Suvarnabhumi Immigration queues: "We're doing our best to help" says airport chief Sirot

[lor]

Just left thailand a few days ago. Went through the priority channel. There were 10 lanes through immigration. One was labelled "aircrew only". And had a long queue of staff trying to get through. Amazingly the other nine desks were empty. Not one officer there! So the public had no one to process them. The queues just got bigger and bigger with nowhere to go. There were no other staff there to sort the queues out or explain why immigration had come to a halt. I can believe that people missed their flight!


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[cadle1]

Just got back to uk I can confirm the queues at the Airport was massive I worried about missing my flight .. The immigration officers was working very hard but not enough of them I saw people trying to jump the queue and was told to go back of line yes chaos..

[spermwhale]

5 hours ago, ikke said:

Exactly, I was on an Asian tour last month and visited 4 countries, average waiting at immigration 5 minutes....

Thai immigration is under-educated, or even not educated at all.

I give my passport open on the right page, the stupid officer(whats in a title) closes it first. reopens on the wrong page and start searching , where i come from, we call that an idiot !

I"ve had the same experience. I even have the page open on my current visa and multiple entry visa and the guy starts from page one to look at every page. 

The only respite from these long queues is when I travel with my kids who are half Thai and then I go with them through the Thai immigration line instead.

 

[ThomasHOL]

I dont think that it is so bad as many people say. Ok i dont travel during high season so it could be worse but compared to other countries they dont seem that inefficient. In January i was USA and i had 3 hours 20 minutes between flights it took almost 2 hours to clear immigration even the flight crew waited for a long time. There was a big diffrence between travelers it took me about 20 seconds (i been there before on the same ESTA) to get trough but others took 5 minutes. 
 

[muffy]

Stop the 90 day reports and put the staff on the counters .

[Jimbo1964]

Some customer service training wouldn't go a miss too. After all this is the LoS so having them crack a smile wouldn't hurt either.

[ChrisY1]

33 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

The UAE doesn't need cards filled out. Why does Thailand.

Thailand hasn't yet entered the digital era.....hard copies, or multiple of each, always for almost everything you do here with a government dept.

My annual visa hard copies are now 8 years.....there's a manila folder for each year and the lot are bundled and tied together.

Chaeng Wattana has mountains of these.....it's like going back 30 years!

[Jim walker]

As someone has stated earlier the lack of education/training for the officers is a major cause of the super slow process and then the total drama and system shut down when they run out of staples in the stapler.   

[osandpo]

5 hours ago, shows said:

Compared to many other countries I've visited the Thai officials take twice as long (if not longer) to process each passenger.

Exactly, the answer is in simplifying the ridiculously complicated and inefficient process on departure. It takes longer to leave Thailand than to enter! 

Then give foreign residents, work permit holders and retirees a special ID card and a simpler process through the Thai Passports channels 

[KenKadz]

World Class Airport?

Thainess!!!

[mrmicbkktxl]

5 hours ago, Chicog said:

If he thinks the Immigration cards are the problem, then eliminate them.

Allow people to do it all online before they travel.

Extremely simple.

 

5 hours ago, Chicog said:

 

 

Online?Did u ever try to do a 90days report online?Half of the time there website is down,other times there outdated system not compatible with win 10,or not compatible with firefox or chrome,then you think something complex like an arrival card will work?On top the data is not safe with them,they share it with whoever wants it

[retirementenquiry]

2 minutes ago, mrmicbkktxl said:

 

Online?Did u ever try to do a 90days report online?Half of the time there website is down,other times there outdated system not compatible with win 10,or not compatible with firefox or chrome,then you think something complex like an arrival card will work?On top the data is not safe with them,they share it with whoever wants it

To be fair there less chance of scamming here is an example,

Jomtien thiven immigration require 2 forms of 90 day validation when immigration website specifies 1 and they have being fining people for not having the second 1 being scammed today already

[Kinnock]

This was Arrivals last week - queue for immigration was back out of the Immigration Hall and into the main walkway.

 

And for Departures, the new whole body scanners cause unnecessary delays.  In the US they've been removing those scanners as they were found to be a waste of time. 

 

 

 

 

[NoshowJones]

6 hours ago, ikke said:

555, Thats because the 7-11 people are more educated !

What???? I paid the exact price for something only recently, the girl just could not count it, it was for 30 odd Bt. I just walked away with my purchase.

[mrmicbkktxl]

4 minutes ago, Kinnock said:

This was Arrivals last week - queue for immigration was back out of the Immigration Hall and into the main walkway.

 

And for Departures, the new whole body scanners cause unnecessary delays.  In the US they've been removing those scanners as they were found to be a waste of time. 

 

 

 

 

OMG

[NoshowJones]

6 hours ago, ikke said:

Exactly, I was on an Asian tour last month and visited 4 countries, average waiting at immigration 5 minutes....

Thai immigration is under-educated, or even not educated at all.

I give my passport open on the right page, the stupid officer(whats in a title) closes it first. reopens on the wrong page and start searching , where i come from, we call that an idiot !

I guess the brown envelopes appear for these jobs also.

[NoshowJones]

6 hours ago, DMC1 said:

 

You haven't been to Bangladesh then? Nearly 5 mins for one passenger!

 

On my arrival at Swampy from the UK about four months ago, it took nearly half an hour, and there were only four people in front of me while the queue

next to me just kept moving.

[impulse]

6 hours ago, shows said:

Compared to many other countries I've visited the Thai officials take twice as long (if not longer) to process each passenger.

 

In fairness, a lot of other countries vet their entrants long before they show up at immigration looking for visa-exempt or visa on arrival or their 14th entry as a tourist this year (yes, that's an exaggeration).  And I doubt they get the same percentage of permanent tourists and other intense scrutiny situations.  Not to mention potential pedophiles that have brand new passports and wearing "Pattaya 2003" T-Shirts.

 

What gets me is the discrepancy between some guys' lines that seem to breeze through, while the guy next to them has a line that hasn't moved in 15 minutes.

 

And I wouldn't be surprised if this was an organized effort to force some kind of concessions from the government- and we'll never know what really happened.

 

[Ozziefrog]

Come to Darwin airport and then you can complain.

Full plane of people ...only one dummy behind the desk.

Many at the back behind the double glass window to see who is nervous...

 

 

[ajarnmarc]

7 hours ago, shows said:

Compared to many other countries I've visited the Thai officials take twice as long (if not longer) to process each passenger.

This could be perhaps because they have to constantly check their phones.

As the citizens can't miss a single message, 

and have an urgent need to respond to all who might take the time to text them.

Take away their phones while they work or at least while they are at their post,

and problem solved.

[TerrylSky]

Don Muang too. Just the other day I arrived - as did thousands of other people - and stood in line for about 2 hours. Hot, no water, toilets afar, etc. etc. The only worse one I've been in was LAX for 3 hours. Amazing.

 

Edited March 1, 2017 by TerrylSky

[spiroinusa1]

isn't that a picture at the ticket/baggage airline counter. At least get a picture of immigration at work. It is realy at peak hours. In the mornings....early they are under staffed.

[spiroinusa1]

wow

[Gerard052]

8 hours ago, ikke said:

Exactly, I was on an Asian tour last month and visited 4 countries, average waiting at immigration 5 minutes....

Thai immigration is under-educated, or even not educated at all.

I give my passport open on the right page, the stupid officer(whats in a title) closes it first. reopens on the wrong page and start searching , where i come from, we call that an idiot !

Makes two of us.

[ajarnmarc]

1 minute ago, Gerard052 said:

Makes two of us.

I had thought I was the only one this happened too.

After the passport gets more stamps in it, 

you'll see the I/O start to go through each page, 

and then do it again, and again, just to see everything.

A few more years pass by,

and the I/O will asks why the pages are falling out?

Informing you, that you MUST look after your passport better.

I feel touched knowing that they care about the pages falling out, 

after they have worn through it; usually three times is a charm for each inspection, 

and that they are clever enough to speak in English about looking after our PP better...

Always helps me to look forward to the next time I visit them in 90 days.

[barryofthailand]

8 hours ago, shows said:

Compared to many other countries I've visited the Thai officials take twice as long (if not longer) to process each passenger.

I agree Thai Immigration is the slowest in the world 

[al007]

No but my friend Donal Trump is obviously creating awareness WELL DONE 

 

I seldom queue at suranapum but will refrain from sharing how unless it closes that door too

[Formaleins]

Did anyone ever tell them when they were at school that "Frankly, Your Best Is Just Not Good Enough!"  - I very much doubt it, probably a wing and a prayer since the day they were born.

[bruceamstutz]

9 hours ago, inactiveposter said:

No need to worry. Closing a runway for repairs will reduce the number of arrivals coming in. Problem solved.


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Reduced arrivals no way!....Flight departures and arrivals will just be departing late and arriving late. Still the same amount of PAX in the immigration lines...  

[malt25]

5 hours ago, sahibji said:

why are you comparing apples and oranges. USA is a country with unique immigration issues.

"why are you comparing apples and oranges. USA is a country with unique issues."