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

[jaywalker]

36 minutes ago, superal said:

I wonder where it is all going and why there are no adoptions of western ways that are proven to work .

My thoughts EVERY DAY when I worked for a Thai company.

 

They HIRED me to show them the Western way of doing things, then proceeded to completely ignore everything I said.

 

Luckily there was a Mom & Pop shop nearby, & I had a big plastic cooler/drink holder. I pretty much just sat in front of a fan, in a junkyard, in 4 inch deep water, and kept my eyes on them, drinking beer out of a straw.....it was all I COULD do. They were rebuilding diesel engines.

 

They never listened to me about procedure/production...just when they got stuck (which was often).

 

I was their crutch & a token farang in the company's brochure is all I was.

 

Nice guys. I hope they learned something from me, but my job was less than fulfilling.

 

I moved on.

Edited August 10, 2017 by jaywalker

[jaywalker]

6 minutes ago, terryofcrete said:

Sleepwalking into a mess that the country is turning into year by year.

Eerily reminds me of Pol Pot's YEAR ZERO.

 

 

[moonseeker]

I enjoy KL & Singapore airports. No wait, a friendly smile & welcome. Maybe the bosses here could send a delagation to inspect & copy. Why do things in Thailand always end up in a mess??? Was "Murphy" Thai :-) ??? Good night.  MS>

[Kadilo]

look for another country you fools

You must be the IO i had the other day.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[sawadee1947]

3 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

You must be the IO i had the other day.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

would you please explain what " IO " means?

[Rimmer]

Posts flaming other members have been removed

[Foozool]

It seems immigration lacks of employees these days. Fired some or resigned ?❗️Or retired without replacements. ?

[Joebuzz]

7 hours ago, z42 said:

A true clown show, staffing should hardly be a problem as the number of civil service personnel in this country is mind bogglingly large to begin with.. But the crux is that a lot of said personnel don't work to any kind of regulated / organized system.

I remember the last time I came through to Suvarnabhumi travelling from another ASEAN country, the muppet on the immigration desk for my line (foreign passport) was in no hurry whatsover.. The ASEAN lanes were moving very smoothly, yet the officer on my lane actually came out to an ever growing line to shore it up needlessly.
He then proceeded to scrutinize my passport and long term non B visa even though everything was completely in order... Because of limited pages he was even mumbing in Thai about that not knowing that I can understand a fair bit of the lingo here... Without even a smile, bashes some stamps in, grumbles and flings my passport back.... Basically saying piss off, there is nothing I could ruin your day properly for.
I expect rotten service from time to time here from those in a uniform... But for other travellers it would have looked utterly dreadful and left a highly negative impression. Same with some members of the immigration staff in my province,  true battle axes that don't give a flying one about good and speedy service with a smile. TIT

Why do I seem to be the only ex-expat that realizes the Thai don't want us there.  They only want the money and most all don't give a squat what we think.

[rkidlad]

42 minutes ago, jaywalker said:

My thoughts EVERY DAY when I worked for a Thai company.

 

They HIRED me to show them the Western way of doing things, then proceeded to completely ignore everything I said.

 

Luckily there was a Mom & Pop shop nearby, & I had a big plastic cooler/drink holder. I pretty much just sat in front of a fan, in a junkyard, in 4 inch deep water, and kept my eyes on them, drinking beer out of a straw.....it was all I COULD do. They were rebuilding diesel engines.

 

They never listened to me about procedure/production...just when they got stuck (which was often).

 

I was their crutch & a token farang in the company's brochure is all I was.

 

Nice guys. I hope they learned something from me, but my job was less than fulfilling.

 

I moved on.

Had a friend here who worked for a Thai company. He was making good coin but was seemingly just the farang poster boy who did nothing. I said it sounded like a great job, to which he replied, "everyday, a piece of my soul dies forever". 

 

 

 

 

[eppic]

5 hours ago, jaywalker said:

 

My wife goes thru the US side with me in Chicago (or wherever) in the US, & I hit the Thai side in Thailand when I'm with her.

 

I stood in line with her (like a dumb-ass) in Chicago once in the foreigner's lane for half an hour. The IO looked at me like an idiot (I was) & told me to take her thru the US Citizen's lane next time.

You are really just lucky that you enter in Chicago.  

 

In Portland, first time with my British wife I was told I could have used the U.S. Citizen queue. Next time, we did that, and the officer went nuts on us, saying we should have used the foreign queue.

 

Same in Dallas, had to wait in enormous customs queues (on multiple trips) because my wife is British (Canada exempted, not UK).

 

And as stated before, Heathrow is a nightmare, I'd take swampy and day over that mess.

 

Also, for all of you acting superior about using the BKK priority queue, I have been eligible (biz class or flying with infant) on almost all trips here but on a few occasions have actually switched to regular queue because it was much shorter. Priority queue does not guarantee speed since there are so few counters.

 

[ExpatOilWorker]

32 minutes ago, sawadee1947 said:

would you please explain what " IO " means?

He probably meant IQ or or maybe even the lack or IQ.

 

It could of course also be Immigration Officer, but nah, that would be to simple.

[zzaa09]

1 minute ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

He probably meant IQ or or maybe even the lack or IQ.

 

It could of course also be Immigration Officer, but nah, that would be to simple.

Can't measure the varieties of intelligence.

Though, I'm sure that most give it their best attempt.

 

[Sig]

7 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Just when you thought the incompetence was being worked on, an incident like this comes along and shows that these folks just never learn. Flying long haul and having a queue anything more than 20-30 minutes is just not acceptable.

I just came back over the weekend.
After 28 hours of travel... the wait for me was just about 1 hour 20 minutes. I felt lucky! I have been in much worse there. I can hardly recall a time coming through here in less than an hour... I don't believe I've been quite that lucky before. I sure hope somebody gets a handle on this... even at the hour and twenty that I waited, I was VERY ready to sit down and rest. These lines are really insane.

[Kadilo]

would you please explain what " IO " means?

Immigration Officer. Apologies shouldn't use Acronyms. What obvious for some is not for others.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Kadilo]

I just came back over the weekend.
After 28 hours of travel... the wait for me was just about 1 hour 20 minutes. I felt lucky! I have been in much worse there. I can hardly recall a time coming through here in less than an hour... I don't believe I've been quite that lucky before. I sure hope somebody gets a handle on this... even at the hour and twenty that I waited, I was VERY ready to sit down and rest. These lines are really insane.

Pretty much the same. I returned Saturday evening and it was around an hour. The desks were pretty thinly manned and they didnt seem overly quick between customers.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[realenglish1]

Still do not understand Immigration at the airport I have lived here for 15 years with a retirement extension Why should I go through the "Foreign
 Passport line I think I have earned the privilege of going through the Thailand passport line that is usually empty All non "o" Visa holders should be allowed to go through this line

But no Immigration wants to go by a ridiculous standard rather than really speak lines up

 

Never did get in never will get it 
 

[zzaa09]

4 minutes ago, realenglish1 said:

Still do not understand Immigration at the airport I have lived here for 15 years with a retirement extension Why should I go through the "Foreign
 Passport line I think I have earned the privilege of going through the Thailand passport line that is usually empty All non "o" Visa holders should be allowed to go through this line

But no Immigration wants to go by a ridiculous standard rather than really speak lines up

 

Never did get in never will get it 
 

....and don't expect them to get it any time soon.

[superal]

4 hours 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!!

Beer at a quarter of the price ?  please enlighten me , my suitcase is packed , ready to go 

[fullcave]

Incompetence. Find out who is responsible and then fire them. It's as simple as that. 

[Jonmarleesco]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

"Having lived in Thailand for 35 years I can say this was the longest I have ever waited to be stamped out of the kingdom

It's happened before, at Suvarnabhumi, and probably more than once. A few years ago, I witnessed the queue of arrivals snaking way out of the arrivals hall, extending far back towards the just-landed flights. And naturally, a dearth of immigration officials on the desks. The poor signage and lack of useful personnel had people in the wrong queues being turned away once they reached the desk, to then have to requeue.

 

Little has changed; not even the TAT's optimism.

Edited August 10, 2017 by Jonmarleesco

[Jonmarleesco]

4 hours ago, Kadilo said:

Pretty much the same. I returned Saturday evening and it was around an hour. The desks were pretty thinly manned and they didnt seem overly quick between customers.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

As did I - we. But less than an hour, so can't complain, I suppose. The 20 to 40 seconds quote in the article intrigues me. Never, ever, seen them move that quickly. I would estimate the best at close to a minute, and that's a rare efficient operative processing a traveller without any close checks of stamps, etc.

[Thian]

10 hours ago, jonclark said:

 

I do not believe that Thailand lacks the number of immigration staff to man the booths. They are all stuck up at Chaeng Wattana and the like dealing with 90 day reports, extensions of stays and re-entry permits.

 

The loads of Chinese don't get a visa on arrival if i understood it well. They have to fill in paperwork at the immigration and that takes so long. The chinese groups also have special lanes at the immigration.

Since the loads of Chinese come to Thailand the qeueu's at immigration have grown much longer last years.

[gk10002000]

10 hours ago, jonclark said:

I do not believe that Thailand lacks the number of immigration staff to man the booths. They are all stuck up at Chaeng Wattana and the like dealing with 90 day reports, extensions of stays and re-entry permits.  For the love of god make all 90 day reports online - mandatory they will not be accepted in person - that frees up huge numbers of officers currently doing nothing to help improve Thailand's image and development.

 

Re-entry permits and extensions of stays - combine the two into a single multiple entry extension of stay - frees up officers and I am sure that extensions of stay could also be done online once you have done the initial extension in person. - Submit scans of the documents with your fee and then just have an appointment to have the stamp put in - quick and easy. If the applicant screws up the application - do it again and pay again. 

 

I am amazed at just how far tech has come every time I return to the UK and then even more amazed at how Thailand is soo far behind the curve and how inefficiencies of time, money and effort could so easily be rectified. 

 

The number of people in Thailand doing the most menial of tasks is monumental. 

 

Definitely should change 90 day reporting to 1 year reporting.  It is absolutely nutty and a waste of time and resources to require 90 day reporting. If somebody has been approved for a long stay visa, then any sort of security or immigration issues by default don't exist.  now change or do away with all that change of address reporting every time a tourist changes a hotel or a long stay person returns. 

[gk10002000]

8 hours ago, hhinhh said:

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.

The problem with Thailand is the Thai mentality.  Subordinates are so under the thumb of bosses that they can't or won't speak up and point out issues, bring problems or suggestions up at meetings, etc.  They get over whelmed when anything new comes along or something does not work

[gk10002000]

8 hours 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!!

How did you get to Cambodia?  Did you fly from Taiwan to Cambodia?  Did you fly into BKK and then transit to Cambodia flight

[dcnx]

13 hours ago, flynn said:

I was in a massive queue last week , mostly Chinese, they have underestimated the number of Chinese coming to Thailand,also they were many empty booths and it was 1am, 

They quietly allowed the banned zero dollar tours to return. Everyone was losing too much money.

[MarkyM3]

9 hours ago, Wake Up said:

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. 

That's not typical of Heathrow for British/EU passport holders in my experience. I fly back and forward several times per year to BKK and elsewhere and while Heathrow has plenty of faults, I cannot recall waiting more than approx 30 minutes, usually it's more like 15-20 mins at most. Luggage can certainly take longer, especially if in economy.

 

If you are non-EU then I can't speak for the wait there. The recent problem Heathrow has had is with the automated passport reading machines, which seem to cause a lot of problems.

Edited August 10, 2017 by MarkyM3

[Thian]

58 minutes ago, dcnx said:

They quietly allowed the banned zero dollar tours to return. Everyone was losing too much money.

 

I was un Luzern Swiss last week, there were loads of chinese (grouptours) but what was amazing is that the expensive watchshops (and there were loads of them) all had Chinese staff as well! I even didn't see any european sales in some shops.

 

So if you want to buy a watch from 5-200.000 us$ they can even help you in chinese language...

[Thian]

3 minutes ago, MarkyM3 said:

If you are non-EU then I can't speak for the wait there. The recent problem Heathrow has had is with the automated passport reading machines, which seem to cause a lot of problems.

I noticed that many people don't know how to use those machines (me included). 

 

They should show a video on a screen above those machines how to stuff the passport inside the machine.  Many people get nervous if the machine doesn't accept it when they didn't offer their passport properly.

 

[MarkyM3]

15 minutes ago, Thian said:

I noticed that many people don't know how to use those machines (me included). 

 

They should show a video on a screen above those machines how to stuff the passport inside the machine.  Many people get nervous if the machine doesn't accept it when they didn't offer their passport properly.

 

From memory, there is an animated video that is played on a monitor above to show what to do, but I recall it isn't overly clear. Also there are usually some staff hanging around to help because of the issues the machines seem to cause but they need to be more proactive and helpful (fat chance!).

 

One of the things to be careful of when looking at the camera is to take of spectacles unless you wore them on your passport photo - I got caught out with this, worked OK as soon as I took them off.

 

Here's some instructions btw, hope they are useful (the Heathrow ones are the first set - reader is outside the gate)

 

How to use the ePassport gates

You should remove anything that could obscure your face and make it difficult to compare you with your passport photograph, like sunglasses, hats or scarves.

Remove your passport from any cover and open it to the biographic and picture page. This may be in the front or back of the passport.

There are two types of ePassport gates currently operating in the UK:

Passport reader outside the gate

Where the passport reader is positioned outside of the gate you should:

• open your ePassport to the biographic and picture page
• place it face down on the reader so it can scan the picture and read the key information
• hold it down in place until instructed to remove it (this could take a few seconds)

Once the reader has accepted your passport successfully, you should:

• remove your passport
• step forward into the gates and place your feet on the markings on the floor
• look straight at the camera directly in front of you
• stand still until the green light shows it has captured the image
• exit the gate when instructed to do so

Passport reader within the gate

Where the passport reader is within the eGate, you should:

• enter the gate when it is available (a green arrow is displayed)
• open your ePassport to the biographic and picture page
• place it face down on the reader so it can scan the picture and read the key information (holding it down in place)
• look straight at the camera directly in front of you
• stand still until the green light shows it has captured your image successfully
• remove you passport when instructed (this could take a few seconds)
• exit the gate

If for any reason you are not allowed to go through the ePassport gates, you will be directed to a dedicated Border Force officer nearby who will be able to process your arrival.

Edited August 10, 2017 by MarkyM3