Immigration chief hits back: Sunday missed flight claims are rubbish

[8OA8]

4 hours ago, DM07 said:

It's always someone else's fault, isn't it?!

Actually many times its the fault of others. Especially if a number of unscheduled flights arrive into the airport at the busy period.

When I say scheduled I refer to the flight that took off on time and arrived exactly on time. A delay in Europe because of bad weather can cause a delay of the arrival of that flight which makes the original scheduled arrival time quieter than usual..but the knock on effect is sometimes a disaster for the arrival airport. 

Everyone that has been on a flight arriving early or late, even 20 minutes either way can be a disaster for the arrival airport Immigration staff. 

Imagine 4 flights in a row arrive at the same time and over 50 of their passengers require a vaccination on arrival, the delay of this has an effect on them reaching Immigration at the expected time.

Edited February 28, 2017 by 8OA8

[Guest]

4 hours ago, trogers said:

He spoke the truth, which TAT should include in their flyers - international airports here in Thailand requires 2 hours to process all required formalities.

 

Coupled with the horrendous traffic, you should make your way to the airport 4 hours before your flight departure.

they should not take four hours, all of us know the inefficiency of thai immigration and the total lack of common sense to open more windows if the lines are not moving, I was recently at the window of international flights at khon kaen and there was only one guy on and that's fine as I was the only international through passenger but what was not fine was he had absolutely no idea what he was doing I got there in plenty of time and it took over an hour and I had to run to make the flight after he was not going to let us through, all the paperwork on our side was perfect but he had no clue. after much ranting we were finally let go.

[newcomer71]

11 minutes ago, 8OA8 said:

Actually many times its the fault of others. Especially if a number of unscheduled flights arrive into the airport at the busy period.

When I say scheduled I refer to the flight that took off on time and arrived exactly on time. A delay in Europe because of bad weather can cause a delay of the arrival of that flight which makes the original scheduled arrival time quieter than usual..but the knock on effect is sometimes a disaster for the arrival airport. 

Anyone that has never been on a flight arriving early or late, even 20 minutes either way can be a disaster for the arrival airport Immigration staff. 

Imagine 4 flights in a row arrive at the same time and over 50 of their passengers require a vaccination on arrival, the delay of this has an effect on them reaching Immigration at the expected time.

Please note that the queue was in the departure section, not arrival.

[jonclark]

4 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

"Natathorn told reporters that the peak time rush on Sunday was totally normal for the 6am to 9am period. He said that all 18 counters were manned and that staff were taking 45 seconds to one minute to process each passenger."

 

Yeah, right.

 

If he thinks those queues are "totally normal" then the system woud appear to be creaking under an immense strain. Perhaps he should have a word with TAT to dissuade tourists from coming to save complete collapse.  

[kennw]

4 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

"Natathorn told reporters that the peak time rush on Sunday was totally normal for the 6am to 9am period. He said that all 18 counters were manned and that staff were taking 45 seconds to one minute to process each passenger."

 

Yeah, right.

But, how long did each passenger on average stand in the queue to get to the counter and then be processed in the 45 seconds - one minute as claimed ? 

[Bluespunk]

1 minute ago, kennw said:

But, how long did each passenger on average stand in the queue to get to the counter and then be processed in the 45 seconds - one minute as claimed ? 

No idea, I just commented on the obvious untruth...

[bubba]

1 hour ago, Katipo said:

Thank heavens for the Fast Track line 

Not exactly. I was in the Fast Track queue on Sunday at around 8am and there were at least 50 people in front of me at the x-ray machine. The queue was out the door and into the terminal. Granted, my 30 minutes queue there to pass security and immigration was a lot better than had I used the regular channels, but it was still by far the longest queue I have seen at any Fast Track immigration queue at any airport in Asia.

 

If you get it because of your class of service or ABTC card, fine; however, it is definitely not worth paying for at BKK.

[TerrylSky]

I just recently had to wait in line for about two hours at Don Muang; hot, crowded, packed with people. You would think that someone could find a solution to help remedy this anguish. On the other hand I had to wait for 3 hours at LAX after an 18 hour flight. Now that is a crazy airport. Never mind, had a lot of fun that night in BKK

[8OA8]

But, how long did each passenger on average stand in the queue to get to the counter and then be processed in the 45 seconds - one minute as claimed ? 

If everyone arrives at the airport exactly 3 hours before the scheduled (originally scheduled) departure time, there will be a smooth flow. If some arrive 4 hours, or 2 hours, or anywhere outside 15 minutes of the time that everyone is deciding is the correct arrival time, then the hassle starts..

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[trogers]

31 minutes ago, jewell49 said:

they should not take four hours, all of us know the inefficiency of thai immigration and the total lack of common sense to open more windows if the lines are not moving, I was recently at the window of international flights at khon kaen and there was only one guy on and that's fine as I was the only international through passenger but what was not fine was he had absolutely no idea what he was doing I got there in plenty of time and it took over an hour and I had to run to make the flight after he was not going to let us through, all the paperwork on our side was perfect but he had no clue. after much ranting we were finally let go.

That 4 hours is two hours to get to the airport and two hours to get on the plane...

[8OA8]

Please note that the queue was in the departure section, not arrival.

Yes and the same applies in that area.
You plan on arriving 2 hours before your flight at 9 am and I plan on arriving 3 hours before my flight at 10 am. Add in the travel time to reach the airport and those that plan for bad traffic that doesn’t materialise and suddenly Immigration is faced with 2.5 times the number at that time. When people know there's going to be long queues they will arrive even earlier...more time now required to queue for Immigration

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[Fairynuff]

I pass thro both airports regularly. I have never ever seen all desks open. It is without doubt getting worse. Partly because of vast numbers of Chinese tourists totally bewildered and without a clue what they're doing or what they're supposed to do with an immigration form

[newcomer71]

1 minute ago, 8OA8 said:

Yes and the same applies in that area.
You plan on arriving 2 hours before your flight at 9 am and I plan on arriving 3 hours before my flight at 10 am. Add in the travel time to reach the airport and those that plan for bad traffic that doesn’t materialise and suddenly Immigration is faced with 2.5 times the number at that time. When people know there's going to be long queues they will arrive even earlier...more time now required to queue for Immigration

Sent from my SM-N910C using Tapatalk
 

I beg to differ... It's the immigration that has to make in the way that queue at counters are smooth. If you have 18 counters available and more than half are closed, and have a queue then the management is at least poor (to be generous)...

[Kurtsie]

One way to alleviate the problem is that they have taken, mostly Chinese, out of the main lines and racked them over to Fast Track lanes.  Pay extra for Fast Track or business class, get a group of loud unruly Chinese first time travelers blocking your way.  Most have no clue about the form to fill out and demand to stand there to fill them out!!!

[8OA8]

I beg to differ... It's the immigration that has to make in the way that queue at counters are smooth. If you have 18 counters available and more than half are closed, and have a queue then the management is at least poor (to be generous)...

Do you think that Thai Immigration department can just spend a lot of extra cash on having more staff at the airport. They don't generate an income and for sure are under budget constraints. When TAT are hoping for another 5 million arrivals next year, do you think they give Thai Immigration the extra budget to handle those extra arrivals?

When was the last time you were in a Tesco Lotus or BigC supermarket and all the counters were manned and the customer wasn't having to wait. These are profit oriented companies and they will still have queues that aren't flowing smoothly and customers that are getting irate...

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[tomacht8]

That here every constructive criticism is understood as a personal insult, makes improvements and progress in this country complicated and difficult.

[worgeordie]

5 hours ago, trogers said:

He spoke the truth, which TAT should include in their flyers - international airports here in Thailand requires 2 hours to process all required formalities.

 

Coupled with the horrendous traffic, you should make your way to the airport 4 hours before your flight departure.

Just getting there and on the plane,is going to take longer

than a lot of the actual flights,the joys of travel.

regards Worgeordie

[sambum]

3 hours ago, canthai55 said:

Read it again - or keep trolling every topic ...

 

The chief reminded passengers of the need to make sure they have plenty of time - one to two hours is the recommendation - to clear all airport formalities, especially during peak times.

 

Clearing Security, Passport Control, Walk to your departure gate. 

 

 

3 hours ago, trogers said:

 

Read what again? Is there a difference between what you and I wrote, with exception of horrendous traffic?

Quite agree - some - sorry  quite a number of people on here are too quick to "point the finger" without reading the post properly.

If anything, depending on how you are travelling, the 2 hours to get to the airport at peak times could be cutting it fine! 

[wavemanwww]

I caught a flight back to Australia on the 21st Feb 2017. Departure midnighnt. From memory I think they had 8 custom booths and only 6 were manned.

 

What stood out when I first entered  the area to line up, next level below the escalator  the room was so small for the amount of people trying to line up BUT worst was  going to that level using either of the two escalators going to that level to meet the queues backed up to the base of the escalator. Guess what the escalotor was turned off which made them just another stairwell with bags to lug etc. The reason they were turned off was clearly so as to not quickly flow incoming passengers to the crowded queues. I bet these escalators are almost permanently stopped.

 

So immigration chief Natathorn Phrosunthorn get a bigger queue area and clearly have ALL staff at customs on duty. Christ you pay them peanuts. Increase the pay and have full staff and every body happy. Dah! No need to blame others then :-)

[sambum]

1 hour ago, natway09 said:

TAT has been promoting Thailand & has been so successful in bringing the lower end tourists here

(which I think is a major marketing blunder)

with no thought whatsoever to the infrastructure to handle the vast numbers.

These people do not help Thailand at all, spending very little money & putting an overburden on immigration,

internal transport, water resources, sewerage & rubbish disposal to name a few.

What TAT should be doing is to market the middle to upper end & stop just looking at bodies

but to reciepts

No, what TAT should be doing is ask "The Government" to address the following problem areas:- immigration,internal transport, water resources, sewerage & rubbish disposal to name a few."

 

P.S. Are you one of those people who would never take a bus anywhere?

Edited February 28, 2017 by sambum

[Familyaffairs]

The first thing always done in the LOI aka BlaBla land is to deny everything. It happened with AIDS in the 70's, about government corruption which doesn't exist,  with bird flu, to the denial of terrorism, and foreign press reports that Pattaya is the sex capital of the world, which is of course blatantly untrue.

[Cyclone88]

They process on average 1 person every 45 - 60 seconds.  That's 75 people per hour per officer.

 

18 counters x 75 is 1350 an hour.

How many flights leave in an hour fully loaded? 

[Get Real]

Everything is working at the best standards possible, and no action against the Facebook poster. That´s just perfect and generous!

[ThaidaGwaii]

Who to believe?  Pictures or more typical Thai BS excuses?

[renaissanc]

I haven't flown abroad for many months now, but the longest I can remember waiting in the Departure Immigration queue is about 25 minutes, and usually it is about 15 minutes. This is since they reorganised the Departure area and process. I should also add that I have not met any unfriendly officials. Often I try to show empathy to them in one sentence. I always say "thank you". They appreciate that.

[paulinbkk111]

This country is so predictable. Its the Cambodians fault!

 

[thedemon]

6 hours ago, fruitman said:

 

Yes or at least they could give the tourists in line for 2-3 hours something to drink, fresh cold mangojuice or so.

 

You really believe that anyone waited 2-3 hours in the immigration queue?

 

I don't.

[Jonmarleesco]

So who's telling porkies? The poster, against whom the criticism-sensitive RTP will take no action? Or the Immigration chief, who might well still be rubbing sleep from his eyes.

 

One thing is certain: the inconvenienced travellers could put him right, in no uncertain terms. And experience tells many of us that the report was probably fairly accurate.

[Jonmarleesco]

1 hour ago, newcomer71 said:

I beg to differ... It's the immigration that has to make in the way that queue at counters are smooth. If you have 18 counters available and more than half are closed, and have a queue then the management is at least poor (to be generous)...

Yes, everyone knows that ... except Immigration.

[somo]

Planes are not allowed to take off without their full compliment of checked in passengers for security reasons. Any passenger not boarding means their luggage has to be removed from the aircraft which is very time consuming. If this was happening all the time the airlines would be shouting about it much louder than. It also means the Cambodians did not simply get lost and didn't get to the gate in time. That bit was BS