Rew rew! Not just Don Muang - Suvarnabhumi hit by long immigration queues

[jaywalker]

11 minutes ago, mikiea said:

if you can afford a thailand vacation , you can afford a taxi to the hotel  .. do not be one of those foreign  assholds that drag two suitcases and a carry on's up and down the MRT and BTS  . i see these assholds every day pushing  and shoving their way onto the cars . have they no shame ? i think not . pathetic they are ......

That's why I never tried it. Not too bad in KL, as all is at ground level and the airport is 50 miles from nowhere & they have luggage racks on the train.

 

Helps if you have your gun-bearer (wife) to help you though.

Edited August 10, 2017 by jaywalker

[Thechook]

They boast about getting record numbers this year, 30 million + but they dont make any preparations to greet them.  1st impression means a lot.  One disgrunted guest could tell 5 friends

[ross163103]

I see two issues here; lack of foresight (immigration must have an inkling of an idea the numbers are going to increase as the TAT promotes Thailand), and lack of concern for the tourists, (basically immigration doesn't care about moving tourists through faster, they're government workers on a salary).

Maybe a commission system for the immigration officers would be an idea; the more bodies they move through the more salary they get.

[jaywalker]

4 hours ago, missoura said:

Yesterday afternoon at Don Muang domestic departure. Fastest, I have ever seen. All lanes seemed open and the Thai staff were waving people through. Maybe 5 minutes at most.

Only saw one other post about this Missoura, but flying from DMK to Pitsanolouk (or wherever within Thailand) does not require immigration nor customs checks.

Edited August 10, 2017 by jaywalker

[isco]

haha ridiculous on all levels. why on earth anyone bothers still coming to thailand is beyond me? went to Cambodia last week (the real land of smiles). got through immigration, visa processed and in a tuk tuk in less than 5 minutes, greeted by happy polite smiling people. then spent 5 days enjoying beer a quarter of the price of thailand. haha no brainer!!

[jonclark]

1 hour ago, jaywalker said:

They are Luddites. That was my main point, also, that ANYTHING, especialy a Thai gov't tries to do will usually take 3 -10 years longer than they say it will take (Pattaya tunnel for example).

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite

I know what a luddite is. No need 

for a link.

 

But I am glad you agree with me that there are too many IO doing too many unimportant tasks. The UK has approx 8000 officers in its border force (which i suspect os alot less than Thai Immigration) which includes immigration at airports. It has more international airports. More tourists and one could argue equally difficult and complex issues with illegal immigration as Thailand. 

 

But the use of tech has streamlined their functioning giving better results all round.

[Wake Up]

Flew to London three weeks ago and waited 2 hours in immigration line. Terrible wait and service. 

 

Flew back to Swampy last night arrived at 830 pm. Immigration line longer than I have ever scene since coming here in 2010. Lucky I had an old priority line pass I could use. 

 

Something needs to be done anout immigration lines in London and Swampy. 

 

To the guys that have the Thai elite visas. I still don't want to pay the price for one but l understand the benefit of bypassing the immigration lines after a long flight. 

Edited August 10, 2017 by Wake Up

[Khun Paul]

I have said it before and will say it again RTP state they have 250,000 officers and over 1200 generals, so where the hell are they all, maybe they are in inactive  posts. What a bloody shambles ad they want MORE TOURISTS.......................................

[Wake Up]

44 minutes ago, mikiea said:

if you can afford a thailand vacation , you can afford a taxi to the hotel  .. do not be one of those foreign  assholds that drag two suitcases and a carry on's up and down the MRT and BTS  . i see these assholds every day pushing  and shoving their way onto the cars . have they no shame ? i think not . pathetic they are ......

You ever heard the expression live and let live?  Why waste your time putting down others as pathetic and shameful over mass transit?  What is right for you is not what is right for others. Thankfully we all still have choices in life and freedom to do as we please.  Peace. 

[jaywalker]

3 minutes ago, isco said:

haha ridiculous on all levels. why on earth anyone bothers still coming to thailand is beyond me? went to Cambodia last week (the real land of smiles). got through immigration, visa processed and in a tuk tuk in less than 5 minutes, greeted by happy polite smiling people. then spent 5 days enjoying beer a quarter of the price of thailand. haha no brainer!!

You'd love Thailand too....way deep down if you'd been in Thailand 20+ years ago.

 

Quite amazing how fast they've managed to make a mess of things.

 

Cambo is OK though...to each his own. I recall when they had no ATM's and road bandits/highwaymen in Cambo. 

 

The Cambo IO's are/were corrupt as they get.

 

Pretty women though!  Have not been there in a while, so mayhaps it is better than Thailand by now at the airports & land crossings.

 

I was a serial visa-runner on 30 day Visa-on-Arrival with my US passport 2001- 2004.....actually I traveled a LOT around SEA & the Mid-East for a US company & it was cheaper than flying me across the Pacific or Atlantic every few weeks.

 

I'd hit Koh Kong for 15 minutes, then take my lady to Koh Chang for the weekend. Life was good!

 

I tried to do some consulting with our Thai customers....They always said "No hab budget"..

 

Good old days when Swampy wasn't even a twinkle in somebody's eye, and DMK was fast & friendly, as were the IO's.

[terryofcrete]

 

[newnative]

Totally unacceptable.  Hopefully, there will be a lot of very bad publicity on social media--that's the only thing that seems to spur any changes.

[hhinhh]

The airport is a mirrow of the shape of the contry.

I was surprised when I just entered Sri Lanka which is not emerged as Thailand when all my passport data were in the stystem and immigration took seconds. I have entered Thailand more than a dozend times and each time they take a picture again and again even though it is readable from my passport. Such things absorbe time and are not effecently.

[masuk]

5 hours ago, jaywalker said:

I think I'll pretend to be paralyzed from the waist down on my next visit to BKK.

 

I DO have a bad back & standing in line (or even shopping with the wife) is absolute murder on my lower spine.

Do any of the International airports have a queue for those of us with tin knees, and other problems with standing for a couple of hours?

China Immigration have a section for over 65s or disabilities.

[Cats4ever]

Just came in from Phnom Penh. Was looking at a monster queue. A kind lady suggested I go to priority, due to my venerable age. I did. I hope it was an improvement (still yook over 50 minutes). The queue snailed along. Only half the booths open. doesn't help in positive decision on whether to return to Bangkok.

Edited August 10, 2017 by Cats4ever
make it clearer

[jaywalker]

17 minutes ago, jonclark said:

I know what a luddite is. No need 

for a link.

 

But I am glad you agree with me that there are too many IO doing too many unimportant tasks. The UK has approx 8000 officers in its border force (which i suspect os alot less than Thai Immigration) which includes immigration at airports. It has more international airports. More tourists and one could argue equally difficult and complex issues with illegal immigration as Thailand. 

 

But the use of tech has streamlined their functioning giving better results all round.

Don't mean to argue jonclark, but you are preaching to the choir.

 

Things get STUPID though, when you try to streamline any agency set in their ways. In Thailand, you get the pouty look at best. On the street, you get your head stomped in.

 

I have tried to....well tell a few that worked for me they were idiots and showed them the proper way to do their jobs.....Ways that would make their work WAY FASTER and EASIER. They just huffed & puffed & pouted for a few days.

 

I never actually told them they were idiots, I'd just demonstrate something simple, like how to use an air ratchet instead of a manual ratchet, and how keeping my tools organized made me be able to do in one day what took them a week.

 

They could CARE LESS about efficiency, production, quality etc.

 

It was all about "Let's milk this job for as long as we can, & if we screw it up, then it might last longer".

[Thaidream]

The poster is absolutely correct about Thailand 20 years ago. While  salaries have increased for Thais- the cost of living has increased much more and a Thai person attempting to save for a house; having children and purchasing a car is very difficult. The airport situation has worsened considerably. I doubt this is all due to increase tourism. Apparently, the number of IOs have decreased considerably since 2013. I have no idea why that would make any sense as there has been no increase in technology to replace them.

 

I agree with the poster who stated he does not see the lure of Thailand any more. I am the same. If I was not married to a Thai and was single- I would move to  other Asian cities. Thailand just isn't fun anymore and has lost its appeal .

[terryofcrete]

Don't mean to argue jonclark, but you are preaching to the choir.
 
Things get STUPID though, when you try to streamline any agency set in their ways. In Thailand, you get the pouty look at best. On the street, you get your head stomped in.
 
I have tried to....well tell a few that worked for me they were idiots and showed them the proper way to do their jobs.....Ways that would make their work WAY FASTER and EASIER. They just huffed & puffed & pouted for a few days.
 
I never actually told them they were idiots, I'd just demonstrate something simple, like how to use an air ratchet instead of a manual ratchet, and how keeping my tools organized made me be able to do in one day what took them a week.
 
They could CARE LESS about efficiency, production, quality etc.
 
It was all about "Let's milk this job for as long as we can, & if we screw it up, then it might last longer".

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[jaywalker]

3 minutes ago, Cats4ever said:

Just came in from Phnom Penh. Was looking at a monster queue. A kind lady suggested I go to priority, due to my venerable age. I did. I hope it was an improvement (still yook over 50 minutes). The queue snailed along. Only half the booths open. doesn't help in positive decision on whether to return to Bangkok.

You're making my back hurt to think about it.

[jaywalker]

6 minutes ago, masuk said:

Do any of the International airports have a queue for those of us with tin knees, and other problems with standing for a couple of hours?

China Immigration have a section for over 65s or disabilities.

I think they do, though I've never used it.

 

Just stagger out of the plane & tell them "Old man...Cannot walk". 

 

Dye your hair brown/black the next day and hit Soi 6.

[Nowisee]

3 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

...I agree with the poster who stated he does not see the lure of Thailand any more. I am the same. If I was not married to a Thai and was single- I would move to  other Asian cities. Thailand just isn't fun anymore and has lost its appeal .

It has turned into an unhappy shitehole... There really is very little reason to hang around here.  My last visits to Malaysia and Vietnam have yielded so much more fun, intellectually engaging conversation and most importantly happy smiling people able to say, "hello", "good morning"... here is unhappy people with no smile, no sense of anything... just empty.  

 

[jaywalker]

8 minutes ago, terryofcrete said:

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

And.......you quoted me why?

 

You need to type in your reply so others can see it.

 

Don't mean be a smart-ass, but I'm confused.

[impulse]

21 minutes ago, Cats4ever said:

Just came in from Phnom Penh. Was looking at a monster queue. A kind lady suggested I go to priority, due to my venerable age. I did. I hope it was an improvement (still yook over 50 minutes). The queue snailed along. Only half the booths open. doesn't help in positive decision on whether to return to Bangkok.

 

Imagine paying for a business/first class ticket or an Elite visa or an expedited arrival service and still facing almost an hour in line.

 

[impulse]

12 minutes ago, Nowisee said:

It has turned into an unhappy shitehole... There really is very little reason to hang around here.  My last visits to Malaysia and Vietnam have yielded so much more fun, intellectually engaging conversation and most importantly happy smiling people able to say, "hello", "good morning"... here is unhappy people with no smile, no sense of anything... just empty.  

 

All honeymoons start out that way.  New and interesting and exciting.  And just like ladies (and guys), the very things that attracted you at first are likely to be the things that drive you up a wall later.

 

[jaywalker]

13 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

Imagine paying for a business/first class ticket or an Elite visa or an expedited arrival service and still facing almost an hour in line.

 

Been there done that w/ a business class ticket. It works for check in and on the plane. You also get off before the hoards of Genghis Khan do.

 

That's about it. If Air India just arrived before your flight, then.....you wait, and wait, and wait.

 

Those VIP cards, which I thought would last about 6 months till they decided to change the rules again might actually be worth it....or I could (truthfully) tell them I have a bad back & get a wheelchair.

 

I feel weird about that though. I can walk 5 miles, but standing for 20 minutes makes me want to almost die.

 

I need a soapie massage.

Edited August 10, 2017 by jaywalker

[jaywalker]

12 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

All honeymoons start out that way.  New and interesting and exciting.  And just like ladies (and guys), the very things that attracted you at first are likely to be the things that drive you up a wall later.

 

Put my wife over my knee once & spanked her ass in a half serious/joking manner. I totally forget what she'd done....Something ludicrously STUPID..

 

Other than that, we've been a perfect match for 16 years.

[jaywalker]

6 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Absolutely spot on.

 

I am keeping my eye on an interesting situation at the moment. Singapore branch of international company using unqualified Thais to service a contract for major international client in Thailand. Client has intimated to me that he is not satisfied with the service provider yet service provider is all over the internet boasting on how well the job went. Then I came across numerous linkedin and Fateboo posts of the Thais mucking about, posing for selfies and general back-slapping activities in dangerous areas on the project. Needless to say the client ain't impressed. 

My Thai boss told me to never yell at them, or they'd all 5 quit.

 

I REALLY WANTED to fire a truly worthless one, but no, no, no! His brother might then quit also.

 

His brother was the sharpest of the bunch.

 

Never again will I work for a Thai company.

Edited August 10, 2017 by jaywalker

[superal]

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Not even close to good enough. A lame department, that really messed up. On top of the recent fiasco at DM. There, a more appropriate reaction would have been to say we really, really screwed up. The chairman of the department has tendered his resignation, and will hold a press conference, where he issues a sincere apology, and takes full responsibility, to those thousands and thousands of tourists, who arrived in Thailand, then had to spend the whole night in the airport. In addition to that, we are offering all tourists who were stranded, vouchers for five years worth of free, and completely unlimited visas, plus a 5,000 baht credit voucher, that can be spent in any hotel in the country.

 

Whenever immigration takes more than 60 minutes, they should issue some kind of credit voucher, for food at the airport. It is a very small way of saying we are not capable of taking care of this task, and therefore we would like to show some humility to our valuable, incoming guests. That would be a reasonable reply, or response, and might make those stranded tourists feel as if they were not completely abused, and treated like dogs, by the country that so adamantly claims how much it welcomes them.

 

Since the tourism numbers are going up so dramatically, why don't they make provisions for this? If tourism is expanding exponentially, why isn't the immigration department expanding in line with this? There is plenty of revenue to make this happen. It makes one wonder where that revenue is going. The entire situation smells foul. And reeks of incompetence and indifference. The neighboring countries are doing better. Thailand continues to lag way behind the curve. 

 

What is the real cause of all of this? A government possessing a lack of vision, combined with a naive, surly, silly, churlish, and ignorant sense of nationalism, continuously bites the country in the butt. And again, who is the loser? The Thai people. And the visiting tourists. It is a real shame, as I find most Thai people to be quite lovely, friendly, warm, helpful and fun to be around. I am sure many feel the same way. But, unfortunately they are cursed with a government that is incompetent, myopic, non-visionary, indifferent, and reckless beyond imagination.

 

Little P. Moving Thailand backwards at a breath taking, and astonishing pace. Good job boys! 

 

I think you just about hit the nail on the head with your critique of this event and general matters .  I wonder where it is all going and why there are no adoptions of western ways that are proven to work .

                               With regards to the immigration queues there must be someone accountable for this unbelievable performance . I ask myself this , the powers that be must have all the required data of pedestrian traffic that will be arriving and departing immigration so as to appoint the appropriate number of I.Os. accordingly  . Clearly not happening  and I wonder if they are operating an ISO Q.A system because if they are they would lose their accreditation .  Expecting people to stand in those long queues for hours on end is beyond belief . Maybe be given a ticket to join the queue when it comes to a dozen per line plus , as you say refreshments .  should be automatic as a matter of courtesy and humanity . There will be knock on effects for arrivals with their luggage collection from the carousels . Today a friend of mine arrived at suvarnabhumi to met huge queues and spoke to an airport  concessionaire explaining that he had an onward flight at Don Muang . She took him through the priority lane and  he grabbed a taxi  who was going to make the airport in time until the road was closed to allow a member of the royal family to proceed without traffic jams . He ended up in Mo Chit thoroughly pissed off and taking a 6 hour bus ticket .  

     This whole airport scenario must put off tourists coming here again and word travels fast , surprised it is not international news , or is it ?

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

37 minutes ago, jaywalker said:

Put my wife over my knee once & spanked her ass in a half serious/joking manner. I totally forget what she'd done....Something ludicrously STUPID..

 

Other than that, we've been a perfect match for 16 years.

I would like to put the whole Immigration department over my knee and spank them (but not in a half serious/joking manner).

Edited August 10, 2017 by HiSoLowSoNoSo

[terryofcrete]

It has turned into an unhappy shitehole... There really is very little reason to hang around here.  My last visits to Malaysia and Vietnam have yielded so much more fun, intellectually engaging conversation and most importantly happy smiling people able to say, "hello", "good morning"... here is unhappy people with no smile, no sense of anything... just empty.  

 

Very sad to read your comment. LOS disappearing and those who participate in the disappearance are the very people who are supposed to be in charge of improving the lot of the people. Such a pity but I fear the ways of the people are very set and they only see the instant return, not the long term result. Sleepwalking into a mess that the country is turning into year by year. Gravy boat is almost empty.



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