The Immigration Bureau of Thailand (IB) has announced that from December 15, foreigners will have the opportunity to make use of the automated lanes at Suvarnabhumi International Airport. This decision has been taken to cut back congestion on exit roads and is in keeping with the Prime Minister’s directive enforced by Sretta Thavasin. It also goals to cut back congestion for passengers who’re rushing to catch a flight.
Earlier within the day, the Thai Prime Minister issued the directive at a tourism subcommittee meeting at Suvarnabhumi Airport. The actions were taken before he left for the APEC meeting in San Francisco, United States, in mid-November this yr.
Police Lt. Gen. Itthiphon Itthisanronnachai, who serves as the top of the Immigration Bureau, today revealed that the IB has developed an automatic channel or automated passport control system for departures at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Initially, the system could only check Thai passport holders, but from December 15 it can also support foreign passport holders.
Since 2012, an automatic departure channel system has been operating at Suvarnabhumi Airport, consisting of 16 machines whose major task is to screen Thai passengers. The process, which incorporates facial and fingerprint checks, takes about 20 seconds per person. The automated system is more practical than manual screening by officers, which takes about 45 seconds per person.
Suvarnabhumi Airport, which handles 50,000 to 60,000 passengers a day, faces the worst congestion when greater than 20 flights depart concurrently. Check-in, security and immigration processes could cause passengers to be late and risk missing their flight if a delay occurs. Therefore, the Immigration Office is attempting to simplify the steps to hurry up the processing of enormous numbers of passengers and avoid a negative impact on flight schedules.
