CnnGo article about Bangkok airport immigration lines

[tomcat76 327]

Scary. 'Hope they have things in hand by May....

[Fireman Sam 336]

Departed Swampy this afternoon at 13.00 hrs, I went and checked both immigration departure halls and although they are still undergoing some alterations the longest queue was about three or four persons. The airport was busy but they seem to have this sorted for sure, about 60-70% of the booths manned by immigration officers.

 

 

 

Regards

[MM 6,562]

Departed Swampy this afternoon at 13.00 hrs, I went and checked both immigration departure halls and although they are still undergoing some alterations the longest queue was about three or four persons. The airport was busy but they seem to have this sorted for sure, about 60-70% of the booths manned by immigration officers.

 

 

 

Regards

 

That's great news. Let's hope they can continue with this level of service.

[starry 0]

If you think the lines at immigration was bad ,just the same at Heathrow ,45minutes to an hour waiting in line for British Passports and EU .and then if you have micro chipped passport .you end up processing yourself through immmigration using cubicles in which you place passport in slot ,stand on the right spot .till you get your photo come on screen ,then green light to leave ,then you go to baggage hall ,another nightmare.

[jacko 8,813]

If you think the lines at immigration was bad ,just the same at Heathrow ,45minutes to an hour waiting in line for British Passports and EU .and then if you have micro chipped passport .you end up processing yourself through immmigration using cubicles in which you place passport in slot ,stand on the right spot .till you get your photo come on screen ,then green light to leave ,then you go to baggage hall ,another nightmare.

Yes, but we are talking of Thailand with a modern new airport, not 3rd world UK and that ancient dump Heathrow.

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

Has the single feeder queue (snake) become a permanent feature for both departure and arrival Immigration control or are they using it only when the queues in front of the individual checkpoints get long?

 

Evil

[biggles 509]

I flew into swampy today from Clark. Landed at 3.55p, short walk to immigration, one line for a queue then filtered out to the main queueing area. I counted 14 counters open and only 2 people in front of me. I picked up my bags from the carousel at 4.15p !!!

[starry 0]

Yes a modern airport it might be ,after the runway was redone ,and you have to walk about 800 metres to get to immigration. plus your luggage being stolen .mafia taximen,duty free where you get scammed , besides all that Heathrow looks good.

[Fireman Sam 336]

Departed Swampy again this morning for Doha, arrived at airport about 0630, although I received a premium lane card and used it only because they dated it. I had a look in the immigration departure hall behind check-in counters Q-R, there was maybe about 15-20 people in the snake queue at most and it seemed to be moving pretty quickly. Not too bad for one of the hectic times on one of supposed busiest days of the holiday break apparently. Looked like all counters manned by immigration staff, so still good news.

 

I never noticed the new automated passport gates that have apparently been installed for Thai Nationals only at present, was supposed to be their first day of operation today.

 

Regards

[crazedchef 21]

Hello,

 

Very informative.

 

Have a question: What about handicapped access and help at Bangkok airport? I have many herniated discs and two bad knees, walking any distance or standing any longer than 5 minutes becomes excruciating (fighting for surgeries, hopefully a spinal fusion and a knee replacement will prevent my nueropathy from getting worse, but it probably will not get rid of it all-together.)

 

Traveling to Vegas a couple times a year just to stay sane, I found out how easy it is to get help in the form of a wheelchair with someone pushing you from the front door all the way to your gate and even down the ramp right to the front door of the plane! I always tip them at least $10, but it is worth every penny. Traveling is hard enough for me (cramped airplane seat for multiple hours with a bad back is difficult to say the least) but I am really afraid about international flights, just do not think I could do it without help.

 

Any thoughts or knowledge will be greatly appreciated as one day I really want to go back to Los!

 

Thanks!

 

p.s. I am only 43, not ready to just give up and die, still got a lot of living to do even if I was injured in Baghdad!

[steamer 158]

Was in Swampy monday around 9am (coming home) and Immigration was a breeze tho I can't say there were a lot of immigration officers.

Edited April 11, 2012 by steamer

[Grandpollo 366]

Hello,

 

Very informative.

 

Have a question: What about handicapped access and help at Bangkok airport? I have many herniated discs and two bad knees, walking any distance or standing any longer than 5 minutes becomes excruciating (fighting for surgeries, hopefully a spinal fusion and a knee replacement will prevent my nueropathy from getting worse, but it probably will not get rid of it all-together.)

 

Arrange a wheelchair from your airline or pay the deluxe Fast Track which includes a cart to the various formalities.

[crazedchef 21]

Thank you...

 

Will fly Emirates...I am sure they have wheelchairs. Have to do more research om "Fast Track." First I have heard of this. It's really a moot point anyway, got a long road ahead of me before going back to Los.

[ktappinen 52]

Have to do more research om "Fast Track." First I have heard of this.

With good airlines the service is included in a business class ticket, with worse airlines it is not.

You can also book the service separately from more than one service provider even if you traveling in economy class.

http://www.bangkok.com/fast-track-services.htm

http://www.thaifasttrack.com/index.php?p=1_10_Fast-Track

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

 

Have a question: What about handicapped access and help at Bangkok airport?

 

You can get all the assistance you need, either from the airline or one of the Fast Track "meet and greet" service providers. You can read about Emirates' arrangements for passengers with special needs here.

 

Evil

[crazedchef 21]

Thank y'all again.

 

Wish I could fly like you fly Penevil! With those nice comfortable seats up there, much easier than back in Economy.

[fosse 1]

We arrived in BKK on that same day at about 3:30 PM and the arrivals hall was much the same took about 1:45 hours to get through.

 

i saw a sign on one of the departure booths with a figure of a person with a walking stick.no queue there .

[MM 6,562]

I've been hearing from people that the lines (queues) are not bad lately....anyone arriving or departing who can provide current information about their experience would be appreciated.

[Baaazar 0]

I flew out early morning 5th Apr and it was a breeze with the snake system (less than 10min). I came back yesterday lunchtime 16th Apr and was through in less than 3 min, again snake system but there was nobody waiting -I had one person in front of me.

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

I'm writing this in the CIP biz lounge at Swampy at 4.30 a.m. It took me 15 minutes to get through Immigration Control. It would have taken longer, but I got lucky. The single feeder queue was in place, but only two officers on duty. About 25 people were ahead of me, so I figured I'd have to wait at least 30 minutes to get through. It took me 15 minutes to get to the point the lady was assigning people to the short queues in front of each of the two officers. A Russian family - parents, three children and grandma - were ahead of me, but none of them had their departure cards filled out. The officer brushed them aside in an annoyed tone of voice and I nimbly moved up to present my passport to him. He cleared me in about 30 seconds. The Russian family hadn't even figured out what was happening by the time I was through.

 

During that 15 minutes I waited, the size of the queue increased dramatically, possibly because the 6.00 a.m. United flight to Narita is fully booked. So if I'd entered the queue 15 minutes later than I did, I would have waited much longer in the snake unless new control booths had been opened.

 

Ironically, United passed out fast track coupons to biz class passengers, but the fast track lane wasn't open. "Not working," the young man at the entrance said. But he grabbed my voucher anyway and directed me to the ordinary control area.

 

I'm back to LOS in a week, so I'll see then what the arrival queues are like. The single feeder queue is a definite improvement as the Russians don't have any opportunity now to jump the line. One tried, but he was ordered back by a "queue minder."

 

Evil

Edited April 23, 2012 by Evil Penevil

[jacko 8,813]

Wonderful, the Thais are teaching the Russian tourists some manners!

 

What's with Fast Track being closed? Is that an early morning issue or are they low on staff again?

I think they get paid based on those vouchers so anybody else should keep them if Fast Track is closed.

[syd_tybil 70]

I arrived at 6:45 this morning at Swampy. As I approached the immigration area, there was a long line of Russians also heading for immigration, but they were going towards the Thai Passport lines. I hightailed it to the foreign passport area, and the line minder waved me through once she saw that I had filled out the arrival card. Once I was past the line controller, there was no one ahead of me at any of three open stations, so I just breezed through immediately.

[Kippax 5]

i will be arriving 7pm in two days will it be quiet then ?

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

Wonderful, the Thais are teaching the Russian tourists some manners!

 

What's with Fast Track being closed? Is that an early morning issue or are they low on staff again?

I think they get paid based on those vouchers so anybody else should keep them if Fast Track is closed.

 

I believe it was an early morning issue. Last night I got another Fast Track voucher from United for re-entry into Thailand (everyone in biz did), but I didn't use it as I had already booked Fast Track service. That wasn't so much because I feared long lines at 11.00 p.m., but because I had three very big and heavy bags that wouldn't fit on one trolley. Customs also tends not to be curious about luggage when you have a Fast Track escort.

 

The lines were short at the regular immigration counters. However, on the way to the control point I did see three separate groups of Asian travelers gathering up behind the tour guides' flags. If they hit Immigration Control all at the same time, the wait would have been considerable for anyone behind them.

 

Evil

Edited May 3, 2012 by Evil Penevil

[steamer 158]

55555555555

 

I thought Russians all took English in school, enough at least to tell which line to queue in anyway. An urban myth perhaps?