How early can you renew a Thai passport

[Waterloo]

Does anyone know if their is a restriction on when you can renew a Thai passport time wise before it expires?

We live in the UK so this would be done in London.

Currently the wife and our daughters passports have expired but our son's passport has at least 20 months still to run.

Want to renew all the passports at the same time so that we only need to make the trip to the embassy every 5 years.

Cheers

[brianj1964]

I dont know what they would say in London, we have done it there previously but meant a trip from Edinburgh, my wife and I were in Bangkok on holiday, her passport still had over a year until expiry but they were happy to let her get a new one, sorry if it doesnt really help. try phoning them and ask, if you email them they do reply, sometimes the next day but other times a couple days later.

[Waterloo]

cheers I was thinking of giving them a call, I had already looked on their website with no success.

Promising that your wife renewed 1 year early that would probably work.

 

Regards

[Waterloo]

cheers good to know

[OJAS]

On 10/17/2019 at 6:52 PM, Waterloo said:

Want to renew all the passports at the same time so that we only need to make the trip to the embassy every 5 years.

New Thai passports are now valid for 10 years.

[Waterloo]

18 hours ago, OJAS said:

New Thai passports are now valid for 10 years.

Now that is really good news, can't find it confirmed on the Embassy web just mentioned on Wikipedia.

Cheers

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 10/30/2019 at 12:44 AM, OJAS said:

New Thai passports are now valid for 10 years.

 

The new 10 year variety have been announced, but won't actually be available until sometime later in 2020...at least, that's the promise from the government. AFAIK, you can't actually get a 10 year Thai passport now, only the standard 5 year variety.

 

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

BTW.... does anyone know...

 

When a Thai citizen applies for a new Thai passport these days, do they still need to bring printed passport photos to submit....  or it's gone all digital now and the only photos used are those taken at the time of the application?

 

(In looking at the Thai MFA and Consular Services websites, I can't find any mention of needing to bring printed photos anymore...)

 

Thanks!

 

[ThaiBunny]

Just now, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

BTW.... does anyone know...

 

When a Thai citizen applies for a new Thai passport these days, do they still need to bring printed passport photos to submit....  or it's gone all digital now and the only photos used are those taken at the time of the application?

 

(In looking at the Thai MFA and Consular Services websites, I can't find any mention of needing to bring printed photos anymore...)

 

Thanks!

 

I went with a Thai friend to get him a new passport at the Klong Toei office a few weeks ago and they did everything in the office with him. All he took was his expired passport and his ID card

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

5 minutes ago, ThaiBunny said:

I went with a Thai friend to get him a new passport at the Klong Toei office a few weeks ago and they did everything in the office with him. All he took was his expired passport and his ID card

 

Thanks!  That's exactly where we're going. And, your account fits with what I could find on the various Thai govt websites... no mention about needing to bring printed photos anymore.

 

[ThaiBunny]

Just now, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Thanks!  That's exactly where we're going. And, your account fits with what I could find on the various Thai govt websites... no mention about needing to bring printed photos anymore.

Here's a tip - everyone turns up when the office opens and the queue is l-o-n-g. 45 minutes later no queue and very little wait

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

24 minutes ago, ThaiBunny said:

Here's a tip - everyone turns up when the office opens and the queue is l-o-n-g. 45 minutes later no queue and very little wait

 

From what I saw, there's also an online appointments system that exists, where supposedly you can reserve a spot up to 5 days in advance.

 

Supposedly, each office only does 400 applicants per day, and they have something like up to 240 slots available via appointment and the other 160 available via just showing up.

 

The Khlong Toei MRT passport office seems to be in the underground MetroMall retail area there that's part of the station area itself???

 

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[ThaiBunny]

3 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

The Khlong Toei MRT passport office seems to me in the underground MetroMall retail area there that's part of the station area itself???

Yes, it's part of the MRT. Coffee shops etc. at one end of the public concourse, passport office at the other end

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

6 minutes ago, ThaiBunny said:

Yes, it's part of the MRT. Coffee shops etc. at one end of the public concourse, passport office at the other end

 

For anyone living in central BKK, it's a whole lot better than schlepping out to the main MFA office in the CW area, that's for sure!!!

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Here's a main Thai government website re Thai passport applications. The 3rd icon on the page also is a list of all current passport office locations.

 

http://www.consular.go.th/main/th/services/10131

 

The passport "handbook" document linked under the graphic image on the following website translates nicely in Chrome / Google Translate:

 

http://www.consular.go.th/main/th/services/111285-หนังสือเดินทางบุคคลทั่วไป.html

 

Here's the link to make a Thai passport appointment ahead of time:

 

https://www.passport.in.th/

 

And here's the Facebook page for the Khlong Toei MRT passport office in central BKK:

 

https://www.facebook.com/PassportMRTKlongtoei/

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BLACKJACK2]

My wife and son have been today and both came away without new passports. They said I had to be there to sign for my son's (maybe because he is now over 16yrs) I haven't gotten the full story yet,  they told my wife she could not renew until it expired in April.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, BLACKJACK2 said:

My wife and son have been today and both came away without new passports. They said I had to be there to sign for my son's (maybe because he is now over 16yrs) I haven't gotten the full story yet,  they told my wife she could not renew until it expired in April.

 In the Thai system, AFAIK, usually it's not a problem to get a new passport when one is headed toward expiring.  I've never heard that they somehow require you to wait until the current one has already expired before issuing a new one.

 

Also, there are several member reports earlier in this thread of Thais applying for and getting new Thai passports well ahead of the expiry dates of their current ones.

 

 

Edited January 6, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[blackcab]

@BLACKJACK2 You do need to sign for your son's passport as he is still a minor.

 

Your wife should be able to renew her passport. Many countries require at least 6 months validity to apply for and receive a visa.

[samran]

5 hours ago, BLACKJACK2 said:

My wife and son have been today and both came away without new passports. They said I had to be there to sign for my son's (maybe because he is now over 16yrs) I haven't gotten the full story yet,  they told my wife she could not renew until it expired in April.

In the case of minors, then both parents need to sign off on the application, so in effect, you have to be there too.

 

Not true, I renewed my Thai passport two years early last October. 

[BLACKJACK2]

Yes, made a mistake by not doing it while I was there, could have done it Friday before I flew out.

 

They would not let her do her's though, said she had to wait until it expired, obviously other people have not had that problem, just relaying what happened today.

[UKresonant]

On 10/17/2019 at 7:08 PM, brianj1964 said:

I dont know what they would say in London, we have done it there previously but meant a trip from Edinburgh, my wife and I were in Bangkok on holiday, her passport still had over a year until expiry but they were happy to let her get a new one, sorry if it doesnt really help. try phoning them and ask, if you email them they do reply, sometimes the next day but other times a couple days later.

Were going down to London for a trip in a couple of weeks, as the Daughter is renewing her Thai passport, but that is only 5 months ahead of expiry (pity they don't have the 10 year one yet).

When you make the apointments, make sure the confirmation e-mail comes back. When she made the appointment online, a booking code was shown, but no e-mail came. After checking with them, it had not registered on the system. The advised to book again, second time it worked fine, and they manually reconfirmed, it was on the system. We only have a narrow window to go down, especially when the Grandson is due, the end of Feb.

Hopefully we can register the birth with the mobile consulate, otherwise another trip to London later in the year....