Manners Matter

[kurohinge1]

[SIZE="4"]Taiwan bans Japanese man for cursing at customs[/SIZE]

TAIPEI - A Japanese man found out the hard way that manners matter when it comes to Taiwan customs.

The man grew hot under the collar during a 2005 trip when he had to wait in a snail-paced immigration line at the main international airport serving Taipei, the Central News Agency reported.

When he finally got to the front of the queue, he unleashed a string of expletives at the agent checking his passport.

It is against the law in Taiwan to insult public officials during the discharge of their official duties, CNA said.

The immigration department later sued the man, whose name was not given, and he lost the case in court this week.

The man, who is married to a Taiwanese woman, received a 30-day suspended sentence and was barred from visiting Taiwan for five years, CNA said . . . more

"a snail-paced immigration line at the main international airport" - why does that seem so familiar to any FG who's been through a J-airport?

[Big Booger]

I love it... what's good for the goose is good for the nihonjin.

[FG Lurker]

"a snail-paced immigration line at the main international airport" - why does that seem so familiar to any FG who's been through a J-airport?

I find that KIX is quite quick.

[rant]
The worst I have been through is the US. I think they screen their Immigration Officers to find the biggest pricks with the lowest IQs too. I hate going through US Customs so much that I refuse to transit through the US when visiting Canada. Even if Air Canada is quite a bit more expensive than Northworst or another US carrier I just fly Air Canada now. Man, US Customs & Immigration SUCKS.
[/rant off]

[Behan]

I agree with you about US immigration. Last summer my son and I flew to the US ahead of my wife and she joined us a few days later. She told me that a female immigration agent had been terribly mean and rude to her.
My wife, Japanese, had never flown over alone and accidentally filled out a form for US citizens. The officer made her wait and she ended up missing her plane.
My wife kind of panicked and was in tears while she was waiting and another immigration officer noticed and asked the first one what was happening. Then my wife overheard her say that she was purposely making her wait for filling out the wrong form. Well, my wife's English isn't perfect but I think she at least got the jist of what was going on from the tone of the immigration officer.
I was on cruthes a year earlier and I when was going through Narita immigration leaving Japan an immigration officer called me over to the area the flight crews go through to make it easier on me. He was really nice.
What a contrast.
I have a couple of more stories about baggage handlers in the US but I will save you all that...

[Mike Oxlong]

Many Canucks have shared FG Lurker's experiences with US Customs. Best to avoid transit thru the US on the way home no matter how low NorthWorst's fares are.

[Samurai_Jerk]

As a US citizen, I can say that nowhere else in the world have I been treated as poorly as when entering my own country. So I can't imagine how much worse it must be for non Americans.

[Grumblebum]

Getting through immigration at Narita is quick as long as you go through the lanes for Japanese passport holders and re-entry permit holders.

I've only been through US immigration a couple of times in the last few years, but I always stick to my rule - never, ever do anything which might even slightly annoy immigration or customs people (whatever the country). Those people have the power to cause a shitload of trouble for whoever they're processing, so its just not worth getting upset about stuff in their presence.
I'm always unfailingly polite and as nice as possible.

[Tsuru]

So what's to stop this guy from setting his red-flagged passport on fire and getting a new one at his shiyakusho claiming he lost it?

As far as immigration goes, I think Germany is the best in the world. No queues at all, just efficiency. France is good too... the guys there hardly take the time to even look at your passport.
Worst I've seen was KIX (2 counters for two jumbo jets full of mainly Thai/ME FGs arriving at the same time, and 5 counters for J-citizens/visa-holders when no local flights had arrived at all). In fairness I did get called to a J-passport desk when I was next... surprise surprise: the immigration officer was a woman and I was one of the few Europeans there at the time.

I must say I'm looking forward to my first trip to North America in the near future, although I think I'll avoid JFK/LAX. YVR, YYZ, MSP or ORD it has to be.
I do go out of my way to avoid entering the EU through Dutch immigration as well, as they seem to have take a leaf out of the Americans' book the last couple of years. Entering through Germany or France and then taking the HST is our preferred means of coming back.

[FG Lurker]

I do go out of my way to avoid entering the EU through Dutch immigration as well, as they seem to have take a leaf out of the Americans' book the last couple of years. Entering through Germany or France and then taking the HST is our preferred means of coming back.

Oh great... I am flying to Austria this week on KLM via Amsterdam.

Any tips?

[Tsuru]

Oh great... I am flying to Austria this week on KLM via Amsterdam.

Any tips?

Don't worry, it's not as bad as the US, it's just the attitude people get from the staff that makes me cringe at times. Just go by what Grumblebum said and as long as you're caucasian you'll be perfectly fine. ]http://www.fuckedgaijin.com/forums/images/vbimghost/2604623af2bcbe46.jpg[/img]

When I worked at Schiphol about 1 year after 9/11 we used to pull shit like that all the time, as well as switch passes around between people on the crew bus, just to piss those tossers off. No I'm not with Al-Qaeda. Let me get to fucking work and get a real job. The only authority these idiots have is to push the button that calls the actual cops, besides that most of them got turned down for any other decent job short of working the deep-fryer at Mickey-D's. Get out of my fucking way. It's fucking insane. Even pilots aren't allowed to bring their most basic tools like screwdrivers and Leatherman tools airside, things they need to perform their preflight walkaround checks on outstations. They are flying the goddamn plane you numpties.

I guess what I'm saying is that German cops and security staff are quite simply way better at what they do, and as an added bonus they don't have the attitude. They have enough authority yet are fastidious enough to earn my respect.

[kurohinge1]

. . .The worst I have been through is the US . . . . Man, US Customs & Immigration SUCKS.

Maybe they should be more worried about the people inside their country - NJR: Shootings at Virginia Tech Worst in US History

[emperor]

I got to get the Homeland security jazz outta the way in Shannon airport before the flight to JFK: I dont think Ireland is alone with that though.

We walked right by a long slowly moving queue of Brazilians and Caribbeans: it was sweeeet

[baka tono]

Im Canadian and have been through a lot of US airports, both transit and staying in the city, and never had a problem with US immigration. Canadian immigration officers however seem to be uniformly surly and like to give me the third degree when they should be more like French immigration.

At Narita my usual wait time in a line is less than five minutes because I have a re entry permit and tend to run.

[Mike Oxlong]

I always found flight crews from Canadian/Air Canada uniformly surly, but immigration down home and right friendly, even to my Japanese girlfriend who couldn't understand much of what they asked (she got stuck in the foreigners' queue).