OJAS

Indeed. I just wonder how many of those on here who are complaining bitterly about home visits from Immigration are also of the firm view that immigration officers back in their home countries are not doing enough in the form of home visits in order to check the credentials of Thai nationals and other foreigners who, in their view, have the audacity to want to darken the hallowed turf of their home country.

All I can say is thank goodness I don't need to have to get my head around the Bangkok public transport system in my daily life! I only just about managed to get my head around the London public transport system after living there for a total of nearly 40 years before moving out here!????

Not even sure that their marriage extension applications have to be referred to Divisional HQ for final approval - in which case they can be stamped for the full 365 days on the spot, with no need for a subsequent trip to Immigration after 30 days for the remaining 335 days, as in the case of their male counterparts. In the case of us British State Pensioners for example, though, how do DWP back in the UK know that the life certificates which they periodically require us to provide have been witnessed by real - as opposed to completely fictitious - individuals? The Thai government is far from alone across this great planet of ours in inflicting pointless unverifiable bureaucracy on us all (which, I think, is the point which @billsmart is making)!

Since TfL's number 3 bus route passes close to Parliament, maybe this assessment had been based on the route number displayed on a passing bus!????

The contract was apparently awarded to them controversially under EU procurement rules in 2018. The $64,000 question is when is this contract due to expire - sooner rather than later, hopefully, as the UK is, of course, now in a position to tell the EU where they can stick their procurement rules in tendering for a successor contract!

Yep, you definitely need to have an appointment, I'm afraid.

And the particularly galling thing is that it is only foreign men married to Thai women who are subject to such treatment. Foreign women married to Thai men are, on the other hand, cheerfully granted marriage extensions by Immigration with few (if any) questions asked.

I suppose that we can but dream of the day when similar treatment is meted out to multi-megawatt sound systems seized from pickups.

Wonder what Basil Fawlty would have made of such an offer?

Agree 100%. My existing passport, like the OP's, is also due to expire next September, and I've already set in motion its replacement (with fingers firmly crossed that I'll receive the new one before my current permission to stay expires next August????). And, with civil servants' strikes thrown into the mix on top of inherent HMPO bungling incompetence and ineptitude, we shall probably be in for even longer waits than this for our new passports in the New Year.

Whereas in the case of Western countries which require similar proof of finances for foreigners who wish to set foot on their hallowed turf, it is, on the other hand, an ultra-progressive rule which, in your eyes, should be applied with zeal and gusto by local immigration officers in each and every case without exception, right?

Strikes me as yet another pointless so-called "security" measure which banks, government bodies, etc are increasingly taking great delight in gleefully inflicting on us with the sole and avowed aim of making life for us just as difficult as is humanly possible..????

And there was I, thinking that we were now in the dry season, supposedly! There was certainly quite a heavy downpour in our neck of woods in Rayong Province last night.

Join slow-moving queues for Baggage Drop-Off, Security, his re-entry permit and Immigration in that order - followed by a long walk to the departure gate.

You and @andycan both thank your lucky stars that you're not Brits! Those unfortunates on here who, like myself, are have been told to expect a wait of at least 11 weeks for our new passports from the UK (like I am doing at the moment)! While we are allowed to retain our old passports for ID purposes, we are unable to use them for foreign travel in the meantime.

Whereas: The husband A arrived on the scene and helped his wife and stopped another motorist so that the police and rescue services could be called. Not that the wife will in any way be grateful, of course.

Do you mean the traffic lights just before the turn-off to the left for the immigration office? There are a few sets of lights in Maptaput!

Agreed. While all the rage 20 years or so ago, the concept of "joined-up government" - which IMHO would be a fundamental prerequisite to any systemic integration across Whitehall - is now completely dead in the water, As a result, each component part of the "great" UK government machine is, these days, required to confine its operations to issues which fall strictly within the purview of its particular silo, with blinkers firmly attached so as to avoid any "undesirable" external sideways glances.

Same here, but I suppose that it all depends on the particular immigration office in question. I gather from various reports on here that obtaining a re-entry permit at Chaengwattana, for instance, can be quite a tortuous process!

Can he not check in online before setting off to the airport or even (as I have done on a few occasions) at a self-service kiosk there if he arrives more than 3 hours early? In my experience it has subsequently proved possible to drop off baggage for the aircraft hold up to 5 hours before the scheduled flight departure time, and this should provide him with more than adequate breathing space for clearing Security and then obtaining a re-entry permit prior to clearing Immigration.

Whoever completed the TM30 form which has presumably been filed with Immigration in this instance, I would have thought.

And the slight inconvenience resulting from an extra trip to Immigration should, of course, be more than offset by the considerably greater inconvenience you would otherwise have been faced with when next renewing your British passport (assuming, of course, that renewing NZ passports is not a similarly tedious, protracted and cumbersomely bureaucratic process)!????

Looks like one of the first things the OP will need to do upon his return to Thailand with a visa exemption stamp (assuming that he has not obtained a re-entry permit) will be to leg it down to his local immigration office clutching an application for a non-o visa conversion - provided, of course, that he can meet all relevant requirements: https://www.immigration.go.th/en/?page_id=2537

IMHO the blame for this would be more appropriately laid at the door of the unnamed pal whom the BIB quizzed about the guy's behaviour rather than the TPN. The article includes a disclaimer stating that this particular individual was expressing a personal opinion and not providing a licensed medical diagnosis.

But I do just wonder whether the member of the UK Border Force who advised you to renew your passport because your picture was not representative of your current facial look would now be of that particular opinion as a result of the stresses and strains which you subsequently had to endure in getting your new passport!????