British Consulate Chiangmai

[uptheos]

My passport expires next year. It's a pity i can't get it done now.

They should issue passports for ten years and six months

Interesting that you should say this. My new 10 year passport was issued at Bangkok on April 1st 2008 and expires January 1st 2019.

Hope it's not an April fool's joke.

[Maejo Man]

My passport expires next year. It's a pity i can't get it done now.

They should issue passports for ten years and six months

Interesting that you should say this. My new 10 year passport was issued at Bangkok on April 1st 2008 and expires January 1st 2019.

Hope it's not an April fool's joke.

That's interesting Anybody else with an extended passport?

[eek]

So from your experience it seems you weren't fingerprinted and iris scanned, which i thought was part of the biometric procedure? And i also thought that the laws now in the UK were that you could only get a passport renewed if you first got the new ID card.

Does anyone know when all this stuff is due to come in? My passport expires next year. It's a pity i can't get it done now.

No, just a regular process femi fan. I was really surprised even to see the strange circuit thing in my passport!

Some info on it here: http://www.ips.gov.uk/passport/about-biometric.asp

The pic is what it looks like in my passport (but that pic is off the net, not actually from my own passport).

Edited March 15, 2009 by eek

[StevieH]

got this done this morning and have to say that the british consulate staff were an absolute pleasure to deal with. friendly, helpful and professional. used the photo place around the corner as per eek's comments and the nearby siam commercial bank gave me a bank draft in about five minutes. one small gripe, the cost of a replacement passport has just jumped from 6,188 baht to 7,120 baht.

[chiangmaioldhand]

got this done this morning and have to say that the british consulate staff were an absolute pleasure to deal with. friendly, helpful and professional. used the photo place around the corner as per eek's comments and the nearby siam commercial bank gave me a bank draft in about five minutes. one small gripe, the cost of a replacement passport has just jumped from 6,188 baht to 7,120 baht.

I wonder whether this facility will be here in the future. The fact that the Embassy is inviting applications for BRit Hon Con in Chiang Mai (no need to apply, it's as good as mine) implies that the Consul is being down-graded. 

http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/our-offi...s/job-vacancies

Edited May 13, 2009 by chiangmaioldhand

[StevieH]

got this done this morning and have to say that the british consulate staff were an absolute pleasure to deal with. friendly, helpful and professional. used the photo place around the corner as per eek's comments and the nearby siam commercial bank gave me a bank draft in about five minutes. one small gripe, the cost of a replacement passport has just jumped from 6,188 baht to 7,120 baht.

I wonder whether this facility will be here in the future. The fact that the Embassy is inviting applications for BRit Hon Con in Chiang Mai (no need to apply, it's as good as mine) implies that the Consul is being down-graded.

http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/our-offi...s/job-vacancies

i'd hope so, i can't see what the consulate would gain by cutting the service. this is thailand's second city and far enough away from bangkok for it to be inconvenient to have to go down there just to mail a passport off.

the hon con job is nothing more than a ceremonial role anyway so shouldn't really affect administrative services offered to british citizens.

[endure]

My passport expires next year. It's a pity i can't get it done now.

They should issue passports for ten years and six months

Interesting that you should say this. My new 10 year passport was issued at Bangkok on April 1st 2008 and expires January 1st 2019.

Hope it's not an April fool's joke.

That's interesting Anybody else with an extended passport?

If you renew a UK passport early they'll shift anything up to a maximum of 9 months of the old passport's validity onto the new one so you could have a passport valid for 10 years 9 months.

[Loaded]

the hon con job is nothing more than a ceremonial role anyway so shouldn't really affect administrative services offered to british citizens.

He has to sign many consular documents so it's also an administration role.

[StevieH]

got this done this morning and have to say that the british consulate staff were an absolute pleasure to deal with. friendly, helpful and professional. used the photo place around the corner as per eek's comments and the nearby siam commercial bank gave me a bank draft in about five minutes. one small gripe, the cost of a replacement passport has just jumped from 6,188 baht to 7,120 baht.

just had a phone call from the consulate telling me that my new passport is ready and waiting for me to collect tomorrow. one week? is this conceivable and likely? or should i expect disappointment and problems?

[eek]

^ would imagine just arrived back quickly (probably a quiet time!).

[StevieH]

cheers eek. have to say i am half expecting some palaver due to the stereotypical problems of thai administration coupled with the general incompetence of the british public service system. but hey, i may be pleasantly surprised. i'll report back on this nailbiting cliffhanger of a drama tomorrow.