Airport chaos as biometric system fails
published : 25 Jan 2024 at 08:24
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Wassayos Ngamkham
Long queues formed at Suvarnabhumi airport on Wednesday morning after the biometric blacklist system used by the Immigration Bureau broke down.
Pol Maj Gen Choengron Rimpadee said the problem began at 4.30am, when the biometric blacklist system malfunctioned. This meant a process that normally took 45 seconds took more than one minute. The automatic passport check channels at the airport also stalled, adding to the problem.
The congestion mainly affected outbound travellers. Queues built up, stretching back to the luggage examination areas, Pol Maj Gen Choengron said.
Immigration officers had to check all travellers through manually and use the Advance Passenger Processing System (APPS) at Suvarnabhumi airport to assist them with the checks.
After talks with the biometric system vendor, the service was restored about 1.30pm.
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Vocabulary
- biometric (adj): using some unique part of a person's "biology" or body to identify them, such as a scan of the retina of their eye which is unique - สถิติชีวภาพ
- blacklist: a list of the names of people, companies, products or countries that an organization or a government considers unacceptable and that must be avoided - บัญชีดำ, รายชื่อผู้ที่รัฐบาลไม่ยอมรับหรือต้องถูกหลีกเลี่ยง
- channel (noun): a method for doing something - วิธีการ, ช่องทาง
- chaos: a situation in which everything is confused and in a mess - การจราจล
- congestion: a situation in which a place is crowded with people or vehicles - แน่นขนัดไปด้วยรถหรือคน
- malfunction (verb): to fail to work or operate correctly - ทำงานผิดปกติ
- manually: by hand - ด้วยมือ
- outbound (adj): travelling towards a particular point, particularly away from a city, country, etc. - ขาออก (opposite of inbound ขาเข้า)
- stall (verb): to stop suddenly because of a lack of power or speed; to make a vehicle or engine do this - ทำให้เครื่องยนต์หยุดกลางคัน
- vendor: someone who sells something, but often not in a shop - พ่อค้าแม่ค้าแผงลอย
