Phuket airport Immigration "schemes"

[lowprofile]

Arrived last night to a pretty full arrivals hall and a lot of unhappy people. 4 counters with long queues and 6 counters serving an "express" service. Use the normal queue and wait 45 minutes ++ or pay 100 Baht and wait 2 or 3 minutes in the express lane. Lots of people so pissed off with waiting on the normal lanes finally submit to the 100 Baht charge. When that flow has stopped the 6 officers on those desks simply kick back and have a chat, leaving still long queues on the normal desks.

I got "lucky" as they finally opened 2 extra desks up after 45 minutes. Lots of others would have had to wait for up to another 15 minutes at the rate the stamping was going on, though.

It was not like there was a shortage of officers on duty, there were 4 directing people to the express lane....

Why oh why they can not just have the single line for the hall and someone directing you to a short queue at a desk is beyond me. Oh, hang on a minute, maybe not. They have been exposed for charging the Chinese 500 Baht to get in and when that ended there was a 20 Baht charge to leave (seen it with my own eyes) now they need some other scheme and this, at least, looks legitimate though highly unethical.

The first impressions of a country which a tourist gets are (in my opinion):

1) toilets

2) arrival hall

3) transport from airport

The toilets are the best point of those three. Perhaps the cleaning company should be put in charge of the other two.

[LivinginKata]

An 'express' lane for immigration at airport arrivals ? Never heard of that before.

[fiddlehead]

Are they giving receipts for that 100 baht?

[nedkellylives]

I would pay 100 baht to get thru immigration any day if it only takes three minutes

to be processed and out of the airport after a flight here, if they had a express service

on luggage to it would be great

[steelepulse]

Is it a "scheme" or a "scam" to generate extra income? Sounds completely illegitimate. Seems now would not be the best time to be gathering attention for sideline businesses run via a government organization, what with the Army and all being in town and cracking the whip.

Perhaps OP can contact the General on his number under the pinned thread above.

[NamKangMan]

In true Phuket style, there will end up being 9 "express lanes" for 100 baht, and 1 lane for free, with a 3 hour wait, thus, really leaving everyone with no choice but to pay.

What about those first time tourists that have no baht?

[LivinginKata]

Maybe a phone call might stop this - Major General Praveen Pongsirin 081 8936083

[NamKangMan]

Maybe a phone call might stop this - Major General Praveen Pongsirin 081 8936083

Maybe so, but where is the supervision of these Immigration Officers?

Who sanctioned this scheme and/or scam? He/she has the audacity to allow it, whilst the Army is in town, seemingly with impunity.

They need to be arrested also, because if not, 100 baht soon becomes 200 baht, and so on, and a 45 minute wait becomes 3 hours, and all before tourists have left the airport and had the pleasure of dealing with the airport taxis.

[Valentine]

Good grief, what next. Seems like a pretty blatant scam to me.

[tolsti]

I meet people at the airport every week, am legal and badged. None of our clients, of all nationalities, at all times of the day and night, have mentioned this to me or my team. I will be there again this weekend and will ask specifically about this issue. What time was the OP coming in?

[NamKangMan]

Good grief, what next. Seems like a pretty blatant scam to me.

As the Police, under the supervision of the Army, dismantle some of the long standing illegal businesses, monopolies and rip offs and scams - I predict crime will rise and new scams and rip offs will take the place of the old ones.

Edited July 2, 2014 by NamKangMan

[KarenBravo]

Maybe a phone call might stop this - Major General Praveen Pongsirin 081 8936083

Good grief!

You think he might have more important things to do?

Responding to complaints just from Thaivisa posters would be a full time job for two people.

Why not try contacting some one in immigration first, if you're that worried about it?

Personally, I would pay that 100 Bt if it gets me through quicker.

Edited July 2, 2014 by KarenBravo

[Bulldozer Dawn]

I met an aussie friend of a friend at a bar last week. He also told me he was subject of this scam upon arrival at Phuket airport last week. He is a big drinker and so I thought it was merely a misunderstanding or just bar talk.

However this thread would appear to validate his information.

What a shameless scam.

Create a bottleneck and then make a user pay express lane.

Absolutely shameless.

Oh well, I guess they have to find some new tea money avenues now that the VOA punters are being edited out with the crack down.

[NamKangMan]

Maybe a phone call might stop this - Major General Praveen Pongsirin 081 8936083

Good grief!

You think he might have more important things to do?

Responding to complaints just from Thaivisa posters would be a full time job for two people.

Why not try contacting some one in immigration first, if you're that worried about it?

Personally, I would pay that 100 Bt if it gets me through quicker.

So, you would be prepared to pay the 100 baht.

Can I ask, where is your "line in the sand?" I mean, can you tell me what you would not be prepared to pay, because if this is allowed to continue, of course the price will rise, and keep rising, and as it's entry, and they'll probably start doing it for exit as well, to/from Thailand, you have no choice but to pay.

What will you do when they raise the price to the figure you are not prepared to pay?

It's corruption by Governmnet officials, committed in full public view. It's a disgrace.

Seriously, how long before Customs do the same thing and decide they will serch everone, but for 100 baht you can go on their "express lane" for their BS search, which will be no more than opening the top of your suitcase.

[YaiJung]

My extended family arrived at phuket airport in the last two days and paid $5 per adult for the fast lane. They said the slow lane was a nightmare. Now I understand.

[Bulldozer Dawn]

So if you are a Korean and in the express lane do you have to show 20K THB cash plus 150THB.

[surangw]

do the vip passes the airlines give the first class passengers work in this lane ?

[lowprofile]

I meet people at the airport every week, am legal and badged. None of our clients, of all nationalities, at all times of the day and night, have mentioned this to me or my team. I will be there again this weekend and will ask specifically about this issue. What time was the OP coming in?

Emirates from DXB at 20:00 on Tue evening.

For the posts suggesting a call to the General, not sure I want to go there, calls can be traced. I'm not even terribly happy saying what flight I was on! Immigration Police have the ability to make life very hard if they wanted to.

[NamKangMan]

My extended family arrived at phuket airport in the last two days and paid $5 per adult for the fast lane. They said the slow lane was a nightmare. Now I understand.

"paid $5 per adult for the fast lane" - I gather you are talking about $5USD. So, they are accepting other currecies. $5USD is about 160 baht.

It's a disgrace.

[falkan]

it's official? you get a receipt? or their own - fasttrack - ?

[iSabai]

Maybe a phone call might stop this - Major General Praveen Pongsirin 081 8936083

Good grief!

You think he might have more important things to do?

Responding to complaints just from Thaivisa posters would be a full time job for two people.

Why not try contacting some one in immigration first, if you're that worried about it?

Personally, I would pay that 100 Bt if it gets me through quicker.

Only two people? I think you severely underestimate the complaining prowess of Thai Visa posters!

Edited July 2, 2014 by iSabai

[KarenBravo]

Maybe a phone call might stop this - Major General Praveen Pongsirin 081 8936083

Good grief!

You think he might have more important things to do?

Responding to complaints just from Thaivisa posters would be a full time job for two people.

Why not try contacting some one in immigration first, if you're that worried about it?

Personally, I would pay that 100 Bt if it gets me through quicker.

So, you would be prepared to pay the 100 baht.

Can I ask, where is your "line in the sand?" I mean, can you tell me what you would not be prepared to pay, because if this is allowed to continue, of course the price will rise, and keep rising, and as it's entry, and they'll probably start doing it for exit as well, to/from Thailand, you have no choice but to pay.

What will you do when they raise the price to the figure you are not prepared to pay?

It's corruption by Governmnet officials, committed in full public view. It's a disgrace.

Seriously, how long before Customs do the same thing and decide they will serch everone, but for 100 baht you can go on their "express lane" for their BS search, which will be no more than opening the top of your suitcase.

When my personal "line in the sand" is crossed, I'll switch to the slow lane.

[Bucko]

What about families ?? 100b EACH ??----not a good start to a holiday & maybe first impressions of the Country

[simon43]

This scam has been going on for years. I am regularly at the airport between midnight and 4am, when the police presence and immigration supervisor presence is all but non-existent.

I do not believe though, that the immigration managers are unaware of this scam - that would be pushing the realms of reality too far.

One reason for the long delays at immigration in the wee small hours is not enough immigration desks open and little or no assistance for arriving passengers to correctly complete their TM (arrival) cards.

Bear in mind that many flights from China arrive at these times. Many (MANY!!) of these passengers cannot read/write English (from my daily experience with hotel guests, this is a fact), and need close assistance in completing the TM forms.

Suggestion - Employ some immigration assistants at night who speak Thai/English/Chinese. Or make sure that the tour 'marshal' for each tourist group helps everyone to complete their TM cards correctly BEFORE they arrive en masse at the immigration counter.

Also... do a little simple maths on how much this scam could be earning these immigration officers each month - the sums are enormous...

Will the powers kick out these immigration officers if this scam is exposed? No! The simple reason being that there is no-one to replace them, (the airport recently recruited additional immigration officers from Hat Yai airport).

Edited July 3, 2014 by simon43

[NamKangMan]

Maybe a phone call might stop this - Major General Praveen Pongsirin 081 8936083

Good grief!

You think he might have more important things to do?

Responding to complaints just from Thaivisa posters would be a full time job for two people.

Why not try contacting some one in immigration first, if you're that worried about it?

Personally, I would pay that 100 Bt if it gets me through quicker.

So, you would be prepared to pay the 100 baht.

Can I ask, where is your "line in the sand?" I mean, can you tell me what you would not be prepared to pay, because if this is allowed to continue, of course the price will rise, and keep rising, and as it's entry, and they'll probably start doing it for exit as well, to/from Thailand, you have no choice but to pay.

What will you do when they raise the price to the figure you are not prepared to pay?

It's corruption by Governmnet officials, committed in full public view. It's a disgrace.

Seriously, how long before Customs do the same thing and decide they will serch everone, but for 100 baht you can go on their "express lane" for their BS search, which will be no more than opening the top of your suitcase.

When my personal "line in the sand" is crossed, I'll switch to the slow lane.

In baht, what is your "personal line in the sand?"

[NamKangMan]

This scam has been going on for years. I am regularly at the airport between midnight and 4am, when the police presence and immigration supervisor presence is all but non-existent.

I do not believe though, that the immigration managers are unaware of this scam - that would be pushing the realms of reality too far.

One reason for the long delays at immigration in the wee small hours is not enough immigration desks open and little or no assistance for arriving passengers to correctly complete their TM (arrival) cards.

Bear in mind that many flights from China arrive at these times. Many (MANY!!) of these passengers cannot read/write English (from my daily experience with hotel guests, this is a fact), and need close assistance in completing the TM forms.

Suggestion - Employ some immigration assistants at night who speak Thai/English/Chinese. Or make sure that the tour 'marshal' for each tourist group helps everyone to complete their TM cards correctly BEFORE they arrive en masse at the immigration counter.

Also... do a little simple maths on how much this scam could be earning these immigration officers each month - the sums are enormous...

Will the powers kick out these immigration officers if this scam is exposed? No! The simple reason being that there is no-one to replace them, (the airport recently recruited additional immigration officers from Hat Yai airport).

"tour marshal" - is tour "marshalling" an occupation reserved for Thai's?

[KarenBravo]

So, you would be prepared to pay the 100 baht.

Can I ask, where is your "line in the sand?" I mean, can you tell me what you would not be prepared to pay, because if this is allowed to continue, of course the price will rise, and keep rising, and as it's entry, and they'll probably start doing it for exit as well, to/from Thailand, you have no choice but to pay.

What will you do when they raise the price to the figure you are not prepared to pay?

It's corruption by Governmnet officials, committed in full public view. It's a disgrace.

Seriously, how long before Customs do the same thing and decide they will serch everone, but for 100 baht you can go on their "express lane" for their BS search, which will be no more than opening the top of your suitcase.

When my personal "line in the sand" is crossed, I'll switch to the slow lane.

In baht, what is your "personal line in the sand?"

I'll let you know when it happens.

[simon43]

"tour marshal" - is tour "marshalling" an occupation reserved for Thai's?

Seems not. I often see Scandanavians employed by TUI at the airport marshaling their arriving/departing tourists. I suppose marshaling/cajoling is not the same as 'guiding'

[FritsSikkink]

An 'express' lane for immigration at airport arrivals ? Never heard of that before.

If you fly business there is (in BKK).

Edited July 3, 2014 by FritsSikkink

[SeaVisionBurma]

Interesting.

They were asking for 50 baht in departures a couple of weeks ago, and they were getting a few customers too.