BangkokNicky

3 hours ago, OJAS said:

 

So it looks like we're losing the 5,.5 hours of consular services on a Wednesday, which, by my reckoning, accounts for around 21% of the total weekly hours. Hardly conducive to shortening the waiting time for an appointment, I would have thought, quite the reverse, in fact.

 

I wonder what those who man the consular section on a Wednesday will be doing with their time instead that day?

Most likely interfering with local laws as there are two sets of rules these days one for expats and the other for Thais ...  it's amazing when expats have problems they don't wish to know or help as we have seen over the years on here  but if its human rights or whatever bs involving Thais they are like  flies  around shit with there manipulation and these people fail for it every time..  

8 minutes ago, evadgib said:

What would you have them do?

 

Am sure that will get outsourced like everything else these days ... 

By the way people the land was given to them ..  it's mentioned in this True Brits The British Embassy In Bangkok .. amazing nothing much has changed since this was aired back in 1993 it would seem they just push everything on to other people to sort out while they soak up the sun.. 

1 hour ago, Mattd said:

What were the previous opening times of the consular section?

If the hours are now indeed less, then it does make me wonder why, as there is usually quite a long waiting time to get an appointment on the online system, reducing the hours could make this worse?

For example, currently all times on the 12th March are available, after that the next available date is 23rd April, Songkran doesn't help mind!

The most likely need for consular services for most expats here is for some sort of notarial or document service.

It has to be said that this is not the only thing that they do though, I'm sure that there is a lot of work in the background that we do not see.

 

Personally I can see why they have sold the plot where the embassy sits now and will move to an office block, there is much less of a need in maintaining a big expensive embassy as a pure status symbol nowadays, a lot of the previous stuff handled is now either outsourced or online.

Consular Section: 
Mon-Thurs: 08:00-11:00 / 13:00-15:30
Fri: 08:00-12:00

Just seen this while back in the UK,  I wonder how this is going effect expat living abroad and what new fees are going to be on offer for expats  living abroad .. amazing but they need to find money for the  new blue & gold passport anyhow .. 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/news/passport-fees-to-increase-making-postal-applications-£1250-more-expensive-than-online/ar-BBJZXUO?li=AAmiR2Z&ocid=spartandhp

4 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

I would agree that most the services they provide don't require a visit to the Embassy, many of which are forced on them by Thai bureaucracy, income letters and the like, as they are already handled by email and post.

I'm not sure which services have been taken over by private companies though, visa applications are still handled by UKVI staff and will still do so when the processing is carried out, though VFS carry out the mail drop function.
To be honest I'm inclined to agree that they don't need to have a public desk and indeed a lavish Embassy which must cost a fortune to run. 

even looking at this do they really need all this staffing and this isn't even including local staffing a bit crazy if you ask me in all fairness .. 

http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/information/1694/25738-UNITED-KINGDOM.html

6 minutes ago, Happy enough said:

it's a bit of a shame but i don't really see the point in them keeping the land. i think a lot of embassies will eventually end up in office blocks. the Canadians are in Abdulrahim place and just have a desk on the ground floor and it works for them. So much is done online and by post and most of the land they had was gardens not even any use. Might as well just get rid of it. Don't see why they need such opulence in this day and age

Agree even look at the bottom of this http://www.aiasathorntower.com grade a offices for rent .. what's the point even offering a service when they offer little help or support what so ever .. its seems like a butlins all inclusive holiday for these  civil servants .. 

3 minutes ago, steve187 said:

why not save money and close the public access office altogether, and do everything by web or phone and have a click and collect office, or send by ems, nearly ever service they used to provide has been taken over by a private company anyway, what do the embassy staff do now.

Totally agree with you spot on .. Steve  

31 minutes ago, Surasak said:

Why do they bother to open at all, they don't do much for the British expats.

because corporate trading is more important these days and why should the tax payers be footing the bill for these embassies  when they offer little help or no support whatsoever in all fairness, it  should be the corporate establishments paying for the embassies overseas its them who are really benefiting and profiting from these embassies at the end of the day it's definitely not the expats who gain anything from this apart from stress ...  

36 hrs per week monthly salary £1,500 .. 

Lets dig in a little more .. 

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) answered the FOI request, saying that the annual budget for the Bangkok Embassy in the financial year 2014 to 2015 was a total of £2,082,146 (฿110,950,040) to cover all activities.  The total cost of running the actual consular mission in Bangkok during the financial year 2014 to 2015 was calculated by the FCO to be £1,564,076 (฿83,349,335).

That figure includes the total direct expenditure of the consular operation together with its costs for management and support.  Money was clawed back by the British consulate by way of fees charged for their services – a whopping total of £576,233.47 (฿30,707,380) during 2014-2015.  The FCO explain that UK government policy is that consular fees are determined so they cover the full cost of the British mission all over the world.

https://whatsonsukhumvit.com/this-is-how-much-the-bangkok-embassy-costs-the-uk

BRITISH Embassy staff have been ordered to leave their new £13 million luxury apartments in Bangkok after the complex became contaminated by huge amounts of harmful mould back in 2012 ..

http://www.thailand-construction.com/british-embassy-staff-bangkok-flats-mouldy/

British embassy  sold for £420m hmm and moved into a AIA Sathorn Tower which is ridiculous when you can only rent in that build in all fairness it's seems like they don't care about anybody apart from themselves in all honestly once they moved they are going to wasting  more money due to staffing and ambassador needing new living accommodation on top of all this.. it's so true this at the end of the day ..  "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help." even everybody has to there own paper worker what is simply wrong for what they are changing with fees these days ..  

2019 is too soon and cant see it happening.. even her speech has so many lies init while i type this now ..  when you look at the news in the past few months or when she was Home Secretary