Suan Plu Field Report

[Twin]

First, many thanks to all who have posted their experiences on this subject. It made my experience that much easier.

ONE WORD OF WARNING: DON'T GO AROUND LUNCH TIME!

I went later than I planned because I just had to watch Game 5 of the Yankees - Angels baseball series. So what happened is my own fault.

I arrived at exactly 11:20 with a filled out TM7 and got a number at the information counter. I was # 924 and they were working on # 884.

There are now 22 desks in room 101, although I only saw desks 8 - 22, dealing with various types of business and personal requirements. 7 desks, 16 - 22, were working on personal visa renewals.

The system is much smoother this year as the "front" desks, numbers 8 - 22, review all your paperwork, and if it's complete, give it to their supervisor directly behind them.

By 11:50, they were calling #915. Then everything stopped. EVERYTHING! As each of the desks finished their current customer, they just got up and left for lunch. No announcements, no signs, nothing.

No more numbers were called until 1:00PM.

Amazingly, many of the supervisors just sat at their desks doing nothing while the "front" desks were empty. I have no idea why they were sitting there when their work begins after the "front" desks finish reviewing the application.

Anyway, my number was called at 1:10.

The woman was very friendly, asking why I was there. I told her and gave her:

1) My passport

2) Medical Certificate - original

3) Bank letter of Guarantee - original ( Balance is over B800,000, so no letter from the embassy was needed )

4) Color copies of A) front pages of passport, current retirement visa and re-entry permit pages, and C) Current departure card

5) My bank passbook

6) Copy of all 5 of my bank passbook pages, updated yesterday.

7) B1,900

She said that was all she needed, adding her appreciation for the color copies as it made for easier reading. She gave me another form and asked for my address, phone number and signature. She filled out the rest.

She then gave all of the above to a clerk 2 desks back. Within 5 minutes, which included some friendly chat with the "front desk" officer, my paperwork was back on her desk. She put the stamp in my passport and asked me to go to the supervisor's desk directly behind her.

The supervisor checked all the paperwork, signed the visa stamp and said "See you next year". The time was exactly 1:30.

I had already filled out the TM8 form for a multiple re-entry permit and headed over to window 7. There was no one there and I handed the man my form. He asked me where my " number" ticket was, showing me ticket # 906. He pointed me back to the information desk where i was handed # 945.

"Heck", I said.

Yeah, right.

I said a lot more than "Heck". Cursing, I walked back to the window, where - lo and behold - # 945 was on the screen as next up.

The officer and I shared a laugh as I gave him B3,800. He told me to come back in 15 minutes. I blinked. And he again said, "15 minutes".

I walked out of the building with the retirement visa and re-entry permit at exactly 1:50PM.

With the exception of what happens at lunchtime, the process could not have been any smoother.

Thanks again for everyone's advice. If you have any questions, let me know.

Twin

PS: I have no idea why that emoticon showed up and I have no idea how to get it out.

Edited October 11, 2005 by Twin

[Crossy]

Cheers Twin.

this kind of report is always useful, keeps everyone up to speed on the latest niggles

Your came up because you typed a "B" followed by a ")" in your list, intelligent sofware interpreted it as an emoticon rather than entry 2 on a list

[ernieK24]

Cheers Twin.

this kind of report is always useful, keeps everyone up to speed on the latest niggles

Your came up because you typed a "B" followed by a ")" in your list, intelligent sofware interpreted it as an emoticon rather than entry 2 on a list

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks Twin. This is sure gonna make my application a lot simpler. The only difference between MY app. and yours is.....I will have pension money that I can declare which will make the total amount needed in the bank account smaller. It will be no problem there though because I intend to have sufficient funds deposited in Bangkok Bank anyway, by way of money transfer, before the time I'll have to apply for the extension. I have no problem with 800,000 Bt, since my account in the U.S. doesn't pay enough interest to make that much difference, at least not to me. Thanks again.....ErnieK