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2-day lightning trip to the UK

simon43

By simon43
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simon43 Star Member

simon43

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Thanks to the woeful lack of speed (about 2 months) of getting a new British passport by post from an overseas location, I need to make a lightning dash trip back to the UK tomorrow to collect my new passport in person!

 

My current passport is full, not expired, and soon I need to travel into Myanmar again, where they take great pleasure, (as does Laos) of sticking full-page visa stickers in one's passport.....

 

There is no 'pay extra for a faster service' from overseas embassies, but there is a 'pay extra, get your new passport in 4 hours' service if I present my ugly mug at a passport office in the UK.

 

I've managed to get a BA flight from Bangkok to London (via Doha), then jump on a train to Peterborough (the London passport office had no available appointment times). present my ugly mug, do an online class with one of my Chinese students while I wait for my new passport, back on the train to Gatwick and a flight back to Bangkok on Turkmenistan Airways (which gets good reviews).  Then off to Myanmar next week if my business visa comes through...

 

What should I bring back from Peterborough/London to Laos/Myanmar??  Suggestions 🙂

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scubascuba3
scubascuba3

Why did you not do that months ago?  

johng
johng

Well not for a Mastermind  like yourself  😋

DezLez
DezLez

Your Passport!!

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simon43 Star Member

simon43

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3 minutes ago, johng said:

Why on earth  not just go to the passport office in Bangkok ??

no need to fly half way across the world.

Er, read my OP - you cannot just collect a new passport from Bangkok, you have to apply with relevant documents, then wait up to 2 months...

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scubascuba3 Star Member

scubascuba3

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17 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Er, read my OP - you cannot just collect a new passport from Bangkok, you have to apply with relevant documents, then wait up to 2 months...

Why did you not do that months ago?

 

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Nick Carter icp Star Member

Nick Carter icp

Posted
Posted
41 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Thanks to the woeful lack of speed (about 2 months) of getting a new British passport by post from an overseas location,

 

    They say 2 months , but its often more like  few weeks that you get your new passport back .

    Why didn't you apply  few weeks ago in BKK ?

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johng Star Member

johng

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, simon43 said:

you have to apply with relevant documents, then wait up to 2 months...

Err did you not know that your passport  is near expiration ?

Err  why the big rush to jump from country to country every second ?

one minute you're in Pattaya looking for a Union flag to display on a motorcycle

next minute bouncing to Laos or Myanmar via London  like a

Higgs boson particle..just observing,  I don't understand the bouncing around all over the place ?

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simon43 Star Member

simon43

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8 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Why did you not do that months ago?

 

Good point!  At the time I was in Thailand with plenty of spare pages in my passport.  Then I made 2 unexpected trips to Laos (3.5 passport pages) and a trip into Myanmar (2 pages). That left my passport with less than 2 spare pages.  I could apply for a passport by post, but then a 'cry for help' from a school in Shan State who had no foreign teacher to teach 'Global Perspectives'  (lol - that will be interesting to teach in Myanmar!!).  So suddenly I needed this new passport.

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simon43 Star Member

simon43

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Just now, emptypockets said:

Is your Myanmar visa for business?. 

If so, you can get a 12 month visa if you have entered Myanmar a certain amount of times.

Yes, but the business visa is 'tied' to my employer and I haven't worked at this school before.

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simon43 Star Member

simon43

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7 minutes ago, johng said:

Err did you not know that your passport  is near expiration ?

Err  why the big rush to jump from country to country every second ?

one minute you're in Pattaya looking for a Union flag to display on a motorcycle

next minute bouncing to Laos or Myanmar via London  like a

Higgs boson particle..just observing,  I don't understand the bouncing around all over the place ?

All very logical in fact!

 

My passport has not expired at all.  It is almost full!

 

I was looking for a UK flag to put on my motorbike once I returned to Myanmar, since when traveling in rural regions the soldiers occasionally like to shoot at locals on motorbikes for no reason.

 

My trips into Laos is to establish my retirement 'base' in Luang Prabang' since I cannot stay in Myanmar if I'm not employed (there is no retirement visa available).  At some time in the future, I will want to stop teaching in-class and so I can return to my base in Laos.  Also, I need to store my radio ham gear in Laos since I can't take it into Myanmar right now.  I have no desire to put 800,000 THB into a Thai bank 🙂

 

See?  It's not so confusing at all!

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johng Star Member

johng

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1 minute ago, simon43 said:

See?  It's not so confusing at all!

Well not for a Mastermind  like yourself  😋

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Enoon Platinum Member

Enoon

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, simon43 said:

Thanks to the woeful lack of speed (about 2 months) of getting a new British passport by post from an overseas location, I need to make a lightning dash trip back to the UK tomorrow to collect my new passport in person!

 

My current passport is full, not expired, and soon I need to travel into Myanmar again, where they take great pleasure, (as does Laos) of sticking full-page visa stickers in one's passport.....

 

There is no 'pay extra for a faster service' from overseas embassies, but there is a 'pay extra, get your new passport in 4 hours' service if I present my ugly mug at a passport office in the UK.

 

I've managed to get a BA flight from Bangkok to London (via Doha), then jump on a train to Peterborough (the London passport office had no available appointment times). present my ugly mug, do an online class with one of my Chinese students while I wait for my new passport, back on the train to Gatwick and a flight back to Bangkok on Turkmenistan Airways (which gets good reviews).  Then off to Myanmar next week if my business visa comes through...

 

What should I bring back from Peterborough/London to Laos/Myanmar??  Suggestions 🙂

 

"..........where they take great pleasure, (as does Laos) of sticking full-page visa stickers in one's passport..... "

 

The sticker at  the top of the page is the one I got at the Laos border after I applied online for a visa at the start of this year.  I got the same small sticker in my old passport at the start of '24 :

 

sticker.png.35210bba73647faa4bcfa2c7eee301ce.png

 

 

 

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DezLez Platinum Member

DezLez

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Posted
1 hour ago, simon43 said:

What should I bring back from Peterborough/London to Laos/Myanmar??  Suggestions 🙂

Your Passport!!

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Will B Good Star Member

Will B Good

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, simon43 said:

Er, read my OP - you cannot just collect a new passport from Bangkok, you have to apply with relevant documents, then wait up to 2 months...

 

Did mine close to the Christmas period and still git it back in a week!!!!!

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RayC Ruby Member

RayC

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, DezLez said:

Your Passport!!

 

😂 But no point in doing so. No room for the exit stamp.

marin Platinum Member

marin

Posted
Posted
55 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Why did you not do that months ago?

 

If you have followed Simon you quickly see he changes his mind a lot. A lot. Not really an expert at planning ahead. 

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Trippy Gold Member

Trippy

Posted
Posted

Can't the British embassy add more pages to your passport?

The US embassy in Singapore did that for me many years ago, but don't know if they still offer that service.

Might be worth looking into.

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richard_smith237 Star Member

richard_smith237

Posted
Posted

Thats pretty awful from HMPO - its outrageously crap that 'they' have placed you in this situation - 2 months for a passport is ridiculous - that said, when I last renewed my passport it took exactly two months.

 

 

Given your situation - might you be able to get two passports ??? - one as a backup? (all you would need is a company letter explaining frequent travel and that you require a second passport for visa processing etc).

 

 

Worth a go at least - just so you don't find yourself in the same situation again.

 

 

7 minutes ago, marin said:

If you have followed Simon you quickly see he changes his mind a lot. A lot. Not really an expert at planning ahead. 

 

He's allowed two months...    that really should have been enough.

johng Star Member

johng

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, marin said:

you quickly see he changes his mind a lot. A lot.

55555  Quite the understatement  !!!  Schrödinger's cat always in a state of flux.

richard_smith237 Star Member

richard_smith237

Posted
Posted
16 minutes ago, Will B Good said:
1 hour ago, simon43 said:

Er, read my OP - you cannot just collect a new passport from Bangkok, you have to apply with relevant documents, then wait up to 2 months...

 

Did mine close to the Christmas period and still git it back in a week!!!!!

 

I've had it take 3 weeks, I've had it take 8 weeks...    Its impossible to predict HMPO timing.

 

8 Weeks really should have been plenty.

 

On my last renewal - it took 8 weeks because firstly they rejected my payment: CC details filled out on their payment form, so I had to go through an online payment portal (I don't know why we don't do this from the start), then they rejected my Photo, because it was older than 6 months - they knew this as it was the same Passport Photo in my 'other - second' Passport (which had been renewed a year earlier (School boy error).

 

 

newbee2022 Star Member

newbee2022

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, simon43 said:

Thanks to the woeful lack of speed (about 2 months) of getting a new British passport by post from an overseas location, I need to make a lightning dash trip back to the UK tomorrow to collect my new passport in person!

 

My current passport is full, not expired, and soon I need to travel into Myanmar again, where they take great pleasure, (as does Laos) of sticking full-page visa stickers in one's passport.....

 

There is no 'pay extra for a faster service' from overseas embassies, but there is a 'pay extra, get your new passport in 4 hours' service if I present my ugly mug at a passport office in the UK.

 

I've managed to get a BA flight from Bangkok to London (via Doha), then jump on a train to Peterborough (the London passport office had no available appointment times). present my ugly mug, do an online class with one of my Chinese students while I wait for my new passport, back on the train to Gatwick and a flight back to Bangkok on Turkmenistan Airways (which gets good reviews).  Then off to Myanmar next week if my business visa comes through...

 

What should I bring back from Peterborough/London to Laos/Myanmar??  Suggestions 🙂

Some illegal migrants?🥳

phetphet Ruby Member

phetphet

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, simon43 said:

Thanks to the woeful lack of speed (about 2 months) of getting a new British passport by post from an overseas location, I need to make a lightning dash trip back to the UK tomorrow to collect my new passport in person!

 

My current passport is full, not expired, and soon I need to travel into Myanmar again, where they take great pleasure, (as does Laos) of sticking full-page visa stickers in one's passport.....

 

There is no 'pay extra for a faster service' from overseas embassies, but there is a 'pay extra, get your new passport in 4 hours' service if I present my ugly mug at a passport office in the UK.

 

I've managed to get a BA flight from Bangkok to London (via Doha), then jump on a train to Peterborough (the London passport office had no available appointment times). present my ugly mug, do an online class with one of my Chinese students while I wait for my new passport, back on the train to Gatwick and a flight back to Bangkok on Turkmenistan Airways (which gets good reviews).  Then off to Myanmar next week if my business visa comes through...

 

What should I bring back from Peterborough/London to Laos/Myanmar??  Suggestions 🙂

I renewed mine last year in BKK and it was back in 8-10 days.  you must have picked a busy time.

 

Let us know how the Turkmenistsn flight goes.

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