There were long queues of passengers at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport yesterday after a breakdown in the immigration biometrics system. The whole affair started around 4.30 am and wasn’t resolved until the afternoon.
Extra immigration officials had to be drafted in to cope with the backlog of people waiting to have their details manually checked, almost doubling the time it would usually take for processing a departure passport.
Airports of Thailand director Kirati Kijmanawat says the rush was on to fix the automatic screening channels. In the end it turned out to be a software glitch.
Extra officials were deployed to handle both arriving and departing passengers as the computerised biometrics system failed. He says the system breakdown did not lead to any flight delays.
Kirati says immigration officials used the airport’s online database to identify anyone who may have overstayed in the kingdom or who may be a wanted criminal. He says the queues were swiftly brought under control once additional immigration counters were opened.
“The checking process did not take a long time as the AOT deployed more officials to assist passengers and more immigration officials were deployed at all counters.”
SOURCE: Nation Thailand
