OneZero

7 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I agree. If you're set up with the computer printed form already in your passport, it will usually be very rapid.

More remarkable I suppose would be completing a retirement extension in 5 minutes. 

Retirement extension never more than 30 minutes for me, usually less.  Best time was 7 minures (true), I found it hard to believe myself.

3 hours ago, Sparkles said:

Someone on the main Thai Visa  daily newsletter update today reported he did his 90 day report in person at Jomtien  today. Presented his passport and a pink receipt slip with a bar code on it.No other paper work needed.In and out in 60 seconds he reported

 

Is this  a new process, anyone knows about ?

Jomtien is a dream & always has been with or without an automated system. Here is the link:

In most organizations creating streamlined quality procedures is considered commendable and for a business increases customers & revenue.  For CM Immigration it's just reverse.  Ignoring poor quality service drives customers to G4T, thereby increasing revenue.

Not sure if I'm allowed to post the same thing to two different threads, but I think it's worth sharing:

It's a Quality management issue to design process' & procedures which maximize efficiency for both the organization & the customer. Providing quality will increase customer base & vice versa.  Customers will evaluate the cost vs service quality and decide where to conduct business.  There will of course be decisions in both directions.  Chiang Mai does not have to reinvent the wheel in order to provide it's customers with a better quality experience.  Jomtien Immigration (for the approx 10 years I observed them) provides an excellent benchmark for CM Immigration to learn from and emulate, but it seems that CM Immigration does not have sufficient incentive to do so.

My Jomtien experience with 90 day reports has never required greater than a 30 minute wait, usually far less.

My Jomtien experience with renewing retirement visa is like an assembly line, consistently as follows:

I wait approx 2 minutes to be served by one of the young female volunteer college interns to look over my paperwork, & she hands me a number.  I wait 5-10 minutes to see an official employee who verifies that my paperwork is indeed in order.  He hands me a number and tells me to return at a later time to pick up my completed passport (either later the same day or the following day depending on what time I was there).  So far this has never taken me more than 30 minutes, one time I timed it at 7 minutes total.  

When I return at the later time, with my number to pick up the completed passport, the efficiency is also evident.  Again a very short wait to see the official employee, but an extra minute or two are required because they may take a picture of you when you pick up the passport.  Again, this has never taken me more than 30 minutes, one time I timed it at 10 minutes total.

Edit: PS, there are a hell of a lot of customers flowing in & out quickly..  So there can be no valid argument that Jomtien has fewer customers or I just had a lucky day.  Also, there were only one or a few employees working at the different desks providing the different services Immigration offices provide.  It was the quality process' / procedures they  have designed making it a very tolerable experience.

2 hours ago, NancyL said:

Jomtien processing nearly three times as many retirement extensions per year as Chiang Mai and the customers of that office don't report the need to use visa agents to obtain timely services.  

 

Interesting report of your experience in working in the oil & gas industry in an arab country.  Was it with an American firm?  I think not.  I worked in the chemical industry for an American company and we were bound by U.S. gov't rules that prohibited such activity overseas.  If you follow Thai news, you'll find that many of the large Thai corruption cases, like the Bangkok International Film Festival corruption scandal just became to obvious to ignore after U.S. officials charged Americans involved under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangkok_International_Film_Festival

 

 

It's a Quality management issue to design process' & procedures which maximize efficiency for both the organization & the customer. Providing quality will increase customer base & vice versa.  Customers will evaluate the cost vs service quality and decide where to conduct business.  There will of course be decisions in both directions.  Chiang Mai does not have to reinvent the wheel in order to provide it's customers with a better quality experience.  Jomtien Immigration (for the approx 10 years I observed them) provides an excellent benchmark for CM Immigration to learn from and emulate, but it seems that CM Immigration does not have sufficient incentive to do so.

My Jomtien experience with 90 day reports has never required greater than a 30 minute wait, usually far less.

My Jomtien experience with renewing retirement visa is like an assembly line, consistently as follows:

I wait approx 2 minutes to be served by one of the young female volunteer college interns to look over my paperwork, & she hands me a number.  I wait 5-10 minutes to see an official employee who verifies that my paperwork is indeed in order.  He hands me a number and tells me to return at a later time to pick up my completed passport (either later the same day or the following day depending on what time I was there).  So far this has never taken me more than 30 minutes, one time I timed it at 7 minutes total.  

When I return at the later time, with my number to pick up the completed passport, the efficiency is also evident.  Again a very short wait to see the official employee, but an extra minute or two are required because they may take a picture of you when you pick up the passport.  Again, this has never taken me more than 30 minutes, one time I timed it at 10 minutes total.

Edit: PS, there are a hell of a lot of customers flowing in & out quickly..  So there can be no valid argument that Jomtien has fewer customers or I just had a lucky day.  Also, there were only one or a few employees working at the different desks providing the different services Immigration offices provide.  It was the quality process' / procedures they  have designed making it a very tolerable experience.

2 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

I am sorry Nancy L. I normally respect and like what you do but I, and am sure a few others,  take exception to your remarks that we must be clueless, need hand holding or are a first timer to use an agent. You and others might be quite happy getting up at stupid times of the day, wandering around shopping Malls, watching, films and eating overpriced crap at your favourite restaurant, but I do not. Nor do I wish to get up at that stupid time in the morning to go and sit on a plastic seat for God knows how long when I can get the same thing done a different way by getting up at a reasonable hour of the day (after 10AM at the earliest!) paying some money and get driven out to the ‘zoo’, when necessary, for all of a max of 20 mins and back in the local for lunch. To me that is the ‘no brainer’.  Not the act of a clueless etc person. Each to their own.

2 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

4 hours ago, NancyL said:

Visa agents do serve a valuable function for people who are clueless, need hand-holding, first-timers, etc.

 

scottiejohn, based upon all that Nancy has done & written about CM Immigration, I am sure that she would not regard you as clueless, etc etc.   I'm sure that what she meant to say was that visa agents should only have to be used by such folks as first timers etc etc, but unfortunately many others also feel compelled to use them to avoid the difficulties thrown up by CM Immigration.  Neither Jomtien nor CR Immigration (both of which I have used) throw up such roadblocks, and I have not heard of similar roadblocks at any other Immigration offices.

Lets give her a break for having the guts to write about the root cause of the problem:

This says it all Nancy: "..the problem wasn't one of simple incompetence or lack of manpower or resources, but documented (to the Consular Corp) what it really was and how much money it brought in each month..".

11 hours ago, NancyL said:

But, I've met my match with Chiang Mai Immigration.  Or rather, the lack of will of anyone in authority to change what's going on there.  Once I documented that the problem wasn't one of simple incompetence or lack of manpower or resources, but documented (to the Consular Corp) what it really was and how much money it brought in each month, our very own embassies and consulates lost interest in addressing the real reason the expat elderly are being exploited here.  It became a "cultural situation" that they couldn't address.  They said "we can't impose our cultural norms on Thailand"   I can't be totally blunt here, perhaps I may be when I leave

This says it all Nancy: "..the problem wasn't one of simple incompetence or lack of manpower or resources, but documented (to the Consular Corp) what it really was and how much money it brought in each month..".

Thanks for all your efforts.

5 minutes ago, EricTh said:

....many rude American retirees ....

Here we go again...those ugly Americans.

1 hour ago, OneZero said:

Perhaps I scanned this thread too quickly, but I'm wondering why Chiang Rai Condotel on Uttaradit road only a couple meters down from the old main market (the mkt with the small clock tower) hasn't gotten more mention here.

...a couple hundred meters down...

Didn't see an "edit" link.

Perhaps I scanned this thread too quickly, but I'm wondering why Chiang Rai Condotel on Uttaradit road only a couple meters down from the old main market (the mkt with the small clock tower) hasn't gotten more mention here.

3 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Just remember its the landlord that pays the fine,for not

reporting you,not yourself.

regards worgeordie

Landlord should be quite happy to comply.

47 minutes ago, Trujillo said:

Air quality is not a factor in moving here.

There may be a few folks suggesting you speak for yourself about air quality not being a factor about moving to Chiang mai.

18 hours ago, LannaGuy said:

 

ended up burying him 1m down

 

sa tu

Yes, you did well.  He/ she is in heaven.

9 hours ago, LannaGuy said:

Need to go today. Do you mean go down the road where the JJ bars are?  there is a left turn towards Kamptiene Market go past that and turn left?

I tried finding it myself today.  Roamed around back & forth on those bad roads south & east of the JJ flower mkt .  I thought that was the area described, but I must have gotten something wrong because I could not find it.

So then, other than a membership fee, what benefits does being a member give you?

Unbelievable stupidity.  

6 hours ago, totally thaied up said:

if your silly enough not to have thought all this out before coming to Thailand regarding Insurance, budget and all the rest and then when you fall on your face, and it blows up, it's not my problem.

I couldn't agree more.  100% spot on.  I've seen farang in CM asking for help to pay his hospital bill and shortly later buying the latest Samsung or Apple gadgets.  I had contributed.  But no more.

It's not just the digital nomad type farangs that have these character traits here in CM. 

17 hours ago, cmjc said:

Mee...Owwww!

FeliTranslate: "Two healthy, vaccinated, Hill-tribe kitties ready to pounce on venomous intruders, and purr in your lap."

They +are+ terrific hunters!

Did the third find a home already? Hope they all do.

" Obviously, I don't believe the 24-hour deal (as stated in the statute) is strictly enforced."

TM30 itself was never enforced until CM Immigration spotted it as a great revenue earner.  The 24 hour aspect of the regulation is a handy backstop so that when the normal 1,600 thb fines decrease, CM Immigration can kick in the 24 hour aspect to bring revenue back in line.  There is a method to the madness.

Well, I see a lot of very justifable complaint about the current negative situation.  But what about some positive action suggestions to at least attempt to get the mayhem moved much further out from this close in area (soi 11)?  

I live in CM BTW, and it's not perfect up here either with traffic, bad air etc.  I occasionally do like to get down to Jomtien, (especially in March when CM air is bad & April when CM is hot without a seabreeze).

Something smells here, and without further evidence I certainly would not give any benefit of the doubt to the RTP.

11 hours ago, KittenKong said:

 

Calculating back from what the OP said I think his financial year must have ended 4 months before the end of January. So presumably September 30 rather than October 31.

 

I really dont see why a management company should not be able to process the accounts and call a meeting in much less time than that, at what should be a very quiet time of year for both accountants and auditors.

You're absolutely right.  In my haste I translated 120 days into 3 months not 4 months, even though I asked myself why didn't they end their fiscal year on the more commonly used 30 September.  I think more condos should make this fiscal year adjustment because it allows the snow birds a greater opportunity be be available for the AGM prior to heading back home.  

I am told that owners, at an AGM/EGM vote,  have to agree to make the fiscal year adjustment and that the committee / JP cannot make the decision themselves.  Is this advice correct?

It would appear that the financial year for the ops condo ended on 31 October.

Thanks both of you. The hoards of friends & family usually descend on the whole area around the 3rd weekend in January.  So you have confirmed my suspicions.  I live near CMU, but will definitely make a point of being out of town at that time.

3 hours ago, davehowden said:

 

Well they have to:

 

Talk to each other as if they have not met for weeks.

Drink coffee and eat cakes.

Shuffle through their 20 plus rubber stamps and adjust the dates.

Place carbon paper between several little pads.

Fill in a couple of large ledgers with multiple columns of duplicate information.

Get up and visit another desk to help out with a difficult question.

Eat lunch.

Visit the bathroom.

And so on and so on .......

 

 

...and most important of all, convince you to fork over money to G4T for a faster service.