"Smart Card” technology to be used at Thailand's Suvarnabhumi Airport

BANGKOK, May 11 (TNA) - Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AOT) plans to apply both “Smart Card” and “Barcode” technologies for Thai passengers to speed up overall immigration processes at the country's main Suvarnabhumi International Airport. AOT board chairman Sita Tiwari told reporters Saturday that the AOT has discussed the plan with the Immigration Bureau and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noting that, with the new technologies, it will take only 10 seconds for each Thai passenger to get through the Suvarnabhumi Airport's immigration processes, as they will not need to present their passports or other travel documents to officers at the immigration counters, but will only need to scan their smart cards to get through the processes. Sita acknowledged that the new advance immigration system, expected to be introduced within this year, can help alleviate congestion at the main Suvarnabhumi International Airport, pointing out that up to some 50 million international passengers are expected to use the airport this year, exceeding its capacity of some 45 million. The AOT board chair said, however, that the new system is not a long-term solution to the congestion problem of the Suvarnabhumi International Airport and the AOT is, therefore, undertaking the second-phase expansion of the main airport funded by a total budget of 62.5 billion baht, with its designs-cum-construction expected to be completed by 2016. (TNA)