Airport Queues

[Whalley]

2 hours ago, hioctane said:

 

Yikes. Did you check out the second immigration area?


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That is the Immigration hall by gate D6 and the one to be avoided.

A very short distance past is gate D4, and the Immigration hall that's most often less busy.

https://www.pattaya-addicts.com/forum/topic/330998-airport-queues/?do=findComment&comment=4638533

[hioctane]

 
That is the Immigration hall by gate D6 and the one to be avoided.
A very short distance past is gate D4, and the Immigration hall that's most often less busy.
https://www.pattaya-addicts.com/forum/topic/330998-airport-queues/?do=findComment&comment=4638533

I meant the other (second) immigration hall. Depending on what direction, flight you are coming from... if the first one is busy, go to the other one [emoji4]


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[oschkosch]

it seems to take much longer now with the extra security finger prints etc and you have to do the same on leaving bkk prior to the airport lounges etc

bollox, it is a quick process, done while the immigration officer scans your passport anyway, so using the time would stand around anyway. Saw it Wednesday myself.

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[hioctane]

bollox, it is a quick process, done while the immigration officer scans your passport anyway, so using the time would stand around anyway. Saw it Wednesday myself.

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Unless you are behind someone that doesn’t understand how to use the scanner and needed a supervisor and several assistants to help him! I witnesed that. [emoji2357]


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[ricktoronto]

On 28/06/2019 at 00:24, fun125 said:

it seems to take much longer now with the extra security finger prints etc and you have to do the same on leaving bkk prior to the airport lounges etc

You only do one hand when leaving after you did both arriving. I was one of two in line at Fast Track departures this morning and managed to get on a flight 90 minutes earlier to boot.

[striderman]

11 hours ago, hioctane said:

 

I meant the other (second) immigration hall. Depending on what direction, flight you are coming from... if the first one is busy, go to the other one


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yes there are 2 sets of regular immigration. both are up a ramp. if the first slope you reach comes up on your LEFT hand side that is usually the busiest.

if the ramp comes up on your RIGHT hand side it is usually quieter as fewer international flights unload on that side. forget the map on the previous page because it doesn't make it very clear. just remember left or right side. as stated above if 1 looks swamped try the other they are not far apart.

as for the fingerprint scanners, they were in use when i came in late may and it didn't take me any longer to be processed than normal. the sequence is 4 fingers one  hand hand, then 4 fingers the other then both thumbs together. easy peasy job done. no big deal.

Edited June 29, 2019 by striderman

[striderman]

just talked to a mate who arrived yesterday evening and he said both ramps were real busy and the lines about the worst he has seen and he has done a lot of trips.

[Welbeck]

On 21/02/2019 at 14:43, hioctane said:

Go past this and go to the second immigration area.

I tried that in May and was refused entry and told to go to the big one 

[Welbeck]

In the last 18 months I've had a 2 hour wait and been straight trough so it's just luck of the draw. Making sure you're first to immigration from your flight helps a lot

[Whalley]

9 hours ago, striderman said:

yes there are 2 sets of regular immigration. both are up a ramp. if the first slope you reach comes up on your LEFT hand side that is usually the busiest.

if the ramp comes up on your RIGHT hand side it is usually quieter as fewer international flights unload on that side. forget the map on the previous page because it doesn't make it very clear. just remember left or right side. 

 

52 minutes ago, Welbeck said:

I tried that in May and was refused entry and told to go to the big one 

@striderman, the Map illustrates clearly what you say re, left or right.  Confusing only if you are Thai as map reading is beyond their comprehension.

The map also shows that the 2 immigration halls are literally side be side and the closeness of the entrances being just the distance of 2 gates apart.  

The map also shows that both immigration halls empty into the one large baggage claim room.

Gate D4 and D6 are clearly marked so no guessing which one you're at.

@Welbeck, any chance the small room you were denied entry to, was the ladies room?  

Both immigration halls are big, each serving one side of the airport and always open.  The difference being, one side of the airport has more than twice as many international gates as the other.  Nobody gets denied access to either.

 

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[Welbeck]

10 minutes ago, Whalley said:

 

@Welbeck, any chance the small room you were denied entry to, was the ladies room?  

Both immigration halls are big, each serving one side of the airport and always open.  The difference being, one side of the airport has more than twice as many international gates as the other.  Nobody gets denied access to either.

I've used it a couple of times before without problems.

[oschkosch]

On 28/06/2019 at 23:06, hioctane said:

 

Unless you are behind someone that doesn’t understand how to use the scanner and needed a supervisor and several assistants to help him! I witnesed that.


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the instructions on the scanner automatically change to your local language, as it picks that up when they scan your passport. My instructions changed to german. Let's hope only literate people visit lol

[ricktoronto]

There is an animated diagram clearly showing left vs. right and thumbs so if nobody can do any of it with all that help, don't let them in.

[Taa_Saparot]

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30373244

Suvarnabhumi immigration police deny closing counters during rush hours
National
Jul 19. 2019

In response to celebrity English-language teacher Andrew Biggs complaining about the long queues at Suvarnabhumi Airport, the Immigration Bureau has clarified that it had already mobilised more personnel to facilitate immigration clearance.

On Wednesday, Biggs, the owner of Andrew Biggs Academy and co- director of andrewbiggs.com, an English language-learning website for Thais, posted a Twitter message: “Suvarnabhumi hell for tourists. Look at queues today. Never seen this long.”

He posted another Twitter message: “Several counters are closed during rush hours. Don’t understand.”

The posts were made in Thai.

On Thursday, Biggs posted another Twitter message in Thai: “Suvarnabhumi is not hell but it is the gateway to our beloved Thailand. Yesterday, I was very dissatisfied with what I saw because I was worried about Thailand’s image in the eyes of foreign tourists who have just arrived. I would like to ask the authorities to consider this issue and I believe we could solve it.”

Later on Thursday, Pol Colonel Choengron Rimpadee, deputy commander of Immigration Police Division 2 and spokesman of the division, said he ordered an inquiry into the issue.

Choengron said their inquiry found that Biggs had got off a plane when 44 flights with 4,500 passengers arrived between noon and 2pm.

The spokesman said the Immigration Police Division 2 always mobilises all its immigration officers to be stationed at all counters in all zones to speed up clearance of arriving passengers when many flights arrive at the same time.

Each immigration officer is in charge of carrying out seven steps for immigration clearance: checking each passenger’s face with the passport photo, checking visas, checking possible blacklisting, scanning fingerprints, taking a photo, stamping the entry approval, and interviewing the passenger. He said each immigration officer took about 50 seconds to handle a passenger’s clearance.

During rush hours, the immigration counters at Suvarnabhumi Airport could clear about 2,000 passengers within an hour, but the immigration officers also had to be on alert for foreign criminals trying to pass themselves off as tourists, and many passengers were not allowed to enter the Kingdom, Choengron added.

He said their inquiry found that Biggs had waited for about an hour to pass through an immigration counter.

He said Biggs used a Bus gate, coming by a bus from his plane to the arrival terminal at 1.01pm. He said Biggs started waiting in his queue at 1.06pm and he passed through the counter at 2:06pm.

Choengron said the hall where Biggs had waited for immigration clearance could accommodate some 500 passengers but some 20 flights arrived at nearly the same time and hence more than 1,200 passengers had to wait in queues in the hall, causing the lines to extend beyond the hall.

He added that officials managed to shorten the lines within 30 minutes.

He said all officers, including supervisors of the shift, were normally stationed at all counters to help speed up clearance, but sometimes supervisors had to leave their counters to solve problems of other officers and this might have prompted Biggs to think that the counters were vacant without officials, Choengron said.

He said Immigration Bureau acting commissioner Lt-General Sompong Chingduang had heeded Biggs’s messages and attached importance to the posts as they could affect the bureau’s image.

The spokesman added that the bureau had contingency plans to handle the overwhelming number of passengers arriving at the same time. For example, officials resting after their shifts are called in urgently to help, and volunteers are also called in to advise passengers on filling the immigration forms.

During rush hours priority channels are also opened for the disabled, young children, pregnant women and the elderly are also opened, Choengron said.

He said Thais and Hong Kong and Singapore citizens, who have registered online for the clearance process, can use the automatic clearance channels that take about 20 seconds. The bureau has plans to expand this automatic service for other nationals as well, he added.

He said the bureau had also consulted with the airport to deal with the increasing number of passengers, which increase by about 6 per cent each year. The bureau has recruited more personnel from police officers and outsiders to become immigration officers, and immigration officers who had requested transfers had been ordered to continue working until the end of Setpember, he added.

The spokesman said the bureau appreciated Biggs’s concerns and would invite him for consultation and his opinions would be referred to when the bureau consults with other concerned agencies on how to deal with long queues at the airport.

[Buddy Edgewood]

Took me about an hour to get through the arrival queue on the afternoon of 30 June (after passing the first checkpoint that was extremely overloaded and proceeding to the 2nd checkpoint) and about the same amount of time for the departure immigration queue yesterday (18 July).  I'm blaming the new biometrics gathering, although it appears that only some travelers needed to provide for departure.

[Barhop]

17 minutes ago, Buddy Edgewood said:

Took me about an hour to get through the arrival queue on the afternoon of 30 June (after passing the first checkpoint that was extremely overloaded and proceeding to the 2nd checkpoint) and about the same amount of time for the departure immigration queue yesterday (18 July).  I'm blaming the new biometrics gathering, although it appears that only some travelers needed to provide for departure.

On arrival 09Jun19, I was through in 5 minutes, including fingerprints (only one in the "queue" in front of me).  On departure 07Jul19, I was through in about 15 minutes but there was zero fingerprint requirement, which surprised me.

[Poontwang]

1 hour ago, Barhop said:

On arrival 09Jun19, I was through in 5 minutes, including fingerprints (only one in the "queue" in front of me).  On departure 07Jul19, I was through in about 15 minutes but there was zero fingerprint requirement, which surprised me.

The last few times I have been through (June and July trips) the fingerprint scanners weren't working at all or they were ignoring them. This was 1 trip through BKK and one through DMK. DMK had tea towels placed over the scanners. DMK was still an absolute shitshow anyway, as usual. 

[Steeve69]

Honestly speaking, the immigration process at the Suvarnabhumi airport is not so bad compared to some other airports from the so called developed countries. The worse for me are, as a non US citizen, some US airports such as JFK airport, which is just a shame. My best experience was probably at Hong Kong, the whole process done electronically

[bangna]

London Heathrow for non European passport holders is pretty dire.

[vivid2]

I tried that in May and was refused entry and told to go to the big one 

I bet you went to the Priority Lane, which is restricted to people with challenges, seniors, families with young kids, etc.

There are actually 3 different immigration halls. The 2 that are open to all are opposite gates D4 and D6 as mentioned above. But there is also a Priority Lane between the other 2, opposite gate D5.

[Luv2Phuket]

If you are from the USA and have Global Entry, it is not that difficult to get an APEC Business Travel card.  Think it is $75 and valid for 5 years.

While 95% of my travel to Asia is for pleasure, I DO go on occasion for work-related stuff (mainly conventions), so I had no problems qualifying for it.

APEC Business Travel card lets you access the Priority Lanes regardless of the class that you are flying, and I think it's even supposed to gain you access to some expedited line within the expedited lines.  Because I'm almost always flying biz/first class on miles, it hasn't had a big impact on me, but it's nice to know it's there if I need it.

I'm almost always through immigration in the Priority Lanes and at the baggage carousel before the bags arrive.

[hioctane]

If you are from the USA and have Global Entry, it is not that difficult to get an APEC Business Travel card.  Think it is $75 and valid for 5 years.
While 95% of my travel to Asia is for pleasure, I DO go on occasion for work-related stuff (mainly conventions), so I had no problems qualifying for it.
APEC Business Travel card lets you access the Priority Lanes regardless of the class that you are flying, and I think it's even supposed to gain you access to some expedited line within the expedited lines.  Because I'm almost always flying biz/first class on miles, it hasn't had a big impact on me, but it's nice to know it's there if I need it.
I'm almost always through immigration in the Priority Lanes and at the baggage carousel before the bags arrive.

I have Global Entry. How do I prove to qualify for the card?


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[thumper64]

19 hours ago, Taa_Saparot said:

.Choengron said their inquiry found that Biggs had got off a plane when 44 flights with 4,500 passengers arrived between noon and 2pm.

.Choengron said the hall where Biggs had waited for immigration clearance could accommodate some 500 passengers but some 20 flights arrived at nearly the same time and hence more than 1,200 passengers had to wait in queues in the hall, causing the lines to extend beyond the hall..

Do the passengers figures look wrong to anyone else on the assumption the flight figures are correct. An average of just over 100 passengers in the first quote and 60 in the second.

This can’t be right!

[Fart sniffer]

24 minutes ago, thumper64 said:

Do the passengers figures look wrong to anyone else on the assumption the flight figures are correct. An average of just over 100 passengers in the first quote and 60 in the second.

This can’t be right!

You're not accounting for the more than 500 in the hall mentioned in the quote.  Only the 'more than 1200' in the hall..beyond the hall etc..   The article is poorly worded to be fair.  

~500 + >1200 = ~1700.. probably more.

1700 / 20 = 85.. or probably more.

85 is near enough the ~100 average from the first set of figures given.  Could be just different numbers of folk on the aeroplanes too I guess.

Edited July 20, 2019 by Fart sniffer
Add words

[Luv2Phuket]

2 hours ago, hioctane said:

 

I have Global Entry. How do I prove to qualify for the card?


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Who is a “verified business person” engaged in APEC business?

A “verified business person” engaged in APEC business  means a person engaged in the trade of goods, the provision of services or the conduct of investment activities in the APEC region.  Professional athletes, news correspondents, entertainers, musicians, artists or persons engaged in similar occupations are not considered to be verified business travelers engaged in business in the APEC region when they are traveling in such a capacity. 

A “U.S. government official” means a U.S. government official performing U.S. government activities that support the work of APEC.

 

How do I apply for a U.S. APEC Business Travel Card Program?

You must apply on the Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) website, https://ttp.cbp.dhs.gov.  This is the same website that is used to apply for CBP’s trusted traveler programs.  Check the box in TTP for the U.S. APEC Business Travel Card. Then schedule a visit to any CBP trusted traveler enrollment center for an interview (if you are not already a CBP trusted traveler) and for electronic signature collection. 

However, if you are already a CBP trusted traveler, visit any CBP trusted traveler enrollment center for signature collection without an appointment.

 

I applied and explained at the interview that I go to Asia to work boxing matches and for boxing conventions.  Looking at the wording on the website, I probably should NOT have qualified (although I guess I technically am providing "services")

Benefits explained here:  https://www.apec.org/Groups/Committee-on-Trade-and-Investment/Business-Mobility-Group/ABTC/FAQ