Thai Immigration As Ingratiating As Ever

[jonniebkk]

Well it was a real cluster-<deleted> departing the airport early this morning, what withe the whole of Bangkok and half the way from Pattaya totally enlcosed in a blinding fog-bank. (Actually the worst I have ever experienced in a decade in Thailand.) Probably as a consequence, many people were late getting to the airport and the lines everywhere were long. At the immigration passport check area, lines stretched to the entry points and were at least 30-40 minute waits (one lady said she had waited over an hour and barely moved).

I was flying Air Asia to KUL at 09:35 and finished check-in around 08:10; and boarding time was 08:50. By the time I entered the passport control area I had about 35 minutes to boarding. I could see the loooooooooooong lines and showed my boarding pass to the lady attendants at the entry and they waived me into the diplomatic channel, along with several other passengers who were in even worsh shape timewise than I was (more later). Oh, that was just too much consideration than one little immigration officer could stand...evedently being one who missed the sensitivity training carried out awhile back, he proceeded to come out from behind his desk to scrutinize all the non-pui-yais were sullying the rarefied airs of the diplomatic line. He looked at our boarding passes (one couple actually had one that showed that their flight started boarding 10 minutes AGO) and waived us all back to the end of regular passport lines. When we meekly pointed out that it was the Thai lady staffs who initially pointed up to the relatively short diplomatic line in the first place, he mutters words to the effect that "I am immigration officer ."

Well, our little group stepped one line over into the Thai line, which was about 1/3rd the length of the foreigner one's. The one young couple who were already 10 minutes late I advised to go the the head of any of the lines and tell the people there that their flight was already boarding and see if they could cut ahead. This they did and I was pleased to see that they were let in. I stayed in the Thai line and a couple other ladies came over and had boarding times in about 10 minutes (I by that point was down to about 25 minutes). We stayed in the Thai line and were allowed to stay there without incident. I made it to boarding about 5 minutes early. If I had stayed in the foreigner lines, there was at least a 30 minute wait and might have missed my flight.

Most people in LOS are kind and considerate in most circumstances...just those darn airport immigration officers give LOS such a sour-posed image.

[mikethevigoman]

Well...

If your luggage is on ( assuming you had some ) the flight cannot leave without you, fact,.or they have to remove your baggage,

[londonthai]

if there is a blinding fog on the runway the plains are delayed as well.

boarding time is never on time on takes up to 30 minutes to load the passengers and cargo - so it was all nerves than real risk of missing your plane

[JonnieB]

if there is a blinding fog on the runway the plains are delayed as well.

boarding time is never on time on takes up to 30 minutes to load the passengers and cargo - so it was all nerves than real risk of missing your plane

i did have a piece of checked baggage so like earlier posted said, i guess the plane would wait for latecomers (or come expedite their passport checks...especially if knew lines were long at immigration that morning). however, would they wait if someone didn't have checked baggage (so no baggage removal hassle if plane left without them)?

what about the people who had boarding passes that showed their planes were literally boarding as they were having to wait in very long passport control lines? I don't think there were massive take-off delays as my plane left more or less on time.

[Prakanong]

if there is a blinding fog on the runway the plains are delayed as well.

boarding time is never on time on takes up to 30 minutes to load the passengers and cargo - so it was all nerves than real risk of missing your plane

i did have a piece of checked baggage so like earlier posted said, i guess the plane would wait for latecomers (or come expedite their passport checks...especially if knew lines were long at immigration that morning). however, would they wait if someone didn't have checked baggage (so no baggage removal hassle if plane left without them)?

what about the people who had boarding passes that showed their planes were literally boarding as they were having to wait in very long passport control lines? I don't think there were massive take-off delays as my plane left more or less on time.

I have had the same sort of experience as you so will start to head to the airport a little earlier but they do not seem to be able to change SOP to match the circumstances.

What I have noticed on the last few flights is the increasing numbers that do not fill out theire departure card before getting in line.

Now I admit some of the Imm Officers make them leave the queue to fill them in but some let them do it in real time at the desk holding everyone else up - one time there was a family of 4 and one pen between them!

Why do the Airline Staff not remind them? - I often do not have the flight number of my departure flight filled in as I often change my mind at the last minute. Two weeks ago the Thai girl at the Gold Card desk filed this in for me without me even knowing and I only noticed when I went to fill it in myself - I am not saying this service should be done by check in staff but they could provide better service and remind people to fill the cards in - I am sure it would be appreciated by those numb enough not to know better.

[peter991]

I sympathise with your plight. I hope you made it onto your Air Asia flight. If you did, thank your lucky stars the Air Asia check-in staff didn't enforce their rules about checking in. According to Air Asia's FAQ,

AirAsia (AK, FD and QZ Flights)

Our check-in counters are open two (2) hours before the scheduled flight departure time and closes forty-five (45) minutes before the scheduled flight departure time. Please produce the booking number/printed itinerary upon check in together with your identification card or passport. Failure to present yourself at the counter before counter closure will result in denial from check-in and you will have to purchase a new booking on the next available flight.

Peter

[JonnieB]

I have had the same sort of experience as you so will start to head to the airport a little earlier but they do not seem to be able to change SOP to match the circumstances.

What I have noticed on the last few flights is the increasing numbers that do not fill out theire departure card before getting in line.

I think the crowds were a combination of people being delayed due to the fog and it was the 2nd Sunday after New Years holidays and many vacationers on their way back to farangland. On many (nee non-holiday periods) there are often only a few people in line at passport control.

The people not filling out their immigration cards is a BIG problem in Thailand and is a cause for much of the delays. The problem is that LOS attracts many middle-to low-end type tourists from many non-english speaking countries and they often can't read form so therefore can't fill it out themselves. I often think immigration should put a few interns there at desks and help non-thai/english speakers fill out their forms correctly. This would surely speed things up.

[JonnieB]

I sympathise with your plight. I hope you made it onto your Air Asia flight. If you did, thank your lucky stars the Air Asia check-in staff didn't enforce their rules about checking in. According to Air Asia's FAQ,

Thanks...I did make the flight. It was not a delay at AA check-in...it was at the immigration/passport control counters. I was done at the AA counters about 75-80 minutes before flight departure...or about 40-45 minutes before flight boarding started. I particularly wanted to get to the gate before boarding started because I had paid for AA's express boarding service, which is useless if you are not at the gate when boarding commences.

[backflip]

Someone should tell the OP that "ingratiate" is a compliment. Perhaps he meant to use another word.

[rogerdee123]

if there is a blinding fog on the runway the plains are delayed as well.

boarding time is never on time on takes up to 30 minutes to load the passengers and cargo - so it was all nerves than real risk of missing your plane

Taking off in a fog is usually no problem. So for flights originating in Thailand, taking off on time that early in the day should not be a problem.

[JonnieB]

Someone should tell the OP that "ingratiate" is a compliment. Perhaps he meant to use another word.

ever heard of sarcasm...

[Naam]

Well it was a real cluster-<deleted> departing the airport early this morning...

i always miss these interesting happenings is it my karma?

[Prakanong]

I have had the same sort of experience as you so will start to head to the airport a little earlier but they do not seem to be able to change SOP to match the circumstances.

What I have noticed on the last few flights is the increasing numbers that do not fill out theire departure card before getting in line.

I think the crowds were a combination of people being delayed due to the fog and it was the 2nd Sunday after New Years holidays and many vacationers on their way back to farangland. On many (nee non-holiday periods) there are often only a few people in line at passport control.

The people not filling out their immigration cards is a BIG problem in Thailand and is a cause for much of the delays. The problem is that LOS attracts many middle-to low-end type tourists from many non-english speaking countries and they often can't read form so therefore can't fill it out themselves. I often think immigration should put a few interns there at desks and help non-thai/english speakers fill out their forms correctly. This would surely speed things up.

And they can not cope now with the numbers - how will they cope with an expanded airport with the numbers projected?

Changi just opened its 2rd terminal very smoothly last week - I do not think there are any other airports going to claim the hub status ie swampy Poom

[tgeezer]

Someone should tell the OP that "ingratiate" is a compliment. Perhaps he meant to use another word.

Interesting, it probably could be thought of as complimentary in Thai culture, we call it Kissing A** in ours.

[Maestro]

The OP talks about his contact with three immigration officials. Two were very helpful. One was not.

A positive result based on this small sample, I should think.

--

Maestro

[londonthai]

a few days ago, on my flight from bangkok, I have witnessed an immigration officer from the diplomatic desk walkig down to the family with kids standing at the end of the, no so long, 5 minutes waiting que, and taking them to his desk, so the kids won't get tired.

so there are different officers.

those ladies standing by the entrance to the emmigration departure hall are not dressed as emmigration officers and they do nothing there - most prabably they are the last remnants of the departure tax collection office, long gone almost a year ago.