regulations.

Maybe miracles do happen after all. I have yet to arrive or transfer at LAX when there wasn't a lengthy delay at security,or checkin/transfer counters or "Homeland Security". I would rate the US immigration/customs agents at LAX worse than even the vilest officials found in any 3rd world nation. BKK staff are angels compared to the malicious rude beligerent oafs that work LAX "Homeland Security". It's a &lt;deleted&gt; nightmare when the asian flights land and I think you would be hard pressed to find any PAX using LAX that would agree with your statement comparing BKK to LAX. Ok maybe there are insufficient toilets at BKK but at least those toilets have water and are cleaned. LAX toilets are on par with India's open sewers. Maybe the quality of english spoken at BKK isn't the greatest, but at least they can speak english. Going through LAX security is like trying to clear Mexican customs, right down to wondering if the security agents are going to pilfer your bags. Trying to get between a domestic terminal and the Int'l departure terminal at LAX can require 30-45 minutes in itself just to wade through the masses of people who wander about aimlessly. The only thing that BKK has in common with LAX is that it must be living hel_l for disabled or elderly PAX.

The moral of the story is to avoid LAX whenever possible. LAX is in the top 3 of (Newark & JFK) for having consistently the worst waiting times and delays of U.S. airports.

[Krub]

Things aren't even this bad at Los Angeles International..the longest wait i've had there was 30 minutes even with the new homeland security song and dance regulations.

Maybe miracles do happen after all. I have yet to arrive or transfer at LAX when there wasn't a lengthy delay at security,or checkin/transfer counters or "Homeland Security". I would rate the US immigration/customs agents at LAX worse than even the vilest officials found in any 3rd world nation. BKK staff are angels compared to the malicious rude beligerent oafs that work LAX "Homeland Security". It's a &lt;deleted&gt; nightmare when the asian flights land and I think you would be hard pressed to find any PAX using LAX that would agree with your statement comparing BKK to LAX. Ok maybe there are insufficient toilets at BKK but at least those toilets have water and are cleaned. LAX toilets are on par with India's open sewers. Maybe the quality of english spoken at BKK isn't the greatest, but at least they can speak english. Going through LAX security is like trying to clear Mexican customs, right down to wondering if the security agents are going to pilfer your bags. Trying to get between a domestic terminal and the Int'l departure terminal at LAX can require 30-45 minutes in itself just to wade through the masses of people who wander about aimlessly. The only thing that BKK has in common with LAX is that it must be living hel_l for disabled or elderly PAX.

The moral of the story is to avoid LAX whenever possible. LAX is in the top 3 of (Newark & JFK) for having consistently the worst waiting times and delays of U.S. airports.

US gateways, London and Japan must be the worse for incoming immigration.

Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and even Jakarta offer a far more civilized experience

[garro]

I always turn up with the expectation that I will be delayed at immigration and then I'm not dissapointed when I am and it is a bonus when I'm not.

I agree that Riyadh is the worst immigration in the world by far. I nearly missed my plane before because the male queue was too near the female queue.