"Suvarnabhumi is hell" screams Thailand's most famous English teacher

[dimitriv]

16 hours ago, crazyk said:

why not get the airports to spread the flights out instead of 30-50planes landing at the same time & other times only a few

 

That is really complicated. Most airlines try to use planes with the smallest possible turnaround time. Less time on the ground means more time in the air, which means more profit. Flights often also have connected flights at other airports. Many airports have limited or no flights in the night. Staff and pilots are allowed to work only a maximum hours a day. It is a very complicated system optimized and working together. One airport cannot decide to accept only 1 airplane each 10 minutes equally spread over the day. Something like that would mess up everything worldwide.

 

[mstevens]

16 hours ago, zydeco said:

I guarantee you that Biggs now wishes he hadn't made so much as a ripple in getting attention. He is a marked man. 

Andrew Biggs is a very popular figure amongst many Thais with a lot of goodwill in the bank. Andrew Biggs conducts himself in a way the average Thai wished all farangs behaved. He has absolutely nothing to worry about and most certainly is not a "marked man".

[transam]

13 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

Been here almost that long and I don't agree in the least. I see these change as 'taking out the trash', the human variety. For too long Thailand was lax in its immigration enforcement but thankfully that's changing. A few more tweaks will get rid of the rest of the garbage.

Airport Immigration officers have no idea who is standing in front of them, could be a rascal or a vicar, all they see is a PP and look for a problem with it and the visitor.

 

Your "trash" will always be part of LOS visitors, that's never going to change, but what will change to sort out real naughty folk is technology, the fingerprint thing is a good start, eye recognition would be even better. Sure one day it will happen globally..

[Odysseus123]

51 minutes ago, transam said:

Airport Immigration officers have no idea who is standing in front of them, could be a rascal or a vicar, all they see is a PP and look for a problem with it and the visitor.

 

Your "trash" will always be part of LOS visitors, that's never going to change, but what will change to sort out real naughty folk is technology, the fingerprint thing is a good start, eye recognition would be even better. Sure one day it will happen globally..

A measured and well reasoned reply to the Smith's Crisp of irrational xenophobia on this forum.

[Stargeezr]

I have been through BKK many times and have had quick entry into Thailand as well as

a few busy times where the lines have been long. In the Beijing Airport I have had long waits and

long queue time, and only a few agents handling the passengers. Hong Kong has been efficent

and handle lots of people as well. I have also seen some passengers who think that they are

real special people and are very demanding.  I am glad that I do not have to go through Don

Muang airport as it used to be worse than Suarnabhumi. 

Geezer

[lapamita]

i was arive on 19...same same..closed immigration lane bcs to many people.

Its  a desaster and not the first time

 

good luck . i could  use premium lane,,,, ( the upgrade was worth the money not for the plane but for the airport shit)

 

if i was stay in the quake  for 2 hours or more, i would be double fed up for return here, and i cant shut my mouth more , if somebody ask me some stupid question ...like last time , asked what adress this is, my answer a "room/condo".

bcs i not care about staying here more after 30yr

just last propertys  to sel  and than..thats it

 

already bought oversea new home

 

i think january or february its over here

 

 

[Humpy]

Good job the tourist numbers are down !!

[Purdey]

Surprised Andrew doesn't have an e-passport to use the machines.

[Bartman1369]

On 7/19/2019 at 11:33 AM, Mango Bob said:

They wonder why tourism in Thailand is down.  Who wants to come here and wait in long lines.  You also have to wait behind some dumb ass people who can't file out the Arrival/Departure card and they hold everyone up because of them.  Of course most of them was Chinese.  

And then you have to spend hours of your first day at Immigration again making a TM30 or 27 (I forget which number) to register your address after you have filled out your form and waited an hour at airport immigration. What actually happens with these forms. i suspect straight to the bin.

 

Luckily I travel in and out of Swampy at least twice a month and haven't seen queues like this for a long time.

[todlad]

There are issues here.

 

I passed through BK immigration yesterday and whilst I have had excellent experiences passing through, the last two experiences have been sub optimal.

 

Yesterday, arrived early afternoon and it was busy. There WERE closed booths and I do appreciate that they might not be closed because of inefficiency. However, as my queue was the slowest moving (no, really, it always is!), I was able to observe the behaviour of several immigration officers. ALL of them had their (personal?) phones on their desks. The one nearest to me was using his phone in between every action he took: he was scrolling, reading, typing. The control of these actions is a management problem and it does have an impact on that officer and his service.

 

Some officers are slower than others: that will always be true, I am sure. Does anyone need further training because of their speed? Someone should be able to answer that question.

 

Fingerprinting: it does have an impact on efficiency when the arrival does not know how to use the equipment. I know, it is simple to use but yesterday, one person ahead of me had to be shown how to provide their prints and that took about a minute from start to finish.

 

I will relate this and leave it hanging because I can prove nothing. Last time I arrived, two weeks ago, the immigration officer was extremely slow: my queue fate again! Then he stopped and went for a walk around, vaguely looking at something. He went back to his booth and worked OK then he stopped again. With just a few of us left, he sent us off to another queue. At no time did he call for the biometric technician who was on duty nearby. At no stage did he call for assistance from a superior and only briefly did he engage with a colleague of his. I suspect that officer of sloth!

 

In response to the suggestion above that other countries never suffer from these problems, that is not true. Entering Dubai used to be far worse that this and still can be relatively slow. Other countries? Yes, Manchester used to be poor (haven't been there for a few years), Heathrow was always slow when the officers insisted on checking every single UK passport when they did not need to. KL has improved significantly over the last couple of years. Many others, too, fading into the mists of time.

 

Where is immigration shangri la? I passed through Hong Kong earlier this year and whilst I was in a queue for 15 minutes or so, I was processed in, this is true, 10 seconds!

[spidermike007]

6 hours ago, Benmart said:

News flash. This issue is about BKK and not LAX and the TSA has no connection to the RTP.

I all fairness, I was making a comparison. Sorry if it offended your sensibilities. When criticizing an airport, and an immigration team, sometimes it helps to compare them to other nations. 

[ThaiBunny]

5 hours ago, dimitriv said:

Less time on the ground means more time in the air, which means more profit.

Obviously a deeper thinker. However, given the fact that fuel is 25% of an airline's total costs, and keeping an aircraft flying around unnecessarily uses up more fuel, I'm not sure this idea will fly, to coin a phrase

[dcnx]

7 hours ago, mstevens said:

Andrew Biggs is a very popular figure amongst many Thais with a lot of goodwill in the bank. Andrew Biggs conducts himself in a way the average Thai wished all farangs behaved. He has absolutely nothing to worry about and most certainly is not a "marked man".

You speak for all Thais do you?

 

He’s receiving quite a backlash on social media with many Thais.

 

Of course he knows how to grovel to show his mistake so all will be forgiven. It’s quite pathetic actually. Too bad his ears are bigger than his balls.

[HLover]

On 7/19/2019 at 9:32 AM, webfact said:

Twitter user Spin9 wrote:: "Welcome to Thailand - and welcome to queues at immigration. Passengers needed to get all ten fingers scanned"

Instead of the 9 fingers scanned upon arrival in Madrid.

Suffice to say the extra digit could be freed up to pick ones nostril.

Brilliant Spin9

[BernieOnTour]

On 7/19/2019 at 9:42 AM, Chang_paarp said:

So 44 flights arriving surprised the immigration folk?

 

Did they all arrive without warning?

 

It is called management to look at the expected workload and plan accordingly. Just one of the things that impacts on the chances of a tourist returning or recommending to others whether it is worth the effort to go to Thailand, even before the exchange rate is considered.

Most likely, the workload planning is based on the scheduled flights. Therefore, delayed flights could impose a huge stress on their workload.(just one A380 adding additional 850 passengers)

 

On the other hand, Singapore Changi with its 62 mio passengers in 2018 is comparable to Suvarnabhumi with 63 mio passengers in 2018 - and there, I never experienced something like that, even in high season.

But the Singaporeans also constantly expanded their capacity. - Whereas (afaik) BKK is still handling those 63 mio with an airport designed for 45 mio passengers (and an extension expected to be ready in 2025).

 

For sure, adding additional immigration requirements -10 finger scans-  without being able to extend the immigration facilities added to the problems. They most likely did not foresee the stupidity of some tourists...

 

Had that experience myself, when returning from Europe through the Fasttrack, normally a thing of 3-4 minutes. Took the wrong queue- in front of me 2 small arabian groups and 2 Chinese couples. 

I expected already the worst, when they needed nearly 15 minutes to get through the finger scan. — But No! The finger scan worked fine, a few seconds, and I passed it.

 

 

[hotchilli]

On 7/19/2019 at 9:32 AM, webfact said:

Pol Col Cherngron Rimphadee said that Mr Biggs had arrived at a very busy time on Wednesday between 12 and 2 pm with 4,500 people on 44 flights needing to be processed. 

Seems like immigration were the only ones slightly out of step with the number of incoming aircraft and passengers.

Remember all aircraft are turning around to go out again.. fully loaded so:

 I didn't hear of any complaints from the air traffic controllers, I didn't hear of any complaints from ground staff on the apron, I didn't hear of any complaints from the check-in desks being swamped with departing passengers, I didn't hear of huge queues of passengers going through security prior to departure....

just the incoming & immigration section everyone else seemed to be up to speed!

[Travel Dude]

This is the solution:

Time to register: 30 seconds...

https://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/dubai-airport-immigration-in-20-seconds-2013-07-11-1.513918

[fusion58]

On 7/19/2019 at 9:32 AM, webfact said:

Andrew - a well known figure in Thailand for several decades - was writing in Thai on Twitter when he said it was hell for tourists.

While I certainly feel your pain, Andrew, how is it that you've lived in Thailand "for decades" and still don't understand the rules, viz., "in any dispute between a Thai and a farang, the farang is always wrong?"

[richard_smith237]

3 minutes ago, fusion58 said:

While I certainly feel your pain, Andrew, how is it that you've lived in Thailand "for decades" and still don't understand the rules, viz., "in any dispute between a Thai and a farang, the farang is always wrong?"

It is because he has lived in Thailand for a long time that he is well aware that this 'bar-stool myth' is just that and likely not to reflect real life experiences outside of a beer-bar. 

[DJ54]

The last 3 times I’ve flown in the lines were the same or worse. 

Maybe increase staff / stations 

[DJ54]

The lines are frustratingly a long wait...  Passengers can do their part also by having everything requested filled out. 

 

A couple years ago I didn’t fill in the hotel just being lazy and

thinkong they won’t care... they did and I stepped aside to fill

out...  

[scorecard]

On 7/19/2019 at 10:26 AM, rkidlad said:

Nope. He said the queues were like hell. Any criticism here is towards the management of Suvarnaphumbi Airport. So many people (even on TV) seem to conflate a criticism of a particular thing as a criticism or everything. 

 

Ah, the old 'whataboutism'. One step forward and two steps back. That's the key to progress. 

 

The irony being that the guy who came out with this whole "Good guys in and bad guys out" was a massive bad guy. 

Oh really, how do you know that? No details have been released.

[shady86]

Most likely, the workload planning is based on the scheduled flights. Therefore, delayed flights could impose a huge stress on their workload.(just one A380 adding additional 850 passengers)
 
On the other hand, Singapore Changi with its 62 mio passengers in 2018 is comparable to Suvarnabhumi with 63 mio passengers in 2018 - and there, I never experienced something like that, even in high season.
But the Singaporeans also constantly expanded their capacity. - Whereas (afaik) BKK is still handling those 63 mio with an airport designed for 45 mio passengers (and an extension expected to be ready in 2025).
 
For sure, adding additional immigration requirements -10 finger scans-  without being able to extend the immigration facilities added to the problems. They most likely did not foresee the stupidity of some tourists...
 
Had that experience myself, when returning from Europe through the Fasttrack, normally a thing of 3-4 minutes. Took the wrong queue- in front of me 2 small arabian groups and 2 Chinese couples. 
I expected already the worst, when they needed nearly 15 minutes to get through the finger scan. — But No! The finger scan worked fine, a few seconds, and I passed it.
 
 

Changi has automated gates for all long term visa holders. I never spent over 30 mins in airport after disembarking from plane during my 2 years there.

In Thailand, tax paying expats get nothing, only time wasting reports and queues at airport and immigration offices!

Long term visa holders deserve better than the tourists.

[thaigirlwatcher]

I plan to use this company when I arrive at Swampy on Oct 31. Anyone have experience with them? 

 

https://www.limousine.in.th/fast-track-immigration.html

[rkidlad]

5 hours ago, scorecard said:

Oh really, how do you know that? No details have been released.

The same way we all know Prawit didn’t really borrow those watches. 

[george]

7 hours ago, thaigirlwatcher said:

I plan to use this company when I arrive at Swampy on Oct 31. Anyone have experience with them? 

 

https://www.limousine.in.th/fast-track-immigration.html

I use them, and have used them a lot in the past. Recommended indeed.

[Rimmer]

Some off topic and replies have been removed

[wendyfromoz]

I have to agree it is a terrible airport

[BobbyL]

As a departure airport I think it is great. I have always been able to check in early and the Priority Pass lounges on offer there are far better than any other airport I have been to in Asia. 

 

Arriving is a whole other issue and is shambolic at times. Thankfully I am not flying anywhere now until Christmas so I am hoping these issues might be better in six months. 

[gomangosteen]

Departing today .. . a new personal best... from being dropped off, check-in, bag-check, immigration - 21 minutes total. 

My last arrival, a Friday evening 5.15pm I was in a taxi heading south by 5.50pm. 

Just lucky I guess