Phuket airport immigration delay blamed on system fault, paid fast lane denied
Immigration police have denied claims that Phuket International Airport opened a paid “special lane” for passengers, saying recent queues were caused by a temporary system slowdown during an unusually busy flight period.
On Saturday, March 29, Police Colonel Phongthon Phongrattanant, deputy commander and spokesperson for Immigration Division 2, said the agency reviewed reports circulating online about operations at the airport’s immigration checkpoint.
He said the incident stemmed from a short-term disruption to the immigration information system, and insisted there was no fast-track channel offered in exchange for 200 baht or any other fee. According to Immigration Division 2, the system experienced delays and intermittent faults from 8.55am to 1.40pm on Friday, March 28.
Officers then switched to an offline process under pre-established standard operating procedures and temporarily reduced some steps for outbound passenger checks to clear the backlog quickly and safely, under close supervision.
During the disruption, Phuket International Airport handled 52 outbound flights with about 8,500 passengers, while the immigration hall can accommodate around 600 people at one time. Immigration said this led to queues extending beyond the hall, as seen in images shared online, and was not due to officers neglecting their duties.
Immigration said Police Colonel Rasarin Theeraphatthanakun, superintendent of the Phuket Airport immigration checkpoint, immediately deployed staff at full capacity and opened all 18 available counters.
It said some equipment could not be used because it was undergoing maintenance after prolonged use, but officers continued processing passengers, reportedly averaging no more than 33 seconds per person during peak congestion.
Immigration said the system returned to normal at 2pm, and the situation stabilised shortly afterwards.
Phongthon said Immigration Division 2 has established clear contingency plans for system disruptions to minimise passenger impact while maintaining security standards and facilitating international travel.
He added that Phuket International Airport and the Immigration Bureau are also working on installing Automated Border Control (ABC) gates, which are expected to improve processing speed and convenience for both arrivals and departures once completed.
Immigration Division 2 apologised for the inconvenience and thanked passengers for their cooperation, saying it would use the incident to review queue management, system coordination and equipment readiness to improve service confidence among the public, tourists and airlines.
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