rwilem

3 hours ago, daejung said:

On the way back, I noticed new BTS or MRT stations on the way back to BTS Wat Phra Sri Mahathat

 

Is the Pink Line going to Government  Complex with interchange at BTS Wat Phra Sri Mahathat open now ?

Yes, it opened sometime last November, I think. At least from December it was in regular service.

This thread has some informative responses about this dilemma. It started a few years back but has some relatively recent comments.

3 hours ago, impulse said:

I have issues on the other side, where Samsung won't update my Thai bought phone because it's not a model that was made for the country where I reside. Beyond A05s, there's a part number that's different for each market.

Yes, it seems beyond the model name, there are 'model-offshoot identifiers' (letters, numbers) that ID a particular phone model. Some of the specs vary from the offshoots by the regions and countries the phone is marketed for. As you describe it must be a factor in how updates are managed as well.

Perhaps not a fix for Samsung phones, I don't know, but I read about owners of a Xiaomi phone model (Mi 10T lite) receiving updates after getting into the settings and changing 'phone region', or something to that effect. (Not location.)

1 hour ago, noodleslayer said:

s24 ultra so yes it's in TH. I gave them the model number in the email and they told me that the model number is not on the NTBC list.... so I would need a license or something like this.... lol

Well, that phone is available in the market here. I imagine it's a European-specific offshoot of that model, with some different frequency bands. That's the only thing I can think of that makes it non-certified for here. But who knows?

I think I'll drop the thought of buying a phone from Amazon. Too much risk of having a hassle.  A earlier post suggested getting in touch with Amazon and have them compel UPS to get the phone  shipped back. If that would work, maybe that's the easiest out in this case. Good luck.

On 2/14/2024 at 2:38 AM, noodleslayer said:

I've ordered stuff from Amazon with no issues from Customs because Amazon always took care of the customs issues. I ordered a new phone from Amazon and I got this email from UPS

Just wondering, I would assume the phone you ordered here is a model not marketed or available for purchase in Thailand? 

Been looking myself--just yesterday even--at some Moto phones on Amazon that are not sold here. The listings show an 'import duties  deposit' in addition to the product price. That implies there should be no problem buying the phone and having it shipped, that everything will be OK. But not so it seems. Kind of a drag, for sure, with a phone stuck in 'customs limbo'. If you don't mind my asking, which Samsung model did you order from Amazon?

On 2/7/2024 at 7:41 AM, bamnutsak said:

 

I suspect that the approval system at CW may now be automated - my filing and approval occurred outside of normal office hours - at least for those with new/current matching TM30's recently filed.

Certainly not automated in my case. Submitted to CW last Monday afternoon, waited it out and it was approved today, this Monday afternoon. Noted that approval time was just two minutes shy of matching the submitted time from a week ago. Seven days. Just seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.

2 hours ago, Felton Jarvis said:

Does anyone know what the timeframe would be for transferring information from the old passport to the new one?

It can be done at the time of your next extension. You can also go in and have it done before then, either are OK.

6 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

 

thank you. this is the kind of information I needed. i appreciate your help very much and this renewal thing seems tedious to me, so this is why i just gave up a long time ago. having another valid passport made me kind of lazy to renew it... but i know that if ever i want to start a business here under the "amity" agreement I will need my american passport and i will also need to reenter thailand as an american. one thing i can say is that when i first got my passport it was at the canadian consulate/embassy in montreal, so i definitely have to look into whether i can do it outside of the US of A. thanks rwilem... you just gave me the kick in the proverbial arse i needed... cheers dude

Looks like you're in luck, the info is above, you can apply at the embassy. In person. That old passport is gonna come in handy!

43 minutes ago, thailand49 said:

On 2/3/2024 at 9:52 PM, rwilem said:

I think what you are asking will the new passport and date of issue be closed to the old expiration date?.

 Not quite....I understand that the new 'issued on' date will not have any connection to the current one's expiration date.

Just investigating the time frame of a renewal application and the new 'issued on' date that goes in the passport, and how best to proceed to possibly affect that. I'll be applying for a new one well in advance, just the timing of my annual extension's 'stay until date' and passport's expiration are coming into play next time around.

41 minutes ago, thailand49 said:

On 2/3/2024 at 9:52 PM, rwilem said:

 

47 minutes ago, khunjeff said:

Yes, you can absolutely apply for a new US passport in Thailand.

Good info. I wasn't looking all that closely about the several exceptions to renewal-by-mail, those categories not allowed to. I did see a sentence, highlighted I believe, that in some case the passport could only be acquired in the U.S. But good that the fella above will be able to get it here.

31 minutes ago, bamnutsak said:

So circling back, if you want to target a specific issued on date, mail your package 7 ~ 10 days before that date.

Yep, that seems to the pattern. The 'issued on' date correlates more with the time the package is received by the embassy than the time it's returned to sender.   

Next Gen style passport, you say. What's next gen about it? Just wonder about that.

2 hours ago, flexomike said:

Not really, you just need to get your new passport before your extension is about to expire, I would never do it before than, just loosing time on your present passport

Extension date, 'permitted to stay' date, is always Jan. 25. Current passport expires Nov. 13, 2025. Next year's extension, if done on current passport, would change the 'permitted to stay date' to match that passport's expiry date.

If I want to just keep the same Jan. 25 'permitted to stay' date, then I will need a new passport, and most likely would apply for the renewal sometime in mid- October, give it a buffer so that I've got the new one by December. Even if I do the renewal later, (November, early December) that's still about a year ahead of the current one's expiration.

The issue becomes what's the priority, sticking with a tried-and-true extension time frame, which I'm comfortable with, or getting max use of the current  passport?

The idea of targeting the new passport's 'issued on' date, a ballpark estimate for that, just doing a challenge, I guess  See if I can affect that so that it's close to what I've got now. Since I'm gonna get one anyways. Just keep things close to the same, if possible 

2 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

thanks, but never mind... real helpful

Look, on the website you're asked a few questions to determine whether one is eligible to renew by mail. If you're 15 years or more outside of a renewal, as is in your case, you are not able to continue with a renewal by mail. What happens? I don't know, didn't pursue it much but it seemed to suggest that in such a case one would be limited to getting a new passport only in the U.S. 

BUT, take a look, and ask them about it, there is a contact form at that juncture.

6 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

sorry for my ignorance... but what does start from scratch imply?  if you know offhand let me know... i will get around to it if no one knows for sure some day

Start all over again, from the beginning. 

29 minutes ago, WDSmart said:

I renewed my US passport online and by mail about a year ago. The new passport's Issued On date had no relationship with my old passports Expiry Date. I renewed mine about 6 months before my old one expired. 

Right, they're all new, get an 'issued on' date, it expires ten years from that date. New numbers, new dates, you get a brand new you.

42 minutes ago, Pouatchee said:

 

i know... i want to know if upon renewal they will send me back my old passport. i have social security number as required and a really old passport i would like to get back. the canadian embassy sends it back [old passport] if requested with a corner cut out. does the us embassy do the same?

Yes, people get both passports back, the old passport usually has a hole punched through it, denoting it's no longer valid.

In your case, your U.S. passport has now been expired for 20 years, if you last got one 30 years ago. I think you're going to have to start from scratch.

BUT, check with the embassy, there is a contact form for passport-related issues.

26 minutes ago, bbko said:

A year ahead of time? Why so early?

Well, if I don't renew about a year ahead, for my next extension with immigration the permission to stay date will be shortened to the time the passport expires.  And that date will become the new 'permitted to stay until' for subsequent extensions. So do I want to stay on the same long-held extension/OK stay until date? If yes, gotta get the new passport a year before it would expire.

56 minutes ago, zzzzz said:

Sent in Old US passport oct 13th<  New one is dated Nov 13th, total time 41 days till it was in my hands

Wow...one month after you sent it in, 'issued on'. Yeah, like those box of chocolates, I guess. Never know what you're gonna get.

1 hour ago, jerrymahoney said:

US Embassy received passport application 12 DEC

 

Received the approval notice  

 

 

New passport dated passport dated 21 DEC 2023

 

Received new passport 05 JAN 2024

Just a little over three weeks, and at the holidays no less, that's a good result!

And a little over a week from when the embassy received it to an 'issued on' date.  Thanks for the info.

2 hours ago, Tod Daniels said:

In BOTH cases the issue date of the passport was just like a week after the application was mailed to ACS

All I can say is if you're doing it by mail follow the directions TO THE LETTER.. That means take your time, get it right, it's not a race, because skipping a step or getting a step wrong is what makes those renewals DRAG out.

Thanks for the info. Seems like the passport issue date would be not that long from the time the renewal app gets received by the embassy.

And yep, it's no race, the thing is staying on top of all the steps.

One thing to consider about passport renewal timing is how you can affect the annual extension 'drop dead' date. Getting an extension on a 'lame duck' passport is going to change your long-held permission to stay date, shortened to the time the passport expires. (Day of, or day before, I'm not sure but close enough.)

And then on a new passport you'd be dealing with immigration for your annual extension in a new time frame.  Kind of playing with both scenarios now, even though just keeping it the same is easy enough.

Actually, with the variation in how long the process takes for the passport to be returned it's more or less a crap shoot, I suppose. Just gonna have to accept new 'issued on' and 'expires' dates. Hopeful they're not too far off from my 'target', haha.

For those U.S. folks doing the renewal-by-mail of their passports, just wondering about the 'issued on' date in the new passport, relative to when they actually have the new passport in hand 

The idea being Is there any pattern one can figure out, in relation to the new 'issued on' date (which also correlates to the expiry date), and the date/time frame the new passport has been received? 

Being as I'll do the renewal a year before the current one expires, I'd like for the new one's 'issued on' date (day/month) to be near the current one's. Just for convenience sake, really, and keep all these 'official date patterns' (PP, extension, licenses, etc.) the same, or near same, if possible.

The passport renewal, all the changes from the embassy, etc., have been discussed ad nauseam. And with the varying time frames from submitting the renewal to getting the passports back (anywhere from 3-6 weeks it seems from recent reports) maybe there's no way to target an 'issued on' date.

In the past, renewing passports at the embassy was rather simple, compared to the process in place now. Did it twice, and I'd pickup up the new passport which had an 'issued on' date just a few days prior to my pickup.

Just wonder if those getting their new passports have picked up any 'lag time' from the 'issued on' date to getting the new puppy back.

12 hours ago, djeetyet said:

 

Is this information incorrect? The checklist does NOT need to be included in the package, nor a copy of the passport "Bio" page? Thanks.

I have not done the renewal, but need to in the near term so I've been following the topic. 

Monitoring the reports here the embassy has made changes in the process in the last 4-6 months or so, a key one regarding the requirements for the return envelope. 

Anyway, If from the embassy's website one sees a requirement is listed, best to go ahead and meet it.  The renewal process has gotten a bit more drawn out. And the time to get the passports back has increased, maybe close to doubled. Folks in the earlier part of last year were reporting getting them back in under three weeks. That seems over now. 

On 1/2/2024 at 7:00 PM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

But I'd still opt for the local tram service from the top of Soi 7 at the main CW Road, assuming it's still running.

It's running, can confirm from a visit out there in early December. But I assume it's mostly for the benefit of employees, so its frequency might reflect that? Meaning more trips in the AM and later afternoon, when people are arriving to/leaving work, as opposed to mid-day. Just a guess.

Did not get out there using the Pink Line in combo with the Green Line. But I returned that way, and even if it may be convenient the time it would take to get there, what with transferring and waiting for trains, is going to be longer than just taking road transpo from your favorite BTS or other station. Just an initial reaction. Nice to take it back, though, when time is not of the essence.

Also, as of that time the Gov't Complex station could only be accessed from the opposite side of the street, after coming out from Soi 7, although the exit/entrance on the same side looked to be nearing completion.