BKK airport not coping: 2 hour queues

[ozmille]

Arriving in Y on the QF flight last week (23.20 arrival from SYD) there was virtually no queue. Departing in J I cheated and used the priority lines with no problem, so can't comment on those, however I was told to get to the airport and checkin 3 hours before departure due to queues...

And as for the comments regarding a lack of immigration cards - had the same problem arriving here in KL. No immigration card given on the flight, no cards at the desk and my hotel meet-and-greeter ran around trying to find one before I got to the front of the "ASIC/Officials/Diplomats/Other" queue (apparently hotel guest is Other!). Despite the fact I had no form, they let me into the country without question....I'm a bit worried about departure though, since everyone else had the departure card inserted into their passport with the comment "Don't lose this card..." Could think of worse places to be stuck though!

My mother lost that stub in MEX once, she had to pay a fine and was questioned and then I had to leave because my flight was leaving... She was ok in the end but she had to run around to find an ATM to pay the fine to get a new piece of paper so she could get out of the country. Needles to say she was a bit stressed.

 

[JohnK]

They have shut down 2/3 of the immigration counters due to renovations. I was caught out on the first day on arrival, departure was even worse.

After 5 years I still think of arrivals as work in progress.

Be aware they have changed the style of the express card, I was busted trying to use an old one and had to go back to the general area.

I could not find any when I looked the other day. I will try and get as many as possible during my next trip in case I need any later on and hopefully they do not change the express cards again.

 

[meloz]

I've passed through there numerous times since it opened and always found it efficient.

Meloz

 

[Archphoto]

I usually ask for a couple whenever I fly into BKK - sometimes 3 - they're happy to hand out on QF, CX & BA. Got caught once - *never* again!

 

[JohnK]

Is this still an issue for some? Apparently the processing should be back to normal for all travellers now.

 

[Archphoto]

Heading back on the 3rd, so I'm sure I'll find out then.

 

[Happy Trails]

I had visitors arrive last night about 8:30 and they took just a few minutes to get through.

 

[extracta]

Other forums seem to have dried up on the subject. The last comment on flyertalk was 27 Mar.

This is probably one of those situations where no news is good news.

 

[extracta]

I came through BKK airport on Wed 18 April after landing on QF23 at 1900.

Immigration took about 15 minutes. Mind you that is about 14 minutes longer than I like taking when I land in BKK, but in reality things seem to be back to normal.

 

[ozmille]

Flew into BKK on Monday on BA9 and there were about 8 staff at the premium exit so was very fast. Flew out of BKK on Tuesday on QF24 and all was fine, picked up our bags from the storage and were in the Flounge in half an hour.

 

[ajca]

I usually ask for a couple whenever I fly into BKK - sometimes 3 - they're happy to hand out on QF, CX & BA. Got caught once - *never* again!

Not all airlines are so good about this. For example, Emirates doesn't have BKK fast track passes even for pax in F.

 

[kamchatsky]

Looks like Thailand is going to upgrade BKK:

Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok to get $1.9 billion upgrade

Makes sense as it is already like a zoo especially at checkin area.

 

[Archphoto]

Colleague arrived at 8pm yesterday on SQ978 - cleared immigration and collected bags in less than 20mins!