Airport queues: Immigration chief at Bangkok airport, meeting planned for Thursday

[AboutThaim]

9 hours ago, Maverell said:

Yes there are at Suvarnabhumi. 70 years and up - same desk as arriving Thais use. On the far right side as you look at the desks. This info is correct as of 6 months ago.

I used it on 3rd August, 16 days ago.

[Derek B]

9 hours ago, sotsira said:

Confused!

 

I keep reading how tourist numbers are down and it's so 

quiet in all the tourist destinations around Thailand.

 

Now the airport is overrun with long queues due to so many 

arrivals, IO's will need to do overtime and increase their output

by 30%.

 

So which is it?

It is all fake news every one playing a numbers game across the board - same in most busy airports. If you land at IAH in Houston around 4pm its the same scene at immigration made worse by multiple AirBus 380 all landing one after the other, bad enough with just 747s. Timing is all important to beat the queues.

[Derek B]

At least the chief is walking the line and seeing for himself - can't knock him for that.

[terryofcrete]

10 hours ago, andre47 said:

There are priority lanes processing people aged?

I never saw them. How old you have to be to use them and are they also for farang?

I was in Manila recently and there was an over 65 queue with just me .. 5 minutes .. the other queue was long enough.  

[Rocking Robert]

If u are 71 but look 50.  U till use the over 70 lane

[krabi local]

3 hours ago, Max69xl said:

I have used the priority lane for years, I am not very old or crippled or anything. Maybe I was just lucky,but I used to fly with Qatar airways year after year,and I always got a priority lane pass when checking in online,and I never gave them away. I kept them and used them when I flew with other airlines. Going through immigration was so easy.

Except that the Priority passes are no longer valid, or certainly were not 3 days ago.

The priority line took 30 minutes so goodness knows how long the other lines took.  The problem with the priority line was ‘family groups’ of 6 or 7 with just one child.

There was one immigration guy trying to deter the other people that were trying to join the line.  He wanted to see your boarding pass stub if you were 1st or business class.

[gk10002000]

I went through BKK immigration July 23, 11 AM, arriving on EVA Air from Taipei originating from Los Angeles. I'm a US citizen.  Haven't been to Thailand in a few years.  Got the standard visa exempt entry stamp.  Que was moderate.  Maybe 3 loops around half of the immigration hall.  Nothing overflowing down the ramp.  Noticed that two of the immigration guys were not bothering fingerprinting the people in their lines.  I guess that helped speed things up!  I was through in about 25 minutes.  Really never stood still in line, just shuffled along. 

[PerkinsCuthbert]

11 hours ago, drrobert said:

Priority Lane including for those over 70 is next to visa on arrival. For departure it is to the right of the escalators going up to security. This information is up to date as at last weekend. Also generally no queue except for those trying to buck the system. Just remember to say "jet sip". 

It'll be going up to kao sip shortly if too many oldies start to find it.

[whaleboneman]

Bring your son to work day?

[stevefloyd]

have to say they are a miserable bunch at the visa desks

[elliss]

12 hours ago, scorecard said:

Agree, about 6 months ago I was approaching the lines, a roving officer quickly and pleasantly took me to the 'over 70' line' and I was through within a few minutes.

 

   Wow ,, your  lucky , you look your age . 

  I joined the over 70 line ,  i was  approached by immi rover , and had to show him my passport , to prove my age. 

 

[taken]

These guys are expert in personal promo tactics. 90% is media show off and 10% they are trying to solve out the problem. 

[Tops]

Whole immigrations is <deleted> up and a giant legal mafia.

 

This happened last Saturday !!!

 

My friend and his wife had a stop over in Bangkok from a flight from Denpasar, Bali to DMK. From BKK to Munich and from Munich to Dusseldorf. My friend's wife is Dutch but she also carries an Indonesian passport. Staying in Bali for 2 months having the fastest flight to Holland due to a family emergency, they booked the only available flight which had a stopover in Bangkok. DMK to BKK.

 

What happened. My friend could easily past immigration, however his wife, just in the line behind him, showed her Dutch passport. The immigration officer could not find an exit stamp in her Dutch passport. She was not allowed into Thailand without an exit stamp in her Dutch passport. Then she showed her Indonesian passport with an exit stamp. That was ok, she only had to pay an fee of 2,000 THB for visa on arrival. My friend paid the 2,000 THB / 60 €. Right after she was arrested for trying to enter Thailand illegally. She had to pay a fine of 300,000 THB / 10,000 € and a 5 year prison. For this and had to go to court on Monday, immigration said. 

 

My wife and me have been waiting to pick them up for over 6 hours. My wife made some phone calls to some people she knows at immigration. Later the fine went down to 40,000 THB and she only got a transfer visa valid for 48 hours after landing.

 

So the next morning on Suvarnabhumi, she was not allowed to leave Thailand and had to pay a fine of 200,000 THB for the previous offence. But in the computer it said, fine 300,000,  only paid 100,000 so they wanted the 200k. So my wife called around again and again. Fine went down to 25,000 THB because my wife knew some people.

Receipt ?

Not possible, receipt office closed !!!

 

The biggest mafia in Thailand is called immigration !!!!

[madmen]

4 minutes ago, Tops said:

Whole immigrations is <deleted> up and a giant legal mafia.

 

This happened last Saturday !!!

 

My friend and his wife had a stop over in Bangkok from a flight from Denpasar, Bali to DMK. From BKK to Munich and from Munich to Dusseldorf. My friend's wife is Dutch but she also carries an Indonesian passport. Staying in Bali for 2 months having the fastest flight to Holland due to a family emergency, they booked the only available flight which had a stopover in Bangkok. DMK to BKK.

 

What happened. My friend could easily past immigration, however his wife, just in the line behind him, showed her Dutch passport. The immigration officer could not find an exit stamp in her Dutch passport. She was not allowed into Thailand without an exit stamp in her Dutch passport. Then she showed her Indonesian passport with an exit stamp. That was ok, she only had to pay an fee of 2,000 THB for visa on arrival. My friend paid the 2,000 THB / 60 €. Right after she was arrested for trying to enter Thailand illegally. She had to pay a fine of 300,000 THB / 10,000 € and a 5 year prison. For this and had to go to court on Monday, immigration said. 

 

My wife and me have been waiting to pick them up for over 6 hours. My wife made some phone calls to some people she knows at immigration. Later the fine went down to 40,000 THB and she only got a transfer visa valid for 48 hours after landing.

 

So the next morning on Suvarnabhumi, she was not allowed to leave Thailand and had to pay a fine of 200,000 THB for the previous offence. But in the computer it said, fine 300,000,  only paid 100,000 so they wanted the 200k. So my wife called around again and again. Fine went down to 25,000 THB because my wife knew some people.

Receipt ?

Not possible, receipt office closed !!!

 

The biggest mafia in Thailand is called immigration !!!!

Total BS

[Tops]

4 minutes ago, madmen said:

Total BS

Absolutely NOT !!!
That what's happening.

Tips are not allowed any more so they have to get their money from something else.

 

If you haven't experienced it, why reply ???
Idiot !

[madmen]

11 minutes ago, Tops said:

Absolutely NOT !!!
That what's happening.

Tips are not allowed any more so they have to get their money from something else.

 

If you haven't experienced it, why reply ???
Idiot !

Either back it up with proof or go troll in the Cambodia forums.

[emptypockets]

14 hours ago, Globe Trotter said:

The long lines are not due to extraordinary numbers, from what I can gather it is how they are processing them. The fingerprint scanning part of it that is fairly new is taking a whole bunch of time. 

Really?  The finger print scanner add time?  As a person who travels through Swampy on a monthly basis I can assure you that the finger prints add zero time to the process ( for a normal person, those who struggle with simple mundane processes may have difficulties). 

It happens simultaneously with the IO processing the passport details. 

[emptypockets]

13 hours ago, cnx355 said:

What about starting to use e_arrival card on some flights ( 5 Airlines in the system now ) as they do in Singapore.  No more paper arrival card as the travelers fill in online before his flight in Singapore Immigration web site

 

On arrival the Immigration Officer just scan you passport and stamp you in.

I guess that would save a lot of time in Bangkok as to process 1 passenger would be very fast.  And no more piece of paper to staple  in the passport.

It is already used for some nationalities with more to be added, allegedly. There is clear signage indicating who can use the electronic gates. 

[Seldomseen]

18 hours ago, andre47 said:

There are priority lanes processing people aged?

I never saw them. How old you have to be to use them and are they also for farang?

 

[emptypockets]

12 hours ago, Chivas said:

@ukrules

Why the laughter over immigration queues ??  I can assure you I will be in the top 1% of arrival numbers at Bangkok ever (and probably 0.1% in reality) so why do I never see these 2 hour queues etc ??

As before I have seen long queues in the snakes but they move quickly

I think the laughter is based on the fact that the only knowledge 90% of posters have is based on the reports they see here.  For those of us who actually travel internationally the reality is very different as you have stated. I can only recall one time in five years of regular travel that I have experienced an extended wait time at Swampy. Many times I'm through before my bag is on the carousel. In my experience leaving the country can take longer than the arrival process but it's no big deal,  I always make sure I have plenty of time to do so, 2-3 hours and wait in the airline lounge and do some work while waiting. 

[emptypockets]

12 hours ago, Rampant20 said:

I would say the time it takes is the same as it has always been. For example 100 checking cubicles and only 40% are in use at any one time. During peak times surely open them all up and the flow will improve significantly. Finger printing isn't making it any slower and i have been through immigration lines 4 times in the last 3 months. Unused checking cubicles is the biggest problem. Its no good having 600-1000 people arriving on multiple flights to be checked by 20-30 immigration personnel. I see plenty of other Airport staff doing toss all maybe they could be better utilised.

 

100 ' checking cubicles'?  You have never been to a Thai international airport. 

[emptypockets]

12 hours ago, Jumbo1968 said:

Thailand is a very labour intensive place minimum 2 person every task, if your system was introduced just think how many Thais would lose their jobs, it won’t happen because of that.

Don't be ridiculous, advanced passenger screening is in place and has been for a long time. All airlines use it. 

[ChipButty]

7 hours ago, Tops said:

Whole immigrations is <deleted> up and a giant legal mafia.

 

This happened last Saturday !!!

 

My friend and his wife had a stop over in Bangkok from a flight from Denpasar, Bali to DMK. From BKK to Munich and from Munich to Dusseldorf. My friend's wife is Dutch but she also carries an Indonesian passport. Staying in Bali for 2 months having the fastest flight to Holland due to a family emergency, they booked the only available flight which had a stopover in Bangkok. DMK to BKK.

 

What happened. My friend could easily past immigration, however his wife, just in the line behind him, showed her Dutch passport. The immigration officer could not find an exit stamp in her Dutch passport. She was not allowed into Thailand without an exit stamp in her Dutch passport. Then she showed her Indonesian passport with an exit stamp. That was ok, she only had to pay an fee of 2,000 THB for visa on arrival. My friend paid the 2,000 THB / 60 €. Right after she was arrested for trying to enter Thailand illegally. She had to pay a fine of 300,000 THB / 10,000 € and a 5 year prison. For this and had to go to court on Monday, immigration said. 

 

My wife and me have been waiting to pick them up for over 6 hours. My wife made some phone calls to some people she knows at immigration. Later the fine went down to 40,000 THB and she only got a transfer visa valid for 48 hours after landing.

 

So the next morning on Suvarnabhumi, she was not allowed to leave Thailand and had to pay a fine of 200,000 THB for the previous offence. But in the computer it said, fine 300,000,  only paid 100,000 so they wanted the 200k. So my wife called around again and again. Fine went down to 25,000 THB because my wife knew some people.

Receipt ?

Not possible, receipt office closed !!!

 

The biggest mafia in Thailand is called immigration !!!!

If you are a frequent traveler then you should know which passport you are traveling on, the one with the last exit stamp in it, otherwise it seems you trying to enter Thailand illegally 

[Dionigi]

Looks like Heathrow last time I was there. Even British passport holders had to line up for passport control. Seems the days of holding up your passport and being watched by overhead security are long gone. The lines for non British were humungeous.

[Chou Anou]

20 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

"Chief, if Farang stand in line for 24 hours do they need to do TM30 form?"

"Yes"

 

You sir, win post of the day.

[superal]

21 hours ago, drrobert said:

Priority Lane including for those over 70 is next to visa on arrival. For departure it is to the right of the escalators going up to security. This information is up to date as at last weekend. Also generally no queue except for those trying to buck the system. Just remember to say "jet sip". 

Thanks Robert ,  I know the over 70 gate for arrivals but have never seen the one for departures . You say to the right of the escalators , is that on the same floor where you check in ? 

[EricTh]

21 hours ago, sotsira said:

Confused!

 

I keep reading how tourist numbers are down and it's so 

quiet in all the tourist destinations around Thailand.

 

Now the airport is overrun with long queues due to so many 

arrivals, IO's will need to do overtime and increase their output

by 30%.

 

So which is it?

The number of border and visa runs have increased due to changes in immigration retirement and marriage requirements.

 

So these aren't really tourists.

[essox essox]

21 hours ago, colinneil said:

Heres a thought, why not put all those lackies who are prancing around behind Sompong to work on the desks.

That would help reduce the waiting.

too difficult for them to think of this.....lanky lad !!

[superal]

17 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I flew out of Suvarnabhumi late last week and the queues for people departing were just shocking. After a crafty last minute ciggy, I went to immigration at 10 am for an 11.40 flight. Got to the gate at 11.25. Flight was delayed for half an hour as many were still stuck in the queues, and they weren't using the fingerprint scanners, which would have taken more time. Of 10 possible desks, six were open. I am really not looking forward to my flight back again in a couple of weeks. When I arrived at Heathrow I was through in less than a minute. All desks open and very efficient. You really can't put the problems at swampy down to anything other than pure incompetence.

Yes it is right that you should allow at least 1 hour to through immigration & security when in Thai departures . On one occasion I had cleared security at the top on the escalators and that is where the 5 wide queue started to go back down to immigration . Well , there were airport staff walking up and down the queue and taking people to the front of the queue if their flight was near or boarding . Not only stressful for passengers but there must be a knock on effect for air traffic controllers . 

Now Heathrow , think you have been lucky . I fly there a couple of times a year and rarely is it efficient . My aircraft has arrived on time or in advance for landing clearance only to be held in a queue for up to 30 minutes flying round in circles . Then the immigration can be slow walking up and down the zig zag barriers mainly because the desks are not fully attended and the automatic passport readers not working . BTW my newish p/p will not work in those machines , they seem to think I am another person than that named in my p/p  .

There is now quite a few people who delay there departures as long as possible because there are no longer smoking facilities at  Suvarnabhumi and Heathrow . Whats all that about ?  Maybe because they were  used to much by airport staff . It took an action to close these smoke rooms by management and then they have the audacity to throw the smoking products in your face at duty free . Hypocrisy . 

[brianthainess]

21 hours ago, scorecard said:

Agree, about 6 months ago I was approaching the lines, a roving officer quickly and pleasantly took me to the 'over 70' line' and I was through within a few minutes.

That has happened to me also many years ago, i was using a crutch at the time.