4 hour queue at Don Mueang Airport last night

[Jasper]

 

Don Mueang passengers suffer in four-hour queue

5 Aug 2017

Bangkok Post

 

Understaffed immigration clearance at Don Mueang airport resulted in a wait of more than four hours for hundreds of passengers -- and an online complaint from a Thai man whose foreign wife was among them.

 

 

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1300583/its-all-queue-much

[Boy69]

Don Muang is a nightmare I am trying to avoid this airport at all costs.

[spoon]

Glad my queue on july24 was less than 10mins Almost no queue except for people from my flight, and im one of the first. If anyone have to wait up to 4 hour, they will surely missed their connecting flight. Queuing out of bangkok on aug3 was long but the line were moving fast and all counters were staffed, spent maybe 30-45min queuing, not so bad since i am there about 2.45pm for a 5.10pm flight

[vinapu]

Don Muang is a nightmare I am trying to avoid this airport at all costs.

which is fairly easy as one can pick up flight with more mainstream airline and fly to Swampy.

 

I guess there are costs related to flying with cheap airlines, quite the same issue  like with free sex.

 

But still shame as it's not rocket science to coordinate immigration staffing with arrivals. 

[stijntje]

I had to wait about an hour at Don Muang when coming back from Siem Reap in June.

[Guest]

But still shame as it's not rocket science to coordinate immigration staffing with arrivals. 

 

Immigration is one of the few lines of business where they have continuous and accurate advance information regarding the number of customers expected.    It should be an absolute doddle to co-ordinate this.

 

Also, we're in the 21st century. 

1  All ASEAN nationals should be entitled to use electronic immigration facilities. 

2  It should not be that difficult to allow other nationalities to use electronic immigration gates.    If they want to collect passenger information, that could be entered on line and the passport stamp could be dealt with by a machine, a person who does nothing but stamping or even a printed slip as a substitute.  

[reader]

From Channel News Asia

 

BANGKOK: Visitors from Singapore and Hong Kong will be able to use automatic passport scanners in Bangkok airports soon, with immigration processing time reduced to 20 to 30 seconds, according to Thai news outlet The Nation. 

 

The system, which is currently reserved for Thai nationals, will be implemented "this month or next", police Lieutenant-General Nathathorn Prousoontorn said in the report on Tuesday (Aug 1).

 

"Cooperation with Singapore on the matter is nearly 100 per cent complete, but for Hong Kong we need more discussions," he told The Nation.  

 

Eligible visitors who want to use these scanners will have to first register with the Thai immigration office before entering the country, the official added in the report.

 

There are 52 automatic passport check machines at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports, and these scanners will be installed with software to read information on the passports of foreign visitors, reported The Nation. 

 

Visitors from these two countries were chosen in particular because of the high frequency of entry into Thailand annually compared to other countries, the report said. 

 

 

There are plans to extend the new system to border checkpoints in Nong Khai and Sa Kaew provinces, as well as to other countries with no-visa requirements such as Australia and parts of Europe. It will however not be offered to visitors from parts of the Middle East, South Asia and Africa due to "security concerns", The Nation added.

 

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-hong-kong-visitors-can-use-passport-scanners-in-9081244

[spoon]

How i wish they would extend it to malaysia as well, but i guess.

[vinapu]

Immigration....

 

Also, we're in the 21st century. 

 

not sure this is good thing with all surveillance today's technology enables.

 

We are not very far from the day when we will be greeted by an immigration official in our countries upon return with " welcome home , I   see  you that you spent last 5 days of your vacations in the Cope hotel in the Boyztown area in Pattaya and purchased 12 drinks charged to your MasterCard in Toy Boys bar there, interesting. How old were boys in that bar ?" 

[rollingstone]

 

I guess there are costs related to flying with cheap airlines, quite the same issue  like with free sex.

 

ROFL.Good one!

Used DMK regularly, but for Thailand domestic only.

Sorry to generalise, nothing like this surprises me - this is Thailand after all.

[hanan]

I waited 1 hour 15 minutes there just last week. Chineese tour groups with flags everywhere. Chaos. People desperately asking if they can go before in line because they have to take a connecting flight. So crowded I could not even see the immigration desks only chose one que and hoped it was the right one for non thai nationals.

[a447a]

When I was there earlier in the year they had a separate line just for the Chinese tour groups.

[PeterRS]

An immigration official told him that problems had arisen because several flights landed at the same time, but the airport did not coordinate with immigration in advance so there were insufficient immigration... 

This has to be the easiest issue to solve. Every departing flight has to file a manifest of passengers which is then speedily sent to the arrival airport's computers. Air traffic controllers know exactly the route of each aircraft, its arrival time, number of passengers and their passport info. Predicting arrival surges should be a piece of cake if the various departments actually talk to each other. But it also depends on there being enough Immigration officers to cope with a surge. Bangkoks two airports have never had enough to handle peak periods.

 

From my observation at DMK, another problem is that many incoming passengers fail to complete the TM form accurately. Instead of being sent to the back of a queue or a waiting area, they are permitted just to complete the form in front of the officer. That is plain ridiculous as it wastes so much time.

 

Then there is the entry form itself. The basic info is the same as that required at many airports. But the info on the back of the entry form is totally unnecessary and only there because the TAT want some statistics. Little wonder many passengers complete it incorrectly. I heard the form is being redesigned. I certainly hope so.

 

I cannot see automatic entry being extended to many more countries because of the need to check visas. Loads of passengers are eligible for short stay visas on demand. I suppose computers could be linked to automatic barriers but I cannot see that happening. After all, TIT. 

 

Last point. This weekend has seen chaos at several European airports due partly to more stringent EU security requirements. As at DMK passengers have been complaining about missing flights and connections. Anyone who assumes that they can make a connecting flight from international to domestic and vice versa on low cost carriers within about a couple of hours needs to think again. I dont think low cost carriers refund your cash if you miss a flight only because Immigration has taken 4 hours instead of 30 minutes. You then likely have to cough up  or a new ticket. No matter what the minimum connecting time regulations state, I now leave at least 4 hours for connections. 

[spoon]

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/save-ink-thailand-considers-scrapping-immigration-cards-airports/

 

Let us all hope this will happen sooner than later

[PeterRS]

Since the automatic entry will be for Thais only, that still leaves 32 million of the new cards to be processed each year - and going up annually. I cannot believe the new card will reduce the amount of information required on page 1 of the present form. Since the info on the back page is only for the TAT and since Thais already have their own queues, I see longish queues for farang well into the future. Those manning the Thai only lines can of course be diverted on to the farang lines. But the Thai lines usually require only a small number of desks. So not much difference at least in the next year or two.

[Londoner]

Since Air Asia transferred-alas- to DM, only on one occasion have we been seriously inconvenienced. And that includes foreign trips.

 

However, we always try to avoid arriving in the evening....not only is the airport busier but, Bangkok itself can be very slow. Our last trip from Luang Prabang (January) was easy at the airport- my passport formalities were just as quick as my boyfriend's- but the first part of our taxi ride to Pattaya was a nightmare.....and so the lesson is, avoid the evenings if you can. 

[rollingstone]

To be fair, waiting to clear immigration for up to an hour + should be considered 'normal'. For instance, in London, the walk to the immigration is very long (I am using Terminal 2 nowadays). In Dubai, the immigration (both inbound and outbound) queues could be long (why could they not do something about it?) At some international airports (Manila comes to mind) checked luggage could be slower than immigration clearance.

[Guest]

To be fair, waiting to clear immigration for up to an hour + should be considered 'normal'. For instance, in London, the walk to the immigration is very long (I am using Terminal 2 nowadays).

It takes me about 10 minutes to walk from one of the satellites to immigration in Heathrow Terminal 2.    So far the queue has varied from nothing to about 10 minutes.   I have probably waited up to about 40 minutes on a bad day in crap airports like Luton. 

 

One hour should certainly not be considered normal.  Airports should put sufficient facilities in place so there is normally no queue and at peak times, <15 minutes.    There is no excuse for 1 hour.

 

The baggage handling is another matter.   In Heathrow and Bangkok, bags seem to appear about 45 minutes after the plane stopped.   This is too slow.   The best airports clear people through immigration quickly AND have the bags ready almost at the same time.

 

Thailand would do a lot better to split up ownership of the airports.    DMK could be flogged off to some experienced airport operator.   Then they have an incentive to compete with BKK.   A few new ideas would creep in & BKK would have to get their act together to compete.  BKK would want to increase capacity, rather than see all the extra business move to DMK.    When AOT own both, there is no incentive to increase capacity or compete.

 

It's the same in London.   Since ownership of Heathrow, Gatwick & Stansted was separated out, suddenly they are all trying to compete, rather than run a cosy monopoly.

[vinapu]

Since Air Asia transferred-alas- to DM,.................

 

......and so the lesson is, avoid the evenings if you can. 

and air Asia makes it easy as morning flights seem to be cheaper , at least it was my experience with going to Siem Reap last December

[vinapu]

long lines and crowded immigration area are not mere inconvenience , it's outright potentially dangerous situation as is any crowd.

 

Imagine need to medical emergency or some  panic. After scenes of mayhem would be splashed across the media remedy will materialize very  fast . 

[reader]

Flying, unfortunately, is likely to get more onerous. And if you're connecting to US or European destinations, plan on more vigorous examination of your luggage as concern over terrorism heightens.

 

On a recent connection through Doha, my luggage was scanned upon arrival (as transit passenger) and again at departure gate where additional scanning machines awaited. One more reason I try to avoid flying on the jumbo A380.

 

Had a similar experience at Abu Dhabi.  But since Etihad has a US pre-clearence facility, you arrive as a domestic passenger, having already passed immigration and customs checks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[a447a]

and air Asia makes it easy as morning flights seem to be cheaper , at least it was my experience with going to Siem Reap last December

Airlines buy airport "slots" - time zones allocated to them for take-off and landing - and slots at inconvenient times are considerably cheaper. This allows the low cost carriers to offer cheaper fares.

[thailandone3]

Have had bad experiences using dm airport (twice now). for my next trip I am staying away and flying to bkk

[PeterRS]

Airlines buy airport "slots" - time zones allocated to them for take-off and landing - and slots at inconvenient times are considerably cheaper. This allows the low cost carriers to offer cheaper fares.

I did not know departure slots had to be paid for. But I did know that slots are allocated by air traffic control and frequently the actual departure time can not be dictated by that departure slot but by problems at the arrival airport which is too busy to take you. You cannot take off until the departure airport receives a signal from the arrivals airport.

 

Still, that makes a nonsense of the fact that other aircraft can be late arriving and therefore also late leaving. If there is one thing that drives me nuts it is the announcement that departure has been delayed due to the late incoming aircraft. Why not be honest and tell us why the bloody plane is late?

 

So these late arrivals can knock the system for six. How many times have you had to wait on landing because the scheduled departure from your arrivals gate has been delayed? So the gate is not free and airports cannot move entire planeloads of passengers over to another gate. This has happened to me several times at London Heathrow where sitting on the tarmac has lasted up to 30 minutes. And how many times has your aircraft left the gate only to spend up to an hour on a taxiway because so many aircraft are scheduled to take off at the same time? Thats happened to me several times at JFK, McCarran at Las Vegas and La Guardia seems about the worst.

 

Flying today requires a great deal of patience and if you have connections also of flexibility. The worst is when you have to connect between carriers. Even when they are in the same airline alliance, expect little help and baggage that does not arrive when you do. I wish the controlling bodies would introduce the EU system of payment penalties for planes being late. €200 and more would make a longish delay a lot more bearable!

[a447a]

If an airline misses its slots too often, they can be taken away from them.

 

This was a problem for cargo aircraft taking off from runway 31 at the old Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong. If they were scheduled for departure from runway 13 it was no problem. However, if they had to switch to runway 31 at the last moment, the aircraft had to taxi all the way back to the gate and unload some of its cargo. This was because a fully loaded aircraft would not be able to clear the buildings at the end of the runway. It would have also been difficult to clear Beacon Hill and execute the sudden 65 degree turn.

 

Needless to say, for many aircraft it was touch and go, and some missed their slots.