9 minutes ago, thaiflyer1 said:

Think you/ll find the old passport was sat in the agents office for the month...

I'm aware of where it was , I was just replying to somebody who stated that "you must have your passport with you at all times".

5 minutes ago, NE1 said:

I'm aware of where it was , I was just replying to somebody who stated that "you must have your passport with you at all times".

Had you got stopped by the Police and they asked to see your I.D. , you would have been kept in IDC until your PP was shown 

1 minute ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Had you got stopped by the Police and they asked to see your I.D. , you would have been kept in IDC until your PP was shown 

If your passport is at an agents office while renewing said passport , carrying a copy would suffice.

11 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

When was the last time that you renewed your PP?

Going from recollection, the Embassy letter only became a requirement about 7 years ago , prior to that , it wasn't required/given

my current PP was issued July 2017

You are very lucky if HMPO posted the new passport as this service only applies in the UK and you have been without your old passport for some time (up to 11weeks) which is outside the Thai Immigration rules- hence I have just done mine via KeyVisa who took my application to Trendy Bangkok who instructed HMPO passport agents in India. KV returned my old passport to me whilst we waited for the new one to come and picked up the new PP from Trendy at which point they cancelled the old PP. I was only without a valid passport over a weekend. Better safe than sorry! And yes Trendy provided a pro forma for Immigration asking for the new passport to be certified

8 hours ago, Red Forever said:

The passport renewal procedure at Trendy building BKK in not convoluted. Book an appointment online, take all required docs, photos and card details for payment. 10 minutes later, job done. I did this twice in last 10 years. First one took 11 days to return, second passport took 10 days.

No problem, no hassle if the guidelines are followed.

I agree that, certainly pre-Covid, the renewal process is straightforward and efficient.  However, I live in Bangkok and I think OJAS's gripe is for those that have to make two trips to either Bangkok or Chiang Mai to get it done (or pay out for an Agent).

2 things, I was assured by a captain of police that my pink ID card was sufficient.

Secondly, for Ajnamoon, how long did it take? VFS in Chiangmai a still quoting 13 weeks.

I applied for a new UK passport at the Trendy building at the beginning of March. The whole process was easy and took less than 30 minutes. VFS informed it would take about 11 weeks to receive my new passport. However, today (5 weeks later) I received an email to say it was ready to collect.