Manila Embassy Update

[JonnieB]

Background: One of the under 50 crowd of non-working financial self-supporting expats "residing" in Thailand on repeat tourist visas (and who refuses to open some silly little business or get married).

I decided to run this time to the Philippines because I hadn't been there in a while and Penang is so boring (been there innumerable times). Here is a rundown on my experience at the Thai embassy in Manila. (This post was originally posted as a reply to another post but the post was not specifically related to the Manila embassy so I repost under it's own heading so those interested can find the thread easily.)

I am in the Philippines now on a holiday/visa run. I "live" in Thailand on tourist visas (so technically one could argue I don't qualify for continually getting new ones in order to stay) but I do not work, own a house, 2 cars, several pets, employ a driver and a maid, buy groceries, pay VAT taxes on everything I buy, pay annual motor vehicle registration taxes/fees for 2 cars, etc., etc., etc.. The only thing I have refused to purchase is a Thai wife or GF. (I actually should buy the wife because my life would be easier if I did in regards to visas.) Therefore, I can argue that me ,and all others similarly situated, are very much net pluses for the Thai economy. I would argue that basically I am a "tourist" who never leaves the country. A tourist does everything I do, only they leave after a period of time, to return later or be replaced by another tourist. The eat, drink, shop, and make merry while on holiday. So what really is the difference. I do all the same, leave every 60-90 days, and return...so why the hassle in obtaining a another visa???

In any case, I planned to do some travel in the Philippines and at the same time, get another T-visa from the Manila embassy. I did my research and knew they are considered a "hard-ass" embassy but figured I'm traveling on a Western passport, pretty clean-cut looking, middle-aged respectable looking...what the heck, I'm going anyway so give it a try. To show my Thai residency and benifides, I even took the official (not copy) of my Pattaya immigration office "residence certificate" I recently obtained when renewing my driver's licenses. Well, what a silly person I was for thinking that one of the purposes of an embassy is to facilitate travels to their home country. It seems the counter staff had a million reasons why I could not get one.

In the first place, they strictly enforce the "paid ticket home" requirement. "No, we wouldn't want you to spend any money supporting a Thai travel agent in Bangkok by buying your return ticket from them. Please either have one from an agent in your home country when you initially arrive in Thailand, or, you can support the Philippine travel industry by purchasing said ticket in Manila."

Next, they certainly want to see concrete proof of financial viability. This means copies of your foreign or Thai bank statements or the account passbook. These, of course, I left in my safe at home...silly me...thinking I would have to prove my net worth for a tourist visa. In the alternative, I could again, in this case, support the Philippine banking industry by going out and purchasing $500 dollars in travelers and bring those back to show with my tourist visa application. The fact I had 2 Bangkok Bank ATM cards, a Citibank Gold mastercard, and a Citibank Citigold (high-net worth account) ATM card was of no consequence.

Another petty requirement is you need the hotel voucher for your entire stay in Thailand...the actual voucher issued after you pay/deposit money, not some confirmation message. Of course, when I explained I rented a house, he wanted to see the lease agreement. I am sure that if I had a copy of the lease, he would have said it needed to be the ORIGINAL. If I had the original, hw probably have wanted to see the monthly rental payment receipts...starting to get the picture.

I tried to explain that the official Residence Certificate from Pattaya immigration confirmed my rental house as my residence but as it is in Thai, he couldn't understand it. I wanted to tell him to pass it along with the application to one of the Thai staff higher-up the food chain but by that time, I had pretty much decided I was wasting my time so didn't bother.

I told the fella that this was all a joke and I had never experienced such hassle at any other Thai embassy in SE Asia. His reply, "we just follow strictly the rules and regs as set forth and communicated to them for all visa classes by the Foreign Ministry in Bangkok." I said "whatever jerk-off" in slightly less polished French, and that I would just return and get my 30-days and then head on out to Penang in 30-35 days.

[tijnebijn]

Crazy stuff what you wrote there.Good one for you,you do not let anybody disturb your mood or whatsoever.I think it is a great story.Thanks for letting us know.

[libya 115]

Interesting report.

I suspect that the Thai Embassy in Manila does not under any circumstances want to become a regular and popular , tourist visa friendly embassy.

The facts are if word got around that they were issuing tourist visas, then they would be swamped with applications, and this would mean that the staff would have to work something that Philippine embassy staff and for that matter British embassy staff loathe and detest.

Of couse these are just my opinions. Good luck to anyone who has experienced friendly service.

[Badbanker]

Interesting report.

I suspect that the Thai Embassy in Manila does not under any circumstances want to become a regular and popular , tourist visa friendly embassy.

The facts are if word got around that they were issuing tourist visas, then they would be swamped with applications, and this would mean that the staff would have to work something that Philippine embassy staff and for that matter British embassy staff loathe and detest.

Of couse these are just my opinions. Good luck to anyone who has experienced friendly service.

My friends in Bangkok from the Phillipines are full of stories of the corruption of local people and the difficult time they have every time they leave Manila for other countries.

One of my friends who is a regular visa runner has told of the Phillipine immigration officials not allowing him to leave as he had so many Thai tourist visas and it was obvious he was working illegally. This almost caused him to miss his plane back to Bangkok. He had to pay 2,000 pesos to get on the plane. Now he gets a new passport everytime he goes home so he doesn't have this same problem.

Seems the government and public servants of the Phillipines are bent on keeping the people of this fair country totally enslaved to themselves and this attitude seems to be kicking over to the Thai Embassy in Manila. According to my friends, the embassy in Manila is corrupt and does get paid money by local people that really need a visa. This difficult attitude (wanting to see the original birth certificate of you wife's grandmother) is actually as my Phillipino friends say an invitation to pay some money under the table to get a visa.

Seems a shame that the visa application officers at Thai Embassy in Manila have allowed local corruption to interfer with their proscribed duty to the Thai government and travellers, and have fallen this low in their corruption stoping genuine travellers.

Sadly I and a number of other bankers have also washed our hands of this fair country.

Badbanker

[JonnieB]

Yes I am sure that is the case for Filipino nationals. I am a regular visitor to these islands and have heard all the stories of the petty bureaucratic corruption that takes place when locals have to deal with most government entities. However, I just want to make it clear I am a citizen of a Western country, traveling on a Western passport, and not of Filipino nationality/origin, and was still given the run-around. I did not interpret the actions of the official I was dealing with as an attempt to secure a bribe...just more like what was stated earlier...they don't want to become a visa mill embassy...even for Westerners making visa runs around SE Asia.

I can see now why the visa windows at this embassy are not very busy (only a couple folks there when I arrived), apparently their reputation for obstinace is widely known.

Edited February 20, 2007 by JonnieB

[Krub]

Yes I am sure that is the case for Filipino nationals. I am a regular visitor to these islands and have heard all the stories of the petty bureaucratic corruption that takes place when locals have to deal with most government entities. However, I just want to make it clear I am a citizen of a Western country, traveling on a Western passport, and not of Filipino nationality/origin, and was still given the run-around. I did not interpret the actions of the official I was dealing with as an attempt to secure a bribe...just more like what was stated earlier...they don't want to become a visa mill embassy...even for Westerners making visa runs around SE Asia.

I can see now why the visa windows at this embassy are not very busy (only a couple folks there when I arrived), apparently their reputation for obstinace is widely known.

We should be gratefull that we have the opportunity to go to 'friendly' Embassies and consulates in the region for TVs

Think of the situation of a Thai national wanting to get any type of visa from a neighboring western country. It wiuld be a no go from the start. It is already so difficult even in their own country.

Wonder if you had used an agent or if you did not have a passport full of TVs you might have got one...not sure though as I know Tokyo is also a 'difficult' place to obtain any visas if you are not resident.

Edited February 20, 2007 by Krub