Thailand’s Immigration Bureau has hit a major roadblock as its biometric system reaches full capacity, preventing the automatic recording of new foreign arrivals. While a new system with unlimited storage is in development, immigration authorities are relying on manual record-keeping and an online database to track entries.
Biometric System Maxed Out
Thailand’s biometric identification system, designed to store up to 50 million records, has now reached its limit, according to the Immigration Bureau. This issue was confirmed on Thursday during a hearing before the House Committee on National Security, Border Affairs, and National Strategies and Reforms.
Pol Col Neti Khanboon, head of the Immigration Bureau’s database division, acknowledged the problem while addressing concerns over border security and the repatriation of Chinese nationals linked to call-center scams in Myanmar’s Myawaddy border town.
Concerns Over Blacklisted Individuals
During the hearing, Move Forward Party MP Rangsiman Rome raised alarms that if Chinese authorities handled repatriation independently, Thailand could miss the opportunity to collect biometric data on individuals involved in fraud networks. This could make it difficult to blacklist them from re-entering the country.
However, Neti assured the committee that all individuals deported from Myawaddy would have their biometric data manually recorded by the Tak immigration office. He emphasized that Myawaddy is not a common tourist destination, so foreigners attempting to cross illegally would be flagged and blacklisted.
Temporary Fixes and Long-Term Solutions
The biometric system, which originally had a 30-million-record capacity before being expanded to 50 million, is now full. To address this, the bureau is working on a new system with unlimited storage, a project expected to cost 3 billion baht and take 29 months to complete.
In the meantime, an additional 500 million baht is being allocated to purchase more storage licenses for the current system to temporarily ease capacity issues.
Manual Tracking and Database Cross-Checking
With the biometric system unable to store new records, immigration officers have manually documented 17 million foreign arrivals over the past two years, including facial photos and fingerprints.
Although the lack of storage affects automatic blacklisting, Neti reassured officials that immigration authorities are still conducting security checks using an alternative online database to track and flag high-risk individuals.
