soap

Thank you 

Can anyone please confirm .   

     If you fly from Bangkok to Yangon, spend one night in Yangon then fly back to Bangkok

will you need a E visa to enter Yangon

thanks

You could go to the childs school, and ask them for a simple letter stating

The child attends this school ( name of child) and the address on record is etc etc in English

Signed with the school stamp.This as been acceptable in the past

Congratulations. nancy

Im very glad the Chiangrai votes helped put you over the line.

One of my hobbies here in Thailand is mountain biking. My approach to riding is very similar to the way I live in Thailand. I ride a high end bike cobbled together over the years of riding from aftermarket parts chosen for the way I ride.

I ride the most beautiful trails I can find and I ride them as is. I embrace the obstacles and imperfections. Sure I try to ride the smoothest most fluid path but I do not curse the challenges which I encounter. I stop to take pictures and enjoy the beauty around me. I have no thoughts about changing or modifying the trail. If I dont like a particular trail I find another one which I find more enjoyable.

In Thailand I try to surround myself with beauty and spend my time with intelligent, successful, worldly friends, mainly Thai, who speak softly and with a measured tone. Life is short and I dont want to spend it complaining about things I cannot change. The weather is what it is, so I dress and build my house accordingly. The easiest thing to modify is me and my attitude, not the people or society around me.

Fancy having this RAMMED down your throat. for years

Thats the Chiangrai Thaivisa forum

Keep up the good work. The more you post the higher my numbers go.

Don't worry

We will try harder next year

One of my hobbies here in Thailand is mountain biking. My approach to riding is very similar to the way I live in Thailand. I ride a high end bike cobbled together over the years of riding from aftermarket parts chosen for the way I ride.

I ride the most beautiful trails I can find and I ride them as is. I embrace the obstacles and imperfections. Sure I try to ride the smoothest most fluid path but I do not curse the challenges which I encounter. I stop to take pictures and enjoy the beauty around me. I have no thoughts about changing or modifying the trail. If I dont like a particular trail I find another one which I find more enjoyable.

In Thailand I try to surround myself with beauty and spend my time with intelligent, successful, worldly friends, mainly Thai, who speak softly and with a measured tone. Life is short and I dont want to spend it complaining about things I cannot change. The weather is what it is, so I dress and build my house accordingly. The easiest thing to modify is me and my attitude, not the people or society around me.

Fancy having this RAMMED down your throat. for years

Thats the Chiangrai Thaivisa forum

I was just wondering, how many active members are there on Thaivisa Forum these days, anyone know?

There is less than a handfull active Chiangrai residents who post on the Chiangrai forum,

Most of gone elsewere.

I wonder why?

Does anyone know if a Krungthai bank visa debit card,would be acceptable as payment to the HMPO to renew a British passport

Thanks

What I would suggest to anyone in difficulty in meeting HMPO's address evidence requirement would be to write a snail mail letter of complaint to them about the lousy passport renewal procedures to which we are now subject, around a year before your passport is due for renewal. All being well, you should then receive a reply in the post in sufficient time to enable you to use it as the necessary evidence!

The HMPO sent my friends 13 years old daughter the standard proof of address letter with her address on that she had put on the passport forms,stating that they were not satisfied with her address.she returned the same form thinking this would be proof of address

But Four weeks went by before she received another standard proof of address letter but this time someone with an ounce of common sense hand wrote at the bottom of the letter to just go to her school and ask for a letter that says she goes to this school and her address on record is etc.So simple if they would have said in the first place that this school letter would suffice she would not hold the record of 18 weeks to renew a British passport.

Another friend as just applied to renew his passport,he and his wife own their house but is wife as given him a one year lease in English signed with her maiden name as proof of address.

So far they have not contacted him after 3 weeks so he will wait and see if this is acceptable

Just to complete the circle:

I was about to run off to the KBank this morning, then I thought better call and get someone who speaks good English than listen to myself speaking Thai

THEN an SMS came on my phone. It MAY have been 24 hours after application anyway there was about a day wait.

I had NOT received an email as it mentions in the information from KBank above.

I did my best to read the Thai message.

It didn't mention a KWeb shopping card it just said Km alert spending for card x-1234 (last four numbers though I didn't realise it at this stage) is "riabroy laew" (all set to go).

I went to the cyber site and logged in with my new username and altered password. No prob....the site works fast and well.

I clicked on Kweb shopping card and discovered I had a card number and it was ACTIVE.

I double checked against the physical card issued already to ensure it was NOT the same 16 digit number. It was not.

It sure looks like i have a Shopping Card (virtual) ready to go.

I still have not received any emails as told.

Sure hope my little story helps make the next guy's application less confusing.

Thanks for all help, I shall complete my passport application henceforth!

Well done Cheeryble

It could have been worse

You could have been building a house as well Ha ha

Next visit

Consular Outreach in Chiang Mai on 20 May 2015

The Consular Section of the Australian Embassy in Bangkok has planned a consular outreach visit to Chiang Mai on Wednesday 20 May 2015 from 8.30am to 12.00pm and 1.00pm to 3.00pm.

http://www.thailand..../bkok/home.html

The British embassy apologizes that they cant offer the same service to their citizens in Chiangmai and Phuket,

But they are too busy organizing garden parties,and opening the thank you presents from the VFS at Trendy

Secure? The only security is to have the passport in the holders possession at all time. I was a soldier for 22 years and know quite a bit about security. Get real. It was a punishable offence to hand over a MOD Form 90 (ID Card ) to any unauthorised person or organisation.

At the risk of being wrongly accused once again of being an advocate for HMPO efficiency... what do you guys want? You want to send the application online from your home?.. but some of you admit to being challenged with online applications never mind that they have decided that Thailand doesn't qualify for that service for security reasons. Then you want to post it from your home and wait for it to be posted back to your home? Where's the security in that? Your MoD regulation, if applied to the UK passport, would mean you would have to go to Bangkok or HMPO in person to renew... but some are physically challenged and can't do that, no?

Last year was a fiasco, no denying it. However, they have made changes to accommodate remote or invalided applicants as well as entertaining Thailand's laws that a foreigner must be in possession of a passport at all times while in the country. Thailand presents security, legal and other issues that they have tried to address and right now it appears that most applicants are getting good service. Despite a shaky start from VFS at Trendy, things have vastly improved. As late as October last year, I was still planning to do all 3 passports back in the UK. However, things improved and right now, typical turnaround is less than 3 weeks.

Roflmao

BUMP

As the British summer holiday season is fast approaching,anyone whose passport needs to be renewed this year might want to take note of the many posts on this thread that encountered many problems renewing their passport after the chaos of last summer.

GET A MOVE ON

Posted 2014-03-26 08:51:28

LETTER TO BRITISH COMMUNITY

CHANGES TO BRITISH PASSPORT SERVICES IN THAILAND

Her Majestys Passport Office is making important changes to the way it delivers British passports overseas. The goal is to ensure that all British nationals living overseas receive a consistent, trusted, secure and efficient service whilst keeping the costs as low as possible. In order to do that, on 10 December 2013, responsibility for handling passport applications in Thailand passed from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to Her Majestys Passport Office.

Following on from this, from 26 March 2014, British nationals in Thailand will submit passport applications, in person by appointment only, to the UK Visa Application Centre. All the information needed to complete the passport application process, including address and contact details for the UK Visa Application Centre, will be available on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports

I know that this change will seem inconvenient, but the new measures being put in place support the wider public protection, helping to ensure that the risks of fraud and identity theft are minimised for those living and working overseas.

If you need to travel urgently but your passport is not available, you should still contact the nearest Consular Assistance team at the British Embassy Bangkok <deleted> In certain circumstances Consular staff may be able to issue an Emergency Travel Document but this is not a substitute for a full UK passport. So the best course of action is to apply as early as possible, and to make sure that you follow the new guidelines.

Please note that our Consular staff will not be able to take calls about individual passport applications and they cannot countersign passport applications. If you cannot find the information needed on GOV.UK you should contact the Passport Adviceline on +<deleted> (operates from 8am-8pm UK time) or e-mail: <deleted>

who is keeping what to them selves? Take a minute to look at say this web site to learn more .. http://www.lyngsat.com/asia.html

I've looked at the web site but haven't learned more. Another clue please

Go to Lyngsat----Asiasat 7@ 105.5----tune a Cband dish to this satellite---input the Asiasat transponders for the channels --Aljazeera,Russia today, CNA, DW,NHK,VOA,--- all news channels in English,all FTA on any FTA set top box-- plus there is a excellent movie channel Lotus from Macau also in English most movies

Hi there

I'm just preparing for a passport renewal.

I suffer panic attacks when travelling especially places like Bangkok.

I'm told there is a provision for a nominee to apply in place of a person who cannot show up him or herself for any reason. Correct?

Question and thoughts:

1. Does any previous arrangement have to be made with Trendy for me not going myself.....would it just be informing them when arranging an appointment by email?

2. My wife may go. She would want to be pretty sure her delivering the forms would be acceptable.

3. I could dig up a couple of hospital letters from some years ago describing my condition but without any reference to now or Bangkok. May do?'

Thanks

If you cant attend due to health reasons etc,you can nominate someone to go in your place.

All you need to do is email Trendy giving 3 suitable appointment dates,they will return the email giving you a date and time,print this email with the date and time and keep it with your passport documents to show The security at Trendy.

As far as i know there is no need to inform Trendy when making your appointment,just print out a short letter informing them that you are unable to attend due to health reasons etc and give them the name ID or passport number of the person you wish to go in your place,and keep this letter with your passport documents.

The turnaround times at the moment are under a month so dont leave it to the start of the passport high season as if its anything like last summer chaos could reign again

Thanks Digi

I think the HMPO should have a duty to give a better service than the service i have encountered over the past four years

After all i think i read that the HMPO profit for the year 2013 was over a 100 million or so pounds,so god knows what the profit will be for last year after the deluge of applicants and chaos they caused during the English summer.

We are paying for a first class service and the HMPO just arn't up to the job.Four years ago i applied for my passport while i was in Liverpool,i was entitled to 10 years 8 months so i sent the documents off by first class post after getting them checked by the local post office,the passport came back within 2 weeks but did not credit the extra 8 months i was entitled too,i went to HMPO in Old hall st to point out their mistake,well you had a better chance of breaking into fort knox there was xray machines,security all over the place,they did not want me to come in without an appointment,in the end common sense ( ha ha) prevailed and i was able to speak to someone pointing out their mistake,they took my passport and issued a new one giving me the correct credit.

Then we have the choas of last summer when i helped my friends 13 year old daughter apply for her passport.

18 weeks it took from start to finnish,14 weeks for the passport to be issued then 4 weeks gathering dust at the Trendy office before they bothered to phone the mother,who then had to get the overnight bus to collect the passport from Trendy,this was after paying before the changes in March 125 pound for a 5 year child passport on the understanding it would be returned to their home by DHL.The only issue for the delay was proof of address because they kept asking for a 13 year old tax records,ID card work permit etc to be translated, instead when common sense finally prevailed they accepted a simple letter from her school stating that. She attends this school and her address at the school is.

Then this latest episode,after taking note of Digitalchromakey excellent advice and info,i made sure i would not make any mistake with my sons passport,needless to say after 10 days i received a blunt email saying we owed 3 pound 15 pence and the credit card could not be accepted without any explanation why,then after 4 phone calls to the help ( yourself ) line that cost 500 ฿

I received a email saying how sorry they were over their mistake and the passport had now been issued and i could collect it at Tredy but checking my friends credit card statement,the fee as so far not been deducted.

The mind boggles

Can anyone tell me the exact amount taken from a Thai credit card for payment of a standard adult passport by. The HMPO.

My friend let me use her K-bank platinum visa card as payment for the 106 pound 1 pence fee as required from the HMPO on their website.

The documents went to Trendy on the 7 th january, then 2 weeks later i received a email from the HMPO Liverpool saying we owed then another 3 pound 15 pence and the credit card could not be accepted giving no explanation why.I phoned the HMPO help line 3 or 4 times asking them for advice on how to sort the mistake out.

Then on the 24 th January i received another email from HMPO Liverpool saying they were very sorry,and the mistake was their fault and the payment as been made and the passport had now been issued.

The following week the Trendy rang me to tell me the passport was ready for collection.But i am now looking at my friend credit card statement of account for the period 4 th January to the 5 th February and there is no mention of the payment being made .

I would appreciate knowing the amount near enough as i want to repay my friend and give her a box of sweets as a thankyou,my son now as his passport

You can use the Visa exchange rate calculator for historic exchange rates. You'll also need to know the % charge made by the bank on top of that.

http://usa.visa.com/personal/card-benefits/travel/exchange-rate-calculator.jsp

Thanks AyG

I calculated from your link that 106 pound= 5,340฿ not sure what the kbank will charge for the transaction,so i wil give my friend 6000฿ that should cover a thankyou for letting us use her card,we will wait and see if the transaction shows up on her card

If it's any use to you I made a GBP payment in the UK on 26 Jan on my own Kbank visa credit card and the rate they used on that day was 49.00204. No other charges.

Thanks upnotover

I cant understand why it as not shown up in my friends statement of account for the period

4th January to the 5 th February,i would think its the same K bank visa card that you used,but so far nothing as been deducted from the account

Can anyone tell me the exact amount taken from a Thai credit card for payment of a standard adult passport by. The HMPO.

My friend let me use her K-bank platinum visa card as payment for the 106 pound 1 pence fee as required from the HMPO on their website.

The documents went to Trendy on the 7 th january, then 2 weeks later i received a email from the HMPO Liverpool saying we owed then another 3 pound 15 pence and the credit card could not be accepted giving no explanation why.I phoned the HMPO help line 3 or 4 times asking them for advice on how to sort the mistake out.

Then on the 24 th January i received another email from HMPO Liverpool saying they were very sorry,and the mistake was their fault and the payment as been made and the passport had now been issued.

The following week the Trendy rang me to tell me the passport was ready for collection.But i am now looking at my friend credit card statement of account for the period 4 th January to the 5 th February and there is no mention of the payment being made .

I would appreciate knowing the amount near enough as i want to repay my friend and give her a box of sweets as a thankyou,my son now as his passport

You can use the Visa exchange rate calculator for historic exchange rates. You'll also need to know the % charge made by the bank on top of that.

http://usa.visa.com/personal/card-benefits/travel/exchange-rate-calculator.jsp

Thanks AyG

I calculated from your link that 106 pound= 5,340฿ not sure what the kbank will charge for the transaction,so i wil give my friend 6000฿ that should cover a thankyou for letting us use her card,we will wait and see if the transaction shows up on her card

Can anyone tell me the exact amount taken from a Thai credit card for payment of a standard adult passport by. The HMPO.

My friend let me use her K-bank platinum visa card as payment for the 106 pound 1 pence fee as required from the HMPO on their website.

The documents went to Trendy on the 7 th january, then 2 weeks later i received a email from the HMPO Liverpool saying we owed then another 3 pound 15 pence and the credit card could not be accepted giving no explanation why.I phoned the HMPO help line 3 or 4 times asking them for advice on how to sort the mistake out.

Then on the 24 th January i received another email from HMPO Liverpool saying they were very sorry,and the mistake was their fault and the payment as been made and the passport had now been issued.

The following week the Trendy rang me to tell me the passport was ready for collection.But i am now looking at my friend credit card statement of account for the period 4 th January to the 5 th February and there is no mention of the payment being made .

I would appreciate knowing the amount near enough as i want to repay my friend and give her a box of sweets as a thankyou,my son now as his passport

Thought I'd report my passport renewal experience.

Applied for appointment 27/12/14

I got reply 29/12/14, appointment made for 7/1/15

Submitted application in about 5 mins at Trendy on the day so all very quick.

Got a call on 23/1/15 to say passport was ready for collection.

Was in office for about 2 minutes when I collected the passport today.

All very quick and much easier than anticipated.

My attempt to renew my 16 year old sons passport this week did not have as smooth a path as yours journey

I gave the Trendy one months notice for a afternoon appointment on the 7 th January,they sent me a 9-40 am appointment on the 7 January 2014.

After taking a great interest over the past 8 months in this thread and reading how common sense by the HMPO had gone out the window i vowed that i would not subject me or my son to endure a 2000 kilometre journey to submit the passport documents knowing that you could be in and out of the Trendy office in 5 minutes,i knew my daughter would be in Bangkok from the 6 th for a couple of days after returning for holidays from her university in China,so we sent the documents down to my daughter to deposit at the Trendy office,in and out in 5 minutes.( so you can nominate someone to go in your place )

I tracked the documents and in a couple of days they were at the HMPO Liverpool ( so far so good )

Then i received a email dated 19 January from a C Cain of the Liverpool HMPO that was short and sweet and very much to the point saying that we owed them another 3 pound 15 pence and the credit card was unacceptable.Then i had visions of my friends daughters 18 week wait for her passport.they did not explain why i owed the 3 pound 15 pence or why the credit card was unacceptable so i sent a email asking them to explain what the problem was,after 4 days without reply i used my C.A.T phone card to phone their

Help ( yourself) line my phone card that i had used to ring the UK for years @ about 2 ฿ per minute was blocked,so i used the AIS premiun number and after about 5 minutes being put on hold i spoke to a lady who started to go through the rigmorole of asking for information,after asking for my D.O.B she told me she had to speak to the applicant who had gone to the gym and i told her to forget about it.

The next time i rang with my son there i ran out of credit on my mobile 200฿ and then had to ring up again and start all over.All told it must have cost about a tenner just to try and get an explanation of why i owed the money and why the credit card a was unacceptable. ( BTW the credit card was a friends kbank platinum visa credit card.)

To cut a long story short i received this email a couple of hours ago

Thank you for your previous email.

Apologies for the letter issued by C.Cain requesting an additional fee. We have been in contact with the local service office where the application was submitted and they have confirmed that the payment was accepted at their office however it has not shown on our system.

Your application has now been processed and the passport was issued on 23/01/2015. Once the application has been received at the Thailand Office they will contact you directly to arrange either delivery or collection.

Apologies for any confusion.

Kind Regards,

Rebecca.

HM Passport Office

Liverpool International Team 5.

We called on Wednesday night and my son was present. They simply asked whether he had a middle name and checked his date of birth. They said our inquiries would be sent to the appropriate office which would get Back by email within 3 working days. I had the feeling that because of the long time since expiry of his old passport they are only prepared to give 5 years this time. But I thought it best to check.

They did not get back to me so I called again. I was told that they would re-address my inquiry to management to expedite a response within 24 to 48 hours. Still waiting 7 days later.

Sorry to hear that you have no resolution yet.

More confirmation that the UK HMPO help line (run by a private agency - Teleperformance) is still near to useless for anything other than the most basic of information that one can generally also find through the internet/google.

I agree with you Digi

I tried to contact 300 222 0000 yesterday thats the number given on their website but gave up after the 6 th attempt,i wanted to speak to them over my sons renewal.

I decided i had a better chance of talking to Lord Lucan and im now wandering as i was using my

C.A.T phone card if they were blocking the cheap rate i was getting from the card.