Scrap lengthy outward immigration checks

Granted that outward checks from Thailand were streamlined last year, lowering the processing time to about 25 seconds per passenger (providing the officer was awake). However, even with this streamlining, the last few times I’ve left Bangkok there’s been a queue of between 20 and 40 minutes. 

Why is outward processing even necessary? I note that a growing number of countries have dispensed with outbound checks altogether. I assume they harvest the needed information from airline boarding cards, but in many countries there is simply no visible outbound immigration check at all. 

Even if processing is still done, what do they really need to know about passengers? I suggest it’s simply who they are, when they left and whether they overstayed. This can be gleaned from one scan of the passport, and there is no need for further stamping or filling out forms. The staff freed up this way could then man the vacant desks in arrivals. I look forward to further improvements in immigration processing in Thailand, because it remains a blight on an otherwise beautiful country.

Alan Mehew

Bangkok