Thai Passports - A Great Little Earner.

[Formaleins]

I recently posted about needing to renew passports etc. and today we took the family to renew my son's expired passport here at the City Hall in Chiang Mai (boy how has that place and the road system changed since 2006!) I must have covered 20KM of NO U Turns until I finally managed to get to the place. That bye the bye, apart from the <deleted>-fest as you go through the door to get the initial paperwork to begin the process (which has totally spoiled what is an excellent system) you really cannot fault this place, it is a production line of cash for the government. I timed it and watched the queue numbers. They charge 1040 Baht (which is very reasonable for a passport if you ever have to buy a British one) 40 Baht goes to EMS for the shipping of the completed passport and 1000 Baht goes into the government pockets. We were there until just after noon and these ladies had processed 260 passports at 1000 Baht a pop, they didn't break for lunch, they seemed to have staggered breaks unlike most Amphurs etc.

 

So in one day they were probably raking in over half a million baht just in Chiang Mai alone, multiply that by 5 days a week... it is a pretty good earner for a digital photo, a fingerprint scanner and a few sheets of paper. Obviously, the local Amphurs are not raking in the cash like this which is probably why they are so bone idle lazy and why it takes them four hours to process 2 queue numbers and then still get everything wrong after that. The passport office even pointed out that the Amphur even managed to screw up my sons's ID by putting his middle name as a co joined part of his surname, luckily the ladies at the passport office were on the ball and we didn't end up with a useless passport courtesy of our retarded Amphur.

[Lacessit]

Try an Australian passport if you want to see real gouging. My last one cost 9800 baht.

[Formaleins]

4 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Try an Australian passport if you want to see real gouging. My last one cost 9800 baht.

Jesus....are you including the flights to Bangkok, the hotel stay and the karaoke and "Happy Time Lady Drinks" in that price? Shocking how they skin us for a few pieces of paper.

[KhunBENQ]

16 minutes ago, Formaleins said:

and 1000 Baht goes into the government pockets.

And you think production and printing of the passport is 0 Baht?

 

Swiss passport at Bangkok cost 5600 (or was it 5800) in 2017.

 

Getting an ID card or passport for Thai people is a piece of cake compared to what you can experience in Germany e.g.

[Formaleins]

British Passport Fleecing Charges (Gouging)

Child Passport renewal - requires the parent to accompany -

2 flights to Bangkok from Chiang Mai, about 5000 Baht.

Overnight in an Hotel near Trendy VFS, 1200 Baht.

Payment to Trendy about 5000 Baht.

Courier Service to UK about 1200 Baht.

 

Wait six weeks...

 

 

Two flights to Bangkok about 5000 Baht,

Overnight in hotel near Trendy VFS about 1200 Baht,

 

Collect passport.

 

Taxis from Don Muang to Bangkok about 1000 Baht,

Taxis from Chiang Mai airport to home 3200 Baht.

 

So all in all a nice little jolly just to get a new passport for a 12 year old and the POS is only valid for 5 years. I have to give it to the Thais on this one, they show the UK Passport system for what it really is, a mouth watering dog turd sandwich!

[Salerno]

4 minutes ago, Formaleins said:

Shocking how they skin us for a few pieces of paper.

Needed the expedited service for my last renewal (and yes, I will remember renewal date properly in future before booking a flight on a whim!) AU$516 all up ... around 14,500 Bht at that time.

[Don Mega]

13 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Try an Australian passport if you want to see real gouging. My last one cost 9800 baht.

In Thailand ?

 

 

 

 

[Formaleins]

7 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

And you think production and printing of the passport is 0 Baht?

 

Swiss passport at Bangkok cost 5600 (or was it 5800) in 2017.

 

Getting an ID card or passport for Thai people is a piece of cake compared to what you can experience in Germany e.g.

I can get a 300 page PDF file printed into a book for 300 Baht, so don't try and justify that <deleted>! Besides, Swiss are not really people, they are something else, they can fiddle with little pieces of metal and gemstones for about 3 years just to make something that tells the time when you can buy the same from Casio for 400 Baht...a nation of OCD Lunatics.

[shy coconut]

I'm not sure whether you are saying this is a good thing or not.

 

By the sounds of things the application was dealt with efficiently and

was far cheaper than many western countries.

[Formaleins]

5 minutes ago, shy coconut said:

I'm not sure whether you are saying this is a good thing or not.

 

By the sounds of things the application was dealt with efficiently and

was far cheaper than many western countries.

Exactly what I am saying. They only screw it up when you walk through the door to get the queue number, once you have that....they put anywhere else to shame for service, speed and price! A lot could be learned...hint hint You <deleted> at the UK Passport offices!

[dabhand]

The UK IPS had a go at justifying their passport charge back in 2011. Believe the cost is even more now with no choice but to pay up.

 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/118636/17949-breakdown-costs-passport.pdf

[Formaleins]

3 minutes ago, dabhand said:

The UK IPS had a go at justifying their passport charge back in 2011. Believe the cost is even more now with no choice but to pay up.

 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/118636/17949-breakdown-costs-passport.pdf

Where will it end? Farming out the issuing of British Passports... it began with us having to send them to Hong Kong until that went sour, then it ended up going out to bloody India, how much money are they trying to save? I am sure Afghanistan would be cheap but do you reckon your details might not have been compromised or copied? What went wrong with Britain?

[NanLaew]

50 minutes ago, Formaleins said:

British Passport Fleecing Charges (Gouging)

Child Passport renewal - requires the parent to accompany -

2 flights to Bangkok from Chiang Mai, about 5000 Baht.

Overnight in an Hotel near Trendy VFS, 1200 Baht.

Payment to Trendy about 5000 Baht.

Courier Service to UK about 1200 Baht.

 

Wait six weeks...

 

 

Two flights to Bangkok about 5000 Baht,

Overnight in hotel near Trendy VFS about 1200 Baht,

 

Collect passport.

 

Taxis from Don Muang to Bangkok about 1000 Baht,

Taxis from Chiang Mai airport to home 3200 Baht.

 

So all in all a nice little jolly just to get a new passport for a 12 year old and the POS is only valid for 5 years. I have to give it to the Thais on this one, they show the UK Passport system for what it really is, a mouth watering dog turd sandwich!

Or, you could always option to stay back home thus obviating the necessity for any international travel document, save yourself some money and us some internet bandwidth.

[Puchaiyank]

I love threads with real life experiences.

 

Farangs are here to stay...who else would put up with such corruption?

[Salerno]

18 minutes ago, Formaleins said:

What went wrong with Britain?

Started going wrong with the dumb decision to keep the grey, cold, tiny dismal island and send the wrong mob to the beautiful, sunny big island  

[FritsSikkink]

2 hours ago, Formaleins said:

Jesus....are you including the flights to Bangkok, the hotel stay and the karaoke and "Happy Time Lady Drinks" in that price? Shocking how they skin us for a few pieces of paper.

 

A few sheets of paper? What about all the security features, are you for real?

How much are you paying in your home country?

Some people are really looking at every possibility to moan.

[FritsSikkink]

2 hours ago, Formaleins said:

British Passport Fleecing Charges (Gouging)

Child Passport renewal - requires the parent to accompany -

2 flights to Bangkok from Chiang Mai, about 5000 Baht.

Overnight in an Hotel near Trendy VFS, 1200 Baht.

Payment to Trendy about 5000 Baht.

Courier Service to UK about 1200 Baht.

 

Wait six weeks...

 

 

Two flights to Bangkok about 5000 Baht,

Overnight in hotel near Trendy VFS about 1200 Baht,

 

Collect passport.

 

Taxis from Don Muang to Bangkok about 1000 Baht,

Taxis from Chiang Mai airport to home 3200 Baht.

 

So all in all a nice little jolly just to get a new passport for a 12 year old and the POS is only valid for 5 years. I have to give it to the Thais on this one, they show the UK Passport system for what it really is, a mouth watering dog turd sandwich!

taxi from DM to Bangkok 1000THB, ROFL

[naboo]

British passports overseas cost ridiculous money because VFS need to make money. I'm pretty sure VFS are owned entirely by former British government workers, mostly foreign office.

 

VFS stands for Very <deleted> <deleted>. They opened an office in Chiangmai (shortly after the consulate was closed, suspicious), where their additional fee just happens to be equal to the cost of a return flight to Bangkok, the nearest location where you don't have to pay the additional fee.

 

One massive con. I'm turning to crime, it's only fair.

[daveAustin]

5 hours ago, Formaleins said:

British Passport Fleecing Charges (Gouging)

Child Passport renewal - requires the parent to accompany -

2 flights to Bangkok from Chiang Mai, about 5000 Baht.

Overnight in an Hotel near Trendy VFS, 1200 Baht.

Payment to Trendy about 5000 Baht.

Courier Service to UK about 1200 Baht.

 

Wait six weeks...

 

 

Two flights to Bangkok about 5000 Baht,

Overnight in hotel near Trendy VFS about 1200 Baht,

 

Collect passport.

 

Taxis from Don Muang to Bangkok about 1000 Baht,

Taxis from Chiang Mai airport to home 3200 Baht.

 

So all in all a nice little jolly just to get a new passport for a 12 year old and the POS is only valid for 5 years. I have to give it to the Thais on this one, they show the UK Passport system for what it really is, a mouth watering dog turd sandwich!

Can't really compare renewing a Thai passport in Thailand (a developing country) to obtaining a foreign one (from a supposed first world country) overseas. Would also have significant costs in going to London to get a Thai one renewed. In addition, Thai passports are valid for 5 years. The system in UK is pretty slick now. Just renewed kid's 10 year passport for a smidge under 3,000 baht... all online and sorted within the week, very good service. You can also get one in four hours if needed. 

[Kwasaki]

12 hours ago, Formaleins said:

British Passport Fleecing Charges (Gouging)

Child Passport renewal - requires the parent to accompany -

2 flights to Bangkok from Chiang Mai, about 5000 Baht.

Overnight in an Hotel near Trendy VFS, 1200 Baht.

Payment to Trendy about 5000 Baht.

Courier Service to UK about 1200 Baht.

Wait six weeks...

Two flights to Bangkok about 5000 Baht,

Overnight in hotel near Trendy VFS about 1200 Baht,

Collect passport.

Taxis from Don Muang to Bangkok about 1000 Baht,

Taxis from Chiang Mai airport to home 3200 Baht.

 

I use this and send old UK passport to Keyvisaco from local post office and receive new passport back home. Cost 5,000 bht plus whatever the new passport cost is.

The new passport takes approx 2 - 3 weeks so they need to hold on to the old passport so they can collect the new one.

[ballpoint]

I've always been impressed by the efficiency of the Thai passport service, ever since I saw my wife renew hers, and my daughter apply for her first, back in the early 90s.  Back then, NZ passports were actually produced at the local embassy, and I had one from Singapore and one from Bangkok that looked like amateur hour on the Blue Peter show, with the photo glued onto the front page and covered by a sheet of plastic that could be easily peeled off and replaced with no one knowing it had been done.  Later on, the application had to be done at the embassy, but they sent it to Wellington and you had to make another trip to collect the new one at the embassy once they received it.  Things are much easier now though.  When I renewed my NZ passport last year, I filled in an online form, had my wife take a photo of me standing in front of a white wall, cropped the photo to the correct size, uploaded it to the online form, gave my K-Bank debit card details and had THB3,700 deducted from my account, and received a shiny new passport by courier less than a week later, despite not paying extra for the expedited service.  Progress.

[OJAS]

22 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Or, you could always option to stay back home thus obviating the necessity for any international travel document, save yourself some money and us some internet bandwidth.

Yep, how dare @Formaleins question your view that the current UK passport renewal service from Thailand should be anything but fulsomely praised to the highest heavens as being the best thing since sliced bread.

[OJAS]

17 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Can't really compare renewing a Thai passport in Thailand (a developing country) to obtaining a foreign one (from a supposed first world country) overseas. Would also have significant costs in going to London to get a Thai one renewed. In addition, Thai passports are valid for 5 years. The system in UK is pretty slick now. Just renewed kid's 10 year passport for a smidge under 3,000 baht... all online and sorted within the week, very good service. You can also get one in four hours if needed. 

"Thai passports are valid for 5 years."

 

New passports are now valid for 10 years:-

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_passport

 

"The system in UK is pretty slick now."

 

With HMPO's online facility that might well, indeed, be the case back in the UK. Unfortunately this facility is not available to those renewing from Thailand for some ridiculous reason. Instead we are subject to antediluvian procedures which I personally would be extremely hard-pressed to describe as being slick in the 21st Century.