British Embassy To Open Office In Pattaya In July

[Mobi]

According to an article in Pattaya Today, the British embassy will open a branch office in Jomtien, on the same Soi as the immigration office. The property has already been leased, and will open in July.

Interestingly, the article states that there are around 600,000 Brits staying in or visiting Thailand every year, and that at least a third of them spend most of their time in Pattaya. That's equivalent to the population of medium sized town in the UK

Of no real relevance but I personally found it revealing that the new Mayor of Pattaya was elected with a total vote of only 17,743. Not too many permanent, registered residents here, it would seem.

[PattayaParent]

That's terrible news 'cos if they have an official office here they'll likely charge the exorbitant fees that they charge in Bangkok for what Barry does for free now.

[JSixpack]

I assume then that all the officers presently stationed in The Dog's <deleted>, Soi Yamato, will be tranferred over.

[Nampeung]

Will Barry be based in that office then?

[Loosescrew]

I wonder if more British citizens will migrate to Pattaya?

(Not that there's anything wrong with that)

[edwardandtubs]

Who's Barry and what are British officials doing in a place called The Dog's <deleted> in the middle of a red light district?

[Briggsy]

Need to know basis only.

[Prakanong]

Will Barry be based in that office then?

Unless he gets a job with the F&C Office I doubt it

[Basset]

Will Barry be based in that office then?

Unless he gets a job with the F&C Office I doubt it

It will be Barry's Office

[nungnatee]

That's terrible news 'cos if they have an official office here they'll likely charge the exorbitant fees that they charge in Bangkok for what Barry does for free now.

i dont totally agree with that view i think its a great idea its long over due its saves having 2 go to BKK if u need them, but i do agree about barry hes very helpful and informative ive called him on a few occasions and hes a nice person, but hes not an embassy he can give you advise not make up for instance a new passport for you well, i wouldnt imagine so ?? and the fees are what the fees are, its no good complaining about that. that is standard worldwide in whatever currency it is, in the said british embassy

[nungnatee]

According to an article in Pattaya Today, the British embassy will open a branch office in Jomtien, on the same Soi as the immigration office. The property has already been leased, and will open in July.

Interestingly, the article states that there are around 600,000 Brits staying in or visiting Thailand every year, and that at least a third of them spend most of their time in Pattaya. That's equivalent to the population of medium sized town in the UK

Of no real relevance but I personally found it revealing that the new Mayor of Pattaya was elected with a total vote of only 17,743. Not too many permanent, registered residents here, it would seem.

most of the residents ID cards in pattaya are from BBB that =brown bunnies from buriram that is why pattaya has such a low turnout

[Maestro]

Consider the possibility that the Pattaya Today got some details wrong. Could it, for example, be that the British consulate is moving from Pattaya to Jomtien?

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Maestro

[Mobi]

Consider the possibility that the Pattaya Today got some details wrong. Could it, for example, be that the British consulate is moving from Pattaya to Jomtien?

--

Maestro

Don't think so. Here's the full story:

British embassy confirms brand new Pattaya office

FOLLOWING acceptance of the case for commercial expansion by the foreign office in London, the British embassy in Bangkok has confirmed it has secured the lease on a small office in Jomtien for the use of its consulate in the Pattaya area. The 20 sqm room, which will need mini-minor works to improve safety and security, is in the block of shop units on the main road in Jomtien soi 5 very close to the Pattaya immigration bureau. The embassy office will be the unit adjacent to the money changer.

The repair and renovation work is expected to take a couple of months before the formal opening perhaps in July. The developer and agent Siam Best Enterprises was responsible for clinching the financial deal with the embassy.

SBE’s chief executive Bruno ###### said, “I am delighted by this cooperation between my company and the British embassy and I feel that the office is long overdue in view of the heavy workload of the Pattaya consulate.”

Siam Best Enterprises is very well known as the company constructing Ocean1 Tower, scheduled to be the tallest building in Thailand.

Pattaya based embassy staff currently are found in the Meesen coffee shop, also close to the immigration bureau, and the new office will just a few meters away. Apart from seeing up to 20 customers a day at busy periods, mostly on immigration and passport related business, they are also responsible for visiting arrested British nationals at police stations and jails and looking into some hospitalisations and deaths in the resort area. It’s expected that opening hours and services will be expanded once the new office is operational.

The British embassy in Bangkok already maintains an office in Chiang Mai but in no other cities or towns in Thailand. The Pattaya venture is recognition that the work load in the eastern seaboard resort has now outgrown the structures available. The embassy also has honorary consuls in Phuket and Ko Samui who say that their work load is also going up by leaps and bounds. It’s believed that over 600,000 British nationals visit Thailand every year, or are based here, and that at least a third of them spend much of their time in Pattaya.

[Maestro]

That’s what you get when somebody quotes from a news article without linking to the source.

Here is the source: http://www.pattayatoday.net/index.php?acti...ews&id=3026

And this is what it says:

... the British embassy in Bangkok has confirmed it has secured the lease on a small office in Jomtien for the use of its consulate in the Pattaya area...

Of course, somewhere else the article wrongly says “embassy office” but we should forgive a reporter for not knowing the difference between embassy and consulate and for not knowing that this is a move of the consulate from Pattaya to Jomtien.

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Maestro

[Maestro]

My apologies to the journalist of Pattaya today. I saw only now that after reading the first few lines of the article I had to scroll down, past the article “Pattaya motorway delayed”, to find the rest of the article “British embassy confirms brand new Pattaya office”. Having read it all now I believe that the newspaper simply reprinted a press release issued by Siam Best Enterprises, which is mentioned in the article.

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Maestro

[NanLaew]

Who's Barry and what are British officials doing in a place called The Dog's <deleted> in the middle of a red light district?

If you need to ask....

[PattayaParent]

That's terrible news 'cos if they have an official office here they'll likely charge the exorbitant fees that they charge in Bangkok for what Barry does for free now.

i dont totally agree with that view i think its a great idea its long over due its saves having 2 go to BKK if u need them, but i do agree about barry hes very helpful and informative ive called him on a few occasions and hes a nice person, but hes not an embassy he can give you advise not make up for instance a new passport for you well, i wouldnt imagine so ?? and the fees are what the fees are, its no good complaining about that. that is standard worldwide in whatever currency it is, in the said british embassy

At the moment you can get certified copies of passports or other documents, certified translations, proof of address etc. from Barry for free. How much does the Embassy charge for doing these things?

The only thing most people need an Embassy for is renewing their passport once every 10 years which isn't such a hardship to travel to Bangkok for.

[Taijitu]

Yes, this "extension" to the British Embassy here has been on the cards for sometime.

To quote Barry from mid-2006:

"We have never had an office in Pattaya but it has now been agreed by the Foreign Office in London that we can have an office and a paid secretariat. I hope that by the end of the year we will have a little better structure than we have at the moment, which is essentially my mobile phone and three volunteers who help. To have a base, it would be rather nice. It is coming."

[Humphrey Bear]

Barry Kenyon is an "honorary" consul - i.e. he is an independent businessman who has offered his services to HM FO to do a limited range of tasks usually associated with a consulate.

If a proper consulate were to be set up in Pattaya, then the full range of services would be provided (at a price) and there would be no need of the honorary guy.

Also, if a full consualte were to be set up, then the Thai government would be entitled to ask for another consualate to be set up in the UK. There is a Thai consualte in Hull, a British consulate in Chiang Mai, plus consular services at both embassies - London and Krung Thep.

Keep Barry in position - he does a dam_n good job and all he needs is a secretary / clerk provided by HMG to keep the paperwork tidy. Or that is the usual set-up.

[Basset]

That's terrible news 'cos if they have an official office here they'll likely charge the exorbitant fees that they charge in Bangkok for what Barry does for free now.

i dont totally agree with that view i think its a great idea its long over due its saves having 2 go to BKK if u need them, but i do agree about barry hes very helpful and informative ive called him on a few occasions and hes a nice person, but hes not an embassy he can give you advise not make up for instance a new passport for you well, i wouldnt imagine so ?? and the fees are what the fees are, its no good complaining about that. that is standard worldwide in whatever currency it is, in the said british embassy

At the moment you can get certified copies of passports or other documents, certified translations, proof of address etc. from Barry for free. How much does the Embassy charge for doing these things?

The only thing most people need an Embassy for is renewing their passport once every 10 years which isn't such a hardship to travel to Bangkok for.

"The only thing most people need an Embassy for is renewing their passport"

There is a part of the british comunity here in pattaya that should not be let out on thier own, the sort when asked about type of visa they pull out a master card i think its a great idea one more place to send people that arnt listening, and it will sound a bit better than "a guy in a coffeee shop there every morning"

bertie, whos doing the offical opening? ive heard sven gorne ercisons nipped over?

I am sure Barry will do a great job in a proper location, as regards who will open it Chris he was seen tring to get a snooker table through the door!!!

[Madame]

Interestingly, the article states that there are around 600,000 Brits staying in or visiting Thailand every year, and that at least a third of them spend most of their time in Pattaya. That's equivalent to the population of medium sized town in the UK

Just to have the exact number of UK visitors in Thailand; year 2007: 746 422 persons

See more statistics here:

http://www2.tat.or.th/stat/download/1207/res-1-12.XLS

[PattayaParent]

The place is going to be full of Pattaya bar girls applying for visas.

[Mobi]

The place is going to be full of Pattaya bar girls applying for visas.

My guess is that they will be sent to the Indian run outsourcing visa office in Ploenchit.

[Humphrey Bear]

The place is going to be full of Pattaya bar girls applying for visas.

I'm not sure that an honorary consul can issue visas. I lived in the Swedish Consulate in Benghazi for years and we sent all simple applicants to Tripoli. The paperwprk would be issued in Benghazi and checked, but the magic stamp was only available in Tripoli.

[Maestro]

Yes, this "extension" to the British Embassy here has been on the cards for sometime.

To quote Barry from mid-2006:

"We have never had an office in Pattaya but it has now been agreed by the Foreign Office in London that we can have an office and a paid secretariat. I hope that by the end of the year we will have a little better structure than we have at the moment, which is essentially my mobile phone and three volunteers who help. To have a base, it would be rather nice. It is coming."

I take this quote from the British consul in Pattaya as a reference to the British consulate that now exists in Pattaya and that apparently will move to a new location in Jomthien.

Why doesn’t somebody call the Honorary British Consul in Pattaya and ask what the news article is really about? This would eliminate all this speculation.

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Maestro

[libya 115]

Yes, this "extension" to the British Embassy here has been on the cards for sometime.

To quote Barry from mid-2006:

"We have never had an office in Pattaya but it has now been agreed by the Foreign Office in London that we can have an office and a paid secretariat. I hope that by the end of the year we will have a little better structure than we have at the moment, which is essentially my mobile phone and three volunteers who help. To have a base, it would be rather nice. It is coming."

I take this quote from the British consul in Pattaya as a reference to the British consulate that now exists in Pattaya and that apparently will move to a new location in Jomthien.

Why doesn’t somebody call the Honorary British Consul in Pattaya and ask what the news article is really about? This would eliminate all this speculation.

--

Maestro

SOURCE: Pattaya Mail: June 23rd 2006

British consul awarded MBE in birthday honours

Consular hot spot to have office soon

Barry Kenyon, the British embassy’s honorary consul in Pattaya, has been given an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s birthday honours recently announced in London. The award is for meritorious service to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Barry Kenyon

He has worked for the Embassy for ten years in several capacities and was promoted to his present position last August. His main role is to represent the embassy’s interests when British nationals are arrested and imprisoned, fall seriously ill or even die in the resort. He also liaises with the immigration police to issue clearance documentation for some long stay visa holders.

Barry graduated from Liverpool University in 1963 and later studied for a doctorate degree in the United States. He was variously an income tax officer, a journalist and a police college lecturer before settling to a career in further education management in Britain and overseas. He has lived in Thailand since 1992.

He said that around 700,000 Brits visit Thailand every year, including the expat community, and around a third of them come to Pattaya for a short or long stay. “We hope by the end of this year to open an office in the resort, with a paid secretariat, as the work has really outgrown me and my mobile phone in this consular hot spot,” he explained.