Phuket Passport Office Opens Thursday October 1, 2009

[george]

Phuket Passport Office opens Thursday

PHUKET CITY: -- Phuket’s Thai citizens will be able to apply for new passports without leaving the island once the new Ministry of Foreign Affairs office opens at Phuket Provincial Hall on Thursday.

Foreigners hoping for visa services, certificate translations and marriage certification services will have to wait, however.

Acting chief of the ministry’s passport section, Jackrid Kanjanasoon, said the office will begin providing these services “as soon as possible” – though he wouldn’t be drawn on when.

Mr Jackrid said the passport application process at 'Phuket Passport Office' will take just 15 minutes.

Passports would be delivered to the applicant’s home within seven days via EMS delivery, he said.

Mr Jackrid said the Phuket office was opening due to popular demand.

“We used to have a mobile passport unit come to Phuket once a year. There were so many people using the service, about 1,000 per day, that we thought it was worth opening a permanent office in Phuket,” he said.

At present, the regional passport offices in the South are at Surat Thani, Songkhla and Yala.

The office will issue three types of passport: standard, government and Haj – a special passport for Muslim pilgrims going to Mecca.

Fees for standard and government passports will be 1,035 baht, while Haj passports will cost 435 baht.

The new office is located on the first floor of Provincial Hall. Opening hours are 8.30am – 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

For more information, call Phuket Passport Office on 076-222-080-1 or 076-222-083.

-- Phuket Gazette 2009-09-29

[PhuketBlogger]

Good news! Always seemed a bit odd that Phuket was not thought important enough to have a passport office. I'll send the family along soon to get it done. Just in case we have to leave in a hurry...

[NBT TV Phuket]

item--6--- on VDO at http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...hp?news_id=1249

or

New Passport Office opened for service in Phuket

Thai nationals residing in the Andaman region can now apply for new passports or have their old books renewed at the new passport office in Phuket, without having to go to Bangkok. Opened for service since October 1st, the office which is located within the provincial hall, has a capacity to cater for about 100 applicants per day and it takes about 15 minutes to serve each person. Head official of the office under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Chakkris Kanjanasoon, said non – Phuket residents can also apply for passport at his office, as the system is computerized linked. Applicants must prepare 1,000 baht fees and another 35 baht for postal service as the book needs to be sent from Bangkok to the applicants' address within seven days after requests. There is no need to prepare a photograph as it will be taken on site; just prepare house registration and ID card. Minors under 20 years old need parents’ consent for the application.