theoldgit

It's just a question about how soon you can book, and if there are any deals available. Last week I went to Singapore at the last minute and the two of us paid 12,500 in total on Cathay Pacific against 18,000 on Air Asia, but we are paying 1,600 for two going to Bali in August whilst Thai want 36,500, obviously that was booked during one of their loss leader promotions, but even booking now it would be 18,000 including all the odds and sods, still less than half the price of Thai.

I have used mine in Australia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Bali, UK and France, not once have I had a problem.

Hope that puts your mind at rest.

Yes, I'm pretty sure you are right, and there is one of the root causes of Thai's woes, I think the new guy really wants to manage the airline and not just have it used as a convenience for those you refer to, whether he will be allowed to is another question.

Is the new plan that the Express train will pass the city line by the use of laybys? That ought to be fun. We can have a pool as to when the first big crash will happen.

Saw the trains being tested again yesterday, first the City Train went by followed a couple of minutes later by the Express, guess they were just playing chicken.

what are we now....111 posts of whinging?

No just the one, yours.

^^ Read my post. There's NO restriction on anyone sending their UK passport back to the UK to get it renewed. I see any increased cost in obtaining a new passport overseas as a 'convenience fee'. So you pay more than you would filing it over the counter at the Post Office back home, but you DON'T have to fly to the Post Office to do it.

You may be getting confused with Thai Immigration's prohibition on sending your passport out of the country for a new Thai visa whilst physically remaining inside Thailand. That's illegal.

So now that the convenience has gone, you are saying that you are sure I can send my passport to the UK for renewal, given that I have got to send it overseas anyway?

By the way, I was not getting confused I had always believed you were not allowed to send a passport overseas, though I may have been wrong in my understanding.

Not that I was doubting you for one minute but I was a little concerned about sending my passport to the UK for renewal and saying that "NanAlew" assured me that is was ok to do so, so I took the liberty of sending the Identity and Passport Agency an email, this is their reply:

Only applicant's residing in the UK can submit their application forms in the UK. You cannot send your passport to an office outside the the country you are residing in for security reasons.

It seems from other posters that you will still be able to sumit passports to the BE in Bangkok and they will forward to Hong Kong in a diplomatic bag.

It was in the Bangkok Post yesterday that the transfer of various services is still going ahead. Whilst some HiSo's, who couldn't possibly be expected to travel on a budget airline, are lobbying for Thai not to give up the routes the belief is this lobbying will not succeed.

And thanks to the Nation for a serious breach of security by telling everybody exactly where it is....The house is located on Soi Sukhumvit 31.

Thought everybody knew where it was, can hardly miss it with all the police outside - looking in the other direction.

[You might want to note that the Consular Section is closed next Monday and Tuesday, 8th & 9th.

Anyone know if VFS Regent House is open on these days? I was planning on submitting a UK visa application on Monday.

Yes the Visa Application Centre will still be open, it's just the Embassy itself that will be closed for a computer upgrade, which means they will not be doing the work associated with processing the applications.

And all the police officers based outside never noticed anything?

What form do I need to complete from the British embassy website?

It's all here http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/passport...ing-in-thailand

With the form being here http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/passports/passport-forms

You might want to note that the Consular Section is closed next Monday and Tuesday, 8th & 9th.

^^ Read my post. There's NO restriction on anyone sending their UK passport back to the UK to get it renewed. I see any increased cost in obtaining a new passport overseas as a 'convenience fee'. So you pay more than you would filing it over the counter at the Post Office back home, but you DON'T have to fly to the Post Office to do it.

You may be getting confused with Thai Immigration's prohibition on sending your passport out of the country for a new Thai visa whilst physically remaining inside Thailand. That's illegal.

So now that the convenience has gone, you are saying that you are sure I can send my passport to the UK for renewal, given that I have got to send it overseas anyway?

By the way, I was not getting confused I had always believed you were not allowed to send a passport overseas, though I may have been wrong in my understanding.

This always makes me laugh, its more expensive as you are living abroad, if you want it cheaper go back to the UK for an holiday and renew it then. But remember its going to cost you 500 quid for a flight.

So renew it on a scheduled holiday, not that difficult.

That's the point I was making, Not that difficult to understand........

Sorry I didn't understand the point you were making, maybe I'm just thick.

I didn't understand why you needed to factor in the £500 for the flight when you had probably costed it into the price of the holiday, as I say I am probably a bit thick and missed your point.

I have always understood that you were not allowed to post passports overseas, that's why we were previously forced to renew a passport in your current country of residence, and pay the inflated price.

As we will now have to arrange to send our old passport to Hong Kong I cannot see how the Passport Agency could justify declining to issue a passport in The UK, at The UK price, and allow it to be DHL'd to Thailand - though I suspect they will find a reason.

We went to South Korea last year and my girlfriend certainly didn't need a visa and had no hassle on arrival, has this changed?

As from March 8th you will need to apply to Hong Kong for a new passport.

Not entirely correct. The paperwork exercise can be done in BKK and handed into the passport section at the Embassy. The processing thereafter will be dealt with in Hong Kong. The new passport can be collected as usual in BKK.

Sorry, but they have not said that.

The information on the website states that from 8th March applications will be processed in Hong Kong and until that date applications can be handed in at Bangkok. Nowhere does it say that after that date you will be able to hand an application in and collect your new passport in Bangkok. Whilst full details of the process have not been published yet, they do say that you must factor in the cost of secure delivery of the application and for the secure return of your passport, they would hardly say that if you can hand in and collect from Bangkok. The new arrangements are already in place in other countries, certainly in Malaysia you are required to send the application to Hong Kong together with the fee in Hong Kong Dollars.

I would like to be proved wrong, but I suspect I will not be.

As from March 8th you will need to apply to Hong Kong for a new passport.

30 days on arrival, we went on Wednesday not a word said to my gf, she was just stamped in for 30 days.

It seems that they don't trust the postal service either and recommend that you send it by DHL or the like, so the idea is to cut down on admin costs, but of course make sure the good old UK Citizen, sorry "Customer" has to pay more. I estimate that the cost, passport fee, courier fee to and from Hong Kong and the cost of a draft will make the cost of a 40 page passport in the region of £200, up from £150 applying in Bangkok.

You can pay by Credit Card or Bankers Draft, more expenses.

They suggest you allow four weeks, double the ten days.

So we already pay more for the convenience of renewing our passports overseas, for what exactly?

I flew in yesterday and as normal joined my partner in the Thai line, she always asks if it's ok, the Foreign Passport line was really long. A female supervisor came up to me and spoke in Thai, when I answered in English she said I could only join this line if I spoke Thai - she then burst of laughing, and we had a chat.

A really charming lady, I don't suppose for one minute she will read this, but why cannot it always be like that?

I would renew mine in UK but aren't there regulations about having so many months validity remaining when exiting a country.

I have heard of people not being allowed to fly because they only have a few months left on their passport.

No, some countries will only allow you to enter if you have six months remaining not leaving. You can enter the UK with one day remaining, in fact I think you can enter on an expired passport.

My main concern is sending my passport to Hong Kong, relying on the postal service both ways and being without a passport for the duration of the process, though I will obviously have a copy.

I intend to renew my passport when I am in the UK, it's also cheaper though I am not sure what happens to my Thai re-entry permit.

By the way it's nothing to do with improving the service it's a cost cutting exercise, the Bangkok Embassy is reducing it's staffing complement by three. And for those who talk about highly paid pen pushers, it's worth noting that most staff are locally employed and paid in the region of 25-30,000 Baht per month.

^^^^

That's why I said renew it on a scheduled trip.

This always makes me laugh, its more expensive as you are living abroad, if you want it cheaper go back to the UK for an holiday and renew it then. But remember its going to cost you 500 quid for a flight.

So renew it on a scheduled holiday, not that difficult.

Thai friend uses http://flight.tvairbookings.com/TVAirWeb/index.aspx?lang=en

for years says there the best..

Sent them an email yesterday, they replied within 30 mins.

I always thought they were good, I called into one of their branches a couple of weeks ago to book flights for Singapore, I was particularly interested in the Cathay Pacific flights. They told me the dates I wanted were completely sold out and tried to sell me Singapore Airlines and Thai flights at almost double the price. Thought I would check with the Cathay website, the cheap fare was available and booked within a couple of minutes.

I'm sure, as with a lot of companies, the service is hit and miss and dependent on who you deal with, and whilst I am glad you and your friend have had good experiences, it certainly pays to check what you are being told.

Whenever you apply for a tourist visa the reason to return is one of the most important things the applicant needs to convince the ECO. I am not sure what your girlfriends circumstances are but if she is relying on employment for a reason to return a six month holiday could well ring alarm bells.

That said, the answers given by mark515 are sound and there is nothing to stop her applying but as he says be honest. It is particularly important that she gives the correct details of the trip, if she wants six months then say so, if she pitches up at Heathrow having indicated that she was coming for three months, still a long holiday, and the IO ascertained she was coming for six, she could be refused entry, it's unlikely but possible.