Queue complaints spur airport to action
Published: 28/02/2011 at 12:00 AM
Complaints of long queues from passengers transitting Suvarnabhumi Airport have prompted the Immigration Bureau to increase staff and install automatic machines to help speed up immigration formalities.
Self-service immigration counters for e-passport holders had a test run in 2005. The Immigration Bureau hopes to install them this year.PHOTO: SOMCHAI LAOPAISARNTAKSIN
The long queues of passengers at the airport was revealed by the Bangkok Post on Feb 14, the same date the Prime Minister was made aware of the problem at a meeting of the Joint Public and Private Sector Consultative Committee.
According to Pol Lt Gen Wiboon Bangthamai, the immigration commissioner, the solutions, tabled Feb 21 to the cabinet, include not just improvement in the quality of service but also boosting airport security since the number of passengers passing through Suvarnabhumi has doubled from 50,000 to 100,000 daily recently. As such, more staff will be recruited to man immigration checkpoints.
"At present we have staff enough to man only 75% of the checkpoints. We are working with the Royal Thai Police to add more officers and asking our staff not to go on leave but work extra time during peak passenger traffic and long holidays," said Pol Maj Gen Preecha Thimanontri, Commander of Immigration Division 2, which is in charge of the immigration department at Suvarnabhumi.
"We will try to fill up all the counters," he said, adding that payment for overtime work will come from Airports of Thailand.
Traffic through the airport is at its peak between 4-5am, in the afternoon and after 10pm, at least that's been the case the last couple of months, when passengers have been kept waiting 1-2 hours standing in long queues to complete immigration formalities.
"The number of passengers has increased this year and we do realise the need to fix the problem as quickly as possible," said Pol Maj Gen Preecha.
And there are plans to reduce check-up time at the departure gate from 45 to 15-20 seconds per passenger.
"Since Feb 3 we have deployed an additional 70 officers to help deal with the problem of long queues, that also is a result of visitors overstaying or standing in wrong lines, by redirecting them to proper queues," he explained.
In addition, the bureau plans to install machines capable of performing immigration formalities for passengers. This will eliminate the need to recruit more personnel. But initially, their use will be confined to Thais holding e-passports.
The Finance Ministry has set aside 76 million baht for the purpose and now it is in the process of holding an auction to select a vendor to install the system that should, hopefully, be in place by October.
The law has been revised to make room for e-passport which enables holders to go through immigration formalities _ automatically _ bypassing the need to obtain a stamp or signature of an immigration officer. "The processing time will be just 20 seconds for each holder of an e-passport," he added.
The Immigration Bureau, meanwhile, is working with the Interior Ministry towards a provision that would no longer require Thais exiting or entering the country to fill out the Tor Mor 6 departure/arrival form.
"The Tor Mor 6 will not be needed once e-passports become the norm for Thai travellers," he said.
Additionally, there are certain tools the Immigration Bureau is planning to apply, such as departure pre-check mobile system, Personal Identification Security Comparison Evaluation (PISCE) system, and Advance Passenger Processing and Advance Processing Information system to improve security at the airport.
To that end it is offering officers manning arrivals counters a 3,000-baht reward for every fake passport spot. Introduced last October, they have already identified 200 in which cases have been filed.
"As we are the first port of entry for those visiting our country, we need to focus not only on improving our service, but also strengthening our security," he said.
The bureau's ultimate goal, announced last year, is to make sure immigration formalities for passengers are completed inside 24 minutes. That used to be the norm once, and it is determined to bring it back.
Credit: Bangkok Post (www.bangkokpost.com)
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