Embassy letters of support.

[2530Ubon]

       May i ask, why is it that the British embassy is deciding who is eligible to stay in Thailand and who isn't. Last time i checked, it was the job of Thai immigration officers. The embassy staff are surely very busy with other matters and asking everyone to send evidence, long messages explaining their reasons for staying etc. Isn't that such a burden?

       Furthermore, isn't it the Embassy's role to support it's citizens in another country? Nothing is black and white, there are a lot of grey areas, and there are lot's of people getting rejection letters for no other reason than they don't have evidence, or don't already have a long term visa. One rejection letter noted that there were no restrictions upon arriving to the UK... that is an obvious falsehood, and should be ridiculed! The American embassy is issuing it's citizens with an embassy letter easily - enter your name and passport number on the website, with your email address, and that letter is emailed to you within 10 minutes.

       It is worth noting that a COVID outbreak in your country of residence is enough to apply for a 30 day extension. This has been verified by Thai immigration (See the announcement) and ciitizens of other other nations have detailed their success story's on this forum (Malaysia and Cambodia to name but two of them).

       As the Uk currently has an outbreak of COVID; the 7 day average is 3000 cases a day, restrictions on movement and social life; 2 weeks mandatory quarantine on arrival and  no more than 6 people allowed to meet etc. May i suggest that you copy the Americans and issue these letters automatically, or issue these letters automatically based upon the restrictions currently in place for anyone arriving from Thailand, or issue these letters based on a COVID outbreak in the UK - which is rising rapidly. 

[2530Ubon]

Fantastic news that Thailand is now on the travel corridor list and we no longer have to quarantine for 2 weeks. The question still remains - why aren't you automatically issuing these letters like other embassies (the US for example). Daily covid stats are at 4000 per day for the last two days, and a covid outbreak is reason enough to apply for a 30 day extension.

[phetchy]

On 9/18/2020 at 11:53 AM, 2530Ubon said:

Fantastic news that Thailand is now on the travel corridor list and we no longer have to quarantine for 2 weeks. The question still remains - why aren't you automatically issuing these letters like other embassies (the US for example). Daily covid stats are at 4000 per day for the last two days, and a covid outbreak is reason enough to apply for a 30 day extension.

Only if you do not transit in a county that is not on the list.  e.g. a stop over in pretty much anywhere in the Middle East renders the fact that you have been in Thailand irrelevant.

[2530Ubon]

       So we now have a report of someone on a tourist visa receiving a letter due to the COVID situation in the UK. Can someone from the embassy please update us? Are you now issuing these letters based on a covid outbreak in the UK?

       According to the headlines in the UK papers, the Prime Minister is considering a new nationwide lockdown as cases are going to approach 50,000 per day in a matter of 3 or 4 weeks.

       Obviously there are many who do not wish to return to a covid filled country with lockdowns, and the Thai government has stipulated that a covid outbreak is a sufficient reason to apply to stay in Thailand.

 

[Eff1n2ret]

There are probably at least as many Brits including some of my friends, who would like to get back to Thailand but have been unable to do so, as there are Brits who came on short-term visas and could have gone back a long time ago if they had chosen. If the British Embassy  dishes out loads of letters suggesting to the Thai Government that Covid is rampant in the UK, then anyone hoping to apply, for example, for the new Special Tourist Visa can forget it.

 

For most people, claiming to have a well-founded fear of Covid as a reason for not returning to the UK sounds a lot like those bogus asylum claimants I used to interview.

[2530Ubon]

10 minutes ago, Eff1n2ret said:

There are probably at least as many Brits including some of my friends, who would like to get back to Thailand but have been unable to do so, as there are Brits who came on short-term visas and could have gone back a long time ago if they had chosen. If the British Embassy  dishes out loads of letters suggesting to the Thai Government that Covid is rampant in the UK, then anyone hoping to apply, for example, for the new Special Tourist Visa can forget it.

 

For most people, claiming to have a well-founded fear of Covid as a reason for not returning to the UK sounds a lot like those bogus asylum claimants I used to interview.

       Anyone hoping to apply for the STV from the UK can forget it... It's not going to happen! The UK hasn't controlled the situation and the people are not following the rules the government has imposed. Issuing truthful letters that there is a COVID outbreak in the UK is not going to do any harm. The Thai governmnet will only issue STV's to countries who do not have COVID, or a minimal level that they have decided. Other Embassies (The US) are just auto-mailing them.

      There is obviously a valid reason to extend visas for people here in Thailand, as the UK has several parts of the country locked down, talk of 50,000 cases a day from the governments chief scientific officers in October, and the PM is considering another nationwide lockdown. Restrictions on movement, curfew etc is all currently happening in the UK. Do you think the Thai government don't know?

       Why on Earth would British citizens want to return, when the Thai government has offered to keep us here where it is safe, based on a covid extension. All we need is the embassy to do it's job and issue these letters. 

 

[blackcab]

Off topic posts have been removed.

[stament]

Be interested to hear the response from the British Consulate as the deadline of September 26th is almost upon us!

 

BTW, I'm ok but asking for my concern for others.

 

[edwardandtubs]

21 hours ago, stament said:

Be interested to hear the response from the British Consulate as the deadline of September 26th is almost upon us!

 

BTW, I'm ok but asking for my concern for others.

 

Doesn't look like anyone from the consulate is going to bother replying considering the original post is now ten days old. I too am perplexed why the British Consulate is taking it upon itself to do Thai immigration's job for it even though all they are being asked to do is provide a letter confirming there is currently a Covid-19 outbreak in the UK. This could easily be done automatically like the Americans are doing, which would save the consular team and British citizens a lot of time and worry.

Edited September 24, 2020 by edwardandtubs