A major new international airport opening in Bangkok, Thailand, later this month is to be equipped with ePassport readers supplied by Cross Match Technologies. The company announced that it is to deliver more than 200 of its Authenticator 200 passport readers to help heighten security at the new airport.

Thailand was the first Asian country to officially issue ICAO compliant e-passports to its citizens. Upon completion of this latest project, all immigration counters at the new airport will be equipped with the document reader devices, capable of reading the new style of ePassport.

Cross Match claims that its ePassport readers support Basic Access Control, as well as Active and Passive Authentication. To ensure the document readers would work effectively in the new airport, the Bangkok-based systems integrator in charge of the project, CDG Systems (CDG), and Cross Match Technologies’ local partner, Bio Engineering Company (BEC), conducted two trial runs with the devices.

The first trial run was conducted in July 2006 in the presence of the Prime Minister of Thailand, and the second was conducted in August 2006 at the Suvarnabhumi airport immigration counter. The official opening of the new Bangkok international airport will take place on 28 September 2006.

The reader software to be used at the immigration counters was developed by CDG, although BEC developed the software that runs on the readers located at the Thai immigration office. These readers are used to check passports more thoroughly in cases where the officers suspect the travel document may be forged.

Cross Match previously worked with BEC on a project to equip Chan Wanich Security Printing Company Ltd, the organization who prints the Thai e-passports, with 40 of its passport readers for quality assurance of the Thai e-passport.