Suvarnabhumi airport opens automatic passport control for departing foreign travelers
Photo source: Khaosod English
From December 15, automatic passport control before departure at immigration in Suvarnabhumi will be available for visitors with a foreign passport.
The commander of the immigration office, Pol. Lieutenant General Itthiphon Itthisanronnachai, announced on December 11 that the automatic outbound channel system, in operation since 2012 with sixteen machines and initially intended for Thai travelers, will now be expanded to screen foreign passengers. This expansion is a response to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin's strategy to receive more foreign visitors.
Suvarnabhumi Airport, which handles approximately 50.000 to 60.000 departing passengers daily, experiences high passenger density, especially during periods when more than 20 flights depart per hour. Passengers must go through the check-in process, including security checks and immigration procedures, which may cause delays. The immigration office is therefore working to speed up these processes to promote the flow of travelers and ensure that they can board on time.
Thanks to the new method, the capacity for inspecting departing passengers can be increased from approximately 5.000 to 12.000 per hour. However, persons legally prohibited from leaving the country, persons with criminal arrest warrants, and overstayers remain subject to inspection by officials.
Foreigners who want to use the automated system must have an e-passport that meets ICAO standards. This applies to citizens of approximately 70 Member States. It is estimated that approximately 30.000 people will leave via this system every day.
In July 2024, Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited will start using a new automated system, replacing the old system that has been used for more than 80 years at both inbound and outbound immigration checkpoints at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang Airports. About 16 new machines will be installed at Suvarnabhumi, replacing the original XNUMX, and eight new machines will be installed at Don Mueang, replacing the four for international departures and arrivals. This new system will be more accurate and efficient than the current one, and will allow additional staff to be deployed for improved passport checks on entry, improving passenger inspection on busy flights.
Source: Khaosod English
And let's hope that the waiting time at passport control will be shorter.
Last month I stood in line for 40 minutes before it was my turn, partly due to unmanned counters.
40 minutes? I will sign for that immediately…. The last time it was 1 hour and 3 minutes from security check to passport control. And indeed unmanned counters.
Must also be the time to leave.
In my case it has always been around midnight or just after and then everything always went smoothly. Take a maximum of 15 minutes, but usually faster.
Well thought out!
but what about your exit stamp???
It will be registered electronically, but I want certainty.
Why do you want certainty about that?
Very good news. There are often too many unmanned counters, which can mean it can take a really long time. Isn't it a problem if you don't have an exit stamp for people who live here?
Why would that be a problem for those who live here?
@RonnyLatYa,
That seems pretty clear to me. I travel through Thailand quite a lot. Some hotels, and some, especially smaller immigration offices, are quite difficult if they think there is something wrong with the stamps in your passport. I don't really think the question is crazy, and it was the first thing that came to mind. Your response is almost derogatory, but probably not entirely intended that way.
It may not be a problem for you as a very knowledgeable person, but I have already waited a long time at an immigration office because everything had to be checked. (And that involved the second 90 day report with a new passport, into which the visa from my old passport had simply been transferred, no problem the first time. The second time there was apparently a lot wrong, but in the end not... .)
But what does this have to do with whether or not you have a stamp upon departure?
You're gone so what do you have to do with those hotels and immigration offices?
When you return you will receive a new stamp and this will be looked at at your immigration office or places where you are staying.
By the way, I don't see anything derogatory in it (showing that you find someone unimportant and worthless) when I ask them why people want certainty about this or why that would be a problem for those who live here.
An answer is sufficient to find out why they think so.
It came across that way to me. But as I wrote, it was apparently not intended that way.
Arjen.
It turns out that the “stamp history” is also being looked at. I think hotels have no insight into the immigration database (I hope so) so they only see a missing stamp.
I don't know whether a hotel is punishable if they have a foreigner as a guest whose residence papers are incorrect?
And as I wrote, at an immigration office there was suddenly a big fuss about something that in retrospect did not need to be fussed about.
Regards, Arjan.
Hotels have nothing to do with your stamp history.
Where do you get something like that from?
They only have to check whether you are NOW legally residing in Thailand and enter that on their TM30.
This is stated in the last Arrival Stamp or its extension. What happened before is none of their business and has no influence on your current stay.
If the current Arrival Stamp or its extension were missing, you are not legally in Thailand and they cannot enter this on their TM30 and they will only be punishable if they do not report this.
Immigration can see your history, but from now on they will also know that the Departure stamp may be missing from the passport, but if they need it for some reason they can always request it.
Maybe then there was a fuss for nothing... And that's fine, or are they not allowed to check you?
It may have looked like false stamps to them or they thought they saw something suspicious and this was resolved after checking.
Or do you think there are no fake stamps going around? Especially by those who may not have followed the legal route to extend their stay.
If that is not the case, it will cause indignation for those who are ultimately correct, but in the end they have done their job correctly if they suspect such a thing. Fine then, because that is their job to check something like this, as is the case everywhere in the world if people suspect something..
It will take some time before the system is ready. And that people understand what type of passport they have, and that they are okay with traveling in and out. The question then remains whether the provincial authorities will have the knowledge to view your passport details (entry and exit). Thailand still remains the country of forms, copies, stamps and signatures. I always wonder where what happens to those tons of documents and forms.
About queuing, well, if you're in a busy moment and there are groups of ignorant travelers in front of you, you're out of luck.
For foreigners, this currently only concerns departures. Not with arrivals.
Nothing will change for arrivals. You will still receive your stamp and these are important for your further stay.
Hotels do not need to know when you have left Thailand in the past and immigration can see this in their database if necessary.
The machine that can register international departures and arrivals can only be used by Thais.
Foreigners now apparently also arrive before departure, but upon arrival there is still the current procedure, so nothing will change there. And I don't expect that in the short term either.
I have no doubt that the system will work. Thais have been doing it for a long time and they have several years of experience with it. But new machines may always need some treatment and running-in time. If that is linked to the immigration database, I don't think there will be a problem.
As for the passport.
The current passports have long been required to meet those ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) standards. I think that the automatic passport control at, say, Schiphol or Zaventem also checks those ICAO standards. If it works there it will probably work in Thailand too.
Maybe not the older passports, but how many of them are still in circulation?
When I read the comments it seems like everyone knows what an e-passport is. Can someone explain to me how I find out whether my (regular) passport is an e-passport? It is therefore an e-passport that meets the ICAO standards. This is the case in 70 countries. I'm still none the wiser. Moreover, an exit stamp will also have to be placed. I think that requires a human hand. After all, at least for me, the stamps are placed very carefully under and next to each other so that I can use the passport as long as possible because it does not fill up very quickly.
All passports issued in recent years are e-passports or biometric passports.
Applied in Belgium since 2008 and in the Netherlands since 2006 according to Wikipedia data
“A biometric passport (also called an e-passport or a digital passport) is a traditional passport with an embedded electronic microprocessor chip that contains biometric information that can be used to verify the identity of the passport holder.”
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biometrisch_paspoort
It seems to me that if fingerprints were taken when applying for your passport, you then have an e-passport.
Maybe this will help you too
https://webwoordenboek.nl/kenniscentrum/hoe-weet-je-of-je-een-biometrisch-paspoort-hebt
And an exit stamp is actually not necessary if your departure has been registered electronically.
Your Arrival stamp is the most important.
And look how much space you will save. No more exit stamp, no more visa sticker... it keeps getting better.
In addition to Ronny: an e-passport, i.e. with a chip containing biometric data, can be recognized by an image on the front of the passport: a rectangle with a horizontal line and a circle/dot in the middle. That should represent a plastic card with a chip.
That's right Rob.
I forgot to mention that important detail in the text, but an example of it is also in the link I provided.
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biometrisch_paspoort
We always fly via Dusseldorf. There has been an automatic system for EU citizens there for years, both at departure and at arrival. I don't have a single German stamp in my passport. The system works smoothly and therefore has a high flow rate, in contrast to the queues for non-EU citizens such as Turks, Moroccans and, for example, Russians.
That is also the case in Brussels and, I suspect, also in Schiphol
They therefore do not need a stamp to stay in the EU or a stamp when they leave.
This does not mean that their departure or arrival would not have been registered.
Like at Schiphol, where it goes much further than just for EU citizens. See https://www.marechaussee.nl/onderwerpen/selfservice-paspoortcontrole
Indeed.
I have not checked them all, but it seems to me a combination of EU and Schengen countries in terms of arrival because they do not require a stamp.
For other countries, arrival is still done manually and they still receive their arrival stamp.
Upon departure, there are several countries outside those EU/Schengen countries that can use self-service, such as the UK, USA, Japan, Malaysia, etc.
These are also only issued electronically and those countries therefore only have an entry stamp but no exit stamp in their passport.
In itself not that different from what Thailand wants to do now.
Entry with stamp, exit electronically.
I think it's a great idea to start like this.
This is not a response to any comment. My response may be seen as a comment in which I, as a recent traveler to Thailand, find the system fine so far. Since there are certainly crooks and bandits or simply less and dishonest people walking around who like to take advantage of... Is a GODE check necessary when entering Thailand?
With this sometimes excessive control, Thailand prevents the entry of scum as we know it in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands there is often hardly any control and people who use or abuse the system are in too easily.
Take enough time with you and remain relaxed and respect the working methods of Thailand or the country you are going to. Enough people already complain when standing in line at the supermarket in the Netherlands and if this is solved by scanning themselves, they will also complain.
Good luck in the queue at the checkpoint in or out of Thailand, it always remains exciting for me.
Good news. Hope they can do something for arriving travelers too. Arrived last week:
-Never seen it so busy
-Lines started at the moving walkways
-All 50 counters manned for the first time
-Still 2 hours of strolling in line
I don't see that happening in the short term and the largest queues are indeed always there.
Proof that Thailand is popular again of course 🙂
For people who officially live in the Netherlands, but stay in Thailand 8 months a year, exit stamps might be useful to demonstrate that they have been in Thailand for a maximum of 8 months (which is not the same as at least 4 months in the Netherlands)?
Phan, you will have your ticket and you can also collect boarding passes. Furthermore, after arrival in the Netherlands, there is a change in debit card behavior in shops and ATMs. There is hardly any control over those four months in the Netherlands.
Only says when you have left Thailand, not when you are back in the Netherlands.
It may still be important the other way around, namely for the Thai tax authorities, unless they also have access to the immigration system.
In any case, I always have to copy all pages from my passport that relate to the past year when filing my annual Thai tax return. After all, you are (only) liable to pay taxes after being in Thailand 180 days a year.