Terminal confusion, immigration delays strike at Phuket Airport

[snoop1130]

Terminal confusion, immigration delays strike at Phuket Airport

The Phuket News

 

 

PHUKET:-- Passengers hoping to board their departing flights at Phuket International Airport on time are strongly advised to arrive early as confusion over which terminal to depart from and long immigration queues have plagued travellers since the opening of the new International Terminal on last Friday (Sept 16).
 

The official opening of the new International Terminal, dedicated by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, on Friday has left many travellers confused over which terminal to depart from, one senior Airports of Thailand* staffer, who asked not to be named, told The Phuket News.

 

“Since the opening of the new International Terminal, many passengers are not sure where to check-in and most drivers just drop off passengers at the old terminal,” he said.

 

“We have even seen some passengers drag their luggage from terminal to the other,” he added.

 

The new terminal, as its name indicates, is dedicated to international flights, while the old terminal is now dedicated to serving domestic flights only, the airport staffer explained.

 

“We are putting up signs to help direct passengers to where they need to be and we now have staff on the concourse to advise them,” he said.

 

“We want the public to know that the old passenger building is for domestic flights only and that the new terminal is for international flights,” he repeated.

 

“It is quite normal for any new facility to have a rough start. We apologise for any inconvenience, but we assure you that it will get better once everything is in place,” he added.

Full Story: http://www.thephuketnews.com/terminal-confusion-immigration-delays-strike-at-phuket-airport-59186.php#CzWBxiK4zXOXjbfG.97

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2016-09-21

[Xircal]

They should erect signs around the perimeter to direct traffic arriving at the airport with passengers taking international flights to point them towards the correct dropoff terminal.

 

Waiting until passengers have left the vehicle, but at the wrong terminal is only going to add to the chaos such as we see in the image.

[ChrisY1]

"but we assure you that it will get better once everything is in place,” he added."

So are we to assume that this terminal wasn't ready to be opened..........?

[KarenBravo]

They had a "test-run", but, only used a single flight from China.

It went without a hitch and was deemed a success.

As the whole terminal's different departments and staff were focused on serving a single plane, then, the result wasn't exactly unexpected.

Of course, when real conditions commenced with multiple arrivals and departures, no one was ready. Another result that wasn't exactly unexpected.

[Soupdragon]

Tell the guy/lady in charge of the signs to start in the street and walk into the airport. If they can arrive at the correct place using only the signs to guide them then it works. If not change it.

[chercheur888]

Anybody surprised?

It is also worth mentioning that they have found out to justify the delay at the Samkong underpass that it rains in Phuket, of course impossible to know that in advance. But they say that they learned the lesson

[IamNoone88]

Its all part of the plan to turn Phuket into the silicon valley of Thailand.

[Reigntax]

Terminal confusion just about explains daily life in Thailand. Nothing more needed to be written.

[madmitch]

There can only have been about 14 or so outbound immigration desks at the old terminal so I can't see that as an excuse, but when they talk about 13-14 officers on rotation, does this imply they are running with only six or seven counters open at any one time? I've never queued for more than a few minutes leaving Phuket.

 

Anyway, not unexpected as nothing seems to function properly when it first opens in Thailand. 

[Old Croc]

(Adding to the delays, however, are long immigration queues taking travellers up to an hour to clear outbound immigration desks.

One immigration officer, who also asked not to named, said that the long lines to clear immigration at Phuket Airport was not unusual.

“Most of the delay here is not because our system is slow,” he said. “The process has to be thorough. A photograph of each passenger must be taken and our officers must record the correct information of each passenger passing through.”)

 

Several questions arise:

If there were enough officers to clear outwards in the old terminal why cant they do the same in the new one?

Why are they taking photos of outwards passengers?

Why are they imputing passenger details by hand?   Machine readers record such information more accurately with a single swipe of the passport? 

[steelepulse]

19 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

(Adding to the delays, however, are long immigration queues taking travellers up to an hour to clear outbound immigration desks.

One immigration officer, who also asked not to named, said that the long lines to clear immigration at Phuket Airport was not unusual.

“Most of the delay here is not because our system is slow,” he said. “The process has to be thorough. A photograph of each passenger must be taken and our officers must record the correct information of each passenger passing through.”)

 

Several questions arise:

If there were enough officers to clear outwards in the old terminal why cant they do the same in the new one?

Why are they taking photos of outwards passengers?

Why are they imputing passenger details by hand?   Machine readers record such information more accurately with a single swipe of the passport? 

 

One thing they forgot to mention is " Our officers appreciate their 3 minutes in power so a thorough flip through of your passport and a few raised eyebrows always makes our day".  Why is it that Singapore and other more modern countries don't have to give each passport the three minute flip through?

[Guest]

16 hours ago, Xircal said:

They should erect signs around the perimeter to direct traffic arriving at the airport with passengers taking international flights to point them towards the correct dropoff terminal.

 

Waiting until passengers have left the vehicle, but at the wrong terminal is only going to add to the chaos such as we see in the image.

 

They have these signs when going to the new terminal. They also should add what is Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 etc signs as those are sometimes marked to the tickets. 

[elgordo38]

17 hours ago, Xircal said:

They should erect signs around the perimeter to direct traffic arriving at the airport with passengers taking international flights to point them towards the correct dropoff terminal.

 

Waiting until passengers have left the vehicle, but at the wrong terminal is only going to add to the chaos such as we see in the image.

From what I have seen of the prowess of  cabbies in Chiang Mai educating them on which terminal is which is out of the question. 

[lvr181]

There is much "terminal" confusion in Thailand. Not just at airports either!

[Xircal]

11 hours ago, oilinki said:

 

They have these signs when going to the new terminal. They also should add what is Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 etc signs as those are sometimes marked to the tickets. 

 

As I understand it, taxis are dropping off international passengers at the domestic departure building. That's what's causing the chaos at the moment.

 

What I suggested is that airport authorities places signs around the perimeter i.e. before traffic enters the terminal in order to show taxis where they should be going.

[Xircal]

12 hours ago, Old Croc said:

(Adding to the delays, however, are long immigration queues taking travellers up to an hour to clear outbound immigration desks.

One immigration officer, who also asked not to named, said that the long lines to clear immigration at Phuket Airport was not unusual.

“Most of the delay here is not because our system is slow,” he said. “The process has to be thorough. A photograph of each passenger must be taken and our officers must record the correct information of each passenger passing through.”)

 

Several questions arise:

If there were enough officers to clear outwards in the old terminal why cant they do the same in the new one?

Why are they taking photos of outwards passengers?

Why are they imputing passenger details by hand?   Machine readers record such information more accurately with a single swipe of the passport? 

 

To be fair, we have machine readers at Amsterdam Schiphol airport, but they're only for use by EU nationals. Everyone else arriving at immigration has to take their place in the queue and those can be quite long at times with international flights arriving every two or three minutes. 

 

As for the photos, I think that's because they take one when pax arrive. So when they depart immigration wants to be sure that it's the same passenger who's leaving and not someone trying the leave on a stolen passport.

[Old Croc]

2 hours ago, Xircal said:

 

To be fair, we have machine readers at Amsterdam Schiphol airport, but they're only for use by EU nationals. Everyone else arriving at immigration has to take their place in the queue and those can be quite long at times with international flights arriving every two or three minutes. 

 

As for the photos, I think that's because they take one when pax arrive. So when they depart immigration wants to be sure that it's the same passenger who's leaving and not someone trying the leave on a stolen passport.

The Dutch have long been at the forefront of passenger processing and detection of document fraud.  I'm sure they use scanners for all passengers. You may be confusing the  basic reading of passenger details in the machine readable zone at the bottom of (virtually) all passports, with the more modern computer chip technology. 

I've been through Schiphol as a non EU passenger, without experiencing any noticeable holdups.

 

I would be extremely surprised to find that the Thais were using any sort of match up procedures with photos taken on departure.

Edited September 22, 2016 by Old Croc

[Xircal]

1 hour ago, Old Croc said:

The Dutch have long been at the forefront of passenger processing and detection of document fraud.  I'm sure they use scanners for all passengers. You may be confusing the  basic reading of passenger details in the machine readable zone at the bottom of (virtually) all passports, with the more modern computer chip technology. 

I've been through Schiphol as a non EU passenger, without experiencing any noticeable holdups.

 

I would be extremely surprised to find that the Thais were using any sort of match up procedures with photos taken on departure.

 

You presumably have never arrived early morning when most flights from SE Asia land at Schiphol. These are 300+ seaters and several of them arrive within minutes of each other. Believe me, there are long, long queues at immigration.

 

The scanners I'm referring to are similar to those that Thailand uses where you place your passport face down in the scanner while airport staff examine your boarding pass. The difference at Schiphol is that the machine also compares your photograph with your face so you need to be looking at the screen while your passport is being scanned.

 

Dutch passports also contain the holder's fingerprints which are embedded in the chip so that in the event that there's a discrepancy with an arriving or departing passport holder, a passenger's fingerprints will be taken and a comparison made with those which have been stored in the database.

 

But Thai immigration compares your photograph with the one which is already in the database when you depart. That's why they have you look at the camera.

Edited September 22, 2016 by Xircal

[Gulfsailor]

1 hour ago, Old Croc said:

The Dutch have long been at the forefront of passenger processing and detection of document fraud.  I'm sure they use scanners for all passengers. You may be confusing the  basic reading of passenger details in the machine readable zone at the bottom of (virtually) all passports, with the more modern computer chip technology. 

I've been through Schiphol as a non EU passenger, without experiencing any noticeable holdups.

 

I would be extremely surprised to find that the Thais were using any sort of match up procedures with photos taken on departure.

At Schiphol they rarely scan an EU passport. At least not mine. The guy looks in it, then up at your face and of you go. No scanning, no typing. All in all no more than 5 seconds every time. There is thus also no registration when I leave or arrive, unless they get this info from the airline?

[islandor]

To help reduced the confusion, does anybody know for sure if when departing for an International flight via Bangkok (but flying from Phuket to Bangkok first to connect) if that is still considered an International flight from Phuket? I assume that it is, but can understand why people are confused!!!

[stevenl]

6 minutes ago, islandor said:

To help reduced the confusion, does anybody know for sure if when departing for an International flight via Bangkok (but flying from Phuket to Bangkok first to connect) if that is still considered an International flight from Phuket? I assume that it is, but can understand why people are confused!!!

I just asked more or less the same question, but about arrival, in the other thread about the new airport.