Q&A session with the British Embassy Consular Team - ask your questions here!

[NoComment]

Q and A all good *if* the British Embassy employed a few more British nationals that actually understand British people, their problems and their way of life.

This is not intended to upset the Thai members of the workforce but just imagine if the situation was reversed and the Thai Embassy employed more British people than Thai nationals!??!!

Not dissimilar to my last visit to the British Embassy in London. Not

one white person behind any counter and the guy that served me was obviously an L2 English speaker.

Brits should deal with Brits, Yanks with Yanks, Thais with Thais etc...

(Not one Brit on the counters in Thai Embassy London)

I know many many British people who prefer to avoid the British Embassy at all cost.

The answers to any of the questions will just be pulled off the internet so 99% of people can answer their own question without bothering with this futile Q and A experience.

Don't waste your time and effort, you're likely to get a much better answer off Google.

 

 

[CorpusChristie]

1 minute ago, NoComment said:

Not dissimilar to my last visit to the British Embassy in London.

There isnt a British Embassy in London 

[KhaoYai]

On 8/3/2020 at 8:43 AM, Kabuta said:

The currents 'hoops' we are required to jump through to gain entry into Thailand are totally unachievable, tested negative within 72 hours, letter from Doctor etc..Within the UK there are extremely long times before you can see a GP normally 2-3 weeks in normal circumstances but longer now in the current climate, are these 'hoops' being addressed ? 

How do you expect UK consular officers to deal with that? Thailand imposed that requirement, not the UK.

 

If you need a fit to fly certificate you will have to go to a private clinic or contact the doctors that are based at many major airports.

[Thingamabob]

The renewal of a British passport in Thailand is unnecessarily complicated. Kindly consider simplifying the process.

[DPKANKAN]

5 hours ago, bikerbri said:

Why are British pensioners discriminated against when demanding pension parity with Pensioners living in the Uk?  For seventy years British pensioners living in frozen countries have been denied an uprated State pension. Why? Boiler plate Answers like " We only uprate pensions where we have a legal requirement or a a reciprocal agreement" are totally unjustified. We, along with pensioners living in the the likes of the Philippines have contribute into the system through National Insurance contributions and denying us the same is unadulterated  discrimination and should be stopped. Do you agree?

not only that if our pension payments had been invested properly they would be worth at least 3 times what we get. ????????????????????????????????

[DPKANKAN]

5 hours ago, bert bloggs said:

I remember when we had a real embassy and they helped us ,getting a new passport was easy etc ,long gone i fear.

Why they have sold their land etc in Wireless Road.... Money.... I am reliably informed that land was gifted to them at the end of the war!! ????????????????

[Jumbo1968]

Why a British citizen requires a COVID19 free test 72 hours before boarding a repatriation flight yet a Thai returnee doesn’t. The test is a waste of time and money as anyone of the majority of the Thais on the flight could have the virus and I could contract it from them. It is totally unnecessary test as you have to spend 14 days in quarantine on your arrival in Thailand.

[Jack G]

Hi

 

My wife have duel nationality with Thailand and United Kingdom.

She needs to apply for a new British passport as her current

Passport expires on the 1st of December 2020

I would like to know the duration of wait and the cost involved to

Apply for a new British passport at the British consulate in Bangkok.

Secondly: If we choose to rather apply for a new passport in the UK

Would it be possible to travel to the UK on her Thai passport and 

Present her British passport on arrival.

 

Regards

 

[dabhand]

53 minutes ago, DPKANKAN said:

Why they have sold their land etc in Wireless Road.... Money.... I am reliably informed that land was gifted to them at the end of the war!! ????????????????

Not quite. A previous location, where the GPO currently stands, was gifted to Britain around 1876 by King Mongkut. This was then sold in 1922 for £110k and the Wireless Road plot was bought from Nai Lert using the proceeds. The total sale, in two tranches in 2006 and 2017, equated to close to £500m. A nice little earner.

So, the origins of the purchase price was via the sale of gifted property. Rather poor form by us Brits, what!! One wonders if there were any conditions attached to the original gift. If not, there should have been.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embassy_of_the_United_Kingdom,_Bangkok

Edited August 4, 2020 by dabhand

[bert bloggs]

8 minutes ago, dabhand said:

Not quite. A previous location, where the GPO currently stands, was gifted to Britain around 1876 by King Mongkut. This was then sold in 1922 for £110k and the Wireless Road plot was bought from Nai Lert using the proceeds. The total sale, in two tranches in 2006 and 2017, equated to close to £500m. A nice little earner.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embassy_of_the_United_Kingdom,_Bangkok

yes the land originally was not in the centre of BKK so not very valuable ,in fact our old office 25 years ago was built on what was a rice field just off Sukhumvit ,an old farmer became a very rich man when he sold the  fields ,his family still own a plot with houses on that they rent out.

[Flyfish]

In common with many others,I am in UK and cannot get back to Thailand to renew my visa , retirement extension.

i and many others would appreciate lobbying from U.K. embassy,to facilitate automatic extension or postal extension.

[sambum]

My extension of stay based on Marriage to a Thai national is not due until October, but at my last 90 day report I asked for a check list of documents required as things have a habit of changing quite regularly here - especially at he moment!

I go down the 40,000 baht a month route, and have fastidiously transferred 40K+ per month to my Thai bank account, and will be supplying a letter from the bank, and a statement of deposits for the last 12 months (as requested last year), and a copy of my P60 which shows details of my company pension, and my Tax Code Notice for 6 Apr 2020 to 6 Apr 2021, wherein it gives details of my State Pension, and Company Pension, (which was an additional requirement last year asked for by the I.O. dealing with my case). 

 

However, on the "list of the required documents for visa extension (Thai wife)" under "other documents" it states:-

 

2. Pension

2.1. Pension Certificate from the Embassy/Consulate (not less than 40,000 baht/month or 400,000 baht/year) (valid for 6 months

2.2. Copy of a Thai bank book or the proof of pension.

 

My question is:- What is this Pension Certificate from the Embassy/Consulate, and will the British Embassy provide one if required, or is the documentation listed above likely to be sufficient for Thai Immigration needs?

[lem]

I receive a UK State Pension plus a Civil Service Pension from 40 years employment with the British Government. One of my many postings was to Bangkok 1992-1997 before I retired. What is the problem with issuing a letter confirming my official UK Govt pensions from the Embassy, as supplied in the past.

[oporhatch]

What happens to Thai people who have a UK leave to remain visa and have not returned to the UK for 2 years in the Covid situation, due to travel and insurance restrictions.  Originally booked in April 2020, but the flight was cancelled.  Now we have the issue of booking another a flight to satisfy not being out of the UK for 2 years and then potentially can not get back to Thailand.   

[Flyfish]

3 hours ago, Kadilo said:

Or extend them at the Thai embassy of the country they are stuck in. 

An excellent suggestion! Kudos to Kadilo!

[Jen65]

Are British subjects living/retired in Thailand required to register with the British Embassy , even on a voluntary basis ???

[Old Dissenter]

5 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

How would you support yourself if you dont have the income to do so ?

By doing a job. High paying jobs are not always easy to get.

[CorpusChristie]

3 hours ago, NoComment said:

Q and A all good *if* the British Embassy employed a few more British nationals that actually understand British people, their problems and their way of life.

What are those problems , the problems that you want to talk to the British Embassy about, that the Thais working their cannot understand ?

[evadgib]

The number of complaints about 'frozen' pensions in this thread has come as a surprize, given this pinned topic in the 'Home Countries' board is so poorly attended:

The ICBP are trying their best to address the issue but won't get far without more people signing up and/or donating (& you don't have to wait until pension age before joining in ???? )

Edited August 4, 2020 by evadgib

[Jumbo1968]

I am positive in the last question and answer session the question was raised about the income letters and a reason given why they could no longer verify them.

As far as the frozen pensions that question cannot be answered by him either, it’s better to lobby the government but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that as due to the Covid outbreak they have even less money and will be looking at further cutbacks.

[izod10]

9 hours ago, joebrown said:

Before stopping Income Confirmation Letters for Visa Extensions did HMG consider the alternative of 'contracting out' the service, in the same way it has done with passports?

I understand approximately 2500 expats were affected and your income would have been about 6m bht. As most expats in this category are pensioners (for life), why couldn't you have carried out an initial in depth examination of each applicants' pension income and bank statements, at an appropriate cost, say 5,000bht, and then 'guarantee' the income letter for immigration each year for 2000bht thereafter, following a minimal check on current bank statements?

I am at a loss to understand why Thai Immigration still accept income letters from other embassies who accept affidavits from retirees, but not from the UK Embassy? Something doesn't seem quite right as to the reason UK Embassy gave for withdrawing this service!

By not issuing income letters(65000 per month),which did cost 1900 baht from embassy,now the cost is 100 baht(bank statement)

[soi3eddie]

3 hours ago, Jen65 said:

Are British subjects living/retired in Thailand required to register with the British Embassy , even on a voluntary basis ???

No. They no longer want to know we exist. Stopped years ago. 

[evadgib]

4 hours ago, Jen65 said:

Are British subjects living/retired in Thailand required to register with the British Embassy , even on a voluntary basis ???

Brits in LoS are reasonably assumed to be able to follow their FB/twitter feeds and/or to sign up to receive email updates. Registering per se failed because very few bothered letting them know when they were no longer in LoS or their circumstances (address/phone/passport/NoK) had changed or indeed they had died.

HTH

Edited August 4, 2020 by evadgib

[FGPG]

I use a Non I Married Visa, Yellow House Book Holder, maintain money in Thai Bank.

have a Re Entry Permit unable to use whilst valid due to travel restrictions.

Can it be extended, like expired Visas in Thailand? Under the Amnesty.

[Mr Grumpy]

When will Thai people be permitted to enter the United Kingdom?

 

I am one of those unfortunate "dirty farang", stranded in the UK, and  prevented from returning. I say prevented fully understanding that the Thai government has, after many months of ignoring us,  begun to realize that we might be of some economical use to Thailand.  But the costs are prohibitive, and the requirements needed to re-enter the Kingdom of Thailand unnecessarily complex. Hence I am here for the near future, and would like my Thai wife, of 10 years now, and son, to come to the United Kingdom until such time as I am permitted to return.

 

Why the barrier on Thai's visiting the UK at this time? Thailand's death rate of 58 from Covid-19 vis-a-vis the United Kingdom's 46,299 (Aug.3) is a stark reminder of which country did something correctly. 

 

When will this barrier be lifted? 

 

Thank you. 

Victor Peeke

[Jumbo1968]

9 minutes ago, victorpeeke said:

When will Thai people be permitted to enter the United Kingdom?

 

I am one of those unfortunate "dirty farang", stranded in the UK, and  prevented from returning. I say prevented fully understanding that the Thai government has, after many months of ignoring us,  begun to realize that we might be of some economical use to Thailand.  But the costs are prohibitive, and the requirements needed to re-enter the Kingdom of Thailand unnecessarily complex. Hence I am here for the near future, and would like my Thai wife, of 10 years now, and son, to come to the United Kingdom until such time as I am permitted to return.

 

Why the barrier on Thai's visiting the UK at this time? Thailand's death rate of 58 from Covid-19 vis-a-vis the United Kingdom's 46,299 (Aug.3) is a stark reminder of which country did something correctly. 

 

When will this barrier be lifted? 

 

Thank you. 

Victor Peeke

There is no barriers in place to stop anyone from coming to the U.K. providing you can get a flight, the only criteria is you have to self isolate for 14 days.

[OJAS]

22 hours ago, sandyf said:

The embassy is incapable of answering that question, it would be better if you sent email to the inquiry.

http://frozenbritishpensions.org/appg-for-frozen-british-pensions-launches-inquiry/

And that comment IMHO illustrates perfectly the fragmented and disjointed nature of our dealings with HMG collectively these days, with each relevant component part (DWP & HMPO as well as the Embassy) operating exclusively within the confines of its particular silo with blinkers firmly attached. So much for the concept of "joined-up government" which was being enthusiatically espoused by Blair & co 20 years ago!

[maxcorrigan]

23 hours ago, Dice Man said:

Totally agree.I have taken this to the Pensions Tribunal and LOST as the judge said " it is to expensive to fix"   as its gone on for over 20 years! This case was taken the the European Justice Court about 10 years ago and the lady nattowly lost! Time to do it again I think??

Yes and chief scrote tony blair fought tooth and nail to get it stopped, good ole fair minded tone ( human rights lawyer) eh!

[sandyf]

1 hour ago, OJAS said:

And that comment IMHO illustrates perfectly the fragmented and disjointed nature of our dealings with HMG collectively these days, with each relevant component part (DWP & HMPO as well as the Embassy) operating exclusively within the confines of its particular silo with blinkers firmly attached. So much for the concept of "joined-up government" which was being enthusiatically espoused by Blair & co 20 years ago!

Exactly, and brought home to us quite acutely when HMG decided to move Consular Services from the embassy in Bangkok to India so they could downsize and make a profit from selling the site.

[maxcorrigan]

19 hours ago, brommers said:

What is the point? Once you have left the UK you are regarded as a traitor and are tested as such. The UK has absolutely no interest in changing the frozen pension situation, the appalling & expensive passport renewal service and the lack of any other service. So don't waste your energy. 

That is true, and when this subject frozen pensions etc. is brought up in the British press a big proportion of the commentators mainly women disagree that we should get any increases at all, i get the impression if it were put to a vote they would vote to stop paying our pensions completely!