Stop the pretence

In theory, having a facial recognition system in airports to save time and add convenience sounds good, as Deputy Transport minister Thaworn Senneam is proposing. But showing passports or ID cards only takes a few seconds at those points while “the bottlenecks” occur when weighing and loading baggage and allocating seats at check-in counters. Some may have to pay fines for exceeding baggage allowances, etc, which adds to the waiting time for other passengers.

Moreover, the electronic passport reader we have for Thai citizens is over-rated and marginally superior to immigration counter. Often, I witness passengers struggling to scan their passport, and would find two to three staff standing next to the readers to assist, defeating the purpose of autonomous passport readers.

Even if we have the facial recognition, we would still face the bottleneck pain points as per above. The facial recognition will at best save us several minutes and at worst is another wasteful spending of taxpayers’ money no different from his plan to purchase new Thai Airways aircraft. And do not forget what you will do with passport inspectors and airport staff once they are replaced.

Let’s admit it and stop the pretence. We are not a high-tech country; we are a “high-touch” country with superior services, arts and crafts, and fantastic foods and rich agricultural products. I therefore respectfully suggest to Mr Thaworn to rein in his appetite for spending and focus on our core strengths and competencies.

EDWARD KITLERTSIRIVATANA