rwilem

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.

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.

Did my extension based on retirement a few weeks back, and a few weeks before that had made an appointment. The L1-35 desk is where the appointment notice directed me to appear. After the IO finished with the applicant who was at the desk, I was asked to go to that front L1 desk (27, is it?) for a 'document check'. OK, did that and returned to L1-35 and waited again while another applicant was being served. Tip: May as well get the 'documents check' done first before you appear/hang out at the front of the L1-35 desk.

OK, the site is back online in time to report the following. Submitted the 90-day report online to CW on Nov. 20. It was approved Nov. 22, a two-day turnaround. A pleasant surprise given the recent issues. Then I cancelled a 'just-in-case' online appointment for it I'd made, in the event it remained in 'pending limbo' into the grace period past the due date.

The system's broken. Maybe not that it's inoperable, but they way it's handled at CW, whatever the protocol the office uses to review submissions, ii's not working. Shortage of staff, who knows? But fixing it at CW doesn't seem to be much of a priortiy. Same thing as reported by others, when I mentioned the (still) pending status of my online submission when I finally went to do it in person, the IO was non-plussed. Just a wave of the hand, an a tired "It's not working,"

Yes, and if you want to do it online with the CW office, right now it's best to submit on the the first day you are allowed to, 15 days ahead of the due date. Things seem to have fallen by the wayside at CW for online 90 day reporting about a month, six weeks ago, after a couple of extended holidays. Anyway, submit 15 days ahead of the due date. That gives you about 20 days, which seems to be needed currently, to wait for approval before crunch time when you would have to get out there to do it in person. Wonder when, or even if, the system will get itself righted at some point. Stay tuned.

Just a thought, here. The last two extensions I've updated the bankbook at a bank branch next to the BTS station in town from where I start the journey out to CW. It's a good working MO for me. At the complex I just make a beeline to the copy shops and get my final copies made, then head over to Immigration. Skip having to do anything with the bank branch out there. (I get the the account balance letter the day before at a brach in town.)

Absolutely, let sleeping TM-6s lie, right where they are. I'll keep it stapled in the passport, just fine and dandy, and handy for who knows whatever. Thanks for your report, and the in-one-place links to the four extra documents!

I thought the Mae Sai-Tachikek border was open, but it seems it has been closed recently? Which is a drag for border runners up that way.

Just out of curiosity, I checked Lazada. The Note 12 G96 phone, 8GB/128GB model, is selling for 5000 baht. Infinix Thailand store, a LazMall seller. (I have no financial interest in the product, ha!)

I got an Infinix Note 11s about a year-and-a-half ago, for a good price (8 GB/128 GB, 6000 baht) on Lazada. Pretty popular item selling well at that time. Good phone, initial impression was good and that continued. And the phone looks great, too. XOS is not a bad skin, can just ignore/turn off some extras. The Note 12 series is out now, running at about the same cost or less, and as another post above noted the Zero 5G is out as well. Infinix may be flying under the radar but the phones are good, and are pretty good value in my opinion. I'm a satisfied customer. Oh, and I have not experienced overheating when charging. The recent models have fast-charging, and the battery drains at a slow rate, at least that's my experience with the Note 11s.

A 'block' can also be used in place of the word 'street' or 'avenue'. In the case above, the meaning might be, 'two streets away'. Distance not implied, rather proximity to the office.

Did you guys do the 'check status' of your accepted submission on the website? Sometimes the email telling one of its approval does not get sent (or ends up in the junk folder.) Do a 'check status'; you'll see whether it's still pending, or if it's been approved/rejected.

You did end up re-submitting and getting it approved, I take it? Even without the 'required' mark on the field, best to fill it in, it's kind of the key piece of info on one's status.

Yes, it's easy to do both, get the extension and then the re-entry permit the same day using the appointment system. This is at CW. Good rule of thumb is to make the re-entry appointment about an hour fifteen minutes after the extension appointnent. (Re-entry appointments are offered 15 minutes apart from each other.) Even if you get to the re-entry booth later than your appointed time---which I did one year when it took 50 minutes (a record!) for my passport to be returned to me at the extension section--with my appointnent booking in hand the re-entry staff just waved me in.

Pretty good flash price there, looks to be a great deal for that phone. Very popular model, selling well.

Should be easy to find a battery on Lazada. Usually on OEM battery, and if you're not up to doing the replacement, the phone markets usually have a few shops that'll change it out for a couple hundred baht.

Not a big player, but Infinix makes some good quality budget phones. I picked up an Infinix Note 11s a year ago on Lazada, in good part due to its outstanding sound output and its bigger screen size. Quite happy with it. Now the Infinix Note 12 is out and can be bought for less than 5000 baht on Lazada for the 6GB/128GB variant, and less than 6000 baht for the 8/256 one. You might want to have a look into these phones.

The appointment system introduced about three or four years ago has been a game-changer. Retirement extensions are pretty smooth, everything can be completed within an hour's time. Not a biggie to do it yourself, manage your own extension particulars. Keeps you clued up, too, on immigration matters, which is not a bad thing. If you would not be able to do it yourself, because of not being able to meet the requirements, then, of course, an agent's services would be the obvious way to go.

Yep, CW's never been a quick approval on the 90-day online reports. Some folks have waited more than a week, and in some cases had not received a result by the deadline day. (Necessitating a trip out to the office to do it in-person....ouch!)

Plus, from the website's 'check status' page there is a 'receipt of notification' column. For your approved submission you can hit the pdf icon in that column to download a copy of it. So from either the email or the website you can get the pdf.

Maybe a new trend will be starting at CW? It's regarding the turnaround time from a 90-day report online submission to approval. It's always taken from 3-4 days minimum to six days maximum to get a result. This time, submitted on Wednesday evening, about 7:45 PM. 'After hours', so to speak, office hours. Didn't bother to check the status yesterday. Checked it just now, expecting to see pending, and half-expecting to be waiting till next Tuesday (with Monday being a holiday) until I'd see a result. But no, that expectation was dashed. I was pleasantly surprised to see an 'Approved', and furthermore, to see that it had been approved yesterday, in the early afternoon. Not even 24 hours! At CW, that's a record, at least in my case. Good news, hope it's something that continues out there.

That's it in a nutshell, especially trying to enter through that border post.

Depends. Border run, extension, yeah. But say a guy has some reasons to want to stop in at Bangkok, has some other business or things to do, doesn't have to have to be all about the immigration issues. That works, too.

I get that, too. This was ten years ago, and my recall for what the situation was then--the first extension--was not going to be a one day deal, for the under consideration. It was going be some time, I want to say a month even, and the word confirmed by trustworthy, experienced guys there. That's what spurred me to just do it in Bangkok, to be done with all of it in one go on extension day.