Must Read Welcome to Thailand - and welcome to immigration queues!

[brucegoniners]

Great, something else to slow down immigration.

 

The immigration department here is so inept. Maybe they should have considered signs in Japanese, Chinese and other foreign languages so people would know ahead of time what they would be doing.

 

 

[Katipo]

I used the fingerprint scanners when I arrived 2 weeks back. Their are clear pictorial instructions that show what needs to be scanned and when. It was unnecessary for the immigration official to say anything. Having said that, the extra 10 seconds or so it takes normal people to use this machines could worsen queues. When you take into account the idiot factor, I can see how delays could be substantial.

[hansnl]

4 hours ago, kotsak said:

Pick your choice, either stuck in traffic jams or at the immigration queue.

Or both, in this Case.

[mike1967]

Could someone help me out please. Why is exactly we go to Thailand? Visa's increasingly more difficult for anything over 30 days, big queues at immigration, baht under 39 to the pound and falling, minimum travel time from UK of 19 hours door to door, service nothing like it used to be

....shall I go on? After 9 years of spending most of my time in Thailand I have finally given up. Maybe that's their plan?

[Artisi]

4 hours ago, bangkokfrog said:

I thought BJ has been reduced to an inactive "post" these days.

Different story, luckily the BJ mentioned in the OP is still available for the lucky one's, and at a price if not available in-house. 

[thaiflyer1]

Queue's tell me about it........arrived back from the UK yesterday KLM landed ontime at 10am, had arranged Bell Travel bus into Pattaya for 12pm got to Door 7 for the bus at 11.45am.............must of stood waiting for passport to be stamped for a good hour

 

Biometrics.......scan right hand fingerprints then left hand, then 2 thumbs......... next time only need scan right hand fingerprints

[hansnl]

32 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

There is no great flood of disenchanted foreigners queuing up to leave Thailand.

 

However, there's a colossal amount of TV members queuing up on this forum claiming that they are.

Really?

In both cases, that is.

However, there seems to be a rather steady trickle of expats leaving the country, back home and to Vietnam and the Phillipines.

 

 

[Salerno]

9 minutes ago, Katipo said:

Having said that, the extra 10 seconds or so it takes normal people to use this machines could worsen queues.

All things being equal it shouldn't take any more time, not even 10 seconds, as the person should be doing it while the IO checks the passport.

 

Once the glitches are ironed out it could even speed things up e.g. why bother looking at passport other than a cursory glance (one arrival I was just standing there for a good 15 minutes while the guy flipped backwards and forwards through my passport looking at the screen now and then without saying a word!) if linked to a database and relevant info shown on screen

[bri1guy]

Why scan all ten fingers only one thumb fingerprint ???? would suffice ⁉

[Fred31]

4 hours ago, RobboR said:

Quelle surprise.

This lot couldn't organise a BJ in Bangkok

So, a bit like the terminal.5 cock up at Heathrow not so long ago.

Guess the Thais can learn a lot from the limeys

[Puchaiyank]

Keep Thailand secure?   I don't think so.  We searched for the enemy and found them...and they were us...????

[Hockeybik]

4 hours ago, kotsak said:

Pick your choice, either stuck in traffic jams or at the immigration queue.

Sounds like it was stuck in both without choice.

[RJRS1301]

4 hours ago, Eligius said:

You are right: as far as I know, we cannot say 'no'. If we do, we shall be refused entry. So outwardly we are forced to go along with it - but inwardly (if we are true human beings with spirit) we will be railing at the criminal way in which we are increasingly being treated.

 

There really needs to be a world-wide revolution against the dehumanisation of global society which is proceeding apace. People are being turned into zombified slaves, and as the great Aldous Huxley predicted, people are being trained to 'love their servitude'.

Malaysia does eye scanning, what is the difference??

I have also been thumb and forefinger printed entering and leaving another country, cannot recall which though.

Surely the airline could assist and hand passengers an information card explaining the procedure in several languages?

[Kasane]

Wait till they start arresting people by anticipating what people are going to be thinking/ doing in the future, thanks to those who control AI.

[Emdog]

"The system has been hailed as state-of-the-art and designed to help keep Thailand secure."

Thai visa is good at giving us a daily snort of derision.

State of the art? Might be quicker if art students drew pictures of finger tips.

Designed to keep some immigration officials financially secure I imagine...

[Guderian]

I arrived back in Swampy a week ago and had to go through this in Fastrack. This is what I wrote to a friend afterwards:

 

 

Thai Immigration have come up with a new wrinkle, when you arrive as well as getting the usual stamp in your passport you now have to have your finger- and thumb-prints taken. The IO had abominable English pronunciation, at least I’m sure it had nothing to do with all the champagne and vodka/oranges I drank before landing, but she had my passport and kept shouting at me something like, “You white man, you white man!” What now, is it illegal to be white and entering the Land of the Free, or more likely there will be an extra tax to pay as you won’t need to enrich their huge whitening lotion industry. Eventually some flunky pointed out to me that hidden to one side of the IO’s podium was a small machine where you had to stick first your right hand – that was what she’d been trying to say evidently, “Your right hand” – then your left one and finally your thumbs. Blimey, all this made me feel like a dodgy Labour MP who’s had his collar felt and is down at the local nick, but we got it sorted out in the end and off I went to collect my luggage. 

 

 

The problem is that the scanner is small and off to one side, so although it has clear instructions on it most people don't even realise it's there. I guess after a while people will get used to it and things will move more quickly, but a few large posters in the Arrivals hall before Immigration explaining what to expect in half a dozen different languages would have been a great help. Just another sign of how little the Thais care about the people who provide them with a decent chunk of their income.

 

I will admit that I was none too happy at being treated like a crim, but as people have already said, what choice do you have? Another nail in the coffin of Thailand as a desirable retirement destination as far as I'm concerned.

[Xonax]

A new biometic system - installed at a cost of more than 2 billion baht.  Really?????

[fleur3]

5 hours ago, Phuketshrew said:

I arrived back through Phuket International terminal on Wednesday. No big queues and the process was just as quick despite having to do the biometric scanning. If only the baggage reclaim was as quick!

biometric scanning is not a problem. Goes fast. But fingerprinting takes a lot of time! first lefthand without thumb, then thum then righthand withot thum and thumb. That takes a lot of time. Had to do it at the "vip lane"when i entered about 3 weeks ago. My thougt was: if they are going to do this at every desk will be an amazing lot of time to go through. Seems a correct guess!

[Salerno]

16 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

Malaysia does eye scanning, what is the difference??

When did they start that? I haven't visited for a couple of years.

16 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

I have also been thumb and forefinger printed entering and leaving another country, cannot recall which though.

Malaysia, Singapore, China, Canada, Panama, Taiwan, Japan, USA, EU next year (some countries only do certain nationalities) ... it's going global, the list of countries not doing it is likely to be shorter than those that do soon.

[fleur3]

4 hours ago, Razek said:

They just copy what european did .

where in Europe? Have used many airports and never seen using fingerprint. In most of the EU countries they use biometric with the use of an EU passport.

[Salerno]

1 minute ago, fleur3 said:

where in Europe?

Coming soon https://www.dw.com/en/eu-to-implement-border-fingerprint-checks-similar-to-united-states/a-41111621

[dendijk]

And exactly how safe are our privacy details in the hand of this government?

How sure can we be they are not storing them on a few 'floppy drives' and leave them laying around somewhere. The data might be easily accessible to hackers. When in the wrong hands such data could be 'framing' you for anything in the future.

 

But thankfully we can rest assured. This is the Thai government so we need not worry about anything ????

[spidermike007]

That is a long que! And it is thoroughly inexcusable, on every level. The authorities have the schedule of all incoming flights. When they see a number of flights arriving within minutes of each other, it is their duty and obligation to get additional staff, to man the ques, and make sure this does not happen. They sure have enough lines for this, they have enough agents, and they have plenty of revenue. This is gross incompetency at the highest levels. 

 

Tourists are already tired when they arrive, some on very long flights. The last thing one wants to see is an immigration line, that is an hour or longer. Shame on immigration.

 

Shame on Prayuth. Shame on the horrendously incompetent army. Get out of the way, so your nation can progress. Move aside. Let the nation grow and prosper. You are not the answer! You are not wanted, needed, or liked by the people. 

[scorecard]

5 hours ago, RobboR said:

Quelle surprise.

This lot couldn't organise a BJ in Bangkok

Partly meaning no Plan B if the system didn't work or had bugs or had processing hicups etc., but don't worry their foreigners / aliens so it doesn't matter. And don't worry it cost xxBillion Baht and it looks so shiny and new so everybody will be very impressed and whether it works nobody will care much. 

 

In reality there should always be a plan B, even if the system has been running smoothly for years. I'm guessing that at Changi airport (just one example) there are many Plan Bs and they are tested and there is a serious goal like 'Plan B must be up and running smoothly with 5 minutes' or similar, and you guarantee the time factor would be quite short.  

[dendijk]

30 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

Malaysia does eye scanning, what is the difference??

I have also been thumb and forefinger printed entering and leaving another country, cannot recall which though.

Surely the airline could assist and hand passengers an information card explaining the procedure in several languages?

I prefer iris scanning over finger prints. Goes very quick and its impossible to 'frame' you for anything. Finger prints can be 'placed' anywhere, its impossible to just place my eyes anywhere ????

[roquefort]

Thailand.............millions of visitors...........state of the art security system. What could possibly go wrong?

[zib]

5 hours ago, Eligius said:

This scanning of our fingerprints is so disgusting. For most of my life - decades and decades - it has always been only CRIMINALS who have their fingerprints taken.

Now the sheep all think it is perfectly acceptable for us all to be herded and monitored and branded. 

I will never agree with this insane Orwellian system of fake 'security' obsession and psychotic control-freakery - when the real monsters (yes, monsters) are the criminals in high places (the less than 1%) who are running the whole filthy show.

 

Maybe because decades ago they didnt have machines to do it. Just remember US and EU did it yeeeeaaars before Thailand.

[DrTuner]

Ah, the queue. I thought I could escape it by having the elite, last time I was at swampy in the elite lane: It's also marked as 'aircrew only" with the elite logo on top of it. The cranky IO manning the booth picked me out from middle of the uniformed air crews and started shooing me out of the line, at which point I showed my badge of authoritaaahhh for which I've paid the 500k for. She obviously had no clue what it was and kept yammering until I pulled a senior IO in from the sideline, who promptly cleared the path for me (to the irritation of one airline captain that had at that point mockingly mentioned the line was for aircrews only) and caused the sourpuss IO at the booth to turn into battery acid. Sod all she could do but stamp me in while I was grinning like a baboon.

 

Not what I expected, but worth the money. I love grinding Thai face to the stone.

[mac1970]

Hundreds of Chinese in queue, English skills zero..what we can expect. Wrong passport..ou..find right one..not completed form..ou..lift son so they can take picture, no habla..ou..right hand sir, right haaand! Again and again and again..and no choice, every single queue had group of Chinese. So took 1 1/2 hours to walk through immigration. Bags out, and walk outside. Sir! Your passport...what a €&€&, saw him thinking something, gave-up, thank you, welcome and goodbye...bad start, need to find less busy and more friendly destination next time. 

[Mel52]

Seriously, ten years ago I saw much worse lines than that coming in and leaving at Suvarnabhumi Airport. We used to visit here all the time before we retired here and ten years ago it was worse at the airport I’m talking hoards of people thousands and it’s like that at a lot of other airports as well around the world. Suvarnabhumi airport has always been crowded and it always will be. Last time I went through Suvarnabhumi it actually wasn’t all that bad. What they need to do is build some more terminals and build a bigger airport, expand Suvarnabhumi to compensate for Thailand’s booming tourist industry. I think the most crowded airport I’ve ever seen in the world is probably Dubai but Dubai is also one of the biggest airports I’ve ever seen so it’s not that bad when it’s crowded. In Tokyo Japan they have Narita Airport which used to be their only major international airport on the mainland and they have Haneda airport which is now also another major international airport in Tokyo because when we were living in Tokyo back in 2010 they built a new international terminal at Haneda airport. So now you can fly into Japan from the states and go directly into Haneda airport instead of Narita and Haneda airport is in the heart of Tokyo. Narita airport is a few hours away from downtown Tokyo. I always preferred Haneda airport over Narita because it was only 45 minutes from my house when we lived in Tokyo. But when we lived there at the time whenever we’d fly back to the states we always had to fly out of Narita airport. They eventually made Haneda airport a full international airport in October 2010. I always used Haneda airport for business trips all over Asia in this region especially to Seoul Korea.

 

With all the tourist money they say is coming in to their economy here in Thailand why not do the same thing at Don Mueang airport convert it into a full international airport like Japan did with Haneda airport back in 2010 and expand Suvarnabhumi airport and it’ll still be crowded but a lot more organized. Nowadays overcrowded airports is also a potential security threat as well.

 

Bottom line this really isn’t news, Suvarnabhumi airport has always been crowded since we first started visiting here 10 years ago before we retired here. Suvarnabhumi airport is crowded yes we know, in other news water is wet.