Great result at Chang Wattana this morning!

[cliveshep]

Had to go to Chang Wattana today to get annual extension stamp - did the earlier interview/handing over truck-load of paper bit 4 weeks ago. Traffic was insane around Laksi area, outside the Government building not a parking space in sight and massive traffic queues just to drive past. My wife managed to get to the turnoff outside and  dropped me at the entrance closest to the Immigration Bureau area and went to park the car, intending to do that and then come find me and go downstairs to update my bank book and get 2 photo copies of it.

 

So while she went to find a spot I went through security and then got a ticket at check-in. After getting the ticket, as usual L2 so looke at the overhead displays and as I walked in my number was already there. Hurried to the correct counter and handed over passport to a gorgeous girl trainee - same one I drooled over 4 weeks earlier haha. Told he had not done bank book and copies and she said not needed so I queried that and an I.O behind her said something I didn't understand to I said is that "yes or no?". So she said "NO!" 

 

Wow, so called my wife who was parking and suggested she just waited in the car with the air-con on rather than continue to struggle to find a parking space but she had already found a spot and was locking the car. Walked towards the seating area where I had spotted an empty seat. Just as I sat down the lovely trainee girl came out and called me  back over. She gave me back my passport, I thought there was a problem but no, it was already stamped for extension to next April. Thanked her and rapidly called my wife who by then had locked the car and according to her had walked all of 5 steps. I asked her to go back to the car and come back to the entrance to collect me. Maybe it was upcoming Songkran or Thai Holidays the cause of the crowds but that was the fastest stamping ever. Mind you the traffic getting back out of the area was dreadful, much of the problem of course Chan Ocha's bloody overhead train works where the highway repeatedly goes from 3 lanes to 2 and then back again to 3 then 1. Madness!

 

But...........well done Immigration Bureau!

[marin]

10 minutes ago, cliveshep said:

much of the problem of course Chan Ocha's bloody overhead train works where the highway repeatedly goes from 3 lanes to 2 and then back again to 3 then 1. Madness!

The Pink Line monorail construction does cause jams, but on Changwattana Rd. Not on any highway. Just to be clear to people who are travelling there. 

[Crossy]

12 minutes ago, marin said:

The Pink Line monorail construction does cause jams, but on Changwattana Rd. Not on any highway. Just to be clear to people who are travelling there. 

 

Opening "soon", but don't expect the traffic to get any better, CW Road was bad even before the construction started.

 

[NanLaew]

Two weeks ago, I went to Savanakhet and got a one-year, multri-entry visa without all that faff.

[marin]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

Opening "soon", but don't expect the traffic to get any better, CW Road was bad even before the construction started.

 

Believe me I know. Living in north Bangkok its sort of my go to street. Having lived here for so long I have seen it go from a smaller road with orchards and nurseries all along it to the massive road it is now. My Foodland and Makro are both on that street.  

[cliveshep]

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

Two weeks ago, I went to Savanakhet and got a one-year, multri-entry visa without all that faff.

But you got to leave the country every 90 days and then come back to trigger the next 90 days and so on. You think that's a bargain do you? I had to get the same visa when I and my wife moved back here from the UK, sorry - I moved  here but she moved back. Glad don't have to go that route again and am settled in our own lovely home with our dogs. Plus one can plan one's life but when the year is up - what then? Will they give you another one?

[markclover]

You walked in and got your exact ticket number as it was called?  Never seen that before.  Being handed the wrong ticket waiting 6 hours and being told it is the wrong counter I've had that one.  Seeing a woman, paying the money and getting a receipt, than coming back a week later to be told she has never seen me before and ignoring the receipt then asking for me to pay again I have had that one.  Being told to stand up again and then told to sit when told and place the document into the officers hands gently I have had that one.  Having my passport thrown at me had that as well.  Having a bucket of water and feces thrown over my legs by the maid at Laos immigration I've had that one.

[raysunshineray]

18 hours ago, cliveshep said:

But you got to leave the country every 90 days and then come back to trigger the next 90 days and so on. You think that's a bargain do you? I had to get the same visa when I and my wife moved back here from the UK, sorry - I moved  here but she moved back. Glad don't have to go that route again and am settled in our own lovely home with our dogs. Plus one can plan one's life but when the year is up - what then? Will they give you another one?

You are in fact allowed a 60 day 'wife visit' extension on each entry with the multi-entry from Savannakhet, which means you have to leave only every 150 days rather than 90.

It's really a case of what suits each individual. 

I took the Savannakhet multi-entry route after weighing up all the factors, including the cost of using an agent without money in the bank for the extension based on marriage.

 

I've seen the argument repeated often that people think it an unacceptable chore to go out every 90/150 days, but I myself do not see it that way personally.

For me, I'm not so completely in love with everything in Thailand that I have no wish to have a break from it and explore some other nearby country.

After all, instead of it being just an onerous visa run, it could be viewed as a chance to take a holiday away from Thailand, whether it be a neighbouring country or slightly further afield, - perhaps Japan or India for example.

But as I say, as individuals we all have slightly different perspectives., - and some of us (perhaps a minority I don't know) may relish the opportunity to take a break from Thailand for a brief bit of travel elsewhere.

Yes I agree, turn-around visa runs are something exceedingly troublesome and a matter of having to endure rather than enjoy, but I'd find it pretty strange if there weren't some others who would relish the opportunity of 'getting away for a bit', and experiencing something new or at least different.

I'm currently thinking about a week or two in Langkawi or perhaps Phu Quoc in Vietnam, which gives me something to look forward to.

 

And before you mention it... yes, I know - one doesn't want to 'waste' too much of that year's visa time outside Thailand.

Swings and roundabouts... horses for courses...

 

   

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 4/5/2023 at 4:14 PM, marin said:

Believe me I know. Living in north Bangkok its sort of my go to street. Having lived here for so long I have seen it go from a smaller road with orchards and nurseries all along it to the massive road it is now. My Foodland and Makro are both on that street.  

 

I was there at BKK CW a week ago, and made the mistake of taking the blue express bus from the government complex that travels along CW Road out toward the expressway and then back toward Victory Monument.

 

Took a good 20 minutes of crawling bumper to bumper traffic at about 3 pm in the afternoon to get from CW Road at Soi 7 onward to the expressway entrance. Not doing that again!!!

 

[cliveshep]

14 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I was there at BKK CW a week ago, and made the mistake of taking the blue express bus from the government complex that travels along CW Road out toward the expressway and then back toward Victory Monument.

 

Took a good 20 minutes of crawling bumper to bumper traffic at about 3 pm in the afternoon to get from CW Road at Soi 7 onward to the expressway entrance. Not doing that again!!!

 

Same for us but in our own car with homicidal wife driving - she could show those mad bus drivers a thing or two. Have no idea what was up with everyone and his car/truck/bike converging on CW earler this week but getting clear and back onto Ramintra with a little moving traffic as opposed to stationary/having a picnic took us a half hour too. But even past the expressway the menace of unfinished railway works caused repeated holdups. It is infuriatingf to drive mile after mile with one lane permanently closed off but no discernable activity.

Edited April 8, 2023 by cliveshep

[NanLaew]

On 4/5/2023 at 5:19 PM, cliveshep said:

But you got to leave the country every 90 days and then come back to trigger the next 90 days and so on. You think that's a bargain do you?

After first setting foot here back in 1978, getting out of Thailand three or four times a year for a reality check is a mental health bargain. A change is as good as a rest.

 

On 4/5/2023 at 5:19 PM, cliveshep said:

Plus one can plan one's life but when the year is up - what then? Will they give you another one?

Somehow, I manage to plan my life around my infrequent Thai 'outages' with consummate ease. As for rule changes, extensions aren't impervious to them either so being able to 'roll with it' isn't unique to multi-entry visa riders.

 

Extensions also fitted my lifestyle and served me well for the past 12 years or so. It's just that I can't be ar5ed with the immigration office faff any more.

 

But I appreciate that everyone's needs and opinions are unique, different and subject to change. If you are happy with longer term stays with less travel and that benefits your lifetsyle, then yes, annual extensions are (almost) perfect.

[Mark1066]

On 4/6/2023 at 11:34 AM, raysunshineray said:

You are in fact allowed a 60 day 'wife visit' extension on each entry with the multi-entry from Savannakhet, which means you have to leave only every 150 days rather than 90.

It's really a case of what suits each individual. 

I took the Savannakhet multi-entry route after weighing up all the factors, including the cost of using an agent without money in the bank for the extension based on marriage.

 

I've seen the argument repeated often that people think it an unacceptable chore to go out every 90/150 days, but I myself do not see it that way personally.

For me, I'm not so completely in love with everything in Thailand that I have no wish to have a break from it and explore some other nearby country.

After all, instead of it being just an onerous visa run, it could be viewed as a chance to take a holiday away from Thailand, whether it be a neighbouring country or slightly further afield, - perhaps Japan or India for example.

But as I say, as individuals we all have slightly different perspectives., - and some of us (perhaps a minority I don't know) may relish the opportunity to take a break from Thailand for a brief bit of travel elsewhere.

Yes I agree, turn-around visa runs are something exceedingly troublesome and a matter of having to endure rather than enjoy, but I'd find it pretty strange if there weren't some others who would relish the opportunity of 'getting away for a bit', and experiencing something new or at least different.

I'm currently thinking about a week or two in Langkawi or perhaps Phu Quoc in Vietnam, which gives me something to look forward to.

 

And before you mention it... yes, I know - one doesn't want to 'waste' too much of that year's visa time outside Thailand.

Swings and roundabouts... horses for courses...

 

   

If you "took advantage" of that 60-day extension for each entry, you'd end up visiting immigration 3-4 times a year instead of once - what would be the point in that?