Immigration chief hits back: Sunday missed flight claims are rubbish

[thedemon]

1 minute ago, somo said:

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

 

 

It happens all the time that passengers aren't at the gate even by scheduled departure time. Seems remarkable but it does.

 

I have been at the gate waiting for a flight to Karachi where I was called to the counter because they were querying my visa. I watched through the window as they offloaded my checked-in bag.

 

Nowadays the luggage handlers know precisely which ULD a passengers luggage is in and they start the offload process pre-emptively so it is a case of which happens first - passenger arrives or bag is found. Then go.

[George1967]

He does have a point you are supposed to get to the airport these days 3 hours early for international flights ever since 9-11.  I think that rule has kind of become world wide now.  

[Grubster]

I picked up a friend there six weeks ago, he touched down at 11:30 and got though immigration at 2:30, all those coming out said few booths were open will massive lines of travelers. Yes this will effect tourism I believe. Two hours standing in line is not very fun after a 24 hour trip.

[Sydebolle]

Again Facebook must be extremely grateful for the next 4'217 years as Natathorn is not taking any action against Facebook and the posters.

Fact is that the entire system is medieval and much too complicated. On arrival you have to decipher hand scribbled landing forms and the various visa types (keeping in mind not more than two entries a year without a visa) do not facilitate matters.

On leaving (see Singapore which has had this system for 35 years) scan the bar code of the departure card, the record pops up and gives green for go or red for something wrong. Do away with the overstay, the revenue is in no relation to the effort or do as in i.e. the US; there is not even a departure immigration as they are glad for everyone who leaves.

They have to keep thousands of poorly educated Somchais and Porns busy which results in this bottle neck.

And yes, after a 45 minutes flight from Rangoon/Yangon it took solid 97 minutes to pass the grouchy immigration officer behind his desk; accurate is the indication of time of one minute per alien; sometimes more. 

Note to TAT: this will generate even more tourists visiting Pattaya's nature and certainly not feeding any fish off a seagoing boat in Phuket. 

[retirementenquiry]

1 hour ago, somo said:

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

 

All right if you have a direct flight I like many others have a connecting flight this will  is where the impact is felt

On entry I have timed the processing always with the card filled properly 3 - 5 mins <deleted>

a tip usually try to use a booth with a lady the blokes are lazy <deleted>

[George1967]

5 minutes ago, retirementenquiry said:

All right if you have a direct flight I like many others have a connecting flight this will  is where the impact is felt

On entry I have timed the processing always with the card filled properly 3 - 5 mins <deleted>

a tip usually try to use a booth with a lady the blokes are lazy feckers

I was thinking the same thing I'm pretty sure that these days flights aren't allowed to depart until all passengers have boarded who have baggage already checked in.  

[whaleboneman]

7 hours ago, LannaGuy said:

does this beat the pattaya police chief's    "there is no prostitution in Pattaya'?

not even close

[wakeupplease]

How on earth could anyone think of bringing a business here, Airport, Internet, bib justice, roads, all have one thing in common, all rubbish

[FitnessHealthTravel]

More education for our Children - Take no responsibility ever, it is always someone else's fault. Now next lesson is...

[Redvic]

7 hours ago, MadMuhummad said:

From personal experience I've never had a major issue and I'm notorious for cutting things fine. I usually arrive with around 90 minutes before flying and have never missed yet.

Every business gets overwhelmed at times.

<deleted>. Swampy is always chaotic. Arriving is even worse. 

[orchidlady]

Departed Monday night (actually Tuesday morning) flight at 1:50 am. Arrived just before midnight. Checked in and changed money. Went through security at 12:30 am no holdups and directly to passport control. Lines were backed up to the top of the escalators. Two immigration people were directing traffic. Left foreign, right Thai. Both backed up. One counter- 2 slots closed. The immigration official for my line was spending well over 3 minutes a person.  I had my re-entry permit open as my passport has had two additional  page extensions added. They always have trouble locating current one- been here over 8 years working. I last re-entered 4 weeks ago. He started flipping through the pages looking at departure and re-entry stamps over the last year. I counted time at his counter. Six and half minutes.  Total time in line  65 minutes. I really had to pee but decided not to as my gate was F about 7-9 minute walk. I got there at 1:40, last person on plane.

Returning at  12:30 am Tuesday  Took 5 minutes, the immigration official just looked at re-entry didn't check out/in stamps

 

[Thongkorn]

6 hours ago, chasggg said:

If anybody is mug enough to leave it until the last minute then it serves them right....... If you arrive for an international flight, at the recommended 3 hrs before(same recommendation everywhere) you get on that flight. It's as simple as that.

You dont have to do that Now, You can book in on line on most Airlines today.

[petedk]

I haven't read all the posts, but last time I went through immigration on the way out of Bangkok, I waited over an hour in the queue.

 

I timed each person and it was about 3 minutes per person. Most were Indians (if that has anything to do with it). Anyway, there were 20 people in front of me. As far as I can remember there were 4 queues.

 

I made y flight but I was certainly worried.

Edited February 28, 2017 by petedk

[Lupatria]

9 hours ago, fruitman said:

And what will this chief do to speed up the immigration process?? Waiting 2 hours in line is no fun and ruins the reputation of Thailand.

 

And what happened to the tourist who made a picture while standing in the qeueu for hours?? She got arrested, we all saw it happening. She made a picture of the unmanned counters while there were 3 officials standing there behind them talking to eachother.

How can I trust you? You are not Thai

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies have been removed. 

[trigpoint]

Beats me why it takes so long to leave the country, it's

Sent from my B3-A30 using Thaivisa Connect mobile app

[fruitman]

4 hours ago, Shawn0000 said:

 

Nothing unusual, take pictures inside an airport, particularly the secure areas, and you are likely to be taken away for questioning, they are worried about terrorism by the way.

If they were serious about security (like any other airport on the world) they would have soldiers/security with huge machineguns standing in the halls where the crowds are waiting for hours.....I've seen them on every airport except in Thailand...

 

Last time i saw an airportsecurity with a gun he had a lucky luke revolver with 6 bullets on a white leather belt around his waiste!

His shoes were shining like a mercedes benz though, i have to give him that.

[jaltsc]

5 hours ago, twizzian said:

Lying is a genetically inherited trait for the Thai race.

 

They don't call it LieLand for nothing. 

 

Kellyanne Conway should come here for her Ph.D in Alternative Facts.

Edited February 28, 2017 by jaltsc

[trigpoint]

To continue, it's not like your entering is it. Immigration says 45-60 secs per passport, more like 2-3 mins, the land border at had lek does it in 15 secs, how come a big airport takes so long?

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[Bangkok Barry]

8 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.

So the photos were photoshopped to remove the officers at the 'manned' unmanned counters.

[Gerard052]

4 hours ago, 8OA8 said:

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..

Sent from my SM-N910C using Tapatalk
 

Even if I arrive 5 hours before my flight it would be irrelevant, many times I have flown with China Eastern and they only open their tickets counters 2.5 hrs before departure time.  So by the time I get checked in, go through the Immigration, go to my gate, there is not much time left.  So you point of arriving 4 hours before my flight is meaningless and I am sure that I am not the only one in the same boat.

[8OA8]

Even if I arrive 5 hours before my flight it would be irrelevant, many times I have flown with China Eastern and they only open their tickets counters 2.5 hrs before departure time.  So by the time I get checked in, go through the Immigration, go to my gate, there is not much time left.  So you point of arriving 4 hours before my flight is meaningless and I am sure that I am not the only one in the same boat.

On a positive note, if the departure passengers don't have time to spend money in the Duty Free area, I'm quite sure Mr KingPower will not allow that to continue for long and for sure (allegedly) he's got a special relationship somewhere that can swing this to his advantage. Of course we may not be talking about extra Immigration officers on duty, but the airline check-in counters having to open an hour earlier than they currently are required to.

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[Shawn0000]

22 minutes ago, fruitman said:

If they were serious about security (like any other airport on the world) they would have soldiers/security with huge machineguns standing in the halls where the crowds are waiting for hours.....I've seen them on every airport except in Thailand...

 

Last time i saw an airportsecurity with a gun he had a lucky luke revolver with 6 bullets on a white leather belt around his waiste!

His shoes were shining like a mercedes benz though, i have to give him that.

 

I've seen them in Suvarnabhumi with P90's.

[Gerard052]

1 minute ago, 8OA8 said:

On a positive note, if the departure passengers don't have time to spend money in the Duty Free area, I'm quite sure Mr KingPower will not allow that to continue for long and for sure (allegedly) he's got a special relationship somewhere that can swing this to his advantage. Of course we may not be talking about extra Immigration officers on duty, but the airline check-in counters having to open an hour earlier than they currently are required to.

Sent from my SM-N910C using Tapatalk
 

That would definitely help.

[8OA8]

 
I've seen them in Suvarnabhumi with P90's.

Is the P90 like a husband and wife couple that have both just been paid off from their employer and have their P45's

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[Shawn0000]

16 minutes ago, 8OA8 said:

Is the P90 like a husband and wife couple that have both just been paid off from their employer and have their P45's

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Not much, it is more like an Uzi.

[kkerry]

Late last year I had an early morning flight with similar long lines at immigration departure. I watched as others have done, and timed how long it took for each person in front of me. Nearly three minutes per person.

 

After fifteen minutes, a very unofficial looking man came by and took a dozen of us through a door into the fast track section. The lady there processed all of us in just five minutes... so it is possible to speed things up.

[Formaleins]

10 hours ago, fruitman said:

And what will this chief do to speed up the immigration process?? Waiting 2 hours in line is no fun and ruins the reputation of Thailand.

 

And what happened to the tourist who made a picture while standing in the qeueu for hours?? She got arrested, we all saw it happening. She made a picture of the unmanned counters while there were 3 officials standing there behind them talking to eachother.

Thailand isn't alone, go try and clear immigration at Heathrow, it is a FuXXing Disgrace!

[Bluespunk]

50 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

So the photos were photoshopped to remove the officers at the 'manned' unmanned counters.

That would be a far side explanation I guess. 

 

My own view remains as skeptics as ever. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, FitnessHealthTravel said:

More education for our Children - Take no responsibility ever, it is always someone else's fault. Now next lesson is...

sometimes it is someone else's fault