AS Suvarnabhumi Airport is heavily jammed today (Feb. 18) with Chinese tourists rushing home at the end of Chinese New Year holidays, Immigration police urged all passengers to allow extra time to clear the procedures, Thai News Agency reported.
Pol. Col. Chernron Rimphadi, deputy spokesman of the Immigration Bureau, said it is anticipated that the number of passengers traveling through Suvarnabhumi Airport will reach 200,000 today, with this being a new high for this airport.
Of the 200,000, around 160,000 are overseas passengers with most of them being Chinese tourists returning home.
He advised air passengers that they need 3 hours to go through the procedures from checking in, then getting their luggage checked and walking to the gate to board their flight because all this will take longer than usual.
However, inbound air passengers would not have to spend more than 45 minutes per person to clear the 7 steps according to the law.
Immigration police has requested the cooperation of airlines to send out alerts and instructions on filling out forms so as to save time.
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Top: Long queues of passengers at Suvarnabhumi Airport today. Photo: Thai News Agency