TerraplaneGuy

OP Update: After getting numerous opinions that transferring at Chaeng Wattana is impossible if you got your stamps at a different office (including from lawyers and agents) and that Suvarnabhumi doesn't do it, I bit the bullet and flew to Koh Samui for the transfer. Arrived before it opened, had everything ready, officer told me it would take 7 days! This despite that there were very few people at the office (it's low season now) and plenty of staff. I told him I had flown down specifically for this, had to return to Bangkok the next day for urgent stuff, etc. etc. He said no. Said I should have done it at Chaeng Wattana!! I told him it's not possible, he said it is, they just have to call Samui office, etc. I begged relentlessly and finally he agreed to do it for pickup the next day. "You're going to make us work until midnight!" he said. But at least the ending was happy, this morning I showed up to pick it up and got it with the correct stamp transfers. As others have said, this kind of thing is idiotic. Visa and entry stamps are a NATIONAL matter, as is everything with Immigration. You are not getting a visa to Surat Thani province, you are getting a visa to the Kingdom of Thailand. Any office (especially the central office at the capital) should be able to transfer these stamps, it's not a question of issuing new ones, just moving the darn things from one passport to another. But instead they forced me to pay for a flight and hotel in Samui. Well, I guess I did my part to boost the tourist industry lol.

Do you recall whether you got it done same day or had to come back the following week for pickup?

I'm not doing an extension, I'm transferring stamps to a new passport and my challenge is I want to do it at CW but my last stamps were done in Koh Samui. Hence thinking of an agent.

Is @thaivisacentre a reliable agency?

Thanks. You're right, my last TM30 says Samui. But you raise an interesting point. Some people here have said it is impossible to get stamps transferred at Suvarnabhumi. Yet I know I've seen posts on older threads by people saying they have done it at the airport. Did you end up transferring stamps there? Because one option I was thinking of was simply to take a quick trip to Malaysia or wherever and get my extension of stay and re-entry stamps transferred to my new passport at Suvarnabhumi.

Chaeng Wattana - BKK. I'm trying to get my stamps transferred to my new passport there. The issue is that I only recently moved back to BKK so my last extension stamp was done in Koh Samui and people say CW is reluctant to do this seemingly straightforward procedure in such cases, instead sends you back to the office you got your last stamp at. I don't want to have to go to Samui for this. I'm thinking an agent could possibly get it done at CW.

Thanks - do you mind passing on the name of the agency? You can pm me.

At what office?

Has anyone done this recently? I'm on a retirement extension of stay (based on a non-OA visa) and need the stamps, including multiple re-entry permit, transferred to my new passport. A few questions: 1. Is it a same-day, walk-in procedure, or do you have to leave your passport and pick it up another day/week? 2. Any special form to fill out? 3. Apart from old and new passports, any other documents needed? I hear that at Chaeng Wattana (Bangkok) they now require you to update and copy your bank book for this purpose.

Good point and although I'm not qualified in Thai law I think the answer is that using an agent is not in itself illegal but bribing an official is. So if the applicant has any knowledge that the agent intends to pay an Imm official to "grease the wheels" that would likely be illegal (not to say chances of prosecution are high). Clearly this is much more likely in the illegitimate situations because that's where grease is really needed. In the legitimate situations I'd think there is little to no risk, as you indicate.

Do you mean that you gave your passport to an agent and he brought it back with an incorrect visa? If so was it really necessary to get a new passport? Why not just have the incorrect visa cancelled and get the correct one? I think I might be missing something here.

I think I made my question quite clear and again, it is NOT about avoiding financial (or any other) compliance with legal requirements. Please read my post again. In a nutshell: is there any downside to using an agent for legitimate Imm. procedures?

Starting a separate thread for this here. FIRST let me be clear: I am NOT talking about using an agent to obtain visas/extensions/permissions (or anything else) in violation of the law, such as where the applicant lacks the proper qualifications. I AM talking about using an agent to go and facilitate processing of a legitimate transaction in circumstances where it is inconvenient or impossible for the applicant to do it him/herself. For example, a qualified applicant needs something but due to work/family/illness/travel or other obstacles is unable to make the time to organize the application and/or be physically present. Some people seem to think using an agent is risky. But they may be thinking of the first case (illegitimate transactions). How about in the second case (legitimate transactions) - is there really any downside other than the agent's fee? One risk I can imagine is that if the agent is dishonest you could end up losing your passport or other docs, etc. So clearly some research would be needed. Anything else? Personally I've never used one, been here a long time and I prefer to do all this stuff myself. But there may be a situation coming up where it's very inconvenient for me so ...

Just wondering, since I've never used one before: what's the risk of using agents? I know people who have always used them for their extensions with no problem, and obviously an awful lot of people do use them. Given how openly they operate, both outside and inside the Immigration offices, they seem to be accepted as part of the system (despite the fact we know that often rules are being "bent" to say the least). What is the downside? (Especially if, as in my case, I wouldn't be asking them to do anything illegal).

I didn't know they keep track of people that closely but it's worth bearing in mind. My concern with Samui is partly the slog but also I'm not as confident as you they will do this on a same-day basis. Things that are same-day at CW (eg extension of stay) take a week at Samui, you've got to leave your passport and return a week later. Not so sure it will be different for a stamp transfer although it should be, since it's in theory a much simpler process.