Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin inspected Suvarnabhumi Airport without prior notice on the night of April 9 to assess the public and tourist service systems ahead of the Songkran Festival.
This visit marks the third time the Prime Minister has inspected in this manner, with previous visits occurring in February.
Upon arrival, the Prime Minister inspected the check-in system and found that the management system was operating well, with passengers not experiencing long waits. This improvement is attributed to the airport allowing earlier check-in from 3 hours to 4 hours before the departure time.
Subsequently, Kittipong Kittikachorn, the Director of Suvarnabhumi Airport, and Pol.Maj.Gen. Choengron Rimpadee, commander of immigration officers at the international airport welcomed the Prime Minister and led him to conduct inspections at various points.
The Prime Minister then inspected the Immigration Bureau’s system, which previously experienced several crashes. Pol. Maj. Gen. Chongran confirmed that the system would no longer crash as it had been improved and connected to the airport’s system, enhancing efficiency.
The Prime Minister has ordered all immigration systems to be integrated to work together seamlessly with the airport system, known as the Thailand Immigration System (TIS). Currently, the National Police Office is in the process of approving this integration. The aim is to reduce the processing time for arriving passengers to no more than 45 minutes, from disembarkation to immigration checkpoints.
However, during peak departure times starting from 10 p.m., it was observed that departing passengers had to wait in long queues for check-in counters. The Director of Suvarnabhumi Airport, noted that one of the issues stemmed from certain airlines not being ready to implement self-check-in systems, causing delays at the counters.
The Prime Minister has instructed the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand and the airport authorities to cooperate with airlines to implement self-check-in systems alongside counter check-in systems. Currently, only 28 out of 117 airlines are using self-check-in systems.
Additionally, the Prime Minister inspected the accommodation facilities for staff and ordered an expansion to ensure their comfort and convenience, which has shown significant progress.
The Prime Minister stated that after inspecting all systems, overall management has significantly improved, with increased manual operations and more staff providing services. It is believed that by July, all systems will be further improved. (TNA)
