Bkk Airport Immigration Deploys 70 Female Riot Police To Help Speed Up Lines

[marstons]

Common guys and girls - you have the part about First & Business travel and expedited immigration all wrong - that is part of the travel when you pay 4 times the price for that class of travel.

Darn right I am privileged when I pay for 1st and business class and I consider it fairly simple minded to for anyone to think otherwise.

That class of service is all found - its not just in the air - its the entire airport and aircraft experience - private car pick-up - lounge access - while others who $ave have screaming babies and rude people shouting at each other.

Removing the 1st & Business lines for immigration will be a serious problem for anyone accustomed to or paying for this class of travel - they will not remove the "Fast-track" lines - they will selectively run people through them - that's all.

Those simpleminded statements are just another mouthing by Thai immigration officials trying to impress others they are thinking - mark my words - the airline carriers will not let them remove "Fast-Track" - no way.

lounge and cars paid for by airline in with the ticket not the immigration. so what the airlines going to do fly else where, the airlines are not even allowed to use there are own air con generator, they have to buy it off the airport authority even they dont need, so they will accept it, they done there bit with the lounge, car and flight. outside of that out of there control. Do you get fast track lane on motorway as well if not get onto the airline.

[pacovl46]

Riot police??? Does that mean I'm gonna get the stick if I don't line up properly? ;-)

[pacovl46]

What sort of fool thinks because he paid a 1st or Business class fare he is ENTITLED to be treated with priority on the ground. You pay the airline but the government runs Immigration services.

Maybe the riot police should be deployed as riot police and stop those f****** queue jumpers, the people who have the husband in one line and wife in another, and they ( bot+ half a dozen kids ) all pile onto the one that's moving fastest as they approach the 'line'. Ignorant and arrogant pricks

Mate. First class tickets are horribly expensive and they usually include better service on the ground as well, no matter where you are.

[khunkeith]

Why on earth would you allow employees to transfer out of a position if it is going to reduce the efficiency and functioning of that operation? Probably because customers and customer service are last of the list of priorities....

I think it's a conspiracy to do the opposite of logic just to keep us confused.

I think it just shows the love/hate relationship Thailand has towards farang visitors

that's silly. I have arrived many times and, when the "Thai Passport Only" line has no one standing in it, they frequently wave people over to it.

But, when I have returned to the states or been to the UK or the EU, I see the resident line and the Foreign Passport line and they seldom wave people over, even if the foreign line has twice as many people in it. But, on the other hand, it's my taxes that support the US immigration, not the foreigners arriving so, I think it proper that citizens of that nation get preferential treatment. Nothing wrong with that.

[khunkeith]

So does it mean there wont be any more fast track for Biz and 1st class passenger during rush hours ? but all planes from Europe usually arrived at the same period of time from 6 to 7am .... so , you pay your ticket more than double and you have to queue like anyone else ? how nice is that ..... Now they ask us to arrive earlier to avoid missing flight ... what about arriving one day in advance , stay at Novotel airport hotel..will be be enough time ? This is crazy ...

I think you pay more than double anyone else for the extra comfort during the flight. Maybe you should remember that you are the same as every other traveller -- a mere mortal.

we are not all commmunists

[Lifer]

I guess you all have to complain and moan and bitch about something. Should be thankful the world has airpanes to take you around the world instead of sailing ships and covered wagons.

[strollling]

Many airlines 'WILL NOT' check you in more than 3 hours ahead of your scheduled flight time. The airport honchos are absolutely stupid. What does a immigration official DO at the check out that takes more than a couple days to train? There isn't a staff shortage at the airport, there is a brain and common sense shortage. My God, the guy/girl sits there, looks at my 'Yes, I came to Thailand' card, stamps it and I go wait in the security line. When they get back up why don't they speed up the lines by not looking so closely at the papers, just stamp the dam_n passport and let us be on our way. What are they trying to catch there at immigration out processing anyway? Speed the line out of country by not being so darned efficient.

Perhaps they are looking for little things that might highlight you as an Iranian terrorist.

[Thailand]

A single queue system might improve the situation a little perhaps?

[MarkCyr]

The problem isn't the shortage of staff, it's the slowness of the process. Part of the slowness is the human factor. The last trip out of BKK I picked a line with two officers thinking it will be faster. So what happens? They both get calls on their cell phones and stop working! I'm not super fluent in Thai, but I'm sure that the call by the male officer was a personal one. He just sat back, took the call for a few minutes chuckling into the phone, then got back to work...at the same snail's pace as before. So there's a human factor here that's slowing things up.

Now I'm not knocking this. Pencil pushing in Thailand ALWAYS involves that kind of inefficient behavior. Ok, so that's the "Thai way." I have no problem with that. But if that's the case, then the immigration high-ups should have smarts enough to remove things that slow down the offers so they can have their sanook time and still get us onto the plane. F'rinstance, make the camera a smart camera that doesn't have to be fiddled with and can take a wider angle shot that smart focuses on the face. If Facebook can do it, I'm sure they can. As for their concern of "checking for fake passports," I don't see that what they do now does anything except scan the machine readable passports. Why not just do everything autostamped in the scanner. Although in a country where the average wage is dollars a day, maybe just more bums on seats is the cheapest way to go after all. Just get those lines moving, Thailand!! I got beers to drink elsewhere!

[DogNo1]

In the USA, some airlines (eg. United) actually sell rights to fast-track security and immigration lines for a yearly fee. Business class and first class passengers get fast-track for free!

[Kees5]

I just flew out of BKK a couple of days ago. Some time ago, my wife observed that on average, female immigration officers process much faster then male. This time, the line was so long and the crowd so big, we accidentally chose a male officer queue. when we got closer, I timed him, he processed one passenger in the time she next to him did three, time and again.

The number of responses to the OP suggests this is a topic that gets lots of TV BM hot under the collar....

[Wiggy]

What I've noticed is that the cabin crew hand out the arrival cards with little, if any, dialogue. Perhaps if they were instructed to tell passengers that the card must be filled out BEFORE arrival at the desk, then it may help alleviate some of the problem. Just a thought.

Incidentally I arrived a couple of weeks ago and was in a taxi 45 minutes after landing at 6:30pm on a Sunday. I have also waited more than an hour at immigration, though. Luck of the draw I guess.

[thaikahuna]

The number of passengers passing through the airport every day has risen while the number of immigration officers has dropped as some have been promoted or sought transfers to other organisations to avoid the heavy work load.

I guess it would be too simple to deny the transfer requests or defer them to another time???

Edited March 13, 2012 by thaikahuna

[DocN]

Here is a solution: check out the arrival and departure schedule. Estimate the number of passengers. MAN ALL AVAILABLE BOOTHS!

Did that help?

that does not always work. recently, on a return from the Philippines, we arrived at 3AM. 2 planes, one from Hong Kong and one from Shanghai had arrived just before my flight. they had been delayed due to weather for 3 hours. flights get delayed all the time, you can't figure that into it. I would guess that there are more delayed flights than there are on time flight. One time, my flight arrived over an hour early. go figure.

The main point was :man all available booths.

...and...did you ever hear of "radio"? It's crazy...someone talks into a device and you can hear it miles away...a bit like mobile phone...someone could TELL someone about late arrivals and ADJUSTMENTS could be made!

[mortenaa]

So does it mean there wont be any more fast track for Biz and 1st class passenger during rush hours ? but all planes from Europe usually arrived at the same period of time from 6 to 7am .... so , you pay your ticket more than double and you have to queue like anyone else ?

You paid for a nicer seat on the plane and better food. No reason you should get preferential treatment from immigration at the airport.

You pay for business class treatment all the way. The airlines have to pay extra for this services, also at the immigration. Think about being a businessperson, traveling 200 days a year, and have to spend 4 hours in line, getting in and out of Thailand. Sometimes envy is bigger than reason..

[Arkady]

i go through the Thai side with the wife, they always let me do that and its always quick

I guess this will come to an end soon. Once they have installed the automatic readers for Thai passports, no reason to allow non-Thais in that queue any more.

Airlines and first and biz class passengers will be pissed off, if they close down the fast track immigration channel for first and biz class passengers.

They really need to pull their fingers out. Tourism is a multi billion dollar industry for them. It isn't hard. One word from the PM (or her brother) and a couple of transfers to inactive posts for recalcitrant individuals would fix it.

[mortenaa]

What sort of fool thinks because he paid a 1st or Business class fare he is ENTITLED to be treated with priority on the ground. You pay the airline but the government runs Immigration services.

You're just acting like a fool. They have paid for this services. The airline have to PAY for these service to AOT. This service includes priority bus service, priority baggage handling, and of course priority immigration!

[Arkady]

Funny how the female riot police are going to be able to do the job right away, while 150 of immigration officers who are already stationed at the airport can't. Not sure why the latter are stationed there in that case.

None of the pathetic explanations given by Immigration and the AOT make a scrap of sense, except that they are all whining for more money that is not forthcoming and holding the tourism sector to ransom for peanuts. The best bit was the 395 sergeants who were all sent off to the sit the officers' exam on the same day without any replacements for them on the immigration desks.

[Dah fahrang]

What staff shortage?

There must be hundreds of people already employed by the Immigration Bureau nationwide, just to put foreigners through that most ridiculous and antiquated charade the '90 Day Report'. Every foreigner, every 90 days, (except the really bad b**gers who the system? was implemented to trap) consuming paperwork, Immigration Bureau staff and time, plus the time of the multi-thousand aliens in the country, fuel to travel to make the report (up-country where postal reporting is not accepted) and then, space to 'file' all those reports?

Abolish this exercise in futility and stupidity and re-deploy the staff to work the booths at the airport.

Is this sensible departmental management? But instead of management, 'empire building' by recruiting more and more staff seems to be the preferred style for Heads of most Thai Government Departments. Inefficiency must be maintained!

[americaninbangkok]

A single queue system might improve the situation a little perhaps?

SERIOUSLY!!! This is Operations Management 101! Everybody hates playing the guessing game and trying to figure out which line to get into. The one with one big family that might get processed in one fell swoop... or might be jacked up because of utter disorganization with 4 kids, grandma, and documents nowhere to be found? Or the big shot world traveler businessman you think knows how to cut through the process like a hot knife through butter... but who instead brought the wrong documents in his haste and decided to get into a "do you know who I am?!" shouting match with the immigrations official? At an airport with as much of a diverse population that Swampy has going through it, snake lines would make the best use of its resources. One for foreginers. One for Thais. One for crew/diplomats.

Edited March 13, 2012 by americaninbangkok

[americaninbangkok]

So does it mean there wont be any more fast track for Biz and 1st class passenger during rush hours ? but all planes from Europe usually arrived at the same period of time from 6 to 7am .... so , you pay your ticket more than double and you have to queue like anyone else ?

You paid for a nicer seat on the plane and better food. No reason you should get preferential treatment from immigration at the airport.

You pay for business class treatment all the way. The airlines have to pay extra for this services, also at the immigration. Think about being a businessperson, traveling 200 days a year, and have to spend 4 hours in line, getting in and out of Thailand. Sometimes envy is bigger than reason..

No, you really DON'T pay for business class treatment all the way... unless you somehow saw it in the fare rules of the ticket.

[maccastime]

I recently returned to Thailand via Phuket,the lines at Immigration were fairly busy,but slow,i have a o/a visa,when i finally arrive at the male Immigration counter,he is totally confused,he starts scratching his head,saying mmmm,mmmm,so i ask is there a problem,no answer,i show him my latest 90 day report etc,as well as the visa page,he still is unable to sort it,he then asks the other male officer next to him for assistance,no joy there? felt sorry for the people held up behind me,he then calls for another Officer to assist,after about 10 minutes,he asks how long i will stay in Thailand?? i say i live here?? he replies once again..mmmmm. then goes through my passport once again,then the stamp appears...

So i ask the question surely there must be thousands of people arriving with o/a visas,what is the problem? By the time i got outside i am in a lather of sweat,and then see the huge line for a bloody taxi..grrrrr.

[Payboy]

Bkk Airport Immigration Deploys 70 Female Riot Police To Help Speed Up Lines

No excuses during the next Yellow invasion then.

[Basil B]

Good planning with the exam !

"let's have an exam and take out 350 officers

"Oops, we have an exam lets get take out 150 immigration officers from other areas - doesn't matter that they don't know what to do, let's screw up the provincial offices as well"

Wonder if those that run the the immigration service ever took an exam and passed?

[chrisinth]

Many airlines 'WILL NOT' check you in more than 3 hours ahead of your scheduled flight time. The airport honchos are absolutely stupid. What does a immigration official DO at the check out that takes more than a couple days to train? There isn't a staff shortage at the airport, there is a brain and common sense shortage. My God, the guy/girl sits there, looks at my 'Yes, I came to Thailand' card, stamps it and I go wait in the security line. When they get back up why don't they speed up the lines by not looking so closely at the papers, just stamp the dam_n passport and let us be on our way. What are they trying to catch there at immigration out processing anyway? Speed the line out of country by not being so darned efficient.

"If they rush and let through fake passports or wanted criminals they can be jailed"

Might have something to do with it

[mortenaa]

Agree with this COMPLETELY! 1C/BIZ is an airline matter and has nothing to do with immigration, which is a government matter..

Same same, but different? Its all under the same roof, hence the airport, which is run by a company. In many aspects of society would you find Public / Private partnerships and collaboration?

[Arkady]

What sort of fool thinks because he paid a 1st or Business class fare he is ENTITLED to be treated with priority on the ground. You pay the airline but the government runs Immigration services.

You're just acting like a fool. They have paid for this services. The airline have to PAY for these service to AOT. This service includes priority bus service, priority baggage handling, and of course priority immigration!

Of course the airlines pay for the extra immigration officers (two per shift) required for this service and obviously the officers, who are apparently whinging about having to work on the econ desks, like this easy, low pressure work which they no doubt have to give presents to superiors to get. There is obviously no point in scrapping something paid for by others that the staff enjoy working on but it is a good excuse to increase the official cost and as well as solicit bribes to lobby against scrapping the service.

[Kananga]

So does it mean there wont be any more fast track for Biz and 1st class passenger during rush hours ? but all planes from Europe usually arrived at the same period of time from 6 to 7am .... so , you pay your ticket more than double and you have to queue like anyone else ? how nice is that ..... Now they ask us to arrive earlier to avoid missing flight ... what about arriving one day in advance , stay at Novotel airport hotel..will be be enough time ? This is crazy ...

You paid for a class of travel on an airline, not Bangkok airport. Complain to your airline and maybe they will contract with the airport to allow their passengers special express lanes as some airlines do in other parts of the world.

Thats actually incorrect. The airport receives a larger sum per passenger for travellers in business and first from the airlines over passengers in economy. Therefore the business and first travellers do indirectly provide the airport with larger revenue per capita than economy passengers. The lower numbers also means less resources are required to process them through immigration, baggage handling, toilet cleaning etc.

[orchidlady]

The last couple of times I have departed Thailand, the immigration officer(whether male or female) decides it would be fun to look at my complete passport-I have lived here over 4 years, have had a work permits and multiple re-entries every year.

I guess they need to verify the work of the immig officers at Chaeng Wattana who re-approved my non-immig B extensions of stay each year...maybe they did not match the arrival with the departure three years ago? They really only need to check the past year if you have a work permit/multiple re-entry...the prior years should have been checked at Chaeng Wattana.

Or maybe they are just nosy and want to know where I have traveled to? Maybe they are looking to see if I have not exited/re-entered every 90 days to catch a possible fine (as I have traveled so much i have only needed to file one 90 day report) This adds many minutes to the time at the desk. I even have my Thai government ID in my passport-a Thai colleague suggested it as a possible timesaver.

[mortenaa]

So does it mean there wont be any more fast track for Biz and 1st class passenger during rush hours ? but all planes from Europe usually arrived at the same period of time from 6 to 7am .... so , you pay your ticket more than double and you have to queue like anyone else ?

You paid for a nicer seat on the plane and better food. No reason you should get preferential treatment from immigration at the airport.

You pay for business class treatment all the way. The airlines have to pay extra for this services, also at the immigration. Think about being a businessperson, traveling 200 days a year, and have to spend 4 hours in line, getting in and out of Thailand. Sometimes envy is bigger than reason..

No, you really DON'T pay for business class treatment all the way... unless you somehow saw it in the fare rules of the ticket.

Yes you do. Thai Airways state, I quote: At Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, Royal Silk Class passengers have, before they proceed to any of six Royal Silk lounges, their own exclusive check-in lounge with separate fast-track immigration channels.

http://www.thaiairwaysusa.com/flight-information/royal-silk-class.html

They have their own counters, escalators and everything leading you straight into the lounge. No-way this is going to be removed