Excellent Immigration Today

[apetley]

Late last night my wife and I got back from a short trip to Hong Kong.

Wife went through ok and I followed behind.

I said 'sawadee krap' and smiled.

Still no eye contact and no reply.

When the officer finished she casually tossed my passport back on to the counter in front of her.

Maybe she was having a bad day. My wife said that I should complain but in countless visits to Thailand indifference at the very least seems to be the 'welcome'.

Compare with the 'welcome to HK' I got from the immigration officer there!

And I have gotten a 'welcome to Malaysia' on both my visits to KL. On leaving there once I even got 'hope you enjoyed your visit'.

Wifey even commented on how good HK airport is compared to Suvarnabumi.

[syd barrett]

I am also with Syd on this one.

40 flights in the last 5 years and maybe one 'warm' greeting.

Invariably, I will hand over my passport with a manly "Sawasdee Khrup" which is usually greeted by total indifference and the sense that they are looking for something that will deny you entry. One even told me to find the visa stamp as he could not. I replied that HIS embassy put it in there and guided him to the correct page.

What I would say is that when I flew out 2 weeks ago I was impressed with the Post Office queueing system. I may have been number 50 in the queue when I started but I was certainly the 50th to be checked. No more cursing because you are standing behind the guy who has mislaid his departure card.

don't forget about the A-Hole who skips a page in the passport for the entry stamp, which leaves you with a wortless unused page. Thailand is the only place that has happened to me.

I don't quite understand that. Please explain.

[pmarlin]

I am also with Syd on this one.

40 flights in the last 5 years and maybe one 'warm' greeting.

Invariably, I will hand over my passport with a manly "Sawasdee Khrup" which is usually greeted by total indifference and the sense that they are looking for something that will deny you entry. One even told me to find the visa stamp as he could not. I replied that HIS embassy put it in there and guided him to the correct page.

What I would say is that when I flew out 2 weeks ago I was impressed with the Post Office queueing system. I may have been number 50 in the queue when I started but I was certainly the 50th to be checked. No more cursing because you are standing behind the guy who has mislaid his departure card.

don't forget about the A-Hole who skips a page in the passport for the entry stamp, which leaves you with a wortless unused page. Thailand is the only place that has happened to me.

I don't quite understand that. Please explain.

Stamps in a passport are suppose to be in order by date, and most countries won't put a stamp in a passport ahead of another stamp, so if a passport control office skips a page and post the entry stamp on another page, the skipped page becomes unused.

[soihok]

My family and I entered Thailand two weeks ago, I did have an non imm O visa which was about to expire a couple of days after arrival so I did'nt enter it on the arrival card.

The imm Officer found it and exclaimed that I have a visa, I said 30 days would be ok.....he said quite firmly " No ,,,,you get 90 days" with a smile.

Then a female officer started playing with my 2 year old daughter and took her off to meet her friend who was sat at another counter, smiles all round.

It was very quiet though, in fact the only other time I,ve seen Thailands airport like that was at the height of the SARS pandemic.

On the way out yesterday, more smiles from the imm Officer stamping us out.

[syd barrett]

On the way out yesterday, more smiles from the imm Officer stamping us out.

Nobody believes you, you know.

[infernalman7]

I heard that automatic Immigration gates now work. Are they for Thais only?