International Fail: Taoyuan Airport

If I was to pick one thing that really hurts the image that Taiwan projects to foreign visitors, the one thing that sticks out above the lack of standardized romanization of Chinese, the relative lack of English and the general lack of organization and consistency, it would be the airport. In particular, the customs line for incoming foreign nationals.

Every time I come back to Taiwan from other countries, the airport really lets me down. Last night, as I came back from a short trip to Japan, I strolled up to the customs area and was once again shocked at the incredibly inefficient and unwelcoming way of handling incoming foreigners.

Where the locals got about 10 short lines, foreigners were herded into a snake-line. The difference? My Taiwanese workmates got through the line in about 10 minutes. It took me 45 minutes to get through customs. Why the different handling? I’m not sure, but compared to other international airports in East Asia, Taoyuan is almost laughably primitive. The new Korean airport in Incheon plans for large influxes of passengers, preparing a battalion of customs officers to handle the load. I think the longest I’ve waited to get through customs there was 3 minutes. Narita isn’t bad either, taking around 10 minutes to get through.

There’s a new terminal being built at Taoyuan, let’s hope the new building brings not just nicer digs but more importantly, a better process.