BANGKOK, THAILAND – Thai immigration officials said a viral photo of long queues at Suvarnabhumi Airport showed an exceptional holiday rush rather than a breakdown in border control.
Viral photo from Japanese visitor sparks concern
A post by a Japanese tourist on social media showed tightly packed lines in the arrivals hall at Suvarnabhumi Airport at the end of the year. The user described entering Bangkok as “clogged,” and Thai travel pages shared the image thousands of times, fueling fears of entry chaos.
The immigration police then issued a public statement to explain the situation and address the growing debate.
Police: image captured record hour of holiday traffic
Police Colonel Pongthorn Pongrattanant, spokesperson for Immigration Division 2, said the photo was believed to have been taken on Sunday, 28 December. He explained that this was one of the busiest travel days of the year, with around 30 international flights landing between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.
During that single hour, about 5,700 passengers headed for passport control, and between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. the number never fell below 4,000 passengers per hour.
“That was one of the busiest travel days of the year,”
said Pongthorn, spokesperson for Immigration Division 2.
Terminal layout makes queues look worse
The police spokesperson also linked the dramatic images to the architecture of the terminal. Long, relatively narrow corridors leading to the arrivals hall made queues appear longer and more crowded than they actually were.
“The visual impression of crowding is reinforced by the physical layout,”
said Pongthorn, adding that actual processing times remained limited and that bottlenecks occurred mainly during peak arrival windows, while flows were smooth outside those periods.
“Sky Plan” deployed for festive travel surge
For the Christmas and New Year travel wave, immigration operated under a special “Sky Plan” ordered by Lieutenant General Phanumart Boonyalak, head of the Immigration Bureau. Staff worked at full strength with leave suspended, while security standards were not lowered.
The situation was monitored around the clock by video surveillance and hourly reporting, with personnel distributed across all three arrival zones to speed up processing.
Thailand stresses short average wait times
Colonel Pongthorn said waits of one to two hours were standard in many countries and noted that a Thai traveler had recently spent more than eight hours at a European airport on 29 December. In contrast, Thailand kept its average processing time at under 30 minutes, which he described as the official operational target.
“This reflects the effectiveness of our officers and strengthens tourists’ confidence,”
said the spokesperson, adding that it helped reinforce Thailand’s image as a hospitable destination.
Advice for smoother arrivals
Travelers were advised to avoid the main arrival window between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. where possible, as early-morning and late-evening flights were often less busy. Officials recommended completing arrival card forms on the plane and keeping passports and documents ready to speed up the process.
Despite heavy volumes, the police gave reassurance that entry into Thailand remained organized and safe over the New Year period and beyond.