A warning about the UK Passport office in Bangkok

[transam]

2 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

It's always interesting to me to see how ready some people who come to Thailand are so ready to accept lower standards. Perhaps that's the very reason many are here, because they have no wish to keep up in their home country.

That is a ridiculous statement...LOS is not farangland, if folk like you think LOS folk should stand to attention when you enter the room then you really should go to a place where you can find the admiration you are looking for....

[Bangkok Barry]

5 minutes ago, transam said:

That is a ridiculous statement...LOS is not farangland, if folk like you think LOS folk should stand to attention when you enter the room then you really should go to a place where you can find the admiration you are looking for....

I'm just saying that anyone who has a job in which they deal with English speakers all day long should have a very good command of the language. The same as any foreigner who deals with Thais in their line of business should have a very good command of Thai. Otherwise you could get all kinds of misunderstandings which could have all kinds of consequences. You clearly don't agree, so I'll leave it there.

[jayboy]

25 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I'm just saying that anyone who has a job in which they deal with English speakers all day long should have a very good command of the language. The same as any foreigner who deals with Thais in their line of business should have a very good command of Thai. Otherwise you could get all kinds of misunderstandings which could have all kinds of consequences. You clearly don't agree, so I'll leave it there.

Your earlier statement (people coming here accepting lower standards) was in my opinion rather too general.One has to make allowances in a non-English speaking country.But on the UK Passport Office on the basis of the quote provided you are absolutely correct and transam is completely wrong.The office is specifically established to provide services to UK citizens on the part of the UK government.It's not grammar policing to insist that all communications from it should be crystal clear in near flawless English.If local employees aren't up to it they should be better trained or replaced.

[Bangkok Barry]

More confusion now. My wife has received a message, in Thai, from DHL saying that something is being dispatched for me from London today, delivering to the Trendy Building, and I will have seven days to collect it.

 

Putting aside the fact that I gave my wife's number only as a secondary number and they contacted her and not my own phone number or email address, and they directed the message to me, a foreigner, in Thai, do I assume that VFS will accept the shipment on my behalf and then inform me that my passport is ready for collection - if indeed that is what is in the shipment and not my forms returned for some reason? So it's treated as my name c/o VFS?

[transam]

22 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I'm just saying that anyone who has a job in which they deal with English speakers all day long should have a very good command of the language. The same as any foreigner who deals with Thais in their line of business should have a very good command of Thai. Otherwise you could get all kinds of misunderstandings which could have all kinds of consequences. You clearly don't agree, so I'll leave it there.

I would suggest that all of the staff at the LOS UK PP office have Thai degree's in English and that they were all vetted to have, in the opinion of the interviewers, a good comprehension of English to deal with a very simple process. If you want perfection then you need folk from the UK sitting there which ain't going to happen...

In the UK many call centres are maned by folk from India in India, where l could not understand what they were talking about, but l never had a problem at the UK PP office in LOS.... 

[sanemax]

22 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I'm just saying that anyone who has a job in which they deal with English speakers all day long should have a very good command of the language. The same as any foreigner who deals with Thais in their line of business should have a very good command of Thai. Otherwise you could get all kinds of misunderstandings which could have all kinds of consequences. You clearly don't agree, so I'll leave it there.

If you are referring to the staff at Trendy house , their English speaking ability is adequate and they are most helpful 

[transam]

7 minutes ago, sanemax said:

If you are referring to the staff at Trendy house , their English speaking ability is adequate and they are most helpful 

Absolutely, plus your "adequate" word is what l was getting at....

[Jip99]

14 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

More confusion now. My wife has received a message, in Thai, from DHL saying that something is being dispatched for me from London today, delivering to the Trendy Building, and I will have seven days to collect it.

 

Putting aside the fact that I gave my wife's number only as a secondary number and they contacted her and not my own phone number or email address, and they directed the message to me, a foreigner, in Thai, do I assume that VFS will accept the shipment on my behalf and then inform me that my passport is ready for collection - if indeed that is what is in the shipment and not my forms returned for some reason? So it's treated as my name c/o VFS?

 

 

My money is on it being your renewal passport.

 

 

Don't make a meal of it........... the system works fine - certainly by Thai standards.

 

For the record, even if your passport was being collected by a third party, and posted to you, you would still have got a call from DHL. Not perfect  -  but barely worth posting about.

 

 

PS... just my input..... if I wanted to maintain standards of my home country I would not have come to Thailand - that is obvious to anyone. That said, I have recently found that my home country is making a good job of lowering it's standards and Thailand is looking better all the time.

[Jip99]

On 3/15/2018 at 9:39 AM, Bangkok Barry said:

I have lost the receipt that I was given when I made my passport renewal application, and wrote to VFS Global asking if it would be a problem when I show up with my old passport to collect the new one. This was their incomprehensible and grammar-challenged reply:
 

You can print out the collection letter along with your old passport to provide when you collecting a new passport in our office.

 

I would expect staff dealing with British citizens to be able to comprehend and write proper English. But maybe I'm just being fussy.

 

 

 

So, are you saying that you didn't understand it ?

 

I certainly did; only a pedant would struggle that.

[transam]

9 minutes ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

 

So, are you saying that you didn't understand it ?

 

I certainly did; only a pedant would struggle that.

Plus the guy thinks Thai staff should be up to UK standards yet the guy cannot keep important stuff safe...

[jayboy]

 
 
 
So, are you saying that you didn't understand it ?
 
I certainly did; only a pedant would struggle that.

You and others are completely missing the point.It is an agency of HMG serving UK citizens and therefore clarity of communication is essential.Slovenly English cannot be tolerated in this instance - and I am usually fairly relaxed about these matters.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[transam]

3 minutes ago, jayboy said:

 

You and others are completely missing the point.It is an agency of HMG serving UK citizens and therefore clarity of communication is essential.Slovenly English cannot be tolerated in this instance - and I am usually fairly relaxed about these matters.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

Strange how some of us have nooooo ploblems with the place and their staff...

 

If you want perfection then get on a plane to London....Easy..

[Jip99]

5 minutes ago, jayboy said:

 

You and others are completely missing the point.It is an agency of HMG serving UK citizens and therefore clarity of communication is essential.Slovenly English cannot be tolerated in this instance - and I am usually fairly relaxed about these matters.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

I am not missing the point at all.

 

The fact remains that Thai English speaking standards are generally lower than many other Asean countries - live with it, rather than overact and resort to pedantry.

 

This is NOTHING to do with "HMG" - they outsource the delivery service of documentation to a third party.

[jayboy]

1 hour ago, transam said:

Strange how some of us have nooooo ploblems with the place and their staff...

 

If you want perfection then get on a plane to London....Easy..

I have no problems with the place at all since I have never used their services.My response was to a direct quotation which involved slovenly and unclear English.That is not acceptable in an agency which is contracted by HMG to provide services to UK citizens.

 

I don't think the puerile response "to get on a plane to London" adds much to the discussion.

[jayboy]

1 hour ago, Jip99 said:

 

I am not missing the point at all.

 

The fact remains that Thai English speaking standards are generally lower than many other Asean countries - live with it, rather than overact and resort to pedantry.

 

This is NOTHING to do with "HMG" - they outsource the delivery service of documentation to a third party.

Sorry to have to repeat you have completely and utterly missed the point.

 

The issue is not the standard of English in Thailand.It is well known it's generally substandard.

 

What you believe is your concern but "shouting" in capital letters simply underlines your confusion rather than adding to your case.I can assure you the British Government does regard subcontracted services as somehow nothing to do with it, especially in a politically sensitive subject like the issue of passports.The whole arrangement will be regularly scrutinized by FCO inspectors.It's not a very challenging distinction to grasp.

 

Whether there will be improvement over time is hard to say.Nobody is suggesting that the standard of English should be perfect there - but it should be pretty good.

[Jip99]

32 minutes ago, jayboy said:

I have no problems with the place at all since I have never used their services.My response was to a direct quotation which involved slovenly and unclear English.That is not acceptable in an agency which is contracted by HMG to provide services to UK citizens.

 

 

 

 

I think you expect  too much.

 

It is not about ‘standards’ it is about recognizing that where English is a second language, it will not be perfect.

 

If you want English staff or properly educated local staff them be prepared to pay a significantly higher price.

 

 

 

 

[Jip99]

6 minutes ago, jayboy said:

Sorry to have to repeat you have completely and utterly missed the point.

 

The issue is not the standard of English in Thailand.It is well known it's generally substandard.

 

What you believe is your concern but "shouting" in capital letters simply underlines your confusion rather than adding to your case.I can assure you the British Government does regard subcontracted services as somehow nothing to do with it, especially in a politically sensitive subject like the issue of passports.The whole arrangement will be regularly scrutinized by FCO inspectors.It's not a very challenging distinction to grasp.

 

Whether there will be improvement over time is hard to say.Nobody is suggesting that the standard of English should be perfect there - but it should be pretty good.

 

It was not shouting - learn Netiquette. Capitals throughout would represent ‘shouting’. The capitals for NOTHING was simply for emphasis.

 

Are you saying that you could not understand the reply received by the OP ?

[dick dasterdly]

7 minutes ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

I think you expect pert too much.

 

It is not about ‘standards’ it is about recognizing that where English is a second language, it will not be perfect.

 

If you want English staff or properly educated local staff them be prepared to pay a significantly higher price.

 

 

 

i c

"be prepared to pay a significantly higher price"???

 

Hang on - I already pay uk taxes on my pension income, and pay for any documentary evidence from the brit. embassy - who (I gather) charge far more than other embassies!

[transam]

27 minutes ago, jayboy said:

I have no problems with the place at all since I have never used their services.My response was to a direct quotation which involved slovenly and unclear English.That is not acceptable in an agency which is contracted by HMG to provide services to UK citizens.

 

I don't think the puerile response "to get on a plane to London" adds much to the discussion.

So you have never been there and you want to hang them...Good grief man...

 

I have been there, no problems what so ever with communication...

 

As YOU have had NO experience with the venue you should bugger off and stop trashing the staff you know nothing about......

[Jip99]

2 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

"be prepared to pay a significantly higher price"???

 

Hang on - I already pay uk taxes on my pension income, and pay for any documentary evidence from the brit. embassy - who (I gather) charge far more than other embassies!

 

 

Indeed?

 

Just saying, paying peanuts gets you anything from monkeys to staff who can communicate adequately in English.

 

For a much higher (read ‘perfect’) standard, then that will come at a premium. 

[Golden Triangle]

18 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

More confusion now. My wife has received a message, in Thai, from DHL saying that something is being dispatched for me from London today, delivering to the Trendy Building, and I will have seven days to collect it.

 

Putting aside the fact that I gave my wife's number only as a secondary number and they contacted her and not my own phone number or email address, and they directed the message to me, a foreigner, in Thai, do I assume that VFS will accept the shipment on my behalf and then inform me that my passport is ready for collection - if indeed that is what is in the shipment and not my forms returned for some reason? So it's treated as my name c/o VFS?

I used an agent, I received a message from DHL when my passport was due to be dispatched from UK, you will receive another message from VHS as and when your new passport has arrived at, and been booked in at Trendy House and is available for you to collect. If you had used an agent they too would receive notification.