A warning about the UK Passport office in Bangkok

[Bangkok Barry]

 

I wanted to give a heads up to anyone needing to visit the UK Passport and Visa office on Sukhumvit 13.

 

It should be simple, but of course nothing in Thailand ever is. It took me over 15 minutes simply to get into the lift as there were people queuing almost out of the building when I arrived. There is only one lift serving the 28th floor where the office is, and that same office handles visa applications for several other places. So, although they ask you to not arrive too early for your appointment, allow at least 20 minutes just to be able to use the lift. The situation is so bad they have security people marshalling the crowds. If that single lift breaks down due to the pressure it is under then I have no idea what their Plan B is. There probably isn't one.

 

Another thing - I have read on here that passports usually take two weeks to arrive for collection. Today I was told that it is four weeks, but I wait and see what the reality is.

[Halfaboy]

Does the company name start with a V and do they also have offices on floor 8 ? If so, I was there last week and it was a bit of a mess indeed.

[Bangkok Barry]

Just now, Halfaboy said:

Does the company name start with a V and do they also have offices on floor 8 ? If so, I was there last week and it was a bit of a mess indeed.

They do, dealing with, I think, the Netherlands and other places. The lift stops only at floors 8 and 28. I'd say that the setup is totally inadequate for the number of people the company services.

[transam]

Blimey, thought the thread was going to be about something serious...

[Bangkok Barry]

3 minutes ago, transam said:

Blimey, thought the thread was going to be about something serious...

It might be if you miss your appointment and have to apply for another one. Especially if you've had to travel hundreds of kilometres to Bangkok. Hence the warning. I've never in my life had to wait nearly 20 minutes to get into a lift, and I doubt that anyone else has before arriving at the Trendy building.

Edited March 5, 2018 by Bangkok Barry

[petermik]

7 hours ago, transam said:

Blimey, thought the thread was going to be about something serious...

..............like it

[petermik]

7 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

It might be if you miss your appointment and have to apply for another one. Especially if you've had to travel hundreds of kilometres to Bangkok.

No chance of that..the "window" timewise is one hour,did mine last year no problems and my UK passport was back 17 days later..............molehill/mountain springs to mind here   

[transam]

3 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

It might be if you miss your appointment and have to apply for another one. Especially if you've had to travel hundreds of kilometres to Bangkok. Hence the warning. I've never in my life had to wait nearly 20 minutes to get into a lift, and I doubt that anyone else has before arriving at the Trendy building.

Sunbeam, I got there hours early and they dealt with me straight away...

 

Remember, you have the option to change your appointment time to take care of a possible problem. I did that to get a late afternoon one..

[worgeordie]

I have to renew my passport later this year and i am

dreading having to go there,so it will be 2 trips from

Chiang Mai,just to get a passport.

regards worgeordie

[transam]

5 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

I have to renew my passport later this year and i am

dreading having to go there,so it will be 2 trips from

Chiang Mai,just to get a passport.

regards worgeordie

You could use an agent..Maybe cheaper than paying for flights etc..

[Bangkok Barry]

11 minutes ago, transam said:

Sunbeam, I got there hours early and they dealt with me straight away...

 

Remember, you have the option to change your appointment time to take care of a possible problem. I did that to get a late afternoon one..

Nice to know the appointment time isn't set in stone, then. But it does beg the question why you need one at all.

[transam]

2 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Nice to know the appointment time isn't set in stone, then. But it does beg the question why you need one at all.

To prevent mayhem....

[Briggsy]

Thanks for the info.

 

Are there also stairs available? I regularly climb stairs of tower blocks for cardio-pulmonary exercise. 25 storeys at a steady pace takes me 4 and a half minutes, running takes me 2 minutes 45 seconds. I would not recommend running if you have not done it before.

 

I understand this stair option is not suitable for all, particularly in Thailand where so many expats are infirm, alcoholic or overweight.

 

[Golden Triangle]

19 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

I have to renew my passport later this year and i am

dreading having to go there,so it will be 2 trips from

Chiang Mai,just to get a passport.

regards worgeordie

I'm in Pattaya and used an agent here, I was physically unable to travel to BKK so the extra 5 k Baht on the cost of the passport was well worth it, I just supplied 2 photos, a copy pf my Thai driving licence and signed the forms, they did everything else.

[FritsSikkink]

4 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

Thanks for the info.

 

Are there also stairs available? I regularly climb stairs of tower blocks for cardio-pulmonary exercise. 25 storeys at a steady pace takes me 4 and a half minutes, running takes me 2 minutes 45 seconds. I would not recommend running if you have not done it before.

 

I understand this stair option is not suitable for all, particularly in Thailand where so many expats are infirm, alcoholic or overweight.

 

"I would not recommend running if you have not done it before." Oh, really?

[Lungstib]

30 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

I have to renew my passport later this year and i am

dreading having to go there,so it will be 2 trips from

Chiang Mai,just to get a passport.

Yes, I had an old friend, 74 and a few health problems, and he did this from Chiang Rai by bus, 3200kms in total to get a new passport........ which lasted him 4 days cus thats how long he lived after that numbing journey. 

[ubonjoe]

A off topic post and the expected replies to it have been removed.

[Briggsy]

19 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

"I would not recommend running if you have not done it before." Oh, really?

Yes, really.

 

Stair running 28 storeys (probably 27 using Bangkok storey naming protocol) would take untrained people to the limits of anaerobic respiration, maximising heart rate in an inoptimal setting.

[FritsSikkink]

3 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

Yes, really.

 

Stair running 28 storeys (probably 27 using Bangkok storey naming protocol) would take untrained people to the limits of anaerobic respiration, maximising heart rate in an inoptimal setting.

They won't even make 5. 

[Briggsy]

Just now, FritsSikkink said:

They won't even make 5. 

I think at least 15% of TV posters could manage the other option, "steady stair walking". It is only around 5 minutes of effort to reach the 28th floor. If anyone knows where the stairs are, it would be useful information for applicants. It could save someone a long boring and frustrating wait in the lift queue. It would also be useful for claustrophobia sufferers.

[roo860]

I think at least 15% of TV posters could manage the other option, "steady stair walking". It is only around 5 minutes of effort to reach the 28th floor. If anyone knows where the stairs are, it would be useful information for applicants. It could save someone a long boring and frustrating wait in the lift queue. It would also be useful for claustrophobia sufferers.

 

Just in case there's a fire would be a good idea to locate the stairs.

[emoji106]

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

 

 

[darrendsd]

I though this "warning" was going to be about a serious matter, I was wrong

 

Been there 4 times in total in the last 2 years , never waited more than 5 minutes for the lift, if I had I probably wouldn't think it was important enough to post here

 

Also if you are 20 minutes late because of the lift you are not going to lose your appointment, I was 30 minutes late last time due to traffic, nothing said when I arrived

 

This is Thailand, people expect you to be late

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, worgeordie said:

I have to renew my passport later this year and i am

dreading having to go there,so it will be 2 trips from

Chiang Mai,just to get a passport.

regards worgeordie

 

Is there an option to mail it, registered mail, to your home address?

 

Australia turn around time is around 5 to 7 days, including mail transit time to arrive at house. 

 

 

 

[transam]

6 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

Is there an option to mail it, registered mail, to your home address?

 

Australia turn around time is around 5 to 7 days, including mail transit time to arrive at house. 

 

 

 

No, only by an agent who do use EMS mail..

[Kinnock]

Welcome to the future of the British Embassy in Thailand - now that the near-bankrupt UK Government has had to sell the family silver and move from Wireless Road to a 'tower block'.

 

Just image the future social pages of Thailand Tatler and Hello Magazine - showing photos of the British Ambassador hosting foreign dignitaries for a dinner at Sunrise Tacos.

 

"The British Ambassador was fashionably late for the chicken quesadilla and Chang Beer reception due to the queue for the elevator in the Trendy Building".

 

[blackcab]

I applied for a UK passport about a month ago. They told me 4 weeks, but the passport was in my hand 10 days later. It took 2 days to arrive in the UK and 2 days to get back to Bangkok, so the passport office turned the application around in less than 1 week, which I think is commendable.

 

The lifts used to be different. All lifts used to be available to anyone going to any floor. This was a much worse system because your lift could get stopped many, many times before reaching the top floor. What they have done now is better because it turns one lift into an express service that stops on 2 floors only. If you want to you can always get in one of the other lifts and see how long it takes you. It will probably be swings and roundabouts.

 

It would of course be nice to have a private lift dedicated to UK citizens only and activated by your passport, but I'm not sure that's going to happen any time soon.

 

 

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, blackcab said:

I applied for a UK passport about a month ago. They told me 4 weeks, but the passport was in my hand 10 days later. It took 2 days to arrive in the UK and 2 days to get back to Bangkok, so the passport office turned the application around in less than 1 week, which I think is commendable.

 

The lifts used to be different. All lifts used to be available to anyone going to any floor. This was a much worse system because your lift could get stopped many, many times before reaching the top floor. What they have done now is better because it turns one lift into an express service that stops on 2 floors only. If you want to you can always get in one of the other lifts and see how long it takes you. It will probably be swings and roundabouts.

 

It would of course be nice to have a private lift dedicated to UK citizens only and activated by your passport, but I'm not sure that's going to happen any time soon.

 

 

Interesting info.

[observer90210]

I would raise the issue with London, the UK press or an MP in England....or why not a crispy letter signed by any UK Expats Association in Thailand and directly sent to the Foreign Office ??.... it is indecent for any country to treat one's nationals as such, abroad.

[OJAS]

On 3/5/2018 at 11:39 AM, Bangkok Barry said:

They do, dealing with, I think, the Netherlands and other places. The lift stops only at floors 8 and 28. I'd say that the setup is totally inadequate for the number of people the company services.

Once upon a time the VFS office was located at Regent House, which, as I recall, only necessitated clambering up a single flight of stairs when we obtained a UK visa for my wife there several years ago. Which bright spark was responsible subsequently for taking the seemingly irrational decision to relocate the office to the 28th (top?) floor of an office building with an exceedingly silly name, I wonder?

Edited March 6, 2018 by OJAS

[johng]

Which bright spark was responsible subsequently for taking the seemingly irrational decision to relocate the office to the 28th (top?) floor of an office building with an exceedingly silly name, I wonder?

Boris ? Part of the eye popping exploits
that Britain's in Thailand get up to.