Long wait at Immigration leaving Thailand

[TotallyOz]

I took the Thai air non-stop to NYC today. I was lucky as I got there 4 hour early. Good thing I did as the line to get through immigration took over 1 1/2 hours. I stood in a room filled to the max with others. The air con was not working well and everyone was sweating. It was a horrendous experience to wait that long. I am not really sure why they didn't have more officers there to handle the crowds but it was a pain in the ass to sit there.

 

Also, I always travel with extra luggage that I pay for. I pulled out my Visa and was told they don't accept debit cards; only Credit cards and cash. She said this went into effect in March. This was Thai airways btw and I don't know the rules with the other airlines. Luckily, I had some cash to pay for this as that was the only card I had in my passport carrier.

 

The nonstop flight was great and I much prefer it to the other ways of flying.

[billyhouston]

Had a similar problem a couple of weeks ago returning to UK, in my case at the Thai end. At about 1100 the immigration area was packed tight and it was difficult to get in. There was a little more room at the 'Thai Passports' end but only half the booths were staffed. Similarly the air-conditioning was inadequate and people could easily have missed flights.

 

Peak periods are pretty easy to predict, most of the time, and this sort of thing shames Thailand.

[Guest skeet45]

I only fly the Thai direct flight any more.

I have enough miles to get a free business class ticket most of the time.

If you have a gold card or flying first or business they have a special area for you to go through. When I left in January no wait at all. I will be heading back in a few weeks. Can't wait

[Guest luvthai]

I also did the Thai Air non stop to JFK on feb 18th. Immigration was fast and I was checked in and thru immigrations in about 25 minutes. My only compalint is that when you go thru to the gate area there are no restrooms or shops available. Once you go down the steps to the gate there is a restroom there but they don't open that area till an hour before flight time.

[Guest laurence]

It is not quite clear as to which Immigration are the above people referring? GT, Immigration leaving Thailand or Immigration entering the US? Same luvthai. Normally leaving Thailand would only be a few minutes. I did fly nonstop from BKK to Los Angles and the Immigration lines at LAX were long and the scene at baggage pickup was horrendous apparently since many flights arrived at the same time.

[Guest]

It is not quite clear as to which Immigration are the above people referring? GT, Immigration leaving Thailand or Immigration entering the US?

 

The long wait for me was leaving Thailand and waiting at the airport in Bangkok and little if any air con running. I has showered before I went to the airport and then drenched with sweat after I got out of customs in Bangkok airport.

[Guest shockdevil]

I, too, am taking the direct flight from BKK to JFK later this month. I had planned to arrive about three (3) hours in advance for check-in and then hang around with my bf there before going through to immigration and security until about 90 minutes prior as I usually do before leaving BKK. From the comments I guess I better kiss the bf good-bye right away and head for immigration. Maybe I will just head to airport without him to save him the wasted time. At any rate, thanks for the heads-up.

[Guest]

I, too, am taking the direct flight from BKK to JFK later this month. I had planned to arrive about three (3) hours in advance for check-in and then hang around with my bf there before going through to immigration and security until about 90 minutes prior as I usually do before leaving BKK. From the comments I guess I better kiss the bf good-bye right away and head for immigration. Maybe I will just head to airport without him to save him the wasted time. At any rate, thanks for the heads-up.

 

I was hoping that my experience was unique, but I did sit next to a guy that was delayed the night before in getting to the customs and he missed the flight. He had to stay a night in a hotel and take the flight the next day. He was a young 20's lad from Canada and he was on a tight budget and didn't eat much that day. I gave him my first meal to get him back on track and I ate the protein bar I had packed away. Well, honestly, I also ate a Xanex with the protein bar so in an hour I really didn't give a shit if I ate the meal or not.

[Guest fountainhall]

the line to get through immigration took over 1 1/2 hours

 

I believe TG's JFK flight departs late evening. Well, the Immigration queues are now just as bad during the morning peak. At 07:00 on a recent Saturday, passengers in all three main Immigration areas (not sure about the dedicated TG business and first class one) were not just packed like sardines but the queues backed out into the main check in areas. We know the Director of Immigration has called for more officers, but the situation has been getting progressively worse for many months and no-one does anything about it.

 

Even more ludicrous, they are now making it difficult to choose the least congested Immigration area by designating flights to specific areas. Leaving yesterday at a more sensible time (11:00 am), I walked from the west area which was quite full to the middle one which was relatively empty. A girl posted at the entry told me my flight HAD to go use the west area. I just laughed as though I had no idea what she was saying and went through.

 

Still, having read about the chaos at London's Heathrow Terminal 5, I suppose we should be glad we can actually get out on flights along with our bags. I read today that British Airways is sending many thousands of 'lost' bags by land for sorting in Milan (because then they do not have to go through such strict security!). Fat lot of use that will be for those on holiday and whose bags will be delivered after they have returned home. How is it that even some of so-called major airlines are run by relative idiots unable to anticipate such obvious problems.

 

 

 

[Guest MonkeySee]

My flight left BKK Wednesday at 08:25. I had no problem sailing through immigration in about ten to fifteen minutes. Maybe it is better in the morning?