1 hour ago, Jim Waldron said:

You want long queues - try JFK!

Or Ho Chi Minh.. spent an hour and a half in queues there, both at arrival and departure.

23 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Why do they feel the need to “hit back” at all?

It is a juvenile, face-saving reaction that ultimately causes more loss of face than it prevents.

Can anyone seriously imagine UK Border Force or Dubai Immigration reacting in any way to social media complaints about queues?

The processing times of Thai Immigration at the Airport has genuinely improved over the past couple of years . Departures are significantly swifter, largely due to the introduction of auto-gates. Arrivals have also improved thanks to the DTAC system, although passengers who fail to comply with the requirements inevitably create delays for themselves.

A further and very welcome improvement would be to allow long-term residents - those holding Non-Immigrant visas, work permits, or long-stay permissions - to use the auto-gates on arrival. This would free up immigration counters for passengers who genuinely require in-person processing.

Thailand is also already addressing long-term airport capacity issues, with a second major terminal being built to the south of Suvarnabhumi.

By choosing to “hit back”, Immigration authorities have achieved only one thing - drawing unnecessary negative attention to themselves. They would have been far better served by ignoring a single social media complaint altogether. The additional claims suggesting travellers should allow two hours to clear immigration are nonsense. It has never taken that long. Ever.

I agree I have never had a problem.

I came back through BKK on the 7th September 2025 and I only had to queue for ten minutes, all the other times was max twenty minutes.

And as you said with the auto gates, going out of the country takes no time at all.

The only time I had to queue for an hour is when the plane was turned back to BKK after flying for two hours to London, sick passenger.

We had to queue to leave the airport and get on a bus to take us to the free hotel for the night.

As we had already 'departed' BKK we had to hand in our passports at a counter and received a receipt for it, that way we were still 'checked out', we picked the passport up the next day and that was that.

Some people just like to complain, or make things seem worse than they actually are just to get their name on ArseBook etc.

2 hours ago, Jim Waldron said:

You want long queues - try JFK!

I once got to JFK landing at 7pm and got out at 3am next day. That was a queue! Normally I expect between 2.5 to 4hrs there getting past immigration there and I'm British normally flying out of London. Sometimes it's potluck which delayed aircraft land just in front of you, and which high risk city they are from. Can't just magic up immigration officers for these log jams. So can't blame Suvarnabhumi for having an occasional unscheduled flight arrival log jam. It happens in every major airport.

30 minutes of queueing is unacceptable. The TM6 (arrival/departure card) is digitalized and indices with the passport number of the traveller. Hence if the traveller shows up with the original passport, gets its OCR lines at the bottom of the passport page with personal details scanned/read in, the computer does the rest. It is either YES or NO. If NO then move them aside to a manual counter to carry on with verification.

It is Somchai who has no clue, asking silly questions (you have Mia Noi, you come Boom Boom and similarly formulated professional questions of an immigration officer), more than questionable command of English - the works.

Welcome to Thailand where the authorities are SOOOOOOO generous with the time of other people :-(

I can't say i had any problems ever at immigrations. The queues are not long and very fast. In europe i had to wait sometimes longer getting back in than in Thailand. I don't understand why they feel they need to "hit back"? It only draws negative attention to something that doesn't exist and is only a experience of a couple of people who want to draw attention to it.

1 minute ago, ThailandGuy said:

I can't say i had any problems ever at immigrations. The queues are not long and very fast. In europe i had to wait sometimes longer getting back in than in Thailand. I don't understand why they feel they need to "hit back"? It only draws negative attention to something that doesn't exist and is only a experience of a couple of people who want to draw attention to it.

You cannot speak for all of us regarding Thai immigration queues, we all, are not you.....🙄

2 hours ago, wensiensheng said:

Can’t speak for Suvarnabhumi, but Phuket is particularly bad at the moment. Hardly surprising given that it’s high season. Still, everyone knows its high season and the arrival times of aircraft, so something COULD be done if they wanted to do it.

I’m going to Singapore for a couple of days tomorrow and I’m not looking forward to passing through immigration on the way back, that’s for sure.

Especially considering how EXTREMELY WELL organized immigration is there...

3 hours ago, ujayujay said:

My experience: One hour is the norm... 30 minutes is wishful thinking... Shame on the immigration bureaucracy!🫣

i'd say you're extremely unlucky. i;ve been coming here for 30 odd years, mostly it takes under 10 minutes to clear immigration, and never more than 15 minutes. i've always found IOs to be patient, professional and efficient. the biggest delays i see are due to passengers not having their paperwork organised/in order.

i'd complain more about how long the luggage takes to arrive.

1 hour ago, Sydebolle said:

It is Somchai who has no clue, asking silly questions (you have Mia Noi, you come Boom Boom and similarly formulated professional questions of an immigration officer), more than questionable command of English - the works.

Welcome to Thailand where the authorities are SOOOOOOO generous with the time of other people :-(

The Immigration officer asks if you have Mia Noi or come here to BoomBoom !!!... ??? 🤥

43 minutes ago, transam said:

23 minutes ago, ThailandGuy said:

I can't say i had any problems ever at immigrations. The queues are not long and very fast. In europe i had to wait sometimes longer getting back in than in Thailand. I don't understand why they feel they need to "hit back"? It only draws negative attention to something that doesn't exist and is only a experience of a couple of people who want to draw attention to it.

You cannot speak for all of us regarding Thai immigration queues, we all, are not you.....🙄

He's not - he wrote that he 'can't say he had any problems ever'... (drawing on personal experience not a generalisation).

Whats your experience of recent travel Trans ?? (in the past 12 months) long queues or through quickly?

It seems 'most' people who've responded on the thread have had favourable experiences recently, with a couple of posters encounter unlucky experiences... and an expected minority showing more negative bias than genuine input (some just love to bash).

3 hours ago, Alex2554 said:

10 min

Priority Lane

Just by the numbers, spending any money on Priority Lane would have been a waste on about 32 of my recent 34 arrivals. Because there's not much benefit to get past immigration much before my bag hits the carousel. Of course, if you need the mobility assistance, or if you're flying business, go for it. Especially if it's on the company dime.

This past year, my biggest delays have been when the taxi queue ticket machines didn't work. It was a reminder of how screwed up that used to be, waiting for each driver to walk 100 yards to the front of the queue. But that only happened twice in 34 entries. The first time it did, I walked down to the ARL and that queue was even worse that day. Normally, it's a couple of minutes, tops.

I'm open to the possibility that they got slammed during the holiday, but overall, Swampy has been a breeze on most entries and departures.

Don't forget there are 2 immigration check areas. The one down the far end is always less busy than the one in the middle. I arrived on EVA air at 16.00 on New Years Day. There was hardly any queue, in fact my line only had 1 couple in front of me. I was processed very quickly. I was a little apprehensive after seeing the reports as I normally arrive with my wife and use the Thai queue. I was worrying unduely

5 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

He's not - he wrote that he 'can't say he had any problems ever'... (drawing on personal experience not a generalisation).

Whats your experience of recent travel Trans ?? (in the past 12 months) long queues or through quickly?

It seems 'most' people who've responded on the thread have had favourable experiences recently, with a couple of posters encounter unlucky experiences... and an expected minority showing more negative bias than genuine input (some just love to bash).

I haven't been on a plane for about, eeeeeeeeer, 6 years, all I can say about airport queues is, it is pot luck, which ever country one is in...... 🤗

11 minutes ago, it is what it is said:

i'd complain more about how long the luggage takes to arrive.

A lot of people blame the airport for this, but usually its down to the individual airline.

For example - I fly a lot with many different airlines and luggage of Qatar Airways flights is notably faster than other airlines (experiences may vary of course).

At Suvarnabhumi Airport and at most international airports - the speed of luggage arrival is a shared responsibility, but with very clear roles.

- The airline is primarily responsible

- The airport provides the infrastructure

- Ground handling companies do the physical work

The Airline has main responsibility:

The airline controls:

- How quickly bags are unloaded from the aircraft

- Staffing levels for baggage handling

- Priority given to your flight

- Whether bags are correctly tagged and routed

- If bags are late only for one airline or one flight, that is almost always the airline’s fault.

Ground handling company has operational responsibility:

At BKK, airlines usually outsource baggage handling to companies such as:

- Thai Airways ground services

- Bangkok Flight Services (BFS)

- Worldwide Flight Services (WFS)

They:

- Unload the aircraft

- Transport bags to the terminal

- Load them onto the correct carousel

- Work for the airline, not the airport.

Airport authority (AOT - Airports of Thailand)

The airport is responsible for:

- Baggage belts and sorting systems

- Terminal layout and distance to carousels

- If all flights are delayed, or belts are broken or congested, that is an airport issue.

Ultimately:

- Late bags on your flight - blame the airline

- System-wide chaos or broken belts - blame the airport

- Consistently bad performance from one airline at BKK - that airline has poor ground handling contracts

On 1/2/2026 at 2:11 PM, richard_smith237 said:

Which raises a fair question - does anyone genuinely take longer than 15 to 20 minutes to clear Thai immigration on arrival these days?

I’ve found over the past few years that the time taken to clear immigration has been quite short. Less than 15 minutes after reaching the immigration counters.

If I go back to the years leading up to COVID the queues were endless with huge numbers of, predominantly, Chinese visitors. Nowadays I spend more time waiting for my baggage than I do getting through immigration.

On the departure side I find the biggest crush or bottleneck is at check-in. Once you negotiate this mayhem things seem to run a bit smoother.

I also find that one of benefits of travelling with my Thai wife is I can go through the Thai immigration counters with her. They are often less congested than the queues for foreigners.

8 minutes ago, transam said:

I haven't been on a plane for about, eeeeeeeeer, 6 years, all I can say about airport queues is, it is pot luck, which ever country one is in...... 🤗

Wish I could say the same...

Immigration (exit and arrival) was frequently a horror at Suvarnabumi airport a couple of years ago - there were numerous complaints on social media and a lot of mainstream media attention - that has stopped (with the exception of this recent outburst).

Some airports are definitely better than others, and we 'could' arrive at an extremely busy period and encounter a longer than expected passage through immigration - but at BKK that experience is more of an outlier these days.

There have been other area's of improvement for travel 'in general'... A few years ago departing the UK was a nightmare at peak travel periods with major delays at security - new X-ray machines have meant that liquids and devices etc do not need to be removed from hand-carry baggage and passage through security is significantly swifter (i.e. a 1 hr queue has been dropped to a 5-10 min at peak / busy times).

Conversely - in Bangkok - improvements can be made at security, where we still have to remove all liquids, devices and power-banks. At busy times it can take 'too long' to get through security here.

Passing through an airport is all about avoiding 'bottle necks'...

With online check-in / Automated baggage drop-off / E-gates / Better X-ray machines - things are much betted. And on arrival, Immigration is the first bottle neck after exiting the plane and the perception of this bottle neck after being on a flight for hours is heightened.

(slightly off topic) New issues are now developing (at the faster airports) as there are less people in queues and people are still advised to get to the airport 2-3 hours before departure there are far more people waiting airside for flights - the departure area's (cafe's etc) are far more congested and internal air-side infrastructure needs to evolve with 'passenger processing'...

On arrivals in BKK... IF a plane docks at an air-gate near immigration and passage through Immigration is quicker more people will feel that the baggage taking longer to arrive. Conversely, IF the flight docks at the satellite terminal, and we have to take the train, then there is a 10min queue at immigration - the baggage arrivals feels very fast and we feel we have passed through the airport more quickly.

Ultimately - a lot of the experience is more perception than reality.

4 minutes ago, Zack61 said:

I also find that one of benefits of travelling with my Thai wife is I can go through the Thai immigration counters with her. They are often less congested than the queues for foreigners.

I think there is great scope for improvement here... (as mentioned earlier).

It wouldn't take much for those on Non-Imm Visas (and other long termers) to be able to use the e-gates on arrival - thus improving things further.

We don't 'need' stamps in our passports - all the information is online and digital these days.

In some countries we can even log-on online and see our permission of stay.

On 1/2/2026 at 3:41 PM, richard_smith237 said:

Experiences inevitably vary, but over the past year there have been very few credible reports of excessive queues at Thai airport immigration. While this was undeniably an issue several years ago, meaningful improvements have since been made. Notably, the topic has attracted far less media attention recently, which in itself is telling.

That said, any major international airport can suffer delays at peak times. I have personally waited close to an hour at Haneda in Tokyo, and well over an hour at Geneva last year. In Geneva’s case, this was largely driven by post-Brexit procedures, with EU passport holders processed first and British and other non-EU travellers held back until additional desks were opened.

The UK is no exception either. My wife regularly spends around 30 minutes clearing immigration on arrival.

It is also worth noting that many contributors on this forum travel to and from Thailand frequently. If immigration delays remained a systemic problem, there would undoubtedly be far more complaints, threads and recurring commentary over the past year than we have actually seen.v

One point where the report is accurate concerns the design of Suvarnabhumi Airport itself. The long tunnel leading to immigration can make queues appear far more severe than they truly are. Combined with the visibility of unused counters, this can easily create the impression that immigration staff are indifferent or inefficient, even when throughput is reasonable.

I have been openly critical of Thai airport immigration in the past and have even been accused of Thai bashing. This is not a sudden swing towards apologism, but rather an attempt to offer a balanced observation based on recent experience.

Which raises a fair question - does anyone genuinely take longer than 15 to 20 minutes to clear Thai immigration on arrival these days?

I came through last Thursday evening around 11.30 pm.

(Emirates A380....Full!)

Had submitted the DTAC online 3 days before, so, going via the Priority lane ( not really worth the trouble if you follow a family with small kids) where there were about 5 positions manned (womened), I was through in under 10 minutes.

No complaints.

guided through the crowd to that lane, with staff very helpful...except the actual IO who processed me.

Efficient but sullen. Might have had her leave cancelled!

Have been doing this here for over 15yrs,so, no newcomer.

Still think the DTAC online thing is poorly designed and clumsy.

Eg. Wouldn't accept the country (Hong Kong) where i had spent most time a fortnight prior to travel...even though it's on the drop down menu.

About 3 attempts putting in exactly the same information and whoosh, it processed it !

*IO not interested in QR code - only passport)

Bag came fairly quickly, no Customs check and out to taxi all within about an hour from landing

2 hours ago, transam said:

You cannot speak for all of us regarding Thai immigration queues, we all, are not you.....🙄

Where do i speak for ALL? I was talking about my own experience with Thai immigation queues. And as said before I had NO issues at all everytime i visited Thailand.

On 1/2/2026 at 8:20 AM, ikke1959 said:

The queues are always too long. They know how many arrivals there are, but tgey open only new lines ofvit is crowded already and it takes 15 minutes to start a new line.. several times been in Spain and immigration was within 5 minutes arranged with a waiting time of about the same. And no signs that complaining to immigration is not allowed, but friendly and quick. There is just a structural peoblem in Thailand and that is called control everybody and try not to work fast. Aa work makes you tired surely the foreigners that don't understand us. Very welcoming Thailand

"Welcome to the Land of Smile"

On 1/2/2026 at 2:21 PM, webfact said:

Picture courtesy of Khaosod

The Thai Immigration Bureau has strongly refuted viral claims of extensive wait times at Suvarnabhumi airport, asserting that passengers are processed within 30 minutes even during peak travel seasons.

The controversy ignited with a social media post by a Japanese tourist, who mocked the lengthy queues experienced at the airport's immigration counters, dubbing the situation "amazing." This criticism has gained traction, with other Japanese netizens voicing similar grievances and advising travellers to anticipate up to two-hour waits during busy holiday periods.

According to Pol Col Pongthorn Pongratchatanan, deputy commander and spokesman for Immigration Division 2, the incident in question coincided with a high-traffic Sunday, with around 30 international flights and approximately 5,700 passengers arriving between 1pm and 2pm. Throughout the day, passenger numbers consistently exceeded 4,000 per hour, leading to more than 85,000 travellers passing through the airport.

Social media images depicting crowded conditions were partly attributed to the terminal's design, which includes long, narrow walkways that may visually exaggerate the appearance of congestion. Despite these images, the Immigration Bureau maintains that congestion is limited to specific peak periods and that the processing standards adhere to their 30-minute timeframe.

To mitigate delays, the bureau has bolstered staffing levels, cancelling leave to ensure efficient processing while keeping national security procedures intact. Pol. Col. Pongthorn emphasised that prolonged queues are a common global phenomenon during peak travel times, according to the Bangkok Post.

Key Takeaways:

• The Immigration Bureau processes passengers within 30 minutes despite peak times.

• Viral complaints stem from a post by a Japanese tourist critiquing queue length.

• Airport design influences the perception of crowding in social media images.

  

Adapted by ASEAN Now from Bangkok Post 2026-01-02

 

 

Yesterday 15 min waiting in the priority line, and no way the others made it through in 30min, not even as full as the pic in article. When I arrived in November it was the same situation as this in the main lane arrivals, but through priority in 3 min or so.

Had to wait one hour and ten min for my luggage, but better to just walk around and not standing in a pushing line with all kinds of annoyed people who have no Q culture.

WTF! Are they saying that their target is 30 minutes per passenger and they don't understand why there is such a queue? 🤣🤣🤣

4 minutes ago, SunsetT said:

WTF! Are they saying that their target is 30 minutes per passenger and they don't understand why there is such a queue? 🤣🤣🤣

Below is from AI - Seems Suvarnabumi's 'target time' of 30mins is in line with global standards / expectations.

Major Airports – Immigration Target / Typical Processing Times

1) London Heathrow (LHR)

- With e-gates:

• Peak: ~2–20 minutes

• Off-peak: ~1–10 minutes

- Without e-gates (manual):

• Peak: ~20–60+ minutes

• Off-peak: ~10–25 minutes

- Published service aim: non-e-gate passengers generally <45 minutes

2) Dubai International (DXB)

- With smart / biometric gates:

• Peak: ~10–60 seconds

• Off-peak: ~10–30 seconds

- Without e-gates (manual):

• Peak: ~30–60+ minutes

• Off-peak: ~10–25 minutes

- One of the fastest globally for automated clearance

3) Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL)

- With Global Entry / APC kiosks:

• Peak: ~5–15 minutes

• Off-peak: ~2–10 minutes

- Without automation:

• Peak: ~20–45+ minutes

• Off-peak: ~10–20 minutes

- US industry target: average ~20 minutes, max ~40 minutes

4) Singapore Changi (SIN)

- With automated clearance:

• Peak: ~5–20 minutes

• Off-peak: ~3–10 minutes

- Without automation:

• Peak: ~20–45 minutes

• Off-peak: ~10–20 minutes

- Consistently ranked among the most efficient airports worldwide

5) Los Angeles International (LAX)

- With Global Entry / e-kiosks:

• Peak: ~5–15 minutes

• Off-peak: ~3–10 minutes

- Without automation:

• Peak: ~20–60+ minutes

• Off-peak: ~10–25 minutes

- Same US benchmark as ATL (~20–30 min average target)

Of course it's never the fault of the very bureaucratic and heavy immigration process on arrivals in Bangkok. So it means it's the fault of all those tourists flocking in ?? As for the Fast Track, used to book it with a popular online website. Went fine the first time some years back. But the following years, the immigration at the counter, made it a point to delay for no apparent reason, and fuss with no explaination. Maybe depending on the company used for fast track booking service and the cut given to the immigration was considered "unsufficient ?"

4 hours ago, thaibreaker said:

Or Ho Chi Minh.. spent an hour and a half in queues there, both at arrival and departure.

Yesterday at SGN, 90 minutes from deplaning to Grab kerbside. No checked baggage either.

There are a few companies online offering fast-track for about 30 bucks at SGN. Since there's no dedicated "fast track" lane, I think they get shepherded into the "wheelchair" lane as it had a steady dozen or so queuing, and none of them in a wheelchair.

Testing the. edit function

Seems to work?

It does. For me at least.

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

Yesterday at SGN, 90 minutes from deplaning to Grab kerbside. No checked baggage either.

There are a few companies online offering fast-track for about 30 bucks at SGN. Since there's no dedicated "fast track" lane, I think they get shepherded into the "wheelchair" lane as it had a steady dozen or so queuing, and none of them in a wheelchair.

Yes, I saw that as well. Might be worth the money next time around 👍

Despite what the Thai Immigration Bureau thinks, my time is not free and a 30 minute wait is 30 minutes too long.

Arriving Immigration at BKK and DMK were "streamlined" back in late 2024/early 2025.

Faster service

At present, Suvarnabhumi airport handles an average of 120,000 passengers a day, double the capacity of Don Mueang airport of around 60,000–70,000 people per day.

“At the end of this year, we expect the number of tourists will increase from an average of 120,000 people per day to 135,000 per day during the high season. We need to arrange more officers to ensure the immigration checkpoint area will not be overcrowded,” he said.

Previously, each immigration officer spent an average of 1–2 minutes verifying passenger information. New measures were recently introduced to ensure immigration control takes no more than 45 seconds per person, he said.

Might be time for more "Streamlining"?

Vietnam I heard has been horrendous at Ho chi minn airport, up to 2 hours, but even with large queues at Suvarnabhumi they seem to keep it moving, took me 30 mins last time.