Chaos at Don Mueang as unstaffed immigration desks leave thousands of passengers stranded

[captspectre]

6 minutes ago, Dogmatix said:

Perhaps Pol. Lt. Gen. Nathathorn should be transferred to the Immigration post at the Three Pagodas Pass for this performance at Don Muang. 

no he should be fired! can't think past his nose! if he was the least bit competent he would have wondered what happened to the late arriving flights< 

[overherebc]

31 minutes ago, sambum said:

Please explain! I've never heard of that one!

 

Which part mate. The 'cost of the stamp'  ( a joke based on King Power Duty Free prices ) or the priority lane for over 70.

In suvarnabhumi there is a lane for those over 70 years of age and other categories such as BOI, APEC etc.

It's in zone 2.

For DonMuang I'm not sure.

[david555]

Ok   just take a empty container or pet bottle with as visiting Thailand .....just in case you need a pee.....Welcome to LOS..

[phantomfiddler]

Bangkok,s 2 airports have to be the world,s worst, and for one reason only. The powers that be simply do not care about the well being of tourists. This is not an isolated incident, and at almost all times the manning of the immigration booths is completely unsatisfactory. In Singapore the average delay through immigration is measured in seconds !!!

[Bluespunk]

8 minutes ago, david555 said:

Ok   just take a empty container or pet bottle with as visiting Thailand .....just in case you need a pee.....Welcome to LOS..

Better still fly business class and avoid flights that land at DM. . 

[captspectre]

19 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Which part mate. The 'cost of the stamp'  ( a joke based on King Power Duty Free prices ) or the priority lane for over 70.

In suvarnabhumi there is a lane for those over 70 years of age and other categories such as BOI, APEC etc.

It's in zone 2.

For DonMuang I'm not sure.

the primary lane for those over seventy is used by the Thai's and the immigration officer does not correct it! he just stamps whatever is in front of him.

[tso310]

Just getting everybody used to the road traffic. 

[Prbkk]

Highest fees and taxes on tickets in the region. Where does the money go? Clearly not an adequate staffing. Scandalous and an international embarrassment for Thailand and for Madame Tourism in particular.

[Prbkk]

15 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Better still fly business class and avoid flights that land at DM. . 

BKK is also very slow and poorly managed, in and out. Nothing like 4 hours though.

[Dogmatix]

43 minutes ago, captspectre said:

no he should be fired! can't think past his nose! if he was the least bit competent he would have wondered what happened to the late arriving flights< 

It would nice to think that the director of the Immigration Bureau could be made to take responsibility but nothing will happen, as only foreigners were inconvenienced.  The head of the Immigration shift should have been aware of and made provision for the delayed flights.  I knew someone who was one of these shift supervisors at Suwarnabhumi for a couple of years.  She was only a Pol 2nd Lt when sent there but I think was promoted to Pol Lt while there.  Immigration regards supervising the shifts at the main airports as an unimportant job that can be delegated to the lowest rank of commissioned officer.  No one wants to work at the airport due to the shift working, lack of earning opportunities and inconvenient commute to work.  Routine things like picking up children from school after work can no longer be done.  Staff have to be drafted there involuntarily from other police departments, as was my acquaintance, given a quick training in immigration and sit there ticking off the days till they can be transferred back to their own police unit and resume normal life.

Edited August 6, 2017 by Dogmatix

[owl sees all]

40 minutes ago, david555 said:

Ok   just take a empty container or pet bottle with as visiting Thailand .....just in case you need a pee.....Welcome to LOS

Girls take note!!

 

17 minutes ago, Prbkk said:

Highest fees and taxes on tickets in the region. Where does the money go? Clearly not an adequate staffing. Scandalous and an international embarrassment for Thailand and for Madame Tourism in particular.

Agreed! But are they even bothered? The TAT lady has very thick skin it seems.

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, phantomfiddler said:

Bangkok,s 2 airports have to be the world,s worst, and for one reason only. The powers that be simply do not care about the well being of tourists. This is not an isolated incident, and at almost all times the manning of the immigration booths is completely unsatisfactory. In Singapore the average delay through immigration is measured in seconds !!!

 

I suggest there's another point which applies to almost all Thai ministries and agencies; those at the top have not got there through displayed high, well above average capabilities nor past outstanding performance over at least 3 or 4 years.

 

No further comment needed. 

[Kabula]

I've copied this news article and will show it to the next Immigration Officer that asks me why I have not left Thailand for many years!

 

It appears International travel from Immigration, to security inspections, to over bookings, to aggressive, unreasonable flight attendants, aircraft engine fires, to bird strikes and terror scares worldwide, makes me want to pass on all the nonsense!

[Thunder26]

Used Don Muang airport in May. Had to stay in the queue for 2 hours and a half at the passport control. I'm glad it hit the news now. I hope something will be done about this issue. It is a bloody disgrace what is happening now.

[metisdead]

Off topic posts, inflammatory posts, trolling posts, profanity posts and replies have been removed. 

[Thunder26]

3 hours ago, GoNavy said:

Air travel throughout the world in one way or the other has become almost intolerable.  Much of it is the luck of the draw on leaving or arriving during a rush.  You'd think with the electronic technology there would be a quicker reaction.  I don't think I've had it this bad but close.  In the Twin Cities of Minnesota about 3 large planes arrived and when entering immigration NO ONE was at the desks.  OMG, I coming from an international flight no less.  Waiting another  15" or thereabouts finally officials were dragging their asses and not moving all that fast started setting up their stations.  There were a few thousands of us also.  So this debacle can happen anywhere.  The United States, though they say they are improving, remains a mess and I dread returning or leaving due to the snake lines.  Then to save on labor the States have gone into kiosks for check-in with minimal assistance. Then haul your luggage to another location for the X-ray check before lining to the security line.  We all know of folks, myself including having missed a flight by minutes due to this bureaucracy.  I know.........better to be safe then sorry.  But are we?  Really?  Then you haven't even entered the plane yet with seats for teenagers.  

The problem is it happens constantly over a long period of time.

[dinsdale]

Brewery. Piss up. Organise. 

[1happykamper]

This ridiculous situation can easily be avoided. How expensive would it be to have 10 extra immigration officers sitting idle for eventualities like these?! A very easy fix. Lazy and incompetent comes into play here.

[Nemises]

Get used to it.

It's only going to get worse.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[saminoz]

7 minutes ago, 1happykamper said:

This ridiculous situation can easily be avoided. How expensive would it be to have 10 extra immigration officers sitting idle for eventualities like these?! A very easy fix. Lazy and incompetent comes into play here.

" Lazy and incompetent comes into play here."  Alongside contemptuous, xenophobic, irrational and arrogant?

[JAG]

25 minutes ago, saminoz said:

" Lazy and incompetent comes into play here."  Alongside contemptuous, xenophobic, irrational and arrogant?

It's a junta. The people it exists to serve do not have to queue for immigration.

 

Therefore, as in so many other fields, whether it impacts on foreigners or Thais they simply do not care.

[saminoz]

29 minutes ago, JAG said:

It's a junta. The people it exists to serve do not have to queue for immigration.

 

Therefore, as in so many other fields, whether it impacts on foreigners or Thais they simply do not care.

I nearly commented on that with "...but, Jag, what are you thinking?  They don't serve the people!"..... and then I got your point! Forgive me but it's late afternoon on a Bank Holiday weekend and I have had a few sherberts.   Spot on as usual Sir!

Edited August 6, 2017 by saminoz

[Deli]

Surprised ? Clowns at work can't do better. And excuses are cheap.

[XBroker]

19 hours ago, colinneil said:

Again more pathetic excuses from Thai immigration.

Problem happened because several aircraft landed at the same time, first that is impossible.

Second the same flights land at the airport all the time, so immigration should have officers available.

Always it is somebody else to blame.

The biggest problem Thailand has is passing the blame all the time, never our fault. Bloody pathetic.

If one wanted to discourage tourism, they'd allow something like this to happen, and then happen more frequently going forward. The beatings will continue until attitudes improve. All over the world things are advancing towards their (the so called 'elite')  Agenda 21 goals. These are hardly accidents, imho.

[Thian]

Soon the qeueu's will be even longer when they start checking all tourists for travelinsurance as well....

 

I'll wear my wellies the next flight to BKK.

[Stargeezr]

The Immigration official who was in charge of the airport,  as he or she should have known that

there was a problem, but let it drag on for four hours. Very unprofessional. Not a good experience

for anyone in that crowd.

Geezer

[webfact]

Airport under fire after five-hour queues

By THE NATION

 

 

THE DRAMATIC congestion at Don Mueang Airport’s immigration checkpoints on Friday night has prompted an urgent investigation to determine why thousands of visitors were kept waiting for nearly five hours.

The Immigration Bureau apparently only realised something was wrong after Thammasat University law lecturer Piyabutr Saengkanokkul posted on Facebook saying that his wife had spent four hours and 20 minutes at the immigration checkpoint at the Thai airport, which was much longer than her flight to Bangkok from Singapore had been. 

 

Many visitors also experienced breathing troubles due to poor ventilation at the areas in front of immigration counters. Many others said they were hungry and thirsty as they had already been tired after a long flight. 

 

Don Mueang Immigration officials have said that the airport authorities did not advise them about the flights that were arriving at around the same time. They also said that the usual 45-second processing time for each passenger was taking longer because of increased security measures.

 

The airport authority admitted that Piyabutr’s comments were true since many delayed flights had arrived at around the same time. 

 

There were supposed to be 21 flights landing at Don Mueang between midnight on Friday and 5am on Saturday morning. However, four additional flights from Hong Kong and Singapore and a charter flight from China arrived during the same time although they were supposed to have landed earlier, according to Suthirawat Suwanawat, general manager of Don Mueang Airport.

 

About 5,000 passengers therefore arrived at about the same time, he said, adding that immigration checkpoints at Don Mueang had the capacity to process 1,000 visitors per hour.

 

 People in the queues posted pictures on social media of crowded arrival areas where passengers were waiting. Some blamed poor management and a lack of flexibility as there were channels reserved for diplomats and airline crew that were not opened to ordinary passengers. 

 

However, a female visitor posted that immigration staff had provided her with medical attention and took her out of the area after she became weak because of the poor ventilation – yet that staff had seen her waiting all night without opening more counters. 

 

Four automatic passport reading machines were available for Thai nationals but many Thai passport holders waited in the queues as there were not any officials on hand to assist them to use the machines, Suthirawat said. “We have to study why the automatic machines are little utilised,” he said.

 

Authorities at Don Mueang Airport are considering adding an additional eight immigra-|tion counters as international arrivals at the airport are growing, he said.

 

He added that more counters would be opened by next month, enabling the immigration to |handle at least 1,800 visitors per hour.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30322994

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-08-07

 

[gk10002000]

 Sad to hear  because I flew in and out of DMK on my first two trips to Thailand back in 2004.  I thought it was a fine airport.  There were no lines of any consequence.  And the airport in my opinion had more Thai artwork, and architecture than BKK does.  I got the feeling I was actually in Thailand.  No long walk to the gate.  There was a fine little juice shop along the walk where I could get a simple banana and orange juice completely freshly squeezed drink.  It was a great experience. 

[realfunster]

The reply from the responsible persons in the Nation article is full of holes.

An extra 4 planes on top of the expected 21 caused all this ? Don't believe it.

5,000 passengers arrived at the same time ? Equivalent to 10 fully loaded A380s. Don't believe it.

The 5,000 is then used to explain the 5 hour wait based on 1,000 processed per hour. So not to worry, with the improved target of 1,800 per hour, the wait in a future similar scenario will be a rapid 2.75 hours. 

 

Glad they have honestly & throughly analysed the situation and prepared a comprehensive solution.

Edited August 6, 2017 by realfunster

[jacko45k]

If the flights had been delayed by bad weather, they surely would have understood that they were still on their way, and not cancelled, and provisions could have been made. The unexpected earlier quiet spell should have given it away.

And here in a moment my decision to pay more for a flight that left from Suvanabumi is justified.

Having to stand around in the whiff of urine for hours and hours is a despicable way to treat your tourists.