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

[verywierd]

As with most rules there are acceptations, and Changi is definitely a great airport. But again, it's not as big as BKK .....

Per Airports Council International stats:

Changi International 2011 traffic - 46.5 million

BKK Suvarnabhumi 2011 traffic - 47.9 million

[bigbamboo]

Did anyone else out there get stamped 60 days for some odd reason coming into the country? It happened to me last month, and while I'm very happy about this, I am wondering why. I'm usually stamped 30 days upon a return flight from Cambodia. I even double checked with a different officer at the luggage carousel. She looked at the passport and said, "It's for 60 days. Is that enough for you?" I nearly peed in my pants with happiness. "Yes, kap!"

If you are stamped wrong you still need to pay overstay.

I bet you now wondering if maybe you should go to Immigration after 30 days any way......just in case!

[metisdead]

A profane flame post has been removed.

[richard_smith237]

Did anyone else out there get stamped 60 days for some odd reason coming into the country? It happened to me last month, and while I'm very happy about this, I am wondering why. I'm usually stamped 30 days upon a return flight from Cambodia. I even double checked with a different officer at the luggage carousel. She looked at the passport and said, "It's for 60 days. Is that enough for you?" I nearly peed in my pants with happiness. "Yes, kap!"

If you are stamped wrong you still need to pay overstay.

I'm not so sure you are giving correct information. What makes the stamp incorrect? If you have a stamp in your passport from an immigration officer and they initialed it then it's correct. It's up to them if they chose to give you more or less days. I would hardly go telling folks they have to pay over stay cause their stamp is wrong.

I have read threads before where the poster claimed the stamp was incorrect and was penalised accordingly.

Apparently the ownus is on the passport holder to ensure the correct stamp has been applied. I always double check mine.

i.e.

a) If I am due for a 2 month Non Imm type B visa and they only stamp 30 days - thats my fault for not clearing it up at the time. I get 30 days.

If I am due a 30 Day visa exempt stamp, but get 60 days by mistake - Its my fault for not checking and clearing it up at the time, if I stay 60 days it would be classed as a 30 day overstay.

[Jayman]

Did anyone else out there get stamped 60 days for some odd reason coming into the country? It happened to me last month, and while I'm very happy about this, I am wondering why. I'm usually stamped 30 days upon a return flight from Cambodia. I even double checked with a different officer at the luggage carousel. She looked at the passport and said, "It's for 60 days. Is that enough for you?" I nearly peed in my pants with happiness. "Yes, kap!"

If you are stamped wrong you still need to pay overstay.

I'm not so sure you are giving correct information. What makes the stamp incorrect? If you have a stamp in your passport from an immigration officer and they initialed it then it's correct. It's up to them if they chose to give you more or less days. I would hardly go telling folks they have to pay over stay cause their stamp is wrong.

I have read threads before where the poster claimed the stamp was incorrect and was penalised accordingly.

Apparently the ownus is on the passport holder to ensure the correct stamp has been applied. I always double check mine.

i.e.

a) If I am due for a 2 month Non Imm type B visa and they only stamp 30 days - thats my fault for not clearing it up at the time. I get 30 days.

If I am due a 30 Day visa exempt stamp, but get 60 days by mistake - Its my fault for not checking and clearing it up at the time, if I stay 60 days it would be classed as a 30 day overstay.

If you say so.. This doesn't at all sound correct to me but TIT so you could be right. I was unaware it's our job and responsibility to QA the government employees here. If they give me too few days then of course I would say something but that doesn't mean it was a mistake. They have every right to give you too few days if they wish. The final say comes down to the officer issuing the stamp. If it was truly a mistake and I bring it to their attention to get more days then hopefully they will fix it on the spot. But if they stamp me too many days then what immigration law/regulation states that you don't go by the date stamped in your passport and must go by what the stamp your friend got which has now been deemed the "correct" stamp?

[longtom]

Did anyone else out there get stamped 60 days for some odd reason coming into the country? It happened to me last month, and while I'm very happy about this, I am wondering why. I'm usually stamped 30 days upon a return flight from Cambodia. I even double checked with a different officer at the luggage carousel. She looked at the passport and said, "It's for 60 days. Is that enough for you?" I nearly peed in my pants with happiness. "Yes, kap!"

If you are stamped wrong you still need to pay overstay.

I'm not so sure you are giving correct information. What makes the stamp incorrect? If you have a stamp in your passport from an immigration officer and they initialed it then it's correct. It's up to them if they chose to give you more or less days. I would hardly go telling folks they have to pay over stay cause their stamp is wrong.

TAWP is right on this, had to pay overstay once because the immigration officer gave me a wrong stamp (31 days instead of 30).

[Jayman]

Did anyone else out there get stamped 60 days for some odd reason coming into the country? It happened to me last month, and while I'm very happy about this, I am wondering why. I'm usually stamped 30 days upon a return flight from Cambodia. I even double checked with a different officer at the luggage carousel. She looked at the passport and said, "It's for 60 days. Is that enough for you?" I nearly peed in my pants with happiness. "Yes, kap!"

If you are stamped wrong you still need to pay overstay.

I'm not so sure you are giving correct information. What makes the stamp incorrect? If you have a stamp in your passport from an immigration officer and they initialed it then it's correct. It's up to them if they chose to give you more or less days. I would hardly go telling folks they have to pay over stay cause their stamp is wrong.

TAWP is right on this, had to pay overstay once because the immigration officer gave me a wrong stamp (31 days instead of 30).

You had to pay overstay for 1 day? I have overstayed 1 day before and they let me go without any fine. On the 2nd day then you end up paying for both days. In fact, it's even printed on the sign at the airport immigration check when you depart.

Edited March 13, 2012 by Jayman

[metisdead]

An off topic post and the replies to that post have been removed.

[longtom]

You had to pay overstay for 1 day? I have overstayed 1 day before and they let me go without any fine. On the 2nd day then you end up paying for both days. In fact, it's even printed on the sign at the airport immigration check when you depart.

Puhh, a bit stubborn aren't we? I payed this 1 day overstay about 4 years ago at the Andaman club in Ranong, the immigration officer clearly stated it's my duty to check the validity of the stamp. If you don't believe me I'll copy the respective passport pages and send it to you with PM, but only if you pay for a beer or two .

Enough now.

[gamini]

I observed that female immigration counter officfers are much quicker than male in most asian countries.Anyone else?

[ALFREDO]

Heathrow is bad, though not as bad as BKK. I have now given up flying into the UK through Heathrow. Luckily there are plenty of other options where immigration lines are negligible and connections to my ultimate destination are readily available. Not so easy in Thailand - flying to Chiang Mai first is not (yet!) practical.

To those who suggest that long lines are a problem at every international airport ... ever visited Singapore?

Kuala Lumpur International-Sepang is also a smooth easy Immigration.

[HereIAm]

Usually the immigration at arrivals is faster than that at departure. I get it now. They love to see me come in but hate to see me leave. So they make it harder for all of us precious tourists to leave. Why not simply extend the visa period instead so we can all stay for longer, thereby reducing the departures and the load on the hard working staff, and thereby freeing the riot police ?

[HereIAm]

Heathrow is bad, though not as bad as BKK. I have now given up flying into the UK through Heathrow. Luckily there are plenty of other options where immigration lines are negligible and connections to my ultimate destination are readily available. Not so easy in Thailand - flying to Chiang Mai first is not (yet!) practical.

To those who suggest that long lines are a problem at every international airport ... ever visited Singapore?

Kuala Lumpur International-Sepang is also a smooth easy Immigration.

Actually even Mumbai airport, with all its constraints of space, and shoddiness everywhere, achieves rapid immigration clearance both at arrivals and departures.

Edited March 13, 2012 by HereIAm

[scotsdude]

i was 2hrs 45mins to get through last thursday coming in to bkk... they will need riot police if they try to jump queues again like 3 smartasses tried to do... even the ladies waiting were ready to have a go..

[BarryM]

I doubt that fast track general cip will be suspended as these passes are sold to travel agents at 250b each way. A nice little earner. More than a few well connected travel agents would be upset too. They resell the passes at around 1000 b, quite a nice margin.

As for sacred Thai airways losing its dedicated fast track lanes, who are you kidding?

[catmac]

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.

You do realise that you come across as an arrogant prick, don't you?

When I travel biz class, I accept all the goodies that the AIRLINE provide, and for which I am paying for, however I don't expect immigration or any other non-airline agency to grovel at my feet.

[SICHONSTEVE]

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 ...

How terribly inconvenient it must be to have to queue like everyone else - simple solution, pay half the fare, travel in economy and queue like everyone else!!!!

[KeyserSoze01]

I go through the first class section. Sometimes I have to wait 5 minutes.

You mean you "used to" go through the first class section. As per the article, they have done away with that service. So now you will have to stand in line with everyone else.

[theblether]

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.

Nonsense.........you pay for the whole travel experience including access to the lounges and priority handling and immigration control.......simple.

[TAWP]

How terribly inconvenient it must be to have to queue like everyone else - simple solution, pay half the fare, travel in economy and queue like everyone else!!!!

People that wanna save, are poor etc, want to travel economy.

But if you have to travel for work it is a different thing.

[Baerboxer]

yes, no need for the separate line at the arrivals for the first and business. In no any other country I have seen it. Good move from the emigration authority

Try looking harder - Heathrow for one. Ever wondered what the priority lanes are for?

[WilliaminBKK]

Closing Fast Track for premium travellers is a huge mistake, folks who are in F/J are usually on business and should have the perk of fast entry/exit. Another option for heavily travelled routes say SIN is to have pre-clearance THAI officials posted there, like the US does in Canada/Bermuda/Ireland

APIS seems to work in most countries, Advanced Passenger Information, at least the basics are entered and simply verified.

[MaiChai]

Can I hazard a guess in saying being an immigration officer isn't that interesting? Thus why they want to transfer/promote up to other jobs? Stamping passports in and out all day would drive me nuts...

[MZurf]

If I wasn't one of the sufferers I would find it funny, it still is in a pathetic sort of way. If Suvarnabhumi airport can't behave like a major transport hub it should stop claiming to be one. I have started flying in and out around midnight it reduces the crush.

How can leaving at midnight reduce the crush - almost all the Europe bound flights leave around that time?

[faxx]

You pay more for getting a better service in the air - and not on the ground. Don't get it wrong.

Business and First Class passengers pay for far more than a better service and seat. Preferred backage handling, customs and immigration is part of the price as this was agreed upon when ticket was paid for. It's the same in many countries like US, Germany, Singapore .... I think the only country where it does not work is the Philippines LOL

Edited March 13, 2012 by faxx

[Nisa]

yes, no need for the separate line at the arrivals for the first and business. In no any other country I have seen it. Good move from the emigration authority

Try looking harder - Heathrow for one. Ever wondered what the priority lanes are for?

I've never been to Heathrow but in the US the airlines will pay to have faster security lines for their select customers. I've never noticed it in any customs line anywhere though I have started seeing something you can sign up for to make getting through customs faster ... I can't remember the name. I honestly cannot think of any reason why they would treat different class passengers differently when going through customs unless the airlines are paying for this service.

[TobiasMattsson]

I don't really know about the 2-3 hour queues when leaving cause every time I have left BKK it took me maybe 20 minutes departing early in the morning and around midnight.

When I arrived on March 8 from Hong Kong at 9 pm it took me between 4 min 30 sec - 5 min sharp to clear immigration.

I followed everyones advice to see how long the queues were and picked a line that I guessed should have been an aprox 15-20 min.

In less than a minute they opened a new counter and I was number 4-5 in line. 3 minutes later they opened a second booth just when it was my turn.

The thing that caught my attention exempt for the speedy line was that there wasn't too many people waiting as it used to be but I guess that they expected more passengers in the next 10-20 minutes or so.

The only downer was I had to wait for my bag up to 35-40 minutes so the speedy immigration was great but it still took me 45-50 minutes to disembark my aircraft and clear the airport.

[Nisa]

My question re: hiring female riot police to "speed up" Swampy immigration: Are they going beat the crap out of the tourists in line waiting to spend lots of dough in the LOS, or beat the crap out the slow moving Thai Immigration Officers???

It is our last opportunity before leaving to hear what a handsome man we are.

[faxx]

I've never been to Heathrow but in the US the airlines will pay to have faster security lines for their select customers. I've never noticed it in any customs line anywhere though I have started seeing something you can sign up for to make getting through customs faster ... I can't remember the name. I honestly cannot think of any reason why they would treat different class passengers differently when going through customs unless the airlines are paying for this service.

In many airports First Class passengers are picked up right at the gate and brought to priority tracks. Yes, airlines pay for it, of course. It's a small chunk out of a 8k$ intercontinental airfare.

[Satcommlee]

When travelling through Fast Trak in Suvarnabuhmi, the first thing the immigration officer will ask you for is the Fast Trak Card. The wages of immigration/security officers in premium lanes are paid for by the ticket holder/airline etc..

In the UK for example, Premium lanes are often manned by Immigration officers on overtime, something that simply couldn't be provided unless someone was footing the bill. (source: CNN FastTrack program)

So don't moan about Fast Track, there is a reason why Business Class costs 3 to 4 times more than economy class and it ain't just for a comfy seat.

I would never pay for business class myself, but my company pays it because they don't want me in the queues for hours, they want me in the lounge with laptop working, or out of that airport and on the job ASAP.