Big Brother Is Watching You...

[LaoPo]

Earlier this week leaving Shanghai/China, bounding for Europe I encountered a new control-system I haven't seen before anywhere else.

AFTER checking in -luggage/seats- we (wife and me) had to leave through a special gate with a kind of Photo machine and our* passports TOGETHER with boarding pass were copied and stored in a kind of database.

The question is, was this done by the airline (KLM) or by the airport/government authorities ? I didn't experience this before anywhere else in the Far East or Europe.

Did anyone experience the same and is this also done in Thailand now ?

* all passengers

LaoPo

Edited December 16, 2006 by LaoPo

[Don Quixote]

When entering Thailand you always have to pose for your photo being taken, same with Cambodia.

[LaoPo]

When entering Thailand you always have to pose for your photo being taken, same with Cambodia.

I know.

That's done because they're checking the database for 'wanted people' when entering Thailand (and other countries). We've experienced that because my wife's name was in the Thai database but written differently (in Chinese).

And obviously she looked different too...

I am talking about storing/copying the passengers' passports together with the boarding cards, leaving Shanghai.

LaoPo

Edited December 16, 2006 by LaoPo