Flying International? Make Sure You Arrive at Suvarnabhumi at Least 2 Hours Early

[Gaybutton]

Despite the fact that most airlines ask international passengers to arrive at the airport three hours before departure time, many people arrive less than one hour before departure time and usually make their flight. At Suvarnabhumi, according to the following article, you run a real risk of missing your international flight unless you arrive at least two hours early.

 

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST:

_____

 

Help Wanted: Airport Needs Immigration Staff

 

The commissioner of immigration finally admitted on Sunday that a shortage of staff was forcing foreign visitors and returning Thais to wait in extremely long queues at Suvarnabhumi airport.

 

"The Immigration Bureau has a limited number of staff while Suvarnabhumi airport is very spacious and has so many (immigration) counters," said Immigration Bureau commander Pol Lt-Gen Chatchaval Suksomchit after a personal inspection of the international airport.

 

"That's why some counters are left vacant without staff and the queues are very long."

 

Concerned about mounting complaints, the Royal Thai Police are considering requesting immigration officers on assignment with other agencies be returned to immigration.

 

In addition, the bureau will recruit "a number" of new immigration officers for duty at the airport, said Pol Lt Gen Chatchaval. The Police are in charge of immigration offices and border checks.

 

In the meantime, he recommended passengers arrive at check-in at least two hours before their departure time.

 

"Many passengers have missed flights after showing up at check-in less than one hour before scheduled departure. There isn't enough time for check-in and immigration procedures. In fact, after the check-in, about 45 to 60 minutes should be kept for immigration procedures," Pol Lt Gen Chatchaval advised.

 

Suvarnabhumi serves some 100,000 international passengers daily - 40,000 departing, 45,000 arriving and 15,000 in transit. Only 200 immigration officers are on duty during each of the four shifts a day. There are 80 counters serving departing passengers and 124 counters for arriving passengers.

 

Both arrival and departure counters are about 400 immigration officers short of full staffing every day.

 

(TNA)

[Guest buaseng]

Loosely related - some airlines at Heathrow are now rcommending to their customers that they arrive FOUR hours before their flight departure time otherwise check-in and boarding 'cannot be guaranteed'. They are also closing check-in ONE hour before the departure time, with no exceptions or excuses accepted for late arrival.

[Guest fountainhall]

shortage of staff was forcing foreign visitors and returning Thais to wait in extremely long queues at Suvarnabhumi airport

 

Well surprise! surprise! How come it has taken the police in charge so long to acknowledge what many arriving passengers have been aware of for many months! As a regular at the airport, I now deliberately avoid taking any flight scheduled to arrive between 2:30 and 5:30 pm when I have seen queues stretch back as far as those idiotically placed duty free areas.

 

In fact, after the check-in, about 45 to 60 minutes should be kept for immigration procedures

 

During the early morning rush hour yesterday, the crowds at the east (mostly THAI flights) and centre sections were packed like sardines. Waiting time must have been 45 minutes at the very least. I switched over to the west section where thankfully there were far fewer passengers. But tourists will not be aware there are 3 sections and so easily get stuck in the one closest to their check-in area.

 

What the article does not comment on is the increasing backup at many of the security check-points. I have not counted how many there are, but I reckon well over a dozen. And herein lies one of the really major design flaws. Most airports get the security check out of the way immediately after immigration. Suvarnabhumi lets you straight in to the shopping area where tourists can leisurely while away their time blissfully unaware that they have another queue to contend with before they get to their departure gate. As each security check point usually only has two x-ray machines manned at any one time, that wait can now stretch to another 20 minutes if several flights are boarding from your wing.

 

I guess I am in the minority, but I do take several flights each month and increasingly I loathe Suvarnabhumi.

[Guest buaseng]

I guess I am in the minority, but I do take several flights each month and increasingly I loathe Suvarnabhumi.

No, I don't think you are in a minority at all. I make two flights in/out a year and I too absolutely loathe Suvarnabhumi. Everyone else I have spoken to seems to have a similar feeling about the place.

 

It may be visually pleasing but it is ill-designed, ill-equipped, ill-staffed and not fit for purpose.

 

[Gaybutton]

it is ill-designed, ill-equipped, ill-staffed and not fit for purpose.

 

Other than that, it's great . . .

[Guest buaseng]

Other than that, it's great . . .

To paraphrase Francis Urquhart in the 'House of Cards' - "You may wish to say that, I couldn't possibly comment (further)"

[atri1666]

So i have had always enough luck - never needed more than 10 min. - but mostly fly business or first class and never arrive after 2pm.

[Guest fountainhall]

mostly fly business or first class and never arrive after 2pm.

 

Unlike many airports, there is no fast track for business/first class unless you fly THAI. I too mostly travel in business class. That certainly speeds up check-in, but does nothing to help at immigration and security check-points where the bottlenecks are.

 

Incidentally, a friend just alerted me to the APEC Business Travel card. If you have a business, or work for a company, in one of about 14 Asia Pacific countries and are required to travel regularly as part of your business, you can apply for this card which then gives you access to a dedicated line at Immigration in all those countries. Delays on both exit and entry are reduced to just a few minutes. I am waiting for mine now and will report back if I get it and how it works.

[Guest buckeroo2]

I use the airport 4X a year and I , also, have never been in any customs line longer than 10-15 minutes. Maybe it is the time of day or the counters I use as they relate to my airline. I always fly EVA - with departure time at 12:30 PM and arrival time at 11:00 AM. I do not like the airport visually but I have not experienced any delays getting thru customs in either direction.

 

 

Unlike many airports, there is no fast track for business/first class unless you fly THAI. I too mostly travel in business class. That certainly speeds up check-in, but does nothing to help at immigration and security check-points where the bottlenecks are.

 

Incidentally, a friend just alerted me to the APEC Business Travel card. If you have a business, or work for a company, in one of about 14 Asia Pacific countries and are required to travel regularly as part of your business, you can apply for this card which then gives you access to a dedicated line at Immigration in all those countries. Delays on both exit and entry are reduced to just a few minutes. I am waiting for mine now and will report back if I get it and how it works.

 

[Gaybutton]

I have not experienced any delays getting thru customs in either direction.

 

Actually, in my opinion that's just the problem. Obviously some people are experiencing major delays and others are having no delays at all. As it stands now, people just have to hope they'll be lucky. That doesn't exactly make the airport rate an A+.

[Guest GaySacGuy]

I think this may be a matter of timing more than anything else. If you arrive at a busy time, expect a delay. This would probably be from noon to 9:00 p.m. These are just extimates of the time, but I know that early in the morning (my flight from LAX arrives at 6:30) there is little probelm getting through customs, and the only wait seems to be for luggage. Also departing late evening doesn't seem to be a big problem.

 

Another little secret (Don't tell anyone!) is that their are two sections of customs as you go towards the luggage area. They are side by side, but separated by a wall and walkway. If the first one you come to is really busy, try going on down the hallway to the next section. You will then have to backtrack a little to get to your luggage area.

 

I still think that any that thinks it's bad should do a little travel at LAX, SFO, O'Hare, and Dallas. Good Luck!!

[Guest fountainhall]

I think this may be a matter of timing more than anything else

 

This is certainly true, GaySacGuy! I arrived back this evening at 8:00 pm and sailed through Immigration at the One World (west) end. No counter had more than 3 passengers when I got there! But I know that if I had taken a flight arriving in the afternoon or late evening peak times, the wait would have been a good 20 - 40 minutes.

 

Another little secret (Don't tell anyone!) is that their are two sections of customs as you go towards the luggage area. They are side by side, but separated by a wall and walkway. If the first one you come to is really busy, try going on down the hallway to the next section.

 

In theory this should work. There are actually 3 immigration sections, but there can be two problems. Several times I have found the centre section completely closed. When I query this, I always get the same reply "Sorry, we do not have enough staff, sir, so please write to the Director of Immigration!" The second is that, as at the old Don Muang, certain flights MUST clear at specific Immigration areas. So you have to be careful or you might find you have to queue twice!

[Up2u]

I use the airport 4X a year and I , also, have never been in any customs line longer than 10-15 minutes. Maybe it is the time of day or the counters I use as they relate to my airline. I always fly EVA - with departure time at 12:30 PM and arrival time at 11:00 AM. I do not like the airport visually but I have not experienced any delays getting thru customs in either direction.

 

 

Looks like we use the same airline and schedule. This last trip (this month) I experienced a wait of 45 minutes for my departure (12:30 p.m.). Long lines and not all the stations were open. Luckily I arrived 3 hours before my departure so it was no big deal but if I had arrived late I could missed my flight.

[Guest fountainhall]

I still think that any that thinks it's bad should do a little travel at LAX, SFO, O'Hare, and Dallas.

 

I entirely agree - compared to many of the world's older airports, I guess Suvarnabhumi ain't so bad, despite my comments! Unfortunately for those of us who live and travel a lot in Asia, it just compares so badly to the other new airports that have opened in the last decade or so. Singapore's new terminals, Kuala Lumpur (main terminal - not the budget airline shed) and Hong Kong show how efficient and friendly new airports can and should be. Even the more basic Incheon and Terminal 2 in Taipei I find far more efficient than Bangkok, though they may not be so aesthetically pleasing. And seeing on TV this morning clips of Beijing's huge glistening new terminal (designed by Norman Foster who also did Hong Kong), Suvarnabhumi will not only soon look dated, sadly I cannot see how it can ever become what it was intended to be - the region's preferred hub.

[Bob]

I use the airport 4X a year and I , also, have never been in any customs line longer than 10-15 minutes. Maybe it is the time of day or the counters I use as they relate to my airline. I always fly EVA - with departure time at 12:30 PM and arrival time at 11:00 AM. I do not like the airport visually but I have not experienced any delays getting thru customs in either direction.

 

Same here, Buckeroo. Maybe it is the timing. My last dozen+ flights to LOS have all been on EVA and I'm either on the 11AM or 11:30AM flight. And I've never had to wait more than 10 minutes and a few times less than 3 or 4 minutes (once I had zero wait time as I walked up to an open desk).

[Guest buaseng]

sadly I cannot see how it can ever become what it was intended to be - the region's preferred hub.

You didn't really believe that did you? It was pure pie-in-the-sky media spin and manipulation put out by Thaksin to make himself and the TRT look good ahead of the General Election. Why else the rush to open the airport early three months before the election even though it was no-where near finished and ready for full operation?

 

There was never any chance that it would be seen as the region's preferred hub. Whilst arguably aesthetically pleasing on the eye it's poor functional design ensured that it was doomed to failure on that score from the time the first sod was turned. Since opening, the inefficient and chaotic operation of the airport has only compounded that failure.