The APP system was discussed in a meeting of the Asean Immigration Intelligence Forum (AIIF) at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort in Karon, which started on Monday (September 3) and ends today.
The Commissioner of the Thai Immigration Bureau, Pol Lt Gen Wiboon Bangthamai, explained that APP would allow immigration officials at a departure port to check the details of suspicious passengers with their counterparts in the destination country.
Those details would include blacklisted people and criminals listed in the destination country’s records.
With this information the departure country would help to stop bad people even boarding a plane for a country that does not want them.
The system effectively extends the border controls of the destination country to the check-in desk at the country of departure, Gen Wiboon said.
He added that having APP, which is already in use in developed countries such as the USA and Australia, would vastly improve Thailand’s security system in readiness for the creation in 2015 of the Asean Economic Community.
Phuket International Airport would need to be linked into the APP system, he said, because the island is one of major international gateways of the country.
Apart from Thailand being able to control who gets on a plane to fly here, the system also works the other way. Australia – which is keen to help Thailand set up APP – cites Songkla province in the south is one of major embarkation points for human trafficking to Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
The General said he hoped APP could be set up in Thailand within the next two years. The main hurdle is obtaining the budget to do it.
The Immigration Bureau and Airports of Thailand are discussing the possibility of using airport fees collected from passengers to fund the project.
The meeting was arranged by the immigration chiefs and the heads of consular affairs of each of the Asean countries.