Immigration Bureau Moves To Chaengwattana Road

[steven100]

Dantilley: I'll be happy to try to get there by bus -- I'll send you a trip report in early October. May not be as bad as you think.

Cheers,

I quite often take the bus from Mor Chit BTS to Chaengwattana Road if I am not in the car. It's easy and cheap although the number 52 can be a bit slow and hot at times.

Another option is the train, a local train from Hua Lamphong to Laksi takes 40 minutes and costs 4 baht, follow that with a 10 baht motorbike taxi to the new immigration office and it's a pretty cheap trip!

Gippy , I used to get that train to Laksi in the morning however I forget the exact time ....

Do you recall the departure time ??

Cheers.

[Twin]

Twin

I am sure it is much better than Suan Plu. I do not dispute that. All I'm asking is why are there aren't any signs directing the public? Can you answer that without raising your blood pressure too much? Same as the airport, it cost billions and the signage there is still poor.

Here's why your knuckles needed rapping.

I posted a trip report extolling the convenience of the new office. As I said, it was easy to find exactly where to go.

Several other posters echoed my sentiments.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Chaengwattan...13#entry3046413

Other threads and posts - which you read - were also positive about the new office.

In my report, you asked a question about the operation. I replied positively. You responded with disbelief.

Then you decided, after a dozen members posted positive comments, to berate the new office based on one negative report about a perceived lack of signage. No other report complained about that issue.

Yes, I got pissed because you went out of your way - twice - to pick on a place you've never seen.

This board thrives because people make honest comments about their experiences. If you don't believe them, shut up until you can offer contrary evidence.

[phetaroi]

There seems to be lots of complaints about the distance involved in getting to Cheangwattana. What about those of us who up to now (for many years) have been making 100km or more round trips to get to Suan Plu?? Stop whingeing. There's nothing you can do about it.

It's less convenient for me, but not that bad. I can't see that traffic should be that bad now that Don Muang is not the major airport. Anytime I have gone out in that direction recently it's been fine. I think some people are forgetting that many major international companies and international schools are more in that direction now than in the heart of the city. And you're right, it is what it is.

[Guest]

There seems to be lots of complaints about the distance involved in getting to Cheangwattana. What about those of us who up to now (for many years) have been making 100km or more round trips to get to Suan Plu?? Stop whingeing. There's nothing you can do about it.

It's less convenient for me, but not that bad. I can't see that traffic should be that bad now that Don Muang is not the major airport. Anytime I have gone out in that direction recently it's been fine. I think some people are forgetting that many major international companies and international schools are more in that direction now than in the heart of the city. And you're right, it is what it is.

Actually the traffic is terrible most of the day, Many reasons, not least that so many government offices are now in Chaengwattana, including the very busy Health Security Office further along, plus road works to build a new overpass. Chaengwattana has developed rapidly over the last 10-15 years, and continues to grow fast - one of Central's biggest stores has recently opened up the road. A skytrain is planned to run along Chaengwattana and Ramindra but its a long way in the future.

[wintermute]

Are there any places to get photos or photocopies of your passport etc.. when you're there? If not that's a pretty much major issue since Suan Plu had tons of those places that were running full speed all the time.

[taktsai]

Went to the new immigratin office today from our side of river (Sriraj, Thonburi). The driver knows the new immigration office and suggested us to go a longer way to avoid the bad traffic in the morning. So we went Ratchapruek --> Rama 4 --> Chaeng Wattana. It's only 20 mins to get there but expect quite some traffic near the government complex. It costs us 280 baht to get there. We came back the same way and it's a breeze.

I have to say the new government center is impressive. huge with nice green space and fountains. At least at the moment there are no food stalls and sellers littering in that space. It looks very proper. Inside the building - I think it's way better than the Suvarbnabumi Airport - with very high ceiling and a huge piazza space. Only hope that they won't rent that out to flea markets in the future. Logistics still need to be improved - there's a lack of signages. Inside the immigration office they don't have the "queue announcing lady machine" anymore, but staff still have to shout the number. A few digital signages will help that.

There's a lot of supporting facilities there. A big photocopying and photo-taking centre is located on the B/F (not sure if there are more than one) and of course there are a lot of food courts and restaurants, shops/ The whole complex is nicely conditioned, with a lot of day light streaming in from the glass ceiling.

I would say I am pretty impressed by this new complex, and hope the logistics can keep up with its new look.

[hhgz]

Another method to avoid a long taxi taxi ride and heavy traffic is to take the #52 bus from Saphan Khwai BTS station - 7THB.

[UncleHo]

There's a lot of supporting facilities there. A big photocopying and photo-taking centre is located on the B/F (not sure if there are more than one) and of course there are a lot of food courts and restaurants, shops/ The whole complex is nicely conditioned, with a lot of day light streaming in from the glass ceiling.

I would say I am pretty impressed by this new complex, and hope the logistics can keep up with its new look.

-----------------

I totally agree with the comments above. It is an awesome bldg. My brother and I went out there last wed. (21 Oct 09). Took the MRT to Chattuchak (sp) and got an old taxi driver with zero english. He didn't understand immigration, but did understand 'Laksi'. We went to the wrong bldg first, a bit further down the road. The security there explained to the driver where to go. Once at the bldg there were small signs that showed where to go and it was easy. I had gone into stupid mode, and forgot the pre=prepared forms that we had printed from the internet so we had to get the forms and fill them out. Never more than 3 people in line. With the form filled out (90 day) we walked into the next room. No seating, not necessary. Only in line for 3 or 4 minutes. Only the '90 dayers there'. The immigration lady does it all. No going back and forth. If I had remembered the forms we'd have been in the bldg for 5 min and been finished. Trip back was taxi from the taxi line, and another 120 Baht to the BTS station. I wouldn't take a taxi from Sukhumvit, where I live. Cost and time. In Jan I go for a new retirement visa. That may be a bit more interesting. But Suan Plu was a zoo. It will be nice to be out of there. Good luck all. Ho

[joefarang]

i have recently been out to the new govt. center on chaeng wattana and i generally agree with most of the comments and i'll add some of my own.

i live near chaeng wattana and always get around with taxis, so i can give directions in a taxi if you're coming north on vipavadhi rangsit road. just turn left at the laksi intersection and proceed until you see the big CAT building. just go past it a tad and then turn left into the new govt complex. you can't miss it. in thai it's called the "suan ratchakan mai ti chaeng wattana." this translates as "new government convention center".

then you have to go past the buildings that you will see on your right hand side as you enter the complex: a roundish decorative structure and then the big hotel and convention center. there are some smallish green signs with white letters in thai and english that say immigration, so just follow those. they lead you all the way to the back of the complex and then you'll turn right and then right again into the back of the complex, where the immigration service office is. the taxi will pull up into the drop off area, as you would a hotel. you enter and the office is just at the right before you enter the huge atrium. compared to the suan phlu location, this office is tiny and is about 1,000 times smaller than the whole place that it's housed in. see the attached pic.

the hours are : m-f 8:30 - 12:00 & 13:00 – 16:30

it's easy when you know how.

[OxfordWill]

When I went on Monday it was a nightmare immediately after lunch. The Q was long enough to reach back to outisde the building and it took several hours of waiting before I was done. Once the door opened nobody obeyed the Q (not that I was surprised, this is Thailand) and a stampede on the tiny entrance happened.

Also on the way out the taxi / security guards at the nearest exit were not allowing indians blacks or anyone not Thai or white to wait for a taxi - they had to walk to the road.

The thai workers who were leaving work took preference, I eventually paid a tip to get a motorcycle to the main road, where I crossed the foot bridge and got a taxi from the other wise. The traffic was horrible there and back. Possibly a monday thing.

The building was nice but walking through in shorts and a t shirt I did feel very out of place and like many Thais there probably didnt appreciate that their nice, formal office government type building was being invaded by so many foreigners. Working for the government is not a good paying job but the pride that goes with it tends to be attractive so making an effort to respect the buildings and turn up looking a little smarter than usual might be appreciated by the locals working there, if one cares.

Overall for location, speed, surroundings, I much preferred the old one.

Edited October 29, 2009 by OxfordWill

[srs]

Not a good experience from my side about the new building and office.

I arrived late at 1:30pm. And i guess that was the mistake.

Took the MRT to Chatuchak and then a taxi.

I found the Copy-shop downstairs but the guys working there didn't know the procedure. They didn't know which pages of the passport to copy. The guys at Suan Plu did know. Very easy before.

At the office itself i spent 3 hours. Only one lady was accepting the visa extension applications (at Suan Plu I experienced that many times two employees were working at the counter). The employee at the new office left her desk many times and was not seen for a while.

You cannot sit there an read a book and relax since you always have to check for the employees calling out queue numbers. There are no electronic displays doing that job.

At the time I got my passport back the desk for the 90 day reporting was closed already. So I have to do that another day.

Outside the building no taxis anymore.

Took a motorbike to the main street and had to ask a couple of taxi drivers to take me back to either MRT or Ratchada. The first five or six of them refused to do so.

So, two lessons learned:

- the project manager who was in charge of moving the immigration to the new office did a horrible job. One would expect to take the chance and also improve the whole visa process

- my mistake: I went there too late. Better go early in the morning.

[thaiphoon]

Bangkok residents can do 90 day reporting at the One Stop Shop at Rasa Tower rather than going to Chaeng Wattana if that helps you - or can send in by mail to Chaeng Wattana.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Rasa-Tower-9...ng-t309386.html

Edited October 30, 2009 by thaiphoon

[on-on]

Bangkok residents can do 90 day reporting at the One Stop Shop at Rasa Tower rather than going to Chaeng Wattana if that helps you - or can send in by mail to Chaeng Wattana.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Rasa-Tower-9...ng-t309386.html

Ah, thanks. This will save me a lot of time. Having to go way out to the middle of no-BTS-no-MRT land drove me nuts in the traffic.

[lawrence1366]

i have recently been out to the new govt. center on chaeng wattana and i generally agree with most of the comments and i'll add some of my own.

i live near chaeng wattana and always get around with taxis, so i can give directions in a taxi if you're coming north on vipavadhi rangsit road. just turn left at the laksi intersection and proceed until you see the big CAT building. just go past it a tad and then turn left into the new govt complex. you can't miss it. in thai it's called the "suan ratchakan mai ti chaeng wattana." this translates as "new government convention center".

then you have to go past the buildings that you will see on your right hand side as you enter the complex: a roundish decorative structure and then the big hotel and convention center. there are some smallish green signs with white letters in thai and english that say immigration, so just follow those. they lead you all the way to the back of the complex and then you'll turn right and then right again into the back of the complex, where the immigration service office is. the taxi will pull up into the drop off area, as you would a hotel. you enter and the office is just at the right before you enter the huge atrium. compared to the suan phlu location, this office is tiny and is about 1,000 times smaller than the whole place that it's housed in. see the attached pic.

the hours are : m-f 8:30 - 12:00 & 13:00 – 16:30

it's easy when you know how.

I was there recently and you can actually catch a free aircon coach at the junction of Chaeng Wattana Soi 7 and the main road. It will take you straight to the building. I guess the return trip will have to depend on the next arrival. I had no problems waiting for taxis but guessed it must be due to the time of the day when you are visiting. I had a very positive trip there to the MFA which is a couple of streets away and it was much more efficient and had electronic queue system. Very efficient and they cleared 1,000 + numbers in half a day but then, there were 60 cubicles each armed with a digital camera to take photos of the passport applicant. Got a passport for my daughter within 3 days. Spent 2 hours on the first day to get her registered and photo taken and paid the fees. 2 days later I went back to collect it within 20 mins and was on the way to the airport. Think there's a light at the tunnel for the civil service department.

[GungaDin]

Bangkok residents can do 90 day reporting at the One Stop Shop at Rasa Tower rather than going to Chaeng Wattana if that helps you - or can send in by mail to Chaeng Wattana.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Rasa-Tower-9...ng-t309386.html

I was there on Monday arvo. Floor 16.

Very helpful staff, and if you have a problem there is a senior Immigration officer there who speaks perfect English.

Ask for an Immi Inspector.

cheers

[joefarang]

FWIW, most hospitals which cater to foreign clientele will do the 90 day reporting for you as it doesn't need to be done in person.

I just called Bumrungrad as they used to charge 200 baht to do the 90 day reporting for you, when Immigrations was at Suan Plu. The lady at their visa services office said they have raised their price to 500 baht given immigrations has moved.

Still for those bitching, pissing and moaning about making the trip out to the new office, it's probably 500 baht well spent.

[joefarang]

Some people, who live downtown, of course, found it very convenient to go to the Suan Phlu office, if convenient at all.  But those same people are now inconvenienced by having to come out to Chaeng Wattana (CW), either by plane, train or automobile etc. Why not take the express boat and get off at the last pier, which is Nonthaburi pier and then get in a taxi. Tek in the river views!

But those who live near CW are now more fortunate. Things change and such is life. Sometimes they work in your favor, sometimes not. But, it depends on how you look at it, doesn’t it? Perhaps it’s good to use the trip out to CW to go to Koh Kret, Central CW mall, Makro, or even to sample some of the great restaurants that are out here: Que Pasa Tex Mex, BBQ Sandwich King, New York Diner etc. Use it as a springboard for some new experiences here in Thailand. 

[Maestro]

...Why not take the express boat and get off at the last pier, which is Nonthaburi pier and then get in a taxi. Tek in the river views! ...

What a great idea! Once a year, getting your new annual extension of stay, feel again like a newbie tourist, doing the river trip.

--

Maestro

[TopDogger]

Yes, the Nonthaburi immigration office is open for business. See this topic:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Nonthaburi-I...on-t306731.html

The immigration bureau is not very efficient in keeping its website updated.

--

Maestro

[Maestro]

My apologies to TopDogger. By mistake I edited his post, ie wrote over it, instead of writing my reply as a new post.

TopDoggers question was whether the nonthaburi office was already open and he indicated that this office was not mentioned on the immigration website.

--

Maestro

[TopDogger]

My apologies to TopDogger. By mistake I edited his post, ie wrote over it, instead of writing my reply as a new post.

TopDoggers question was whether the nonthaburi office was already open and he indicated that this office was not mentioned on the immigration website.

--

Maestro

No worries, thanks Maestro!

[jackh]

Google maps, GPS, ask someone. you should not need to be spoon fed everything.

You might want to consider that all the people here do not live here.

I for 1 live in China and have no <deleted> idea where this is. On top of which I don't even have have for this crap

of trying to walk through all the comments just to find a concise and clear ABC method of getting to this place. I don't speak or read Thai, I don't have a car.

Why is this new location NOT pinned on this thread giving directions??????????????

[thaiphoon]

Location information was provided in the first post in this thread and can also be found under "Useful Information" in the pinned topics by clicking here. Chaeng Wattana immigration office is the third link down on google map list.

[wintermute]

When I went on Monday it was a nightmare immediately after lunch. The Q was long enough to reach back to outisde the building and it took several hours of waiting before I was done. Once the door opened nobody obeyed the Q (not that I was surprised, this is Thailand) and a stampede on the tiny entrance happened.

Also on the way out the taxi / security guards at the nearest exit were not allowing indians blacks or anyone not Thai or white to wait for a taxi - they had to walk to the road.

I read this post before visiting the new government building today and I must say I was prepared for the worst but was extremely surprised by how efficient and nice the immigration personnel were. I got lots of smiles from the desk personnel which was nearly unheard of from the personnel in the previous office. Either the above post was a ridiculous exaggeration or the immigration office straightened out the way they operate since then. Everyone who was there getting any kind of visa work done were being processed fairly quickly. I was in and out within 20 minutes. I also saw a LOT less of the usual multi-stay subcontinentals, africans, and Filipinos. I assume the new visa regulations seem to be working.

[funlovinkid]

Anybody know what the phone number is for the new office? I need to call them to inquire about the status of something, and I can't use their website to find the number because it's infected with a virus. (Nice to see that they hired the best IT people available for that purpose!)

Thanks

[samran]

went there today to get my wife a re-entry permit.

Was in and out in under 10 mins. Took some time to have a look around, food area, shops. Most impressive is the big indoor football field size cavernous area where you have a bunch of government deparments.

They even managed a red shirt protest today for my visit. I felt very special.

[Maestro]

Anybody know what the phone number is for the new office...

Phone: 0-2141-9889, Fax: 0-2143-8228

Call center: 1178

--

Maestro

[Tod Daniels]

I too had the occasion to go to Changwattana on Monday this week. The directions posted on here as well as the Google Maps pointer are totally correct. I took the Sky Train to Mo Chit but had just missed the #52 bus that the security guard said runs out there, so took a taxi.

What an impressive building. I am loathe to even contemplate what the air con bill is a month to pay for that arena like 3 story open-space in the middle. The basement is getting more stores than when they opened, and the 2 food courts were doing bang up business dishing up the basic thai fare. Copy shops, photo shops, coffee shops, Mister Donut, and most of the bigger thai banks are there as well.

It is quite a change from the old, crowded Suan Plu office. Of course the Immigrations office was crammed with people and still somewhat of a cluster-<deleted> due to people not knowing what they were doing. The information counter is staffed by some really sharp people (quite young compared to some of the older ones at Suan Plu) and they had a great grasp of english as well.

They now have taxis queuing up outside and they seemed to be doing a great business. I took a taxi back to my apartment and it was 33 kilometers door to door, 179 baht plus the 55 baht toll way so 234 baht all in. Not bad for the distance, but during rush hour I can see it making for a long slow slog. Also the construction on Changwattana can be daunting at times as they work on the flyovers.

The second and third floor seem to be slowing getting other government offices in them, and I saw workers finishing out some spaces for occupancy.

Anyway, great building, great improvement. ..

[tajartale]

can you clarify if anything at all can be done at the old suan plu immigration location? i keep seeing the announcements this week that immigration is closed...with the suan plu office listed as well. since it's a block away from me, i thought i'd ask before i schlep all the way out to chaengwattana.

i'll need an extension on a tourist visa in june.

thanks for your help.

[Mario2008]

The old building is still being used by immigration, but only nationals of neighbouring countries can go there. All nationalities of all other countries will have to use Cheang Wattana.