PM disappointed after unannounced check at Suvarnabhumi Airport

[reader]

From The Nation

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin made an unannounced check of operations at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Saturday and found the arrival and departure passenger procedures were still disappointing.

Srettha announced on his X account on Saturday night that he had made another surprise inspection at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Saturday evening to follow up on his first unannounced inspection on February 5 in the morning.

“I came to check the service systems at Suvarnabhumi Airport without informing the airport in advance after I made a similar check in the morning. So, today I came to check in the evening and there were plenty of passengers,” Srettha posted on his X page.

The prime minister said he found that both the arrival and departure procedures were too long.

“I counted the time since a passenger got off a vehicle and entered the check-in system and passed through the security system to reach his terminal to wait for boarding.

“And for arrivals, I counted from passengers' exiting their plane and coming to the immigration counters. I checked all the procedures in detail and found that they took a long time.”

Srettha said that he had asked the officials in charge if they could reduce the time taken. “The answer was that the processing time was uncertain,” Srettha said.

“This has to be improved urgently,” the prime minister added.

Srettha said he would like the executives of both the Airports of Thailand Plc and the Immigration Bureau to go out to check the procedures during the peak hours by themselves so that they could find out what caused the bottleneck.

“I’ll make a surprise check at the airport to check the procedures in detail again,” Srettha said in the post

 

 

 

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[vinapu]

When I arrived in beginning of January I was very pleased with speed immigration line was moving  , This is what I reported in my thread:

 " .... arrived at 17.40. Immigration line was hair rising but speed was world beating. It was second longest I saw in BKK ever and still with all booths opened and personnel wisely directing internationals even to “ASEAN or Thai only” booths when they were free it moved shockingly fast." 

On departure though, early morning , like 5.30 am, lines for passport check were too long and moving too slow but reason was clear, more booths were unstaffed than staffed.

World's best procedures on departure are in USA and Canada where  you just check into flight and go, forget about stamping or checking you out. On arrivals there  it's completely different story though. 

[Keithambrose]

10 hours ago, vinapu said:

When I arrived in beginning of January I was very pleased with speed immigration line was moving  , This is what I reported in my thread:

 " .... arrived at 17.40. Immigration line was hair rising but speed was world beating. It was second longest I saw in BKK ever and still with all booths opened and personnel wisely directing internationals even to “ASEAN or Thai only” booths when they were free it moved shockingly fast." 

On departure though, early morning , like 5.30 am, lines for passport check were too long and moving too slow but reason was clear, more booths were unstaffed than staffed.

World's best procedures on departure are in USA and Canada where  you just check into flight and go, forget about stamping or checking you out. On arrivals there  it's completely different story though. 

When you are 70, you can use fast track!

[vinapu]

3 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

When you are 70, you can use fast track!

I did not know people live that long

[Keithambrose]

8 hours ago, vinapu said:

I did not know people live that long

I think I'm still alive? I must check!

[vinapu]

1 hour ago, Keithambrose said:

I think I'm still alive? I must check!

better hire some boy to do the job

[Keithambrose]

1 hour ago, vinapu said:

better hire some boy to do the job

Sound idea!

[fedssocr]

Last time I arrived I was in the so-called fast-track (thanks to traveling in business class) and it took forever because the guy ahead of me had some sort of problem with his paperwork and visa. I tried another line when they called for a supervisor but that line took a while too. But my bag was already on the carousel when I got there so at least I didn't have to wait there.

It's interesting that the PM seems to want to be the transport minister.

[reader]

From apattaya News

Airports of Thailand Addresses Suvarnabhumi Queues with Upgrades

Airports of Thailand (AOT) and immigration authorities are taking steps to address the issue of long passenger queues at Suvarnabhumi Airport, following complaints by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin about the slow processing times.

During a follow-up inspection jointly conducted by AOT President Kerati Kijmanawat and Pol Maj Gen Choengron Rimpadee of Immigration Division 2, it was discovered that passengers spend up to 1 hour and 30 minutes on immigration procedures during peak times with the airport handling 5,000-6,000 passengers per hour.

To reduce waiting times to their 30-minute target, AOT plans to add 800 staff members by March 30 to assist with searches and guide passengers. Additionally, immigration is to fully staff all booths during busy periods. Starting March 1, 200 new immigration officers will be stationed at the airport, with a total of 400 expected by year-end.

To further streamline the process, 80 additional automatic channels equipped with enhanced passport-checking software will be operational by July 15, and 20 new gates will be installed by June 15. These updates will include advanced technology for examining power banks without requiring passengers to remove their shoes. A Common Use Passenger Processing System has been implemented for self check-in and baggage loading, and AoT is encouraging airlines to open check-in counters four hours prior to departure.

AOT also plans to expand the airport’s eastern terminal by 2027 to effectively manage growing passenger numbers and enhance the overall efficiency of the passenger processing system.