Move to exempt Thais from immigration form

[webfact]

Move to exempt Thais from immigration form

By MAYUREE SUKYINGCHAROENWONG, 
ANGSUMA SRIDOKKHAM 
THE NATION

 

 

BANGKOK: -- Agency boosting staff and counters at Don Mueang airport in bid to alleviate huge crowds of arriving passengers.

EXEMPTING Thai nationals from filling out immigration forms is among the measures being considered to help relieve the overcrowding of arrivals at Don Mueang International Airport.

 

Immigration Bureau commander Pol Maj-General Nattorn Prohsunthorn said yesterday that his agency had discussed the passenger backlog problem with executives of the airport. 

 

They agreed to increase the number of immigration counters and outsource some of the work.

 

He said one of the measures being considered was for Thai passengers to no longer be required to fill the departure and arrival TM6 form.

 

 

The immigration police chief said his agency wanted the proposed exemption to be implemented as soon as possible and it was seeking to expedite amendments to relevant regulations.

 

He dismissed concerns that cancellation of the requirement would adversely affect national security, pointing out that authorities already have a database of Thai passengers.

 

“The Immigration Bureau has also sought permission for foreign passengers from certain countries to pass through the automated passport control channels” that are now reserved for Thai passport holders, to help relieve the overcrowding, Nattorn said.

 

Contingency plans

 

He said that from tomorrow, the number of immigration officials at Don Mueang airport would be increased to 100, from 42 at present, and they would work four shifts around the clock.

 

He also said Airports of Thailand (AOT), which oversees Don Mueang airport, has agreed to create space to set up more immigration counters. Within two weeks, the number of immigration counters will be increased from 25 at present to 39, he said.

 

The Immigration Bureau chief was speaking to The Nation after inspecting immigration operations at Don Mueang airport yesterday, where there were still long queues of arriving passengers.

 

Over the past year, the number of passengers passing through Don Mueang airport every day has increased to 40,000, up 400 per cent from 2012, when it was reopened as Bangkok’s second international airport.

 

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered relevant agencies to tackle the problem of long immigration queues at the airport.

 

The PM instructed the Immigration Bureau, AOT and the Transport Ministry to prepare contingency plans to deal with chaos similar to that seen at the airport last Friday night, when almost 10,000 passengers had to wait up to five hours to be processed by immigration officials. The chaos was blamed on the delay of over a dozen flights. 

 

Meanwhile, the Immigration Bureau yesterday described as “inaccurate” media reports that the prime minister had signed a new ministerial order last Friday to exempt all passengers from having to fill the TM6 form when they leave and enter the country.

 

 

In a statement, the bureau said that the order, effective from October 1, would cancel the existing TM6 form and replace it with a new one that asks for information necessary for the Ministry of Tourism and Sports in analysing and planning tourism marketing strategies.

 

“Passengers still have to fill the form when they leave or enter the country,” the Immigration Bureau statement said.

 

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports clarified yesterday that from October 1, the existing TM6 form would be replaced by a new one – in which both the “departure card” and the “arrival card” will be on the same page. 

 

The ministry said in a statement that an electronic alternative to collect necessary passenger information would be needed before the TM6 form was eventually scrapped.

 

“The relevant state agencies are in the process of doing so,” the statement added.

 

Recently, Somkiat Tangkitvanich, president of the think-tank Thailand Development Research Institute, said the TM6 form cost Bt5 each and that almost 7 million Thais travelled overseas, according to the 2015 statistics.

 

He noted that all the information that passengers have to fill in is already on the passport, which has to be produced while passing through the automated passport control machine.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30323350

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-08-10

[Cadbury]

28 minutes ago, webfact said:

".......number of immigration officials at Don Mueang airport would be increased to 100, from 42 at present"

Can't help but wonder where the additional 58, presumably highly trained, immigration officers suddenly materialised from.

 

Seems a sensible idea to exempt Thais from having to use the form but I don't think it will happen. A lot of money is being made out of the printing of that form. And for sure there would be few political fingers in the money pie trying to make sure the bottom line is not affected.

 

 

[inThailand]

What percent of Thais go thru immigration? Once again, a solution that fails to address the heart of the problem. The Hub of useless solutions!

[NCC1701A]

what has the form got to do with the huge period of time one has to wait in line?

 

that's a rhetorical question.

 

 

[mark01]

Exempt Thais, exempt people who already have visas.

Issue immigration form only to visa-on-arrival travellers.

 

Problem solved..... Next!

[kotsak]

4 minutes ago, mark01 said:

Exempt Thais, exempt people who already have visas.

Issue immigration form only to visa-on-arrival travellers.

 

Problem solved..... Next!

Your solution makes sense and there lies the problem 

[wakeupplease]

TAT lady will get upset as then you cannot count T's as tourists

[DoctorG]

All countries need to ask themselves "what am I using the forms for?"  If the only answer they can come up with is "we have always had them" then it might be time to revisit the question.

[Bangyo1948]

According to another article the form is used for "planing and marketing" so why do Thais need to fill it out in the first place. This form could easily be replaced with an online version at a low cost and it wouldn't take more than a day to get it up and running.


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

[12DrinkMore]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

said the TM6 form cost Bt5 each

 

0.5 Baht for the form and 4.5 Bahts for the skimming.

[12DrinkMore]

8 minutes ago, Bangyo1948 said:

This form could easily be replaced with an online version at a low cost and it wouldn't take more than a day to get it up and running.

 

You are refering to the immigration department, which has been unable to get online 90 day reporting to function.

 

And they have been at it for a number of years.

[brewsterbudgen]

What percent of Thais go thru immigration? Once again, a solution that fails to address the heart of the problem. The Hub of useless solutions!

I would guess all them. That's why there are desks for Thai nationals.

[Misterwhisper]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

He said that from tomorrow, the number of immigration officials at Don Mueang airport would be increased to 100, from 42 at present, and they would work four shifts around the clock.

And out of these 100, 20 will be absent on any given day,  calling in sick, having to tend to their gravely ill mother, attending some seminar, having a dentist appointment, etc etc. etc.

 

Leaves 80, working in 4 shifts of 20 officials each.

 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

the number of immigration counters will be increased from 25 at present to 39, he said.

Which means that during any given shift, 19 counters on average will remain unmanned.

 

Why oh why is this touted as an improvement?

 

[chrisinth]

11 minutes ago, Bangyo1948 said:

According to another article the form is used for "planing and marketing" so why do Thais need to fill it out in the first place. This form could easily be replaced with an online version at a low cost and it wouldn't take more than a day to get it up and running.


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

Would this be on a voluntary basis and if not how would it be regulated?

 

At what point in the process would the traveler go online to fill it in?

 

Perhaps they could setup a bank of online kiosks before the immigration counters and see how that goes to reduce the queues?

 

Or, alternately let the department responsible do their own planning and marketing and leave the travelers alone. That might work! 

[Dobredin Ghusputin]

Have they considered integrating immigration data entry with PokemonGo yet?

[biplanebluey]

HaHa----It's going to be the Immigration "officials" that are going to be crowded out now------- 58 new officers and 14 new desks (counters) Yep I can see it now 

[gandalf12]

34 minutes ago, Bangyo1948 said:

According to another article the form is used for "planing and marketing" so why do Thais need to fill it out in the first place. This form could easily be replaced with an online version at a low cost and it wouldn't take more than a day to get it up and running.


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

You are talking about doing this in Thailand right?

[heybuz]

59 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

All countries need to ask themselves "what am I using the forms for?"  If the only answer they can come up with is "we have always had them" then it might be time to revisit the question.

the exit form has been done away with in australia but the entry form which deals with customs declarations still is in force for obvious reasons

[captspectre]

why would a Thai have to fill out the form TM-6? immigration CLAIMS to have people on their computer, when you arrive they take your photo, scan your passport and stamp it. as a citizen you should have all your information on your passport!

 

[KittenKong]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

He said one of the measures being considered was for Thai passengers to no longer be required to fill the departure and arrival TM6 form.

 

I'm amazed that they currently have to do this. Does any other country in the world make its own nationals fill in departure/arrival cards? Certainly none of the ones I have lived in do.

[bluesofa]

34 minutes ago, 12DrinkMore said:

 

0.5 Baht for the form and 4.5 Bahts for the skimming.

I wouldn't want to even suggest about where the 4.5 Baht goes.

 

From experience in ordering relative low volume print runs, your figure of 0.5 Baht is exactly what I said to my wife a few minutes ago.

How many millions of visitors does TAT keep saying we have each year?

Plus the fact airlines are given thousands at a time for passengers to fill in while on the airplane. There must inevitably be a lot that are scrapped, so I'd guess the total used per year are TAT's wonderful figures, plus 10%. Plus Thais filling them in. Millions and millions of TM6 forms. Yeah sure, 5 Baht each...

 

[StayinThailand2much]

3 hours ago, inThailand said:

What percent of Thais go thru immigration? Once again, a solution that fails to address the heart of the problem. The Hub of useless solutions!

Plus, how does 'not having to fill out the arrival card for Thais' help to reduce long queues at immigration? Most people fill out their card on the plane, don't they? Okay, perhaps they mean the long time the officer procrastinates on where to place his stamp onto the card...

[Sydebolle]

Please do not exempt the Thais, after all they should also get their share of "Thai hospitality" once they come back from alien countries and I am sure they want to be felt at home soonest possible. 

[Searat7]

They don't need more desks at Don Muang....they just need to staff the ones they have !  I worry that the extra staffing there will come from Suvarnabhumi in the short term which could cause long lines there.

[Kieranmc]

It will have no affect affect on anything. Recently went through Phuket airport with my wife who is Thai. Arrivals hall packed to the back. Every line full. Thai line had one person in it. 

[Ricardo]

" He said that from tomorrow, the number of immigration officials at Don Mueang airport would be increased to 100, from 42 at present, and they would work four shifts around the clock. "

 

Doesn't  "four shifts around the clock"  imply that they only work a 6-hour shift ?

 

In which case, perhaps two-hours for breaks might be cut to one-hour with a 16.7% increase in productivity ?

[Ricardo]

53 minutes ago, captspectre said:

why would a Thai have to fill out the form TM-6? immigration CLAIMS to have people on their computer, when you arrive they take your photo, scan your passport and stamp it. as a citizen you should have all your information on your passport!

 

 

IME Thais do fill out a TM6, Departing & Arriving back home again, I don't see why this would actually be any more helpful than swiping the passport through a reader, unless it's just that authority usually hates to give up any control on-principle ?

[asiaexpat]

The change to remove the requirement for a TM 6 from Thai citizens should save at least 0.5 seconds, since all the do is hand it to an attendant as they go through the automated gates. Recently my son (a Thai citizen) took 5 minutes to get through the gate while I (non-Thai)took over an hour to get through immigration. The problem is not with Thai's entry process but is with foreigners entry process. This change is just eye wash.

[gunghang]

I am concerned about crowded airports.  I flew from/to China last January, and Swampy was as bad as Nanjing and Kunming airports during spring break.  To go through passport control when departing, I had to go up one escalator and then back down another. The floor was crowded and there wasn't quite enough room to step off the escalator for a couple of seconds.  Who designed this system?  The Marx Brothers?

 

Don Muang is really an exercise in Murphy's Law.  I remember when it reopened for domestic flights.  I could see where the immigration kiosks had been.  And now the airport authority is putting them back.

 

Why did they close it at all?  Tokyo did not close Haneda when Narita opened, LA gets along just fine with LAX, Burbank, John Wayne, etc. But I digress.

 

To address the problem at hand:

 

I carry my marriage certificate and that gets me into the shorter Thai line.

 

I see officials now steering foreigners into the Thai line when it's much shorter. Good idea.

 

The real jewel:  When I last went to Malaysia, there was no departure card/entry card. It was biometric. They took my thumbprint and photo and that was it.

 

Swampy already has scanners for Thais.  It looks like they go through without the assistance of an immigration officer.

 

An ATM machine can fill in your passbook.  It seems that the technology exists for most foreigners to just "thumb in" and run their passports through an "AIM" (automatic immigration machine)

Edited August 10, 2017 by gunghang
typo

[Belzybob]

They should ask the 'Line' people for automation suggestions.