Suvarnabhumi Airport Passport Lines Will Take Max. 24 Minutes From Today

[nosatisfaction]

When I landed last week, it took less than 5 minutes to clear Immigration. An easy task since the number of foreign arrivals is down. Let's wait to see if they can maintain this after (if) people stop avoiding Thailand.

me too, i arrived back from Doha, immigration officer very friendly, in total 5 mins. she let me go in Thai queue since i have Thai wife, this doesn't happen every time. So I guess it's improving

It seems to me that a lot of people having problems at Immigration are the ones whom didn't fill in Arrival Card, let them go to Nigeria and find out.

[nosatisfaction]

Forgive me for saying so, but 24 minutes to get thru Airport Immigration is B.S. As in, is it really supposed to be a good thing that you only will need to wait no longer than almost a half an hour, just to get thru airport immigration. That really is B.S.

I'll agree with the posters above: to make a real and better improvement, bring back the ability to obtain re-entry permits at the airport. For heaven's sake, what possible reason could some govt. genius have had for deciding to remove that function from Airport Immigration. There's no big processing or checking involved in re-entry permits... Just check for a valid visa/extension and pay the proper fee. What's so tough about that???

I flew back into BKK from the U.S. early this morning 1-2 am... and they had about 4-5 Immigration officers working at the counters, and I waited less than 5 minutes in line, each line having 3 or 4 people in front of me. Of course, it was early morning. But the last few times I've been thru the airport at all different hours, the incoming Immigration lines haven't been that long...particularly since I (being of long legs) always rush ahead once I get off the plane so I'm not behind everyone else getting off the same plane. That certainly helps, along with Thailand having dropped way down on the tourist desirability index.

Then, standing outside the airport terminal for 10 minutes or so waiting for my wife to arrive, I nonetheless was propositioned by 3 different illegal taxi touts wanting to give me a ride...this being at 2 a.m. on a Friday morning. Glad to see the AOT and police's other BIG initiative, getting rid of the illegal taxi bandits, has proved to be such a resounding success.

Did you ever go to a European airport, by the way I recall an Immigration in Houston, Texas, on my way to LA , where they made me strip because I was wearing a leather jacket, and they are too stupid to understand december can be very cold in Europe.

[nosatisfaction]

I arrived last night and waited for a period of around 24 minutes, which is far, far too long after a long haul flight! If you tired and in need of a shower, as is anyone who has been travelling for many hours (as all European and North American visitors to Thailand have) the last thing you want to do is stand in line waiting, looking at empty immigration desks wondering why there are not more staff.

Of course, there's not much point in speeding through immigration only to stand around waiting for your baggage to come off the plane, as I did last night - so I'd suggest that baggage handling efficiency is as important as the immigration turnaround time - there is no point addressing one without the other.

Also, as a smoker, waiting around for immigration / baggage whilst craving nicotine is more than unpleasant and is actually very frustrating. I know us smokers are seen as second class citizens / travellers these days, but for whatever reasons, there ARE a lot of us, and it really DOES cause us discomfort.

/rant

I think you didn't do much flying, I travel around 100 000 miles every year, it can be much worse than Thailand, waiting is never funny, but there are smoking rooms.About the amount of staff for example in PARIS there are 2 counters, with at the same time about 5 flights arriving , Bangkok, Singapore, Sidney.By the way I am smoking too.

[gcrepos]

Forgive me for saying so, but 24 minutes to get thru Airport Immigration is B.S. As in, is it really supposed to be a good thing that you only will need to wait no longer than almost a half an hour, just to get thru airport immigration. That really is B.S.

I'll agree with the posters above: to make a real and better improvement, bring back the ability to obtain re-entry permits at the airport. For heaven's sake, what possible reason could some govt. genius have had for deciding to remove that function from Airport Immigration. There's no big processing or checking involved in re-entry permits... Just check for a valid visa/extension and pay the proper fee. What's so tough about that???

I flew back into BKK from the U.S. early this morning 1-2 am... and they had about 4-5 Immigration officers working at the counters, and I waited less than 5 minutes in line, each line having 3 or 4 people in front of me. Of course, it was early morning. But the last few times I've been thru the airport at all different hours, the incoming Immigration lines haven't been that long...particularly since I (being of long legs) always rush ahead once I get off the plane so I'm not behind everyone else getting off the same plane. That certainly helps, along with Thailand having dropped way down on the tourist desirability index.

Then, standing outside the airport terminal for 10 minutes or so waiting for my wife to arrive, I nonetheless was propositioned by 3 different illegal taxi touts wanting to give me a ride...this being at 2 a.m. on a Friday morning. Glad to see the AOT and police's other BIG initiative, getting rid of the illegal taxi bandits, has proved to be such a resounding success.

I actually think we need consider the fact 5-8 planes land at the same time from various airlines being from the UK

I have noticed BA Quantas EVA THAI AIR Emirates all land within 15mins of each other.... bearing in mind these flights delay or arrive early sometimes this leads to all the flight arriving at the same time, meaning around 1,000 passengers hit the immigration at the same time this includes the baggage handlers work loads

As for those who don't fill in there immigration arrival cards during busy periods I have seen immigration remove those who have not filled out there cards from the queues prior to reaching the desk points good for those of that have complied & filled them out on the flight

We should consider this when inbound often the problems stem from our own Countries, the flights are out of planned syncro with the timetables yes sometimes the immigration desks are unmanned as the amount of officers on duty should be able to clear the in bounds easily within a reasonable time frame..........The fact flights seem to lump together when the timetable is just unfortunate

OUTBOUND immigration is difficult during peak periods as the flights departures are so closely scheduled ,the check in desks are not opened early enough prior to the flights, the fact most airlines are processing passengers through check in at the same time is the reason immigration is swamped with passengers leading to long queues ,combine this with queue jumpers you wind up with mayhem

I have experienced both long & short queues ranging from 15mins to over 1hr 30min both on arrival & departures @bkk

I must say it is better than been cooked at Nong KHAI Immigration queues55555+ at least there is climate control

[jfchandler]

For comparison purposes, I just came back from the U.S. via Shanghai transit-stopover for the first time... And, the Shanghai-Pu Dong (PVG) immigration process was really B.S., even more-so than Thailand.

My only other prior experience with international transit has been Taipei, which is clean, quick and easy... Get off one plane, go into the terminal, go thru another security screening, and go onto your connecting flight. No fuss, no muss.

In Shanghai, even when you're just making a connecting flight and not leaving the terminal, they make you check out/wait in line (arriving card) thru immigration and then check back in/wait in line (departing card) thru immigration again, in addition to going thru another in-terminal security screening.

And when you check back in (departure card), they go through all the usual formalities and stamp your passport, but then lead/walk you off to a third desk where yet another guy looks at your papers and eventually stamps your boarding pass... the reason for which, I can't begin to fathom.

They do have a pretty efficient single queue system going both directions at Immigration there, including having an at least rudimentary English-speaking staff directing passengers to which counter line to stand in... But other than that, the terminal staff were pretty useless, including an airline staff member holding a paper sign in English letters saying "Transfer" who when asked in English "where?", clearly didn't have a clue what was being asked.

[bkkjames]

The airport does have smoking rooms in the terminal, including I believe on the way out from arriving gates en route to immigration.

You could always stop in for a puff, while waiting for the crowds to clear.

And those are kind of nice I'd imagine, because then you can also inhale everyone else's smoke -- not just your own... Kind of like buying one beer, and getting three to drink for free...

Also, as a smoker, waiting around for immigration / baggage whilst craving nicotine is more than unpleasant and is actually very frustrating. I know us smokers are seen as second class citizens / travellers these days, but for whatever reasons, there ARE a lot of us, and it really DOES cause us discomfort.

As a thrifty shopper that I know you are John, I am sure you can appreciate this logic - don't even have to light up. 

[domifrenchman]

@eljeque:

yes..you were very lucky !!!

last time I came to Thailand

flight to Amsterdam landing to Suvarnabhumi airport

went to immigration desks

at left (all passports lines) maybe six desks opened at right (thai passports) maybe three

thai woman seated just near me in plane crossed immigation in maybe 30 seconds

i stayed queuing like (many, maybe 100) others

many passengers want to go right desk....no,no, sayed officer...this is thai passports lane and please read the sign...and officer resumed his easy and lazy work (not handling the many other waiting passengers in other lines)

near my queuing lane..one queue which chinese or japanese tourists....making jokes, fun and so on...BUT pushing too much, and the "yellow line" (step before !?) was crossed many times

immigration woman officer sayed one time ... "please STOP pushing"...but starting to become angry...(being nice is included in thai culture....but falang disgust is coming higher levels)

chinese or japanese tourist don't stop....then officer simply STOP !! ... put "closed sign" and started to wander with an angry look...

only effect was to overcrowd the next line and to add more work to near officer and delays increased.

the lane in strike was opened again maybe 20 minutes later ... when anger stopped

I don't believe there will be one real improvment...if no staff is added to schedule and manage the immigration officers...but here you need real improvments of boss of immigration staff...not the prayers of all airport business...zig-zag lanes are improvment I agree like for check-in....but not helping for the delay...one real management is to adapt number of officers according to real time landings

I remember when Suvvarnabhumi airport opened...I was inside...looking like a hugge duty free...can say that airport basic services (toilets,baggages,...) was nothing for airport managers compared to business shops.

[SteveB2]

What I don't get is, what's the maths behind 24 minuets. I mean it could simpler number like 20 minutes or 25 minutes. Second thing that comes to mind, what if, like at McDonalds, they are late? What is the prize? Bonus?

No doubt some Thai bureaucrat started by targeting 24 hours and some underling/secretary down the chain figured he must have meant minutes.

You sir... have been in Thailand for way too long !!!

[Tanaka]

This must be the first steps to bring back the tourists, because this is one of the major concerns for the people coming to Thailand

and being in top 10 makes a huge difference, may be now more people will fly via BKK so they can say they went through top 10

I take it you are joking.

24 mins is still way too long.

On a seperate note, I really like how in China they have a button system where u can rate u'r service from Immigration people. Excellent service, OK, or poor. Thailand should have the same.

It would mean that someone actually had to take responsibility. That won't happen.

[sandmike]

Following on from post #90, my (Thai) wife & I live in the Middle East (I work for an oil company & I am UK national), and I get a visa exemption stamp on arrival. I can confirm that I can go through the Thai queue on both arrival & departure if we travel together.

Edited June 25, 2010 by sandmike

[jfchandler]

Nice to hear that... Thanks for posting your experience.... Welcome to TV....

[overhaul38]

Correct me if I am wrong but I find it unusual that you have passport control for people EXITING the country.

I suppose this is to fine those people (B500 per day) for people who are stupid enough to overstay their visa.

[overhaul38]

What I don't get is, what's the maths behind 24 minuets. I mean it could simpler number like 20 minutes or 25 minutes. Second thing that comes to mind, what if, like at McDonalds, they are late? What is the prize? Bonus?

If you have to wait more than 24 minutes you get the non-farang rates at all facilities during your next visit.

[eurozhongguo]

The best thing to do with passport control is abolish it. In Europe, you can go from country to country without any passport control or customs, but we live in the 21st Century and the rest of world in the Middle Ages. .

[Bigge]

AIM TO BE TOP TEN AIRPORT:

From today, Suvarnabhumi Airport says that passport lines will take less than 24 minutes

Photo: ©Richard Barrow

BANGKOK: Suvarnabhumi Airport, together with the Immigration division, have signed a memorandum of understanding to improve the airport service quality.

Starting from 24th June 2010, passengers won't have to stand in passport queues longer than 24 minutes.

This will result in the passengers having more time for pre-boarding activities such as shopping and eating. Their ultimate aim is to put Suvarnabhumi in the Top Ten Best Airports in the World.

-- Source: Paknam Web

[Bigge]

Immigration is one thing but leaving Thailand can take hours or maybe you wont let out....

In February when I try to fly from Bkk to Ho Chi Min about 7.30 a.m. the queue was about 300 meters and at least 25 persons that I saw in the queue just in front of me did not catch the flight because of stupid passport officers ! Thailand is like an Military African country that behave full of stupity and not caring about anything around them. Lazy people can not catch up with rest of the world. What happend to this nice country the last 5 years ??

[hansnl]

if somebody working at immigration is reading this forum :

why you do not make it possible again to get a re-entry permit at SUVI airport ?

that would be an improvement in stead of going somewhere far far away ....

that is my suggestion for improvment which would make a lot of sense, as it is true the airport that you leave the country

and you have to begg and pay to re-enter, even you paid already your dues at immigration for 'staying' and spending all your money here

YES!!!!!!!

That would be quality.

If one is in a hurry, for example family matters, waiting for your friendly neighbourly immigration office to open might mean departing one or more days later.

Not waiting means starting the whole rigmarole for the extension again.

So if anyone from Immigration or the Ministry is looking, please make getting a re-entry permit in Suvarnibhumi Airport possible again.

Please?

Thank you!

[tombkk]

if somebody working at immigration is reading this forum :

why you do not make it possible again to get a re-entry permit at SUVI airport ?

that would be an improvement in stead of going somewhere far far away ....

that is my suggestion for improvment which would make a lot of sense, as it is true the airport that you leave the country

and you have to begg and pay to re-enter, even you paid already your dues at immigration for 'staying' and spending all your money here

YES!!!!!!!

That would be quality.

If one is in a hurry, for example family matters, waiting for your friendly neighbourly immigration office to open might mean departing one or more days later.

Not waiting means starting the whole rigmarole for the extension again.

So if anyone from Immigration or the Ministry is looking, please make getting a re-entry permit in Suvarnibhumi Airport possible again.

Please?

Thank you!

If somebody from immigration reads this, kindly abolish the requirement for a re-entry permit. We already have a visa or extension of stay, so why do we need this second stamp? I fail to see the reason for this requirement.

[tombkk]

Correct me if I am wrong but I find it unusual that you have passport control for people EXITING the country.

I suppose this is to fine those people (B500 per day) for people who are stupid enough to overstay their visa.

One reason is to catch overstayers. But more importantly, police can catch people that arrived illegally in the first place, or are on any wanted lists.

If someone commits a crime in Thailand, or is wanted internationally, border check points are one of the important opportunities for police to catch them.

Edited June 26, 2010 by tombkk

[tombkk]

This must be the first steps to bring back the tourists, because this is one of the major concerns for the people coming to Thailand

and being in top 10 makes a huge difference, may be now more people will fly via BKK so they can say they went through top 10

Yes when people travel abroad one of their major concerns is the airport - it just has to be one of the Top 10 airports in the world - to h_ll with the rest of the country, safety, price/quality, exchange rates and the actual holiday itself - the airport is the deciding factor...

That's not funny. An efficient airport will certainly not be the only reason, but one of the reasons to choose Thailand or another country for a vacation.

[kuffki]

<br>

<br>Correct me if I am wrong but I find it unusual that you have passport control for people EXITING the country. <br>I suppose this is to fine those people (B500 per day) for people who are stupid enough to overstay their visa.<br>

<br><br>One reason is to catch overstayers. But more importantly, police can catch people that  arrived illegally in the first place, or are on any wanted lists. <br><br>If someone commits a crime in Thailand, or is wanted internationally, border check points are one of the important opportunities for police to catch them.<br>

<br><br><div>For most country's you are correct as their computer systems/networks are all connected-this is NOT however the case for Thailand.</div><div>Their system/network is not linked to any other agency.</div><div>They do all the visa calculations manually or looking at the calendar.</div><div><br></div><div>I have had numerous times when they stamped me wrong (non b visa), last time i also had one officer  who had no idea what Non B visa means or entitles.<br><br>

</div>

[MJo]

For frequent travelers airport makes a big difference.

In Swampy they could start with:

• providing aircon for the terminal and for the shops and restaurants
• providing toilets
• manning the immigration booths based on actual arrivals, yes they do know in advance how many planes are coming in at given time frame
• by letting the airport work as it was planned, i.e. let people enter and exit via doors that were built to this purpose, proper airport taxis available at arrival level

Run it for few years as normal airport and once you have the experience take a long weekend trip to Singapore and see how proper airport is operated. Then start thinking of improvements. Either way, the whole process of departing or arriving should not take more than 24 minutes.

Edited June 26, 2010 by MJo

[chuang]

They should pay the immigration staff according to the number of passports they stamped...arrivals and departures..

[rajulkabir]

Suvarnabhumi as it stands now, is never going to feature in any of those unless they do a special show about the World's Best Duty Free Cash Cows.

The insanely long queues, at the end of which you face a surly old fart who doesn't know how to operate his computer and can't speak a word of English (and can't actually speak in any language but can only shout and bark orders), makes a really poor welcome to the country.

After walking through an airport which just reeks of low quality and poor planning -- non-functioning wireless, out-of-order and impossible-to-find toilets, signs that looks like they were made in the 1950s), the only gates in use always being the farthest ones from the terminal -- the last thing people want is to stand around for an hour and then get yelled at because they aren't standing in the magic spot that the $2 webcam can see.

Someone missed their happy pill today?

Never had any of the problems you are alluding to. Average of 4 times a year. Pricing is typical airport.

Where do you come from? I live in KL, Malaysia, where eating in the airport is dirt cheap, and everything works. But more critically, my flights to Bangkok (about once a month) normally arrive during peak hours. I think some flights to/from further afield come and go at odd hours when the immigration queues may be better.

Anyway, all anyone needs to do in order to see how immigration should be done is go to Singapore. Most of the queue ahead of me is zero to two people, and I'm through in a couple minutes.

Lately I have seen the duty people (BKK) sending off the morons who do not or cannot fill out their exit forms. Makes a change from when they (and some countries still allow) e.g. Malaysia - people to fill their forms out while we wait in the queue.

This is progress and should be applauded.

Yes, this particular issue is annoying in KL. Fortunately in Malaysia residents can use a different queue from the tourists, which is lightning-fast.

[keith7777]

What I don't get is, what's the maths behind 24 minuets. I mean it could simpler number like 20 minutes or 25 minutes. Second thing that comes to mind, what if, like at McDonalds, they are late? What is the prize? Bonus?

It's based on a mathematical model called "Queueing Theory". It takes the number of people arriving at the queue in consideration as well as the average processing time, and a number of probability factors. It's quite a complex calculation. The question whether the figure of 24 minutes is based on current arrivals or peak-season arrivals is justified. The article does not disclose that. In fact, last month I was through immigration in 5 minutes, because the queues were empty.

As a passenger, I don't think 24 minutes is satisfactory at all. Try anything below 10 minutes. I hope I have not offended anybody by saying this.

This could probably be achieved easily by manning the booths - most times I have arrived in Thailand, more than half of the immigration booths were closed. And I give you all this without the use of mathematical models! (Might have put a highly-paid consultant out of business, though.)

I have never had a problem with the time it takes to go through the immagration line, it those folks who go through the line who have not prepared themself and have to stand there for 5 to 10 minutes while the immagration official clears up the mess. It is mostly the customer and not immagration that causes the slow downs.

[Jangot]

The best and easiest improvement would be the "single line - next available desk" system.

And this goes for the airline check in too.

There is nothing worse than being stuck in the queue that stagnates because someone has a problem, whilst all the other queues progress quickly.

I am sure I am not the only one who puts a hex on every queue I join.

[tombkk]

What I don't get is, what's the maths behind 24 minuets. I mean it could simpler number like 20 minutes or 25 minutes. Second thing that comes to mind, what if, like at McDonalds, they are late? What is the prize? Bonus?

It's based on a mathematical model called "Queueing Theory". It takes the number of people arriving at the queue in consideration as well as the average processing time, and a number of probability factors. It's quite a complex calculation. The question whether the figure of 24 minutes is based on current arrivals or peak-season arrivals is justified. The article does not disclose that. In fact, last month I was through immigration in 5 minutes, because the queues were empty.

As a passenger, I don't think 24 minutes is satisfactory at all. Try anything below 10 minutes. I hope I have not offended anybody by saying this.

This could probably be achieved easily by manning the booths - most times I have arrived in Thailand, more than half of the immigration booths were closed. And I give you all this without the use of mathematical models! (Might have put a highly-paid consultant out of business, though.)

I have never had a problem with the time it takes to go through the immagration line, it those folks who go through the line who have not prepared themself and have to stand there for 5 to 10 minutes while the immagration official clears up the mess. It is mostly the customer and not immagration that causes the slow downs.

If the person who researched this and came up with 24 minutes didn't take this into account, the result is questionable. It's a reality you have to deal with, calling these customers morons (you didn't, but somebody else in this thread did) doesn't solve the problem. If they are sent back to the end of the queue, it will speed things up. But then, they might be unfamiliar wiht departure cards, or cannot read English, or otherwise need assistance. shouldn't the airline upon check-in also check that the departure card is completed?

Remember, we are talking about departure here. Most people just have to fill in the flight number and sign the card. 24 minutes is ridiculously long for waiting at passport control for departure. I first thought (mistakenly) that this thread was for arrivals, which I still think is too long for comfort, but sadly would have to be called an improvement.

24 minutes waiting time at passport control for departure? Excuse me, but I had to re-read the OP to understand that this referred indeed only to departures. In fact, the article linked in clearly mentions "departing passengers" in the Thai text. The Thai text is very detailed about this being an improvement, which IMHO should be very embarrassing for the TAT and ultimately the government. Suvarnabhumi does try to become one of the top 10 airports in the world, according to the article. Let's see when they take the next bold step into this direction.

[tombkk]

The best and easiest improvement would be the "single line - next available desk" system.

And this goes for the airline check in too.

There is nothing worse than being stuck in the queue that stagnates because someone has a problem, whilst all the other queues progress quickly.

I am sure I am not the only one who puts a hex on every queue I join.

TG has this at airline check-in at BKK, but not at PNH. But this thread is about customs.

Immigration in K.L. as well as Australia (not sure now whether it was Sydney or Brisbane) have one-line:multiple-counters. In fact, it is two lines, each beijng served by multiple counters. In LAX, at the Bradley Terminal were most international flights arrive, they have huge numbers of arriving passengers at any time. Each line feeds 3 or 4 immigration desks, and the queues move fairly quickly now (took a long time 10 years ago, so this is substantial improvement). *All* desks are manned there, not only less than half as in BKK, which is a matter of policy. I think witout all mathematics and expensive consultants, MOUs and press conferences, passport control could be sped up if more immigration desks were open at any time.

And yes, I am also one of those who hexes queues he joins. I am therefore all in favour of your suggestion.

[jackspratt]

While you're right in that most individuals don't care whether the airport they're landing in is top-10 or not, there is a good reason for this.

When you're regarded as one of the top airports, you get a lot of coverage in travel magazines and TV shows which are always doing specials on the World's Best This-or-That.

Suvarnabhumi as it stands now, is never going to feature in any of those unless they do a special show about the World's Best Duty Free Cash Cows.

The insanely long queues, at the end of which you face a surly old fart who doesn't know how to operate his computer and can't speak a word of English (and can't actually speak in any language but can only shout and bark orders), makes a really poor welcome to the country.

After walking through an airport which just reeks of low quality and poor planning -- non-functioning wireless, out-of-order and impossible-to-find toilets, signs that looks like they were made in the 1950s), the only gates in use always being the farthest ones from the terminal -- the last thing people want is to stand around for an hour and then get yelled at because they aren't standing in the magic spot that the $2 webcam can see.

I am sorry - could you specify which airport you are describing here? It is certainly not the Suvarnabhumi I have been through on numerous occasions.

Had a bad day did you?

[orosee]

Well, this will come and go just as the timers at McDonald's. Anything over 15 minutes is already in my inconvenience zone. I've been through Thai immigration in under 5 minutes before and never more than 45 minutes, but in the country I'm living in now (which has an award winning airport that mostly deserves the accolade) I've made the Triathlon of check-in/security/immigration regularly in less than 10 (and without check-in, always in less than 10 minutes). All the times I've been smiled at and greeted in a friendly manner by check-in staff, security staff and immigration staff.

This is not a country known anywhere as a land of smiles, nor is it a famous tourist destination or even a country used to deal with lots of foreigners. They just try harder and succeed.

Fortunately for Thailand, once you're inside it makes up 10x for any inconvenience you experienced trying to get in, and as for leaving... never mind.