Nearly 50,000 foreign tourists arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand yesterday. Reassuring statistics reported by immigration indicate a revival of Thailand’s tourism industry, although arrivals are still nowhere near close to hitting pre-pandemic levels.
Today, Commander of the Immigration Bureau Pol. Maj. Gen. Choengron Rimphadee confirmed that the picture of a giant queue at immigration posted on social media is real and was taken yesterday, November 10, 2022.
Yesterday afternoon, an average of 20 – 25 flights per hour landed on the runway at Suvarnabhumi causing a rush at immigration. During that period, immigration processed around 3,000 people every hour, said Choengron.
Of the total 57,453 arrivals at Suvarnabhumi Airport yesterday, 8,026 were Thai nationals and 49,427 were foreigners.
The highest numbers of foreign arrivals came from India, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, and America, respectively…
Foreign tourist arrivals at Suvarnabhumi Airport: November 10 2022
- India – 5,200
- South Korea – 3,288
- Singapore – 3,018
- Malaysia – 2,983
- America – 2,857
Other – 32,081
The police officer believes Thailand’s decision to extend maximum tourist stays from 30 to 45 days for most countries and 15 to 30 days for some countries is the main reason for the surge in foreign arrivals.
Immigration officials can check in up to 7000 passengers per hour without comprising the security of the nation, said Choengron. Immigration officers spend no longer than 45 seconds checking the passport data, visa status, personal biometric data, and blacklist status of each arrival.
He said that immigration officials need to be wary of foreign criminals disguising themselves as tourists, especially with the APEC 2022 Summit coming up in Bangkok next week.
The policeman said foreign fugitives who slip into Thailand often end up overstaying their visa, undertaking illegal business activities, and commit crimes. Immigration officials are under strict orders to catch criminals before they get through the border to ensure the safety of world leaders attending the APEC meeting from November 18-19.
Today, Airports of Thailand (AOT) said they are negotiating with Grab about using their services to fill taxi shortages at Suvarnabhumi Airport and Don Mueang Airport.
Since November 21, a total of 6,748,764 foreign tourists have arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport…
Foreign tourist arrivals at Suvarnabhumi Airport: November 1, 2021 – November 10, 2022
- India – 776,104
- Singapore – 406,087
- Malaysia – 390,882
- United Kingdom – 356,980
- South Korea – 4,464,172
Unfortunately for the tourists, immigration lines are excruciatingly long. After long international flights, tourists do not want to be standing in long immigration lines.