Immigration confirms biometric system has reached full capacity

Thailand’s Immigration Bureau confirms its biometric system has reached full capacity, preventing new foreign arrival records. A new system with unlimited storage is in development, while authorities manually record arrivals and use an online database for checks.

The Immigration Bureau confirmed on Thursday that no new records of foreign arrivals have been added to its biometric system as it has reached its maximum capacity of 50 million records.

System Capacity Issues Revealed in House Committee Hearing

Pol Col Neti Khanboon, commander of the database division at the bureau’s IT centre, admitted to the system’s full capacity while testifying before the House Committee on National Security, Border Affairs, and National Strategies and Reforms.The committee, chaired by Move Forward Party MP Rangsiman Rome, had summoned representatives from the Royal Thai Police, the Immigration Bureau, and Airports of Thailand Plc to testify about the ongoing repatriation of Chinese nationals rescued from call-centre gangs in Myawaddy, a border town in Myanmar.



At the start of the meeting, Rangsiman raised concerns that if China handled the repatriation independently, Thailand could lose the opportunity to collect biometric data on individuals linked to call-centre scams, making it difficult to blacklist them from re-entering the country.Temporary Manual Record-Keeping

In response, Neti dismissed these concerns, stating that all individuals sent back from Myawaddy would have their biometric data collected manually by the Tak immigration office.
He explained that Myawaddy is not a common tourist destination, so any foreigner who illegally crossed the border would be suspected and have their details recorded for blacklisting purposes.

Biometric System Capacity and Expansion Plans

When questioned about why the Immigration Bureau was not using its automatic biometric system to record blacklisted individuals, Neti revealed that the system had reached full capacity.

Initially, the bureau purchased 30 million storage licences, later expanding to 50 million, which are now fully utilised.

The bureau is developing a new biometric system with unlimited capacity at a cost of 3 billion baht, expected to take 29 months to complete.

Meanwhile, an additional 500 million baht is being spent on purchasing more licences for the existing system.



Manual Data Collection and Alternative Checks

Neti further stated that the bureau has been manually recording 17 million foreign arrivals throughout 2023 and 2024, taking facial photos and fingerprints.

Although the biometric system is currently unable to flag blacklisted individuals efficiently, Neti assured the committee that the bureau has an alternative online database for cross-checking suspicious visitors.

(2025/02/20-00:00)