dsquared37

Apologies but we were aching to get into a taxi and get to the hotel after taking care of some things at the PG counter and completely forgot to check out the immigration situation.

harryhv

Waited about half an hour at the non-priority immigration "foreign passports" line* at 3.30pm Thursday, noticed two or three European flights landed just after us and the lines got longer towards 4pm

* Dont understand why we should have to go in the line for foreign passports. We're British, we're not foreigners

Electrostar

And they used to call us "Aliens".

jsvan

Today, 14 January, TG 304 from Yangon arrived at noon. The immigration line was an hour wait. Discussed with supervisor and was told that the government won't employ more staff (half the booths were closed). Since much of the government's money comes from tourism, this seems counterproductive.

Electrostar

22 January at about 1 p.m. the queues for Y incoming passport control were very long, all the way down to the carpet slope to the main corridor. Estimate 2 hours wait. Even the Fast Track lanes had queues of 3 or 4 persons.
Lunar New Year may have increased arrivals.
The construction on the left hand side (looking at immigration, near A to K rows) is now quite extensive, but the departure immigration that side seemed to be operating quite well on 23rd. There are fewer desks than the other side now, but they don't usually have staff for them all anyway, so I would say the number of staff that side was about the same as the right hand side.

MDOH

Arrivals late Wednesday night, February 8th:

NH915 (from NRT) arrived roughly around 11:05pm and queues in one area were about 25-35 deep. I can't be sure how long those lines were taking since I had an unexpected escort.

TG677 (from NRT) arrived about 10:15pm and I was told by a colleague on that flight that lines were somewhat similar, if not just a wee bit shorter.

The time period between the two flights, however, was relatively empty I was told, so I think the crowds may move in waves. It also suggests to me that waiting times aren't reaching an hour.

BKKROP

Checking in last week on two occaisions took 2 hours for a crew to join me in transit on way to REP. I couldn't cope with that, time is too valuable, although arrival to departure transit security now takes 30+ minutes. the days of relaxing massages and lounge time are gone

behuman

Inbound Immigration (both sides - I checked) were a zoo on a normal weekday towards 4 PM. People overflowing into the concourse.

BKK and Thailand show once more that they have real third world status - to no suprise to these in the know.

Even the central "premium" Immigration (mind there are new cards required now - get a supply from your favorite airline) was quite busy. I waited 15 minutes there. It was not "fast track" anymore with only two counters manned.

MDOH

I have a couple more data points that I hope will be useful.

Inbound Immigration
Date: Sunday, February 19
Time: 4:00pm
I was told that immigration lines were about 35-40 deep. A PR flight from MNL arrived around 3:20pm and passengers on that flight were reaching the arrival hall around 4:15-20pm. A TG flight from MNL arrived at 3:58pm and passengers were out by around 4:45-50pm.

Outbound
Date: Tuesday, February 28
Time: 5:00am
Lines were about 10 deep.

Time: 8:30pm
Lines were 10-15 deep. Time to clear passport control was roughly 7-10 minutes. Security clearance areas were pretty free flowing.

ScottieFlyer

Arriving in BKK on TG J two weeks ago I headed to the TG Fast Track desks at the extreme right of the immigration hall as usual. On getting there I found only Fast Track for Thai nationals, diplomats, assissted pax and crew. Before my next visit, it would be helpful to know if Fast Track arrivals for foreign passports has been relocated elsewhere, discontinued or if there was simply no desk open for foreign passports at time of my last arrival. Hope somebody can help. thanks, SF.

spk

Well, the inbound immigration and customs at LAX TBIT is worse than BKK at certain time. Completely zoo-like and very pax unfriendly. From aircraft door ro curb, it can take up to 2-3 hours. It's so bad that I avoid using TG BKK-LAX altogether, not because of TG but because of the airport itself. I now fly mostly via SFO or, if using LAX, use UA which has its own immigration check area.

dsquared37

I agree with this completely. Arriving into LAX on TG was time consuming. On multiple occasions arriving into LAX on UA I've been on the curb within 15 minutes.

Does anyone have information on TG Fast Track that ScottieFlyer mentions? I have a stack of Fast Track coupons that I was planning on using in the next few months.

gwhiteuk

The TG fasttrack for premium passengers are at the far right of the immigration lanes at BKK. Currently TG don't seem to be giving FASTTRACK coupons, but using C/F boarding pases.

The facility seems to be shared with diplomatic entry, and is only a couple of stations (4 lanes I think if all manned, but only 2 active on my last visit).

Unfortunately these are not well signposted, and on my recent visit (TG917 arriving approx 3:20pm, it was a struggle to get past the Q's overflowing the Imagration area, back to the concourse !

Still, this worked for me, once I'd navigated past the Q's - nobody waiting and through in a couple of minutes, when I'd estimate the normal lines would have been between 30 mins and 1 hour.

These delays only are mainly foreigners - my wife saw a short Q for Thai nationals on the way to the fasttrack, and cleared within a few minutes.

Regards, Graham

dsquared37

Yes, that's all well and good and business as usual. Either there was a misunderstanding on ScottieFlyer's behalf or things have changed. He mentioned his experience was about 2 weeks ago and you provide a time of day but not a date of your previous experience making your information fine for people who have no knowledge but meaningless when attempting to address a specific question.

I haven't been through immigration in BKK in about 2 months (possibly the longest stint in 5 years) so I'm just trying to ascertain if anything has changed recently.

And there have been indications TG is no longer handing out the FT cards while some have said they were received. Prior to the cards being handed out the use of Fast Track lanes were predicated on possessing a BP. This in itself I'd also like clarification on from those who have been through recently.

I still have 8 FT cards and 5 or 6 entries into the kingdom in the next two months - only half of which are the result of flights on TG C/F so the cards will come in handy if still extant 'currency'. It would be nice to avoid the crazy immigration wait times if possible.

jiejie

This was the main reason I joined Global Entry program, the TG arrival at LAX TBIT. Through the immigration kiosk (no queuing) in less than 5 minutes, pick up bags (slight wait for delivery), then to the front of the Customs line. Usually out to the curb in about 20 minutes. Have literally bypassed about 1000 people in the queues.

As for BKK, I haven't been through there in quite a long time but have an upcoming in late April or May likely in J. So yes, please keep the latest information coming on arriving and departing Fasttrack lane locations, cards/BP's or hall monitor passes needed, and any other complications. I echo the call to please provide specifics on dates and times, it really does help!