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After 9 annual extensions from my original Non-Immigrant OA Visa I have decided to switch to a Non-Immigrant O Visa. Just wanted to check my understanding is correct. The ฿800,000 is already seasoned. Leave Thailand without a re-entry permit so my Non-Immigrant O-A is cancelled. With my U.K. passport re-enter Thailand visa exempt and get stamped in for 60 days. Over the next few days after re-entry into Thailand go to Immigration (Hua Hin) main office and apply for a Non-Immigrant O Visa valid for 90 days. Fee ฿2,000. 30 to 45 Days before expiration of that Visa go to Immigration (Hua Hin) main office and apply for my annual extension Fee ฿1,900. The thing I am not sure about is 3. above, and whether I can go to Immigration and apply for a Non-Immigrant O Visa almost immediately after entering Thailand on 60 days Visa exempt or I have to wait until later during my 60 day Visa exempt period? I know I can apply for my Non-Immigrant O Visa much later during my 60 day Visa exempt period but for various reasons want to apply as soon after re-entering Thailand as possible. Does the annual extension start from the date I visit the Immigration office and apply for my annual extension or from the day after my Non-Immigrant O Visa 90 days expires? Thanks in advance for your help.

The letter they email confirming your appointment states “a full colour photocopy of the entire passport (including blank pages)”. I also did my Thai Driving Licence photocopy in colour too.

Recently collected my new British passport (renewal) from the VFS HMPO office in Chiang Mai. The overall service was excellent. It took 2 weeks and 2 days from my first appointment until my new passport arrived at their office. I received an email advising my passport had arrived followed by a phone call a few minutes later. One thing to note is despite still stating on their web site passport application appointments are on Tuesday and Thursday / 08:30 - 14:00, after my initial email requesting my appointment, I was told they only offer appointments between 13:00 and 14:30 hours. I don’t know if it is still Tuesday and Thursday only as they didn’t say. Not a problem but something to be aware of. Perhaps they change the days and times based on the volume of applications they receive. The following link takes you through the process of overseas British passport applications and contains a link to the application form, other documents you need to complete and prices etc: https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports The email address to book an appointment is: [email protected] Provide them with your full name, Date of Birth, contact phone number and your preferred date and time for your appointment. They responded promptly by email with the appointment date and time and what I needed to complete/bring and information about the appointment. At the appointment I had to provide: 1. A completed application form 2. A completed payment form 3. 2 new and identical colour photos* * there are detailed notes on what is required in the “HMPO Overseas Guidance Booklet Applying Outside the U.K.” This includes size of the photos etc. and the size (a range) from the top of your head to your chin. The person sat next to me had their photos rejected as they did not meet these requirements. The staff sent them off to Maya to get their photos re-done. 4. Proof of address - I used my Thai Driving Licence (the address on the back is in both Thai and English). You have to provide a colour photocopy of all documents provided. 5. Current British passport and a full photocopy of the entire passport (including blank pages). I included both front and back covers too* * after applying for your new passport you will not be able to travel on it but you are able to keep it for identity purposes. The office is located opposite Maya at: No.191 Siripanich Building 6B Floor Huay Kaew Road Suthep Chiang Mai 50200 On both occasions I took a Grab car and on all 4 rides the GPS navigated them 30 metres down the road past the actual office. No idea why. On entering the building go through the doors on the left and take the lift to floor 6. I arrived 10 mins before my appointment and understandably the office was closed for lunch. The office opened promptly at 13:00 hours and I went to the first of two passport application desks. 25 mins later the appointment was completed. To pick up your passport you need to go between 14:00 and 16:00 hours Monday to Friday. Just need to take your current passport and the receipt they issued at your first appointment. They cut off the corner of your old passport and hand over your new passport. It took no more than 5 minutes. All in all a first class service!

Thanks for your feedback. I bank with SCB and they don’t appear to give the option to choose Thai or English when requesting a downloaded statement. My statement has my address in Thai. The address was loaded on to the SCB system by their staff when opening the account. However, I have just updated my address (identical address) using the app and downloaded another statement and the address is now shown in English! So I think I am good to go. Hopefully VFS Chiang Mai will accept this bank statement and not point me to the list saying it isn’t included.

Thanks for your feedback. Struggling a bit with “Name and address and/or residency” docs as the only docs I have with my address on are bank statements and Thai driving licence and these are both in Thai and neither are on the list of accepted documents. I seem to remember someone saying on here in the past they used a bank statement as proof of address but it is not listed below. The HM Passport Office Guidance Notes state: Please provide one of the following: • visa or resident permit (or colour photocopy) • tax record (for example, a letter from a tax authority) • educational record (for example, a school report) • employment record (for example, an official letter from your employer) • letter sent to you from a central, regional or local government department • medical/health card • voter’s card • immigration documents. So, my options would seem to be - visa or resident permit (or colour photocopy) - immigration documents. But I have no idea what these documents are - my original visa is from 2014. And none of my current immigration documents have my address on it apart from my TM30 where it is handwritten by Immigration in Thai back in 2015. Even if I got the Certificate of Residence it will be in Thai so would need to translated and must be signed and stamped by a translator who is a member of a recognised professional organisation to prove it is genuine. The only source of official help VFS have given me is the U.K. Passport office and a U.K. telephone number. Are they really going to know what Thai Immigration documents are required? A bit puzzled.

Looking to renew my U.K. Passport (at) VFS Global, Chiang Mai. As a straightforward renewal I understand I need to take my original passport, completed passport application form, 2 x photos (no counter signing required), bank card to pay the fee. I will use a U.K. bank card. A few questions hopefully someone with recent experience can answer: 1. How far in advance can you book your appointment with VFS Chiang Mai? 2. When emailing HMPO.CM(at)vfshelpline.com how many dates/times do you need to provide. The web site information seems to imply you only need provide one date/time but I have read others saying you have to provide three dates and times. I understand Tuesday and Thursday only between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. but not between mid-day and 1:00 p.m. 3. Which pages of your current passport do you need copies of e.g. passport photo page, current annual extension, TM30, latest 90 Day report? 4. On receipt of new passport I appreciate I must go to the Immigration office to get my stamps transferred. After this do I need to submit a new TM30 updating my passport number? As a condo owner I have access to the TM30 system. 5. Does the next 90 Day Report following receipt of my new passport need to be done in person? I do my 90 Day Reports using the on-line system. Thanks in advance for any feedback that will help me through the process.

As of two week’s ago, Bangkok Hospital, Chiang Mai were offering Pfizer Comirnaty - ฿2,500 including vaccine, doctor’s fee and hospital fee.

I completely misunderstood the question. Sorry for my inappropriate response. I would have deleted it if I could but there is no option.

That sounds very difficult to prove Sheryl. Appreciate not want you want to hear but maybe the best route is for your mother to obtain a Non-Immigrant O in the U.K. and apply for an extension of stay based on retirement within Thailand. This would at least avoid the need for compulsory health insurance if she went down the Non-Immigrant O-A route. It does require ฿800,000 in the bank or the ฿65,000 monthly income method (or the help of an agent to get round this requirement). But sounds more feasible than trying to meet the list of eligibility factors of the U.K. Adult Dependent Relative Visa which appear almost impossible for an applicant to qualify.

Anyone know how to get hold of bahtSOLD other than through support(at)bahtsold.com or via the bahtSOLD Contact Support option on the bahtSOLD member portal? I have placed a property ad with them which worked well and subsequently paid for an ad upgrade. The payment has been taken via a mobile banking payment by their payment partner OMISE CO., LTD but the ad has not been upgraded by bahtSOLD. The payment has been showing as “Pending” on bahtSOLD’s payment system for several days even though the money came out of my bank account instantly at the time of payment. Despite being told a Customer Service Representative will be in touch within 24 hours and chasing them several times since they are just ignoring me. I have spoken to SCB Bank and they said as the payment was made by mobile banking and not by debit/credit card payment there is nothing they can do.

Well it certainly wasn’t unpleasant! I have already renewed my Thai 5 year car driving licence twice at this office and it was “pleasant” on both occasions. And actually I will be back in 2 years time to renew my temporary motorcycle licence and not 5 years. I was trying to be helpful by sharing my personal experience at my local Transport Office.

I went to the Pranburi Transport Office last Monday at 1:00 p.m. with the following documents: 1. Original passport 2. Original U.K. Driving license 3. Certificate of Residence from Immigration 4. Medical Certificate 5. Copy of passport photo page 6. Copy of current extension of stay 7. Copy of last entry stamp 8. Motorcycle licence application form There is no need to bring passport photos as they take your photo at the end of the visit. Go up to the 2nd floor and as you enter the door there is a member of staff at the desk to help you and give you the correct queue number. Queue numbers are displayed on a screen showing which desk to go to when you are called. Documents all checked in 5 minutes and I was given a queue for the following morning at 8:30 a.m. I arrived at 8:15 a.m. (office opens at 8:00 a.m.) and was No 7 in the queue. By 08:30 a.m. my group did the driving skill ability tests: A. Traffic lights - press “start” button on hand control pad and then press “red”, “amber”, “green” as the traffic light changed. There were 9 of these changes. B. Brake test - press the accelerator pedal and the light goes “green”, once it goes “red”, press the brake pedal before the light on the machine reaches the red zone. I did this two times but most people seemed to have to do it three times. C. Depth perception test - using a hand control pad move a small vertical bar towards another small vertical bar and stop when they are aligned. Only had to do this once. D. Peripheral vision - call out “left” or “right” when a light appears. All in all the tests were pretty straightforward and everyone appeared to pass. As my licence was treated as a “new” licence I had to go and watch a video for 30 mins or so on road crashes and road safety. This was a little surprising as I had already watched an hour long training video on-line and printed off the QR Code showing my training was completed. I had done this previously when renewing my 5 year Thai car driving licence. At least the video I watched st the office was a different video. I was advised in future I can renew my motorcycle licence and get my queue appointment on-line and watch the training video at home on-line and print off or show my QR code on my phone on the day of my renewal at the Transport Office. I left the Transport Office soon after 10:00 a.m. with my new 2 year temporary Thai motorcycle licence. All in all a very easy and pleasant experience. Well done to the Pranburi Transport Office who were very friendly and helpful.

Fantastic! Thank you so much for your detailed response. Not left yet so will go through your suggestions. Really appreciate you sharing your experience. Thank you.

Anyone have experience of this and what you did to get new licence plates? I am aware there is the option to paint over the letters and numbers but have been advised this is actually illegal. Do you have to go to a Department of Land Transport (DLT) Office in the Province the car is registered in to get replacement licence plates? I understand I need to take the car’s blue book and my passport. Anything else? What is the timescale and cost for replacement licence plates? Do the DLT offer a service for fitting the new licence plates or will the car testing centres used for annual inspections do this? Thanks for any experiences you can share with me.

Thanks to everyone for your responses. There is some really excellent suggestions/feedback which will make our trip planning and journey that much easier. Really appreciate everyone’s input. Thank you!

I have been regularly flying that route with Air Asia and it is fantastic! Can highly recommend. If only going for a week or so I fly and hire a car but this time will be there 4 to 6 weeks so hiring a car becomes an expensive option. Also no fixed travel dates so booking flights at short notice is expensive too. With our own car we can just decide to head off when we want. The road between Bangkok and Hua Hin is much better than it used to be. We drove from Pak Nam Pran to Bangkok and back last November and it took just over 3 hours each way. I remember when it regularly took up to 5 hours.

Fantastic thank you!

Great ideas thank you.

Because I need my car in Hua Hin.

Looking to drive from Chiang Mai to Hua Hin. Hoping to avoid central Bangkok by going west of Bangkok. Any suggestions on the route and a place to stop overnight, about half way down, would be appreciated. Thank you.

https://wedo-air.com/product/sqair-air-purifier/ They do sell carbon filters which can be installed alongside the HEPA filter. The carbon filter acts as the pre-filter. It filtrates larger particles and eliminates odours from the air before reaching the filter. Carbon has the ability to absorb almost any type of gas and molecules. Not everybody requires the pre-filter and only want the HEPA filter but the option exists for those who want it.

I just bought the Smart Air - The Sqair Air Purifier direct from wedo-air.com. Only just been delivered and unpacking it today. More than 10,000 sold in Thailand. Some great info in the attached link: https://wedo-air.com/product/sqair-air-purifier/ This unit is suitable up to 40 sqm but they do others for bigger rooms.

I totally agree about voting on-line and raised this with my Electoral Services office. This was after the election on 8 June 2017 when the ballot papers were sent to me in Thailand on 22 May 2017 - 17 days before the election. The form didn’t arrive until 2 June 2017 meaning that even with posting it back the same day there were only 6 days until the election. I doubt it would have arrived by election day. My Electoral Services office told me the election system is designed by central government and passed to local Returning Officers. The need to reform the process has been lodged by the Association of Electoral Administrators and the Electoral Commission on a number of occasions. New policy and subsequent implementation are required to deliver on-line voting. It seems clear there is no interest from the government in creating new policy to achieve this.