18 hours ago, Taboo2 said:

There is a reason why that country went from rubble to one of the most successful country on the planet. They are not run by idiots. The first leader was smart and realized that high IQ people will ensure success on the planet. Thailand should take notes.

Yes, I read somewhere that Singapore only hires the best people for government positions, and it works.

18 hours ago, 241195_1469957797 said:

What utter nonsense🤣🤣🤣

I do love a healthy debate. Are you aware of Anutin's distaste for 'dirty foreigners' - his words. Can you explain why now is the right time for him to speak up after two decades as a Senior Minister in THREE administrations when he said/did nothing. Check out 'Screaming's post above.

18 hours ago, macxxxx said:

The land of smiles not want your smile. They want your money🙏

I always said the 'wai' greeting has ben superseded by one of an outstretched palm!

23 hours ago, Srikcir said:

I used it in May 2023, but not left Thailand since then.

From Aircraft / SAT-1 Train

│

▼

Arrivals Corridor (Level 2)

│

┌─────────┴─────────┐

│ │

Immigration Hall 1 Immigration Hall 3

(Foreign Passports) (Foreign Passports)

│ │

★ Priority Lane ★ Priority Lane

(Zone 1) (Zone 3)

│ │

└─────────┬─────────┘

▼

Baggage Claim

▼

Customs

▼

Arrival Hall (Level 2)

Edited July 14Jul 14 by Tranquility
Link did not work.

23 hours ago, impulse said:

I've been flying into Swampy once a month for the past 3 years, and until this spring it was never more than 10 minutes or so. This year, my luggage has beat me to the carousel every time. In fact, they have taken our bags off the carousel before we get through Immigration because they looked so sad going around and around.

The long waits seemed to coincide with implementation of the TDAC. Hmmmm...

The delays are coincident with increased scrutiny of arriving passengers using visa-exempt entry and an increase of arriving passengers being denied entry and sent packing.

"Thailand's Immigration Bureau turned away 29,490 foreign nationals during the first five months of 2026. While a distinct breakdown specifically for Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) alone is not published, the vast majority of these nationwide aviation and land-border refusals occurred through the country's primary international hubs.

The elevated refusal rates are tied to the "Three No's" immigration crackdown, which targets individuals attempting repeated short-term "visa runs," those suspected of illegal working or scam networks, and individuals on the national blacklist."

Hope this helps.

My earlier post seems to have disappeared, but I really don't think this is new. Long lines at passport control for arrivals has always been an issue when many flights arrive at the same time. Most of the time, it's relatively quick.

On 7/13/2026 at 6:20 AM, Rams86 said:

This doesn't affect me as I've no intentions of leaving Thailand so I won't be returning.

Thank you so much for sharing that.

On 7/13/2026 at 2:58 PM, ikke1959 said:

You have to bring a marriage certificate to proof it?? Mostly I am used to have a lot of copies for many years to show similar everytime... I don't think they believe you if you say that you are married..

I have never had to show anything. My wife has the same name as me in passport.

23 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

The scanner would know that?

Use a manual Thai gate, the person supervising the queue is the one who let's you through to the Thai area.

17 minutes ago, jimn said:

On 7/13/2026 at 4:18 PM, Bangkok Barry said:

The scanner would know that?

Use a manual Thai gate, the person supervising the queue is the one who let's you through to the Thai area.

How does the person supervising the queue know you are married to a Thai? Do we have to produce a marriage certificate?

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

How does the person supervising the queue know you are married to a Thai? Do we have to produce a marriage certificate?

Maybe the "Marriage Extension" stamp in his passport would give a clue!

On 7/13/2026 at 9:36 AM, SBNZ said:

Flying in next week and dreading facing long queues after a long flight. What's the word on using the Thai lanes with the Thai Mrs? I have heard people talk of doing this in the past but have never actually done it myself. Is this still possible?

Immigration at Suvarnabhumi will let you join the Thai wife through the Thai lanes - done it many times over the years including 2 weeks ago. The wife just has to ask the imm officer at the bottom of the ramp. It then takes a few minutes to get through Immigration.

Must have been said by now, every time I go through immigration, only about half of the booths are open, how about having someone at each booth all the time,

Not a problem solved, but it would speed the job up considerably. Probably will not happen as I would say there is a labor problem/shortage somewhere, not enough officers who can speak English well enough? Knowing the Thai education system could be a problem.

As has been said, E gates are the way to go, but Thailand not having anything joined up, in government, will the information be available 6 months down the line, at my local immigration office?

On 7/14/2026 at 7:34 AM, mikebell said:

I do love a healthy debate. Are you aware of Anutin's distaste for 'dirty foreigners' - his words. Can you explain why now is the right time for him to speak up after two decades as a Senior Minister in THREE administrations when he said/did nothing. Check out 'Screaming's post above.

A healthy debate based on conspiratorial claims... that's a good one! Beware🤫

On 7/13/2026 at 6:15 AM, ikke1959 said:

I travel enough, but at no other airport I see long waiting times to pass immigration.. Longest I had to wait was 10 minutes in all my travels except here in Thailand. There should be counters for visaholders and reentries, and for elderly and disabled.. The priority lines could be used for that, but we are not allowed. These lines are often empty.

Travel& Transportation

You obviously have not been to Viet Nam lately

37 minutes ago, sungod said:

You obviously have not been to Viet Nam lately

Last May. There was a queue but we were through in 10 minutes arrival at 15.00 and departure 12.00, so not in the more quiet hours

Edited July 15Jul 15 by ikke1959

19 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

How does the person supervising the queue know you are married to a Thai? Do we have to produce a marriage certificate?

Well I always travel into Thailand with my wife and we have never been asked to show anything. Although we could show her married name in passport if asked. If travelling alone you wouldn't be allowed to use to Thai queue.

20 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

How does the person supervising the queue know you are married to a Thai? Do we have to produce a marriage certificate?

GeographicReference

The Thai female just has to ask the official if her husband (the male next to her) can join her going through the Thai line, and every time for me it has been agreed to with nothing ever checked to see if we are married.

5 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

Last May. There was a queue but we were through in 10 minutes arrival at 15.00 and departure 12.00, so not in the more quiet hours

Guess I'm unlucky, Hanoi, HCMC and Da Nang are usually like zoos, arriving and leaving

Edited July 15Jul 15 by sungod

14 minutes ago, sungod said:

Guess I'm unlucky, Hanoi, HCMC and Da Nang are usually like zoos, arriving and leaving

Or we were lucky

On 7/13/2026 at 9:02 PM, Patong2021 said:

Please visit some other countries. There are surge arrival times too where the delays are awful. Try Miami, Beijing, Lisbon at peak times.

Singapore may not have a problem sharing its biometric data with Thailand, however, most of the western world does because Thailand has not satisfied data security and confidentiality parameters that these countries require.

Sure it's worse elsewhere or similar. But that excuse is not a reason neither a comparison as we are talking here about Thailand and not Miami or wherever.

5 hours ago, Sigmund said:

Sure it's worse elsewhere or similar. But that excuse is not a reason neither a comparison as we are talking here about Thailand and not Miami or wherever.

No, it is not an excuse, but it addressed the specific statement no other airport I see long waiting times to pass immigration.

A visit to any of the popular destinations during peak travel times will show similar processing times. Thailand is not alone in having delays.

58 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

No, it is not an excuse, but it addressed the specific statement no other airport I see long waiting times to pass immigration.

A visit to any of the popular destinations during peak travel times will show similar processing times. Thailand is not alone in having delays.

This is not peak travel time ! It is low season 555

7 hours ago, mlkik said:

This is not peak travel time ! It is low season 555

What's your point? Have you looked at the AoT data for the airport? No you did not. Do you have any understanding of how BKK operates? Do you even fly enough to have been at the airport to experience the passenger surges by time, day and month?

A visit to to the AoT website data indicates that the while there is a slight incrase in arrivals and departures from December to April, the total number of people entering through BKK is relatively constant with a seasonal variance of approx. 15%.

BKK Arrival Passengers 2025 -2026

Q1 - 8.4 million

Q2 - 8.37 million

Q3 - 7.2 million

Q-4- 7.2 million

If and when you become a frequent flyer, you will understand that every major airport has peak travel times. It is not just specific to season, but reflects the day of the week and the time of the day. At BKK it the rush comes between 05:30 and 09:30 and 17:00 to 21:00 hours. There are some days of the week associated with holidays that show a greater number of travelers.

Banglok airport is like any other large airport. It is busy at peak travel times duing the day. It is unrealistic to expect that there will be extra personnel on hand for an hour or two twice a day IOs do not work for 2 hours and then sit around for 8 hours to work another 2 hours. It is not financially viable, nor practical. So what if there is a delay of an hour for passengers during the day? It is temporary and is resolved after an hour. It is no different than rush hours on the roads.

15 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

What's your point?

This is not peak travel time ! It is low season 555

On 7/14/2026 at 1:34 AM, mikebell said:

I do love a healthy debate. Are you aware of Anutin's distaste for 'dirty foreigners' - his words. Can you explain why now is the right time for him to speak up after two decades as a Senior Minister in THREE administrations when he said/did nothing. Check out 'Screaming's post above.

Because during the previous twenty years, he was far to busy consolidating his political career, building alliances and filling his boots, same as any other PM.

Your oft-stated "dirty farang" argument is almost as redundant as the "Red Bull" trope and needs something a bit more relevant and grounded in fact to gain any traction.

On 7/15/2026 at 2:55 AM, sungod said:

You obviously have not been to Viet Nam lately

HCMC has an on-line fast track app now. Twelve minutes from jetway to kerbside (no checked bags).

On 7/13/2026 at 3:56 PM, wensiensheng said:

That was the case when I arrived at Suvarnabhumi in May. In Phuket I don’t believe they even have them. If they do, they aren’t in use.

But I’m surprised that there are long queues. This is low season!

As an aside, I flew to Singapore today and as a Singapore citizen my passport wasn’t even scanned. I passed through immigration just by scanning my face.

Every counter used by non Singapore residents was also an e gate where passports were scanned. No immigration officers sitting at counters at all.

Thailand's e-gates are the same.

On 7/13/2026 at 10:03 AM, vangrop said:

I'm 74 years old, I have great difficulty walking, and I have hip problems. I wonder if you would spout the same nonsense if you were in the same situation.

There's fast track for +70 at departures and arrivals at BKK. Wheelchair assistance is free, fast and courteous. My friend was recovering post operation and asked for a wheelchair at check-in. Turned up within a few minutes, fast tracked through security and immigration. The attendant asked if he needed any duty free shopping, all part of the service, and stayed with him gate-side until pre-boarding.

On 7/13/2026 at 8:05 PM, vangrop said:

You are wrong the European tourists is a fraction of the locals who don't have holidays in this period. That's why they call it low season

Yes it's Thailand 'low season' but school summer holidays are breaking out all over (except Thailand) and airports and airplanes are full of families on vacation. I know this as I passed from Malaysia domestic to international and on to the UK last weekend and it was heaving. Next Tuesday I am headed to Bangkok and the fares for the non-stops from Europe to the far east, avoiding the middle east, peak next Monday thru Wednesday. KL TG, SQ, LH, CX...all oversold with some only having capacity in Business Class.