First Time Extension Based On Retirement At Suan Plu

[Tod Daniels]

Just thought I'd post my experience today at Thai Immigrations "Suan Plu".

Last year I was on an education visa, but it expired before I turned 50 last month, so I had already went to Vientiane Lao PDR and received a single entry Non-Immigrant Type O visa based on retirement. (Even though I was a month short of 50 when I applied for the visa in Lao, I got it no problem). That visa was good until April 5th.

I arrived there at 7:40am and there were already about 50 people in an orderly queue waiting under the roof out of the rain. I walked up and down the line to scope out the number of "old" people, but most were business men, students and other asian nationalities.

At 8:00am just after the thai national anthem blared over the speakers they opened the doors, so we could go in and get a queue ticket for our appropriate room/window. As I have said before, what slows this line down at the ticket counter is the incessant inane questions, the total lack of people being prepared and/or having not the slightest clue what they are there to do. To give the women working behind the counter credit, they handled everything efficiently and tried to shuffle people thru as quickly as they could.

I got number 6 for the dreaded room 101, which I had never before entered for my own needs. I'd only 'shepherded' people get their visas. They started calling numbers about 8:35, and as they only had 5 desks open for non-business related visas, I waited with bated breath. After about 10 minutes my number was called; I proceeded to the appropriate desk, turned in my paperwork, and sat.

The immigrations woman was friendly yet professional, and this was obviously NOT her first rodeo. She sorted thru my paperwork, handed back my health certificate, my proof of address in thailand, and the copy I'd made of my 5 year thai driver's license. She also sorted thru my passport copies and discarded ones I evidently didn't need (I'd copied every page with a stamp on it). She gave me two forms to fill, one I remember was a self guarantor form. She took my money, gave me change, and ten minutes later I was in possession of my FIRST yearly extension based on retirement.

I was out of there by 9:05am, I think it could be a new world record in receiving an extension of stay based on retirement but I am waiting for the people at Guinness Book of World Records to get back to me on that.

By the time I left room 101, there wasn't an empty chair to be had, and people were already lining the walls. It appeared some of them were gonna be there quite a while. I was back at my apartment by 9:30 even with rush hour traffic and sporadic rain.

As an aside; I know I am in the group who all too often berates thai bureaucracy, but.. If I wore a hat I'd doff it to them for their timely service. ...

All in all one of the most painless trips to Suan Plu I've EVER done in 4+ years. ..

[Guest]

Just thought I'd post my experience today at Thai Immigrations "Suan Plu".

Last year I was on an education visa, but it expired before I turned 50 last month, so I had already went to Vientiane Lao PDR and received a single entry Non-Immigrant Type O visa based on retirement. (Even though I was a month short of 50 when I applied for the visa in Lao, I got it no problem). That visa was good until April 5th.

I arrived there at 7:40am and there were already about 50 people in an orderly queue waiting under the roof out of the rain. I walked up and down the line to scope out the number of "old" people, but most were business men, students and other asian nationalities.

At 8:00am just after the thai national anthem blared over the speakers they opened the doors, so we could go in and get a queue ticket for our appropriate room/window. As I have said before, what slows this line down at the ticket counter is the incessant inane questions, the total lack of people being prepared and/or having not the slightest clue what they are there to do. To give the women working behind the counter credit, they handled everything efficiently and tried to shuffle people thru as quickly as they could.

I got number 6 for the dreaded room 101, which I had never before entered for my own needs. I'd only 'shepherded' people get their visas. They started calling numbers about 8:35, and as they only had 5 desks open for non-business related visas, I waited with bated breath. After about 10 minutes my number was called; I proceeded to the appropriate desk, turned in my paperwork, and sat.

The immigrations woman was friendly yet professional, and this was obviously NOT her first rodeo. She sorted thru my paperwork, handed back my health certificate, my proof of address in thailand, and the copy I'd made of my 5 year thai driver's license. She also sorted thru my passport copies and discarded ones I evidently didn't need (I'd copied every page with a stamp on it). She gave me two forms to fill, one I remember was a self guarantor form. She took my money, gave me change, and ten minutes later I was in possession of my FIRST yearly extension based on retirement.

I was out of there by 9:05am, I think it could be a new world record in receiving an extension of stay based on retirement but I am waiting for the people at Guinness Book of World Records to get back to me on that.

By the time I left room 101, there wasn't an empty chair to be had, and people were already lining the walls. It appeared some of them were gonna be there quite a while. I was back at my apartment by 9:30 even with rush hour traffic and sporadic rain.

As an aside; I know I am in the group who all too often berates thai bureaucracy, but.. If I wore a hat I'd doff it to them for their timely service. ...

All in all one of the most painless trips to Suan Plu I've EVER done in 4+ years. ..

This is typical also of my experiences at Suan Plu over many years. It's not such a big hassle as some make it out to be.

[grantbkk]

Five or six extensions of my retirement visa there and never had a problem. It seems like the people who are unprepared or who think they are VIP's begin to lose it quickly.

[rainman]

My mom is on her 2nd retirement extension and she was always done in 1-2 hours at the most. If you have all the paperwork in order (and as long as they don't change the regulations), it's quite easy.

[Searcher25]

Just thought I'd post my experience today at Thai Immigrations "Suan Plu".

Last year I was on an education visa, but it expired before I turned 50 last month, so I had already went to Vientiane Lao PDR and received a single entry Non-Immigrant Type O visa based on retirement. (Even though I was a month short of 50 when I applied for the visa in Lao, I got it no problem). That visa was good until April 5th.

I arrived there at 7:40am and there were already about 50 people in an orderly queue waiting under the roof out of the rain. I walked up and down the line to scope out the number of "old" people, but most were business men, students and other asian nationalities.

At 8:00am just after the thai national anthem blared over the speakers they opened the doors, so we could go in and get a queue ticket for our appropriate room/window. As I have said before, what slows this line down at the ticket counter is the incessant inane questions, the total lack of people being prepared and/or having not the slightest clue what they are there to do. To give the women working behind the counter credit, they handled everything efficiently and tried to shuffle people thru as quickly as they could.

...........

I got my first retirement extension last month and my experience was the same as yours. The staff at Suan Plu were professional, efficient and courteous. All the problems and delays seemed to come from the people who did not do their homework and were unprepared. To avoid being one of those, about one month before I was due to extend I took an afternoon trip to Suan Plu and asked, at the information desk, what I needed for my extension. The lady helping me handed me a pre-printed list of the requirements and gave me a concise verbal explanation to make sure I knew what to do. I did as she told me. When I came back to renew my visa, once my number was called, I spent all of 10 minutes at the immigration officer's desk while she reviewed and approved my paperwork. I was in and out in about 45 minutes with my new extension.

Kudos to the staff a Suan Plu. They do a tough job with much more patience than I could. If I had to deal with some the self-important wanke_rs that they deal with, I'm not sure I could show those applicants the same professional courtesy that the Suan Plu staff show.

The process is easy and straight forward. Come prepared with your documents in order and you will be in and out in no time.

[george]

Thanks, tod-daniels for posting your experience here!