Welcome to Phuket International Airport…no long haired hippy troublemakers (or foreigners) please!

I have passed through Phuket International Airport a number of times in my travels and for Thailand’s second most busiest airport it has always seemed a little on the small side and extremely overloaded.

An estimated 2.9 million passengers pass through Phuket International every year as well as nearly 30,000 flights and 12,000 tons of cargo and freight.

At first sight the place seems to be pretty security conscious with security guards and scanners at the entrance of arrivals. However there are no such security measures taken at departures where anybody can enter and simply take the elevator up to arrivals if they so wish.

Departures is full with tourist shops, Duty Free King Power Stores and Burger Kings while Arrivals has all manner of hotel, taxi, tourist and limousine kiosks as well as bags and bags full of tourist information (read advertising freebies).

During my first few times arriving at the airport I noticed signs at the queue for Immigration setting out the airport’s policies with regards to passengers. The usual pleas for patience and politeness also included a rule that basically said, “No long haired hippy troublemakers please.”

I wish I had taken a photo but the immigration official was beckoning me towards his desk with a hurried glare before I had time and the next time I passed through the sign had been updated to exclude the hilarious statement.

Immigration at the airport seems to be made up of unfriendly, unhelpful and understaffed officials who try their best to keep you out of the country even if you do have all the correct visas, paperwork and pots of cash to spend.

Air Asia, One Two Go, Bangkok Airways, Thai Airways, Dragon, Jetstar and a number of other airlines now fly from Phuket with the island’s bustling tourism industry having recovered well from the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.

Tourist figures are now above what they were before the disaster but local news reports seem to indicate that airport staffing at every level has yet to be increased accordingly.

Blockages are common when flights are full and nobody at the airport or on the island is willing to take responsibility for the situation with the Governor passing the buck to the Head of Immigration who in turns blames lack of funding from the central government/Military Junta who in turn blames either ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, foreigners or neighbouring countries as they do with most problems.

The airport is straining under the island’s continued success as a tourism destination and from what I understand future expansion will be difficult with all manner of land issues, incompetence and bungling killing any such plans before they are even decided upon.