Immigration Bureau Prepared For Opening Of New Airport

[george]

Immigration Bureau prepared for opening of new airport

BANGKOK: -- The Immigration Bureau is ready for Suvarnabhumi International Airport’s commercial opening on September 28.

Immigration Bureau Chief Pol.Lt. Gen. Suwat Thamrongsrisakul said officers have been trained and assigned to 124 checkpoints in the arrival section of the passenger terminal and 72 in the departure section.

All immigration officers have undergone English language training sessions.

Data has shown that it should take the average passenger 20 seconds to pass immigration, although in some cases it may take a bit longer if there are questions.

Gen. Suwat said airlines have been requested to submit passenger data ahead of an aircraft’s arrival in order to quicken immigration procedures, in particular for large tour groups. This kind of arrangement is currently in use in many other countries.

--TNA 2006-09-03

[farangsay]

Wow !

They weren't caught by surprise then.

Somebody must have sent them a memo !

[Po Moat]

20 seconds to pass immigration!? I guess most of us will fall into the category "other cases" then...

[Veritas]

Immigration Bureau prepared for opening of new airport

Data has shown that it should take the average passenger 20 seconds to pass immigration, although in some cases it may take a bit longer if there are questions.

Gen. Suwat said airlines have been requested to submit passenger data ahead of an aircraft’s arrival in order to quicken immigration procedures, in particular for large tour groups. This kind of arrangement is currently in use in many other countries.

--TNA 2006-09-03

It takes longer than that to pass through the thai nationals desk. I'll give them a clue, an airbus from the uk contains a lot of British tourists.

Veritas

[Rinrada]

Always found it quicker to go through Customs/immigration at Don M.that London Heathrow but on the other hand whos ever in a rush anyway?...at D/M that is..phut cha cha...

[julius]

Last time I visited Bangkok I was waiting in line for one hour, they had a trainee immigration officer, lets hope everybody well educated now

[britmaveric]

20sec?? I'd rather have them take their time and not let someone in that shouldnt be.

[Oliver Reed]

Show me how you can get through immigration in 20 seconds, and i will show you a part of my anatomy that i need a mirror to see myself..... dream on spokesperson

[britmaveric]

Come to think of it, if its just the low budget and TG might be possible for quick pass through, but 20sec is a tad optimistic.

[Oswulf]

I suspect they mean 20 seconds per passenger to process, so if there are 100 passengers ahead of you in the queue, that's a loooooong wait.

That said, whenever I've arrived at Changi airport, there has never been a queue ahead of me, and I barely slow my walking pace to pass through immigration there - far less than 20 seconds.

[romulus]

That said, whenever I've arrived at Changi airport, there has never been a queue ahead of me, and I barely slow my walking pace to pass through immigration there - far less than 20 seconds.

That's you probably arrive during non-peak periods. Changi probably is able to space out their flights and give enough lead time for each flight. That said, I've never had a looong queue in front me either. At most maybe 8-10 people. I also notice that during the busier periods, they have more staff to man the counters. I think the Thai authorities can staff their counters with peak flows in mind.

Edited September 4, 2006 by romulus

[yankeechief]

Seeing is believing, these boys couldn't find thier backside in a snow storm. They do not have the mentality, nor the interest or the desire to be effective.

[threelegcowboy]

All,

Maybe 20 sec to access your records on the computer. No way to process you in and out in 20 seconds.

LLL

[terry57]

cricky's people get a grip will you,

thats thai time 20 seconds, and not western 20 seconds.

exlains the the post does'nt it. ?

cheers friends

[BigSnake]

My guess is they are as ready as they can be; as with all new things there is NO DOUBT there are many BUGS to be workout(ie new equipment out of order, new employees not up to speed, etc etc)

[dunque]

All,

Maybe 20 sec to access your records on the computer. No way to process you in and out in 20 seconds.

LLL

I am not sure, but 124 checkpoints in the incoming section sounds an awful lot more than at Don Muang so maybe, even though 20 seconds obviously refers to the per passenger throughput, it is possible that the overall experience at peak times will be better. Having experienced 30 minutes in Heathrow's terminal 3 free for all last night I would not like to criticise too much !

[jaapfries]

Show me how you can get through immigration in 20 seconds, and i will show you a part of my anatomy that i need a mirror to see myself..... dream on spokesperson

How big IS your stomach then ? ? ? ? - and are you absolutely sure that anyone is actually desirous of seeing that part of your anatomy your are possibly referring to ? ? ? ?

You can count me out, mate !

[souldesire]

Maybe lessons in politeness would also come in handy

[jaapfries]

Maybe lessons in politeness would also come in handy

Are you making this particular comment as a "general" remark, or could it be that you are referring to a particular posting ? ? ?

Sure keeping people guessing, 'souldesire' or are you trying to emulate Mr. Toxin, perhaps ?

[spicypete]

just wondering... is everyone stupid or just acting stupid?

when they say it takes 20 seconds to clear immigration, they mean once you get to see an immigration officer, it only takes 20 seconds on average before your pasport is stamped and you are on your way. so if 15 people are ahead of you in the line, it should take aproximately 5 minutes before you get to the front of the line and see the immigation officer, and 20 seconds more before you are on your way. I think if you go to any magor airport in the world, this is considered very fast.

Edited September 4, 2006 by spicypete

[OzMan_Bkk]

To be fair to the officers at Don Muang, they could process a plane load a lot faster if all the desks were manned. The fault is not the poor bugger stamping your passport it is the management that runs on half the staff they need.

124 points at Cobra Swamp ? I believe that. 124 officers manning those points ? Yeah right !!! A system is only as good as the people who run it so smile at that bloke or sheila going through your passport. It ain't their fault.

[jaidee]

To all those pesimistic guy's.....

Passed Don Muang airport two (2) days ago within in 20 seconds.

Hold it there is definitively improvement !!!

[kwat nueng]

So they are giving them training in how to speak English and how to work at an airport.

Does this mean that the had neither of the above at Don Muang?

[mr.buffalo]

Who said they were recruited from D.M.?

[veteran]

TIT:

[Maestro]

Maybe lessons in politeness would also come in handy

For the arriving passengers?

--------------

Maestro

[salty]

I am glad I will not be passing through the new airport in its early days of operation.

[Suzy]

Training in the English language is not sufficient for the Immigration Authorities at the airport - old or new. (or at Suan Plu!) They need instructions in diplomacy, politeness, efficiency, communication, customer service etc.

My last visit thru the airport in mid July, the immigration officers (1 male - 1 female) in the re-entry pemit cubicle were unbelievedly rude. They must have had lessons from the Suan Plu office, where when I got my visa renewed in June I waited for 3 hours was then told there was an error with no further explanation given, and then ordered to sit down until after the lunch period. They may not close for lunch but they certainly don't work through the lunch hour. One applicant with a problem on an unstamped exit and entry was told to go away, it was his problem, up to him when he asked for advice, and was told he gave the officer a headache, and she stormed out of the office, not coming back for around two hours. All that from a senior officer.

I doubt the efficiency will improve at the new airport. It is ridiculous to compare Lomdon Heathrow with Bangkok. Heathrow deals in thousands a day and processes them quickly and efficiently. Bangkok deals with a feew hundred and hour and takes up to five minutes per person.

[EmptyMind]

Usually when I enter Thailand there are rows of empty counters and only 5 staff who are either chatting to each other or have a mobi stuck to their ear so not only do you have to wait for ages in a line but the staff are so busy in thier own chat that they even bash your Passports with the wrong stamps. So much for a countries First Line Of Defence !!!

And indeed today when I left Thailand, the guy yet again had his mobi stuck to his ear and simply looked for a space to bash his stamp.

Who the ###### allows these pple to chat away to their mates when they should be Thailands front line ? Amazing but true and what a joke

[bamseA]

20 sec to enter Thailand

what about when you are

leaving the Kingdom