I've been denied entry to Thailand - Now What ! ?

[pontious]

Dear Rimmer,

It might be usefull to update the opening hours.

I think from 19 Sept it is only Wed andThurs .

It cant get any less can it,

[stiggy]

Yup those inconsiderate consuls who volunteer there time to help out hapless Brits...a most thankless job if ever there was one.

[rizla]

Yup those inconsiderate consuls who volunteer there time to help out hapless Brits...a most thankless job if ever there was one.

I need my pension letter notarized (uk) this month, is the consulate in pattaya (jt) the only place...or would it be better to go the UK embassy in BKK ? is the charge the same, and do you have to wait overnight there also...thanks for any info and times etc...

[hm1973]

For those that are not aware, the British Consulate in Pattaya is no longer manned by volunteer Honorary Consul's. This position was phased out last year and taken by a full time vice consul, who has now quit. At the moment it is being manned by staff from the embassy in Bangkok but only on a temporary basis until a long term solution is found.

[LeCharivari]

Yup those inconsiderate consuls who volunteer there time to help out hapless Brits...a most thankless job if ever there was one.

Barry Kenyon and Howard Miller were both Honorary Consuls and volunteered their time.

The Consular Officer's post has always been a full time, fully salaried position, as was the Vice Consul's post which replaced the Honorary Consul's in January. According to the British Embassy the Pattaya Consulate was previously the busiest British Honorary Consulate in the world, hence the need for the supposed "upgrade" from an Honorary Consul to a full-time, fully salaried Vice Consul.

The new Vice Consul and the new Consular Officer both resigned in July, after 3 months full-time training in Bangkok and only 6 months in the job in Pattaya, leaving Pattaya with no British Consular representatives at all - although there is a Consulate with a Consular Officer and Honorary Consul in Chiang Mai, and Honorary Consuls in both Phuket and Koh Samui.

The Consulate is currently staffed by British Embassy staff from Bangkok from 0900 to 1130 on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

http://andrew-drummond.com/2012/07/22/catch-us-if-you-can-another-british-consul-resigns/ is quite amusing on the subject, put in perspecive by Barry Kenyon's comment:

Just for the record. The honorarium for the part-time Pattaya honorary consul in my later years (until 2010) was around 10,000 baht a month allowing for exchange rate fluctuations. Howard Miller my successor got similar, but a bit less I think during his one year in office. In 2011 the position was made full time at vice-consul level and the publicly advertised salary was around 50,000 baht a month. The lady who was appointed to the newly enhanced post has now resigned and the Pattaya consulate is now manned three mornings a week by staff from the Bangkok embassy. Nobody knows how long this latest arrangement will last. I should add that honorary consuls and vice consuls get a modest petrol allowance for visiting the sick, the dead and the incarcerated. I was often advised, even warned once, not to over-service the clients by making too many visits or by working too hard on notarial work in the office on the small honorarium, but I assume this restriction was removed when the post became full-time and better paid. There are many reasons why the Pattaya consulate has been a big problem, but silly management decisions, particularly in London, must play a big part.

I need my pension letter notarized (uk) this month, is the consulate in pattaya (jt) the only place...or would it be better to go the UK embassy in BKK ? is the charge the same, and do you have to wait overnight there also...thanks for any info and times etc...

Charges are the same in all British Embassies and Consulates. You can telephone the Pattaya Consulate (in working hours - 0900-1130 Wednesdays and Thursdays) on 038 267113 or e-mail them on [email protected]

[rizla]

Thankyou both for your informative and fast replies, i was considering using the postal method at pattaya for my proof of pension but that sounds like a bit of a lottery now....

Do they do a postal service in the BKK embassy ?

[stiggy]

I stand corrected, my understanding was the role was voluntary or very close.

Still a hapless job. For every genuine Brit that requires assistance i.e. Rizla and his Notary requirement there is 25 others with the expectation of little Britain in the office.Eg I'm now skint and need to go home you must help .

[Rimmer]

I was at the immigration yesterday around 9.30am, I was surprised to see around 15 or so Brits spilling out of their small office onto the road all waiting for assistance from the part time office, when I walked back to the car there was even more people standing on the steps and the half finished road outside, something would seem to be wrong somewhere.

[londoedan]

I stand corrected, my understanding was the role was voluntary or very close.

Still a hapless job. For every genuine Brit that requires assistance i.e. Rizla and his Notary requirement there is 25 others with the expectation of little Britain in the office.Eg I'm now skint and need to go home you must help .

What a pathetic post - happy you've had a dig at all UK members on this forum ? Get a life - racism, in all its forms, went out a long, long time ago.

[londoedan]

I was at the immigration yesterday around 9.30am, I was surprised to see around 15 or so Brits spilling out of their small office onto the road all waiting for assistance from the part time office, when I walked back to the car there was even more people standing on the steps and the half finished road outside, something would seem to be wrong somewhere.

indeed.

The new Vice Consul and the new Consular Officer both resigned in July, after 3 months full-time training in Bangkok and only 6 months in the job in Pattaya.

Does anyone know why this happened ? 50K a year doesn't seem too bad - I'd do it for that !

[theoldgit]

Does anyone know why this happened ? 50K a year doesn't seem too bad - I'd do it for that !

It was 50,000 Baht a month, roughly £250 a week.

I have now idea why the lady resigned, maybe the job was too demanding, maybe she was being micro managed from Bangkok.

[black fox]

about time someone asked why our pensions are frozen but consular cost are not, they say their costs are rising but also are living expenses are going up, bout time they played fair with us pensioners with frozen incomes.

[JoePai]

They knew what they were getting into so don't feel sorry for them - they did not have to take the job

[stiggy]

Erm Racist ?

How do you come to that conclusion, I have actually stood in those shoes. Volunteering for 6 years my own time my own money helping Brits and other nationals of all kinds and not being judgmental.

However facts are facts and based on my own experience,most expect way to much including hand holding when they mess up run out of cash etc.

Why did I do it ? as I like to help those in genuine need and still do,I just don,t have the title anymore or do so in official capacity its to restricting and PC.

Why did I quit due to judgemental <deleted> for e.g., that cried racism when they clearly do not understand the gravity of the word, or the person they accuse of being so.

I stand by what I said, its a thankless task.You get to help and meet some great people, but the position and title also mean you attract societies worst at there most expectant and desperate.

May I ask what a obvious non racist proud Brit like yourself, has done for others for free whilst residing here?

Edited October 4, 2012 by stiggy

[londoedan]

most expect way to much including hand holding when they mess up run out of cash etc.

you attract societies worst at there most expectant and desperate.

And:

Still a hapless job. For every genuine Brit that requires assistance i.e. Rizla and his Notary requirement there is 25 others with the expectation of little Britain in the office.Eg I'm now skint and need to go home you must help

I think that if anyone is being judgemental it is yourself.

[stiggy]

You accused me of being both pathetic and racist isn't that being judgmental ? the Latter being in anybody's opinion quite the insult.

Im quoting from experience trying to give an honest opinion based on that experience, if that is what you deem to be judgemental then I guess it is.

As I said glad I'm out of it, nice to sit back and not give a toss anymore.Im sure Howard and others quietly feel the same.

[LeCharivari]

I was at the immigration yesterday around 9.30am, I was surprised to see around 15 or so Brits spilling out of their small office onto the road all waiting for assistance from the part time office, when I walked back to the car there was even more people standing on the steps and the half finished road outside, something would seem to be wrong somewhere.

Maybe one of the staff couldn't take the pressure and pulled a gun - and I'm only half joking, as a previous Consular Officer kept one in her desk drawer for just such an occasion (and was "let go" because of it)!

[Rimmer]

Inflammatory post removed

[LeCharivari]

The British Embassy in Bangkok has just advertised for an "outstanding" person to join their "dynamic" team as a temporary Consular Assistant in Bangkok who is "is expected to start as soon as possible" - presumably to help out while their Bangkok staff are running the Pattaya Consulate. No advertisements for any replacement staff for the Pattaya Consulate since the previous staff resigned in July, so its anybody's guess what's going on.

The post in Bangkok offers a salary of 21,000 baht a month, which compares pretty poorly with a similar (Consular Assistant's) post currently advertised at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok for 37,000 baht a month.

[VisasPlus]

The British Embassy in Bangkok has just advertised for an "outstanding" person to join their "dynamic" team as a temporary Consular Assistant in Bangkok who is "is expected to start as soon as possible" - presumably to help out while their Bangkok staff are running the Pattaya Consulate. No advertisements for any replacement staff for the Pattaya Consulate since the previous staff resigned in July, so its anybody's guess what's going on.

The post in Bangkok offers a salary of 21,000 baht a month, which compares pretty poorly with a similar (Consular Assistant's) post currently advertised at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok for 37,000 baht a month.

Where did you get your information that both staff had resigned ? I'm not sure that is correct

[LeCharivari]

It may well not be correct, but that's what the stand-in staff at the Consulate said a couple of months ago when asked in passing what had happened (they didn't elaborate as to why or give any other details, and I didn't ask). The Embassy simply wrote that it was due to "staff changes".

Being next-door, and as the Consular Officer had been a member of your staff until her move to the Consulate, you may well be considerably better informed than any of us about why she is no longer there and, for example, the incident on 3 October that Rimmer observed.

[pontious]

Went today,

Chaos.

[LeCharivari]

Not surprising - if it took two people working five days a week full-time before how can they expect the same job to be done by two people in only two days?

According to the last Ambassador (Asif Ahmad) the whole reason why the Honorary Consul's post was changed to a Vice Consul's (which was essentially a second, but higher-paid, Consular Officer) was to double the number of staff in the office; the workload in the Consular Section in Bangkok is nothing like as high, but they still reduced the coverage by their staff in Pattaya from an initial 3 days a week to only two; Chiang Mai has a fraction of the number of British residents or tourists that Pattaya has, but their Consulate is part of the British Council there and better staffed.

"Chaos" is the right word'.

Where did you get your information that both staff had resigned ? I'm not sure that is correct

To be more specific, what they actually said was that both staff had "left".

[pontious]

The problem is the large queue on Weds.

Why dont they have both officers taking ' inbounds ' only for Weds and leave Thursday for collection,

[smokie36]

The British Embassy in Bangkok has just advertised for an "outstanding" person to join their "dynamic" team as a temporary Consular Assistant in Bangkok who is "is expected to start as soon as possible" - presumably to help out while their Bangkok staff are running the Pattaya Consulate. No advertisements for any replacement staff for the Pattaya Consulate since the previous staff resigned in July, so its anybody's guess what's going on.

The post in Bangkok offers a salary of 21,000 baht a month, which compares pretty poorly with a similar (Consular Assistant's) post currently advertised at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok for 37,000 baht a month.

That's a derisory amount.

[topt]

The British Embassy in Bangkok has just advertised for an "outstanding" person to join their "dynamic" team as a temporary Consular Assistant in Bangkok who is "is expected to start as soon as possible" - presumably to help out while their Bangkok staff are running the Pattaya Consulate. No advertisements for any replacement staff for the Pattaya Consulate since the previous staff resigned in July, so its anybody's guess what's going on.

The post in Bangkok offers a salary of 21,000 baht a month, which compares pretty poorly with a similar (Consular Assistant's) post currently advertised at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok for 37,000 baht a month.

That's a derisory amount.

Which may explain why they have no staff and why the staff left after a short period - I can see them taking the job to get the experience and then seeing an add in another English speaking office for nearly double - what would you do......

[wineman]

How much is the British Consulate's finance letter re retirement visa please? Have to go on Wednesday and want to make sure I can pay.

[pontious]

How much is the British Consulate's finance letter re retirement visa please? Have to go on Wednesday and want to make sure I can pay.

Baht 2,340 - pick up next day ( Thursday)

[LeCharivari]

The problem is the large queue on Weds.

Why dont they have both officers taking ' inbounds ' only for Weds and leave Thursday for collection,

Why don't they ..... OMFG!!

Why don't they ... put some application forms in the rack, so that someone who just wants a passport application form doesn't have to queue up and waste their time and everyone else's? When there I noticed there wasn't a single form in any of the racks and asked Ms Bennett (now ex-Vice Consul) if she would like me to re-fill it for her - response: "Oh, they must have slipped down to the bottom". Next day (and ever since) the rack was still empty.

Why don't they ... ensure the staff have some IT skills? When I collected my Proof of Pension letter there was a simple mistake - no problem, mistakes happen - and the letter had to be re-typed. The ENTIRE letter, including the address blocks, instead of just pulling up a format and typing in the name, amount, passport number and date (I waited and watched while she took 20 minutes to type it) ... and that was after 3 months "training" at the Embassy in Bangkok.

Why don't they ... have some basic application forms and guides made for the more common applications like Proof of Pension letters, listing what's required and where you can just fill in name, passport number, etc, instead of having to wait 20 minutes while they explain to the person in front of you that the Chartered Accountant's letter they have produced (probably literally) is no good without supporting bank statements, after you have already waited while they explained what was needed to the person in front of them and they are going to spend another 20 minutes explaining exactly the same thing to you?

Why don't they ... accept applications in the morning and have them ready for collection in the afternoon, as the two staff were able to do last year?

Why don't they ... ad infinitum?

The responsibility (or blame) isn't with the locally employed Pattaya Consular staff or the locally employed staff from Bangkok, who are filling in and who are the unfortunate ones on the receiving end in the middle of the "chaos" - they do what they can within the constraints of their training and ability. The responsibility for the "chaos" lies with the FCO permanent staff who avoid any direct contact with their clientele.

[7by7]

The responsibility for the "chaos" lies with the FCO permanent staff who avoid any direct contact with their clientele.

Twas ever thus.

I, many years ago, worked in what was then called an unemployment benefit office. Those of us at the sharp end had to deal day to day with the consequences of the decisions made by the higher ups who had been directly recruited as graduates into grades where they never had, and never would, come face to face with a member of the public.