Thai nationals will from Saturday no longer have to fill out departure and arrival cards -- known as Tor Mor 6 cards, or TM.6 -- before passing through airport immigration counters, government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said Thursday.
Lt Gen Sansern made the remark after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha invoked Section 44 of the former interim charter to revoke the regulation requiring Thais to fill in the white slips, in a bid to shorten waiting times.
He said Gen Prayut has already signed the order. It will be published in the Royal Gazette and will take effect early Saturday morning, he said.
The move comes in response to criticism on social media in recent weeks of heavy congestion at Thai gateways, particularly at Don Mueang International Airport.
Eliminating the Tor Mor 6 cards for Thai nationals will do little if anything to affect long waits in arrival lines like that of Aug 9 (below) as Thai citizens have their own immigration lanes. (File photos)
While Thai nationals can now pass through domestic airports and skip the time-consuming TM.6s, foreigners will still have to fill them in until new immigration cards are launched, Lt Gen Sansern said.
The new cards will only require foreigners to provide more basic information wanted by state agencies. They have been approved by the cabinet.
Pol Col Choengron Rimphadee, deputy commander of the Immigration Division 2, praised the move and said Thailand is the only country where officers have to "waste time" stamping such cards.
Officials said it makes no sense to have Thais fill them in as their details are stored on security databases.