Good Experience at Phuket Immigration

[Jameskrabi]

A month back i thought i was late for my 90 day report, turned out i was a month early (the foreign helpers were fab), any way this was the week, and as much as i've been delaying it, i had to go, so of i went in with the correct photo copies, and checked with the foreign helpers - everything was in order, they supplied me with a ticket so i stood there and watched the screen, and my number was 55, currently on 53.

Anyway i had this guy standing next to me, tbf i didnt event notice him, but the immigration guy came up and was "you sit down, the guy moaned, and the immigration official told him yet again" so he finally sat down, and i thought OH - Shit now he is looking at me (very hungover from the Royal Phuket Marina party the night before and drinks in Phuket Town, any way he came up to me i showed him my ticket politely, he looked smiled, and said one moment.

Then he went back to his desk and waved at me, so i went, showed him my documentation and WP and he asked questions on whether i am enjoying Thailand, about my job whether i was based in BKK or Phuket (various offices BKK just being a registered office with 5 staff) and what my Job is doing for Thailand and how many Thai staff we employee, to which i was very polite and stated 200 and oh boy was he very happy especially when i mentioned the company name i work for.

Any way, coming to the end with all his stamping and scribbling he gave me a big smile and thanked me and said he looked forward to seeing me in 3 months.,

so off i went to the car and drove to work.

I have to say it was a very pleasant experience, ive never done my WP visa reporting before as generally done by office clarks but respect that the immigration actually respect us as i felt.

In regards to the chap to be fair he didn't dress smartly and was in a chang shirt and sandals tbf not appropriate for a visit for any official business so i wasn't surprised with the way he was treated.

I thought i would share, and see if anybody else have these experiences as all i generally read on here is doom and gloom ...

[Cylon]

The boss at Phuket immigration should be commended, I have never had a problem there.Number system is great.Expat staff are great.

[Jameskrabi]

Surprising one post when its good feedback 5555

[Neeranam]

Turning up for official business hungover is worse than wearing a t-shirt.

Can't really see the point of this post apart from trying to convince yourself you are somehow better than others. Whether you drink too much at some yacht club or some gogo bar doesn't really matter.

I'd sack my office clerks for not telling me how to do 90 day reports.

[JLCrab]

For (solely) a 90 day report you could have just sent the wine steward.

[Mr Brown]

Yes I find the staff and volunteers at Phuket immigration are very helpful and polite.

But really was there a need to character assassinate this fellow who appeared in your words hung over. How do you know he was suffering the effects of alcohol. Are you a qualified doctor and can say in your qualified opinion he was intoxicated. This fellow for all you know might be suffering from some other medical condition. But as usual in these forums the minority jump on their high horse and ridicule others because they don't conform to some of your values and beliefs.

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Brown

It was the OP who was hung over, read the post again.

Mac

[Rooo]

Moved to Phuket.

[nsimmons]

The boss at Phuket immigration should be commended, I have never had a problem there.Number system is great.Expat staff are great.

I too had a good experience renewing my Retirement Visa and getting a Thai driver's license. The big African American woman

who got my (day late) visa sorted was like an Angel saving me a trip in and out (visa run)

When all stamped and done, she was gone, so I left a few cookies with hand gestures they were to share among the staff.

Whoever came up with the "farang helper first" system, hit a home run!

Cheers,

IE

[phuketrichard]

never anything but positive experiences in my over 20+ years of dealing with Phuket immigration

[Mr Brown]

Brown

It was the OP who was hung over, read the post again.

Mac

Thanks, Thanyaburi Mac, however its Mr Brown to you buddy...lol

[cmcom]

Wish chiang mai was like this

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[CiaranO]

I too have had nothing but good experiences at Phuket Immigration. Always super friendly and very helpful. The one time i had an issue the African American lady as mentioned in previous posts came to my rescue. She is an absolute delight and so friendly and helpful.

[fiddlehead]

Positive here also.
Was in yesterday to renew.
First of all, I wasn't watching closely enough (when I went in for the bank letter) and my bank issued me a new bank book (and scribbled void or something in my old one), so it looked like my money had just been deposited yesterday.
I told the lady at the bank that immigration was not going to like this. And she said, don't worry, they see this everyday and will totally understand. (her exact words: "They're not stupid")

So, I go to immigration and check everything with the farangs in the front. They saw the bank problem and said: Oh oh. They're not going to like this.

So, I got my number and waited about 30 minutes and believe it or not, it all went pretty smoothly.

I did notice 2 farangs, who were dressed in torn, tattered tank tops and hadn't shaved or .....................well, you get the drift, right?
They were quite rude to the officer in the back as it was taking a long time (it was crowded)
The guy was polite to him and I can easily understand why these guys could get a bad rap.
I would NOT have been as nice to rude people as he was.

I always try to dress nice, wei them once, speak clearly and precisely and have as much as I can ready. (of course I'm often asked to get another copy of this or that)

I wish American immigration people could be half as nice to my wife when she goes in there. (of course, I'm not allowed to go with her, or even be on the same side of the street)

[LivinginKata]

For sure the experience is much improved with the new queuing system. The officers are OK, only ever had a bad experience many years ago with my first year extension. Old guy on the make, tried every trick to extort an extra fee, and he was not looking for small money. Phoned me up insisting he would do the extension in my home, that's impossible as the captain in charge has to approve the stamp. I made all sorts of excuses and said I would come into the office. So he processed my passport with the stamp, held is up in front of me and asked what the stamp was worth to me. I produced my 500 baht fee receipt (was 500 baht back then). He flung the passport at me and stormed off. Next year he would not deal with my next extension, waved me over to another officer. The next year I noticed that had been relegated to the front desk, never saw him again after that.

[falkan]

they still won't give you proof of residence for free as it should be even the farang-clowns in there is telling people it's the law you need to pay at least 500 baht with no receipt..

[merijn]

they still won't give you proof of residence for free as it should be even the farang-clowns in there is telling people it's the law you need to pay at least 500 baht with no receipt..

Yes we all know that the certificate of residence should be for free but we all know that this is not the case in practice.

The farang helpers know this also but they can not change it but i never hear them telling that it is the law and it is at least 500 Baht.

You can not blame them for the actions of the immigration officers and normally they will say something in the trend of that the officers will charge for the certificate or something like that.

According my experience most of the time the officers ask for 300 Baht.

We can moan all we want about this charge but it will never change.