Did our first 30 day extesion of tourist visa on Thursday, arrived about 7.45am, number 67 and 68 on the list, and were out of there by a little after 9.00. I was expecting a full day out, very pleasantly surprised by how quickly they processed it and how nice and friendly the immigration staff were. Overall, a very positive experience which I had been mistakenly dreading.

Thank you for the good feedback about Chiang Mai Immigration. You probably were dreading the visit due to all the many posts on Thai Visa about how you have to wait forever, arrive by 6 am, sign up for the on-line queue at least 80 days in advance, etc. Those are the experiences of people getting 12-month extensions to their "retirement" or "marriage" visas, which is a much more involved process than obtaining a 30 day extension to a tourist visa.

Those of us in Chiang Mai need to remember to ask people what type of visa they're extending when we talk about the difficulties of obtaining an extension.

Thank you for the good feedback about Chiang Mai Immigration. You probably were dreading the visit due to all the many posts on Thai Visa about how you have to wait forever, arrive by 6 am, sign up for the on-line queue at least 80 days in advance, etc. Those are the experiences of people getting 12-month extensions to their "retirement" or "marriage" visas, which is a much more involved process than obtaining a 30 day extension to a tourist visa.

Those of us in Chiang Mai need to remember to ask people what type of visa they're extending when we talk about the difficulties of obtaining an extension.

Yes, I agree with you Nancy. As we arrived, we wrote our name on a sheet of paper. After 8am, an officer called people from the list in order of arrival. They were asked what they were there for, and a touch screen computer spat out the relevant ticket number. Maybe we just got lucky because there weren't so many people doing the very simple, quick, straight forward 30 day extension. A man we were speaking to a couple of numbers behind us was doing a 90 day report (I think for retirement) and the officer issuing tickets told him to come back at 2pm. That might sound harsh, but at least he was being realistic as to how long the wait would be, and the man could go and eat or shop or read or swim or whatever he wanted to do until the time estimated by the officer based on how many people were applying for the same kind of visa or reporting. I really was dreading it, but more than it being efficient, I was very impressed at how helpful and friendly the staff were. Usually I only notice when service is really bad, so they must have been very good for me to have made the comment at the time.

Thank you for the good feedback about Chiang Mai Immigration. You probably were dreading the visit due to all the many posts on Thai Visa about how you have to wait forever, arrive by 6 am, sign up for the on-line queue at least 80 days in advance, etc. Those are the experiences of people getting 12-month extensions to their "retirement" or "marriage" visas, which is a much more involved process than obtaining a 30 day extension to a tourist visa.

Those of us in Chiang Mai need to remember to ask people what type of visa they're extending when we talk about the difficulties of obtaining an extension.

I got there last month at 6:45 am. Had to come back after lunch (number 24 in the queue if I remember), and didn't leave till 3:30pm. No marriage visa or 12-month extension.

Congrats on your quick turnaround. I'm jealous!

Sorry to hear that - maybe we just got lucky as you said. It was a standard 60 day tourist visa we were extending, the easiest and quickest for immigration to process. I hope you have better luck next time you have to do it. Some people we spoke to had arrived at 6am as the gates opened to get their name first on the list. I was very, very impressed with the service. Coming from a background in senior management, all I ever got to hear about was the worst of the complaints that my staff had no option but to pass on to me - it's good to hear the compliments as well (I never received any), and it's something I always try to do if I've received exceptionally good service from anyone. I never expect my emails to go all the way to the top, and state that in my messages - urging them to pass it up as high as they possibly can, but on several occasions I have had a personal reply from some very big name people. They, obviously, are used to hearing complaints (or are shielded from them by their staff) not compliments. I'm the first to complain if necessary, but it has to work both ways. And knowing whoever it was who was helpful will get a pat on the head and a gold star on their file makes me feel good. I think that counts as karma.

Thank you for the good feedback about Chiang Mai Immigration. You probably were dreading the visit due to all the many posts on Thai Visa about how you have to wait forever, arrive by 6 am, sign up for the on-line queue at least 80 days in advance, etc. Those are the experiences of people getting 12-month extensions to their "retirement" or "marriage" visas, which is a much more involved process than obtaining a 30 day extension to a tourist visa.

Those of us in Chiang Mai need to remember to ask people what type of visa they're extending when we talk about the difficulties of obtaining an extension.

I got there last month at 6:45 am. Had to come back after lunch (number 24 in the queue if I remember), and didn't leave till 3:30pm. No marriage visa or 12-month extension.

Congrats on your quick turnaround. I'm jealous!

For any retirement or marriage one year extension use the on line q system

We will be heading over to immigration tomorrow for our 30-day extensions. Is it still advised to arrive around 7am? Last I read, we will be signing a list to get our queue number. As far as I can tell, we just need to bring ourselves, our passports and 1900 baht each? Thanks!

We will be heading over to immigration tomorrow for our 30-day extensions. Is it still advised to arrive around 7am? Last I read, we will be signing a list to get our queue number. As far as I can tell, we just need to bring ourselves, our passports and 1900 baht each? Thanks!

What You Need to Get a Tourist Visa Extension - Before you go to get your Thai tourist visa extension, you must have the following: your passport with the departure card from Thailand still firmly secured inside it, a photocopy of the photograph page of your passport, a photocopy of the page where the tourist visa is stamped in your passport, 2 passport sized photographs, and a 1,900 baht fee.

Thanks for the heads up, almost forgot the passport photos! Not too bad for our first Imm experience. Got there at 6:50, #'s 34 and 33, which turned into queue 006 and 007. The copy shack went quickly. We got out of there around 9:50. Does everyone bring exact change? I had to ask for my 100 baht change from two 1000 notes, it wasn't handed back with my receipt. The counter person grabbed it off a desk. My girlfriend had to ask a couple of times and we ended up just leaving; the 'desk manager' never came back. Gotta make up for the loss from residency certificates, I guess. Regardless, 30 days not a problem.