2 Hours Waiting At Immigration At Suvanarbhumi Airport 1.2.2012

[magmur]

Hi all, we are coming to Thailand for 15years now, living on retirement near Pattaya for 4years now, uncountable flights into TH for many years.

Date 1.2.2012 we arrived at 16.00 and it didn't seem more people as usual during this season, anyway it took us almost 2 hours waiting at the Immigration, does anyone have an idea what happened or do we need to get used on that?

It never,never happened before in 15 years

warm regards, thanks for your answers

Mag

[dvdcm]

I arrived at 12:00 and the queue... well more like a mob... was packed in well away from immigration desks and and spilling back down the concourse. I've seen it busy before but never like that. By the grace of my hosts I used of the Fast Track, but it is interesting to see this post because the sight made quite an impression on me, as well. If it was still jammed at 16:00 whatever was going on must have been an all day affair.

[champken]

While i haven't had to wait as long as 2 hours, on many occasions its been 45-50 minutes, which is still frustrating after a long flight and far too long

[Javabear]

My wife and I came in a few weeks ago and even the Thai passport side was 45 minutes waiting.

[NanLaew]

There's quite a bit of construction inside the airport in the areas of the Immigration departure halls and maybe that and the fact that the same Immigration officers that stamp people in also has to work on the departure side, stamping people out. It will be interesting to see if this is just a fleeting slow-down or if we are trending towards longer delays like a few months back on the outgoing side. That seems to have improved though so suspect it much ado about bugger all after all!

[bendix]

Ahhhhh, the joys of having an Apec Business Travellers Card

[Gone]

2 hours? Wow glad to see things are picking up.

[CMSteve]

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the recent terror warnings that Thailand is adamantly claiming to be untrue.....

[jambco984]

Good old Suvarnabhumi, couldnt organise a p##s up in a brewery.

[Tonto21]

• 
  Yes, I’ve heard it can be a problem, in or out. My GF and I are about to fly to the UK, we live in CM. Because of this problem I checked which airline, (from CM to BKK that has a connection with our on-going flight to Guz) so we could clear Immigration in CM…..We have to go a little earlier, but no BKK immigration Q.
  

[billd766]

Ahhhhh, the joys of having an Apec Business Travellers Card

Ahh the joys of being retired and not having to wait 2 hours at Immigration to go in or out of the country.

[prefabs]

On Wednesday 1st Feb there were 9 immigfration desks open out of a total of over 24. I was in the melee from 1245 till 1305. People were queued back to the shops, they were actually forming into large Vs, coming in to each open entry desk which were only 4 doubles and a single officer manned. Apart from the immigration officers at the desks, there was no one to assist in keeping order, basically it was whoever could push the hardest to get to the front.Tempers were becoming heated, especially with a French idiot and his wife pushing in and who were trying to blame the system, rather than their own pig headedness. One day there will be violence and the lack of supervision will lead to something more serious. A for the inside temperatures, we know about the lack of air conditioning in that area already.

They can talk all they like about the airport being in the top (insert your own number here) but it is going backwards.

[mark131v]

I pass through every 5 weeks or so and it certainly seems to be getting worse, the last 3 times have been about an hour. There seems little or no organisation and what is worse is they are so shortsighted that they dont seem to care, I use fastrack to leave but from now on I will be using it to enter as well it is a small price to pay if it avoids being treated like cattle by those humourless immigration people, will be nice to enter in a good mood rather than already wound up by them

[spidermike007]

On Wednesday 1st Feb there were 9 immigfration desks open out of a total of over 24. I was in the melee from 1245 till 1305. People were queued back to the shops, they were actually forming into large Vs, coming in to each open entry desk which were only 4 doubles and a single officer manned. Apart from the immigration officers at the desks, there was no one to assist in keeping order, basically it was whoever could push the hardest to get to the front.Tempers were becoming heated, especially with a French idiot and his wife pushing in and who were trying to blame the system, rather than their own pig headedness. One day there will be violence and the lack of supervision will lead to something more serious. A for the inside temperatures, we know about the lack of air conditioning in that area already.

They can talk all they like about the airport being in the top (insert your own number here) but it is going backwards.

Virtually every standard one uses, indicates that Thailand is going backwards. The LOS is the land of no progress. Whether it be the improvement of the cell services (Samui still does not have 3G, though it is available in many parts of rural Africa), the reform of the police (a part of the insect population of LOS), the traffic safety issues, the flood issues, the improvement of the corruption issues (not being addressed on any serious level, despite all the tremendous progress Malaysia, India, China, and other neighbors are making), the visa issues for visitors or long term stay, the inflation issues (when will the LOS no longer be reasonable enough to warrant staying here?), the scams (jet skis, taxis, tuk-tuks, king power, and countless others), etc., etc, etc. I could go on all day long. NONE of it is being addresses. This place is definitely heading backwards, and it is only a matter of time before it starts affecting Thailand in a HUGE way.

[steve187]

Suvanarbhumi Airport, the hub of asia queues

[yermanee]

Ahhhhh, the joys of having an Apec Business Travellers Card

If like me, you fly business class you don't need an Apec card.

Simple really.

Yermanee

[mikecwm]

I've had long waits for immigration in Houston and Gatwick as well. It's not a problem just in Thailand.

Just lining up for US immigration at Vancouver (during the day part of Vancouver airport becomes US property)can also take up to 2 hours. You can see a lot of people panicking when they realise they arrived too late and will miss their flight to the US.

[jehricaholic]

The arrival lines are a nuisance and give people a very bad first impression of Thailand.

More serious are the departure immigration lines: When you travel out of BKK you need to arrive a MINIMUM of 3 hours prior to departure, especially if using Thai or Cathay, sometimes the wait for boarding passes can be up to 45 mins. One time the departure immigration line took over an hour to pass through. I can only guess at this number since after waiting 45 mins in this line and only proceeding half way through the line, I barged to the front of the line, otherwise I would have missed my flight.

[anterian]

Years ago I used to enjoy travelling, now I feel my blood pressure rising as soon as I enter an airport.

[Garry]

Wasn't the AOT bragging last year that no one would have to wait longer than 28 minutes at Swampy immigration?

[TheWalkingMan]

On Wednesday 1st Feb there were 9 immigfration desks open out of a total of over 24. I was in the melee from 1245 till 1305. People were queued back to the shops, they were actually forming into large Vs, coming in to each open entry desk which were only 4 doubles and a single officer manned. Apart from the immigration officers at the desks, there was no one to assist in keeping order, basically it was whoever could push the hardest to get to the front.Tempers were becoming heated, especially with a French idiot and his wife pushing in and who were trying to blame the system, rather than their own pig headedness. One day there will be violence and the lack of supervision will lead to something more serious. A for the inside temperatures, we know about the lack of air conditioning in that area already.

They can talk all they like about the airport being in the top (insert your own number here) but it is going backwards.

The last time when I passed through immigration it was pathetic. Packed as heck on the tourist side, with the line going down that slope. I apologize for the quality of the pics, they were taken from my elderly phone. The photos were taken within seconds of each other.

On the Thai side (which includes fast track) about 6 Thai national stations open with virtually no Thais passing through. Don't they get a report from the airlines telling them the demographics of passengers on incoming flights? They only needed 1 queue for Thai nationals.

I don't understand why they have an aversion to having Disneyland style queuing with a staff member telling the traveler which immigration line to go to. The arrival hall is too narrow to just let people get in line without guidance.

[prefabs]

On Wednesday 1st Feb there were 9 immigfration desks open out of a total of over 24. I was in the melee from 1245 till 1305. People were queued back to the shops, they were actually forming into large Vs, coming in to each open entry desk which were only 4 doubles and a single officer manned. Apart from the immigration officers at the desks, there was no one to assist in keeping order, basically it was whoever could push the hardest to get to the front.Tempers were becoming heated, especially with a French idiot and his wife pushing in and who were trying to blame the system, rather than their own pig headedness. One day there will be violence and the lack of supervision will lead to something more serious. A for the inside temperatures, we know about the lack of air conditioning in that area already.

They can talk all they like about the airport being in the top (insert your own number here) but it is going backwards.

Late Edit. The times should read 1245 to 1505

[dbaron]

Very annoying both in and out of swampy.

Nearly missed flights out twice and always arrive 3 or more hours before flight

Place is a shi_t hole

[eagleflyinghigh]

If like me, you fly business class you don't need an Apec card.

Simple really.

Yermanee

Wrong, even the lines accessed with the new golden premium card were 15 minutes deep yesterday which is not fast track at all. Also some airlines "forget" handing out these cards to their premium passengers and Qantas - a supposedly serious airline - recently handed out old cards no longer valid.

[prefabs]

I've had long waits for immigration in Houston and Gatwick as well. It's not a problem just in Thailand.

Just lining up for US immigration at Vancouver (during the day part of Vancouver airport becomes US property)can also take up to 2 hours. You can see a lot of people panicking when they realise they arrived too late and will miss their flight to the US.

Sorry to hear about your international waiting times, but I fail to see what it adds to this thread. We are in Thailand and talking about the disgraceful scenes at immigration which are obviously not confined to peak periods. I think we can discount security as a reason for the delays last Wednesday, as it took exactly the same time for the officer to stamp me in as usual(when I eventually got to him) All the while we are regaled with press releases about the extension/upgrade/world class facilities at the airport. It has certainly regressed in the last few months and I wonder if anyone in Government or the TAT really cares if it works or not.

[stickyrice2000]

Wow, thanks for the information. During transit, I plan to go out of the airport to sleep at the hotel outside. If I have to wait this long, I rather stay inside.

[steve187]

As the walking man posted, I can not see why there is not one queue, with someone at the end telling you which counter to go to next, they have this in LHR, and it seems to work well.

[theoldgit]

Are there delays leaving again, or does it just seem to be on arrival? I have a 06.30 fight in a few days.

Have to agree with the previous points about a single queue, I thought they said last year they were going to introduce this.

[Angelo99]

Try going through immigration in Paris at CDG. Worst I've ever seen. I'd say book flights that either get in during the morning or the night. I've never spent more than an hour in immigration in BKK and by far the longest was when I came in on a mid day flight like you did. Avoid 11am - 7/8pm and you'll be much better off. Early morning or night arrivals I've spent like 20-30 min, maybe one other flight was there at the same time as mine.

[yermanee]

If like me, you fly business class you don't need an Apec card.

Simple really.

Yermanee

Wrong, even the lines accessed with the new golden premium card were 15 minutes deep yesterday which is not fast track at all. Also some airlines "forget" handing out these cards to their premium passengers and Qantas - a supposedly serious airline - recently handed out old cards no longer valid.

I was replying to the Apec card post and NOT to OP.

Anyway even you have to admit that waiting 15 minutes or over 2 hours is a big difference.

If the airline forgets to hand you your card, all you have to do is ask for it. Simple really.

Yermanee