90 Day Renewal, Change of Address

[ma91c1an]

I went to Major Hollywood Surasak on Monday. The facility was full of Laotian, Cambodian and Burmese laborers. There were no other farang Westerners.

I told the attendant at the front that I needed to file a 90-day report. He gave me the form, I filled it out, and he gave me a queue number.

I waited a while, I was next in turn, but nothing was happening. I am impatient, so I walked up and asked at the window if there was a problem, and the official smiled and took my paper. As he reviewed it, he was stumped by my addresses.

I moved to a different address, so I entered my new address on the 90 day extension form. This obviously did not correspond to my previous address, so I told him that I had changed my address.

That suddenly made everything make sense, so he handed me another form, an address change form, and then he told me the bad news. I had to go to Chaeng Wattana to file a change of address.

I thanked him and left. I had a doctor's appointment the next day, Tuesday, and Wednesday was Macha Bucha day, a holiday. I was concerned that Immigration might charge me a fine for being late.

Assuming that Thai bureaucracy would be at its worst, I made copies of my medical report and my new lease. I went to Chaeng Wattana on Thursday.

What a madhouse. It was packed, totally packed, and my queue slip helpfully told me that 184 others were ahead of me in the line. We arrived around 1:30PM.

My wife and I went downstairs to a restaurant in the basement called Konichiwa. I find Chester's Grill barely palatable, and the other food venues mostly sell only snacks. This pseudo-Japanese restaurant appears to be the best option. The S&P only had sandwiches in a glass case. They are not famous for their sandwiches.

I ordered a teriyaki pork steak set. When it came, it looked a bit small, so I ordered another. My wife and I enjoyed a quiet, relaxing late lunch. The teriyaki pork steak was very good.

When we went upstairs, there were still 50 folks ahead of me in the queue, so after waiting a few minutes, we went back downstairs to get a drink. We had some tea, 25 baht. No complaints.

When we went back upstairs, it was nearly 4PM, but just a few others were still ahead of me.

I was delighted when I went up to the window. I explained that I had been to Major Hollywood on Monday, and the official expertly scanned my address change paperwork, entered the change in the system, and processed my 90 day extension, emphasizing that I could resume going to Major Hollywood for 90 day extensions henceforth.

No hassles, once I made it to the window.

Lessons learned:

1. If you change your address, you need a change of address form.

2. Change of address forms cannot be processed at Major Hollywood. They must be processed for foreigners in Bangkok at Chaeng Wattana.

3. I was told that I had a 7 day grace period following my 90 day date. This appears to be correct, as I was not charged a late fee.

4. While I was prepared with copies of my new lease, I was not asked for a copy. I am sure that if I failed to make a copy, I would have been asked. You never know.

5. Immigration has vastly improved the taxi queue system outside, making it easy to get a taxi. The line was very long, so my wife and I jumped on a pair of motos, and we went down to the main drag. Fifteen baht.

6. We flagged a taxi down there, and went to the Skytrain station next to JJ Market. From there, we went out to dinner.

It was a long day, but smooth enough.

Hope that this helps.

[ubonjoe]

You did a report of staying longer than 90 days in the country. It is not a renewal or an extension.

It does not surprise me that they would not do the change of address at Suksawat.

[zurgos]

For OP, did you only have to get one queue number and hand in the change of address form and 90 day report at same time or did you have to stand in 2 different queues

[frodo77]

You did a report of staying longer than 90 days in the country. It is not a renewal or an extension.

It does not surprise me that they would not do the change of address at Suksawat.

Do they do change of address at Jomtien?

[ubonjoe]

You did a report of staying longer than 90 days in the country. It is not a renewal or an extension.

It does not surprise me that they would not do the change of address at Suksawat.

Do they do change of address at Jomtien?

Yes they will.

The reason Sukswat could not do it is because it is an office only for migrant workers. But it is a designated office where 90 day reports can be done for those living in Bangkok.

[IMA_FARANG]

I accept your comments, but I can't frankly see why anyone would prefer Suksawat. to Chaeng Wattana.

Let's just say we have a difference of opinion there.

Edited March 6, 2015 by IMA_FARANG

[ubonjoe]

I accept your comments, but I can't frankly see why anyone would prefer Suksawat. to Chaeng Wattana.

Let's just say we have a difference of opinion there.

I would think a person would prefer Suksawat over CW for doing 90 day reports because it wold be closer to their home. Also there have been reports of doing them there in 10 minutes or less verses hours at CW.

It is the same for Imperial World Lad Phrao.

[ma91c1an]

One queue ticket for both the 90 day and the address change at Chaeng Wattana. The official handled both smoothly and efficiently. They were pretty tired. It had been a long day, and they still had a full waiting room after 4PM.

I prefer Major at Suksawat because there has never been a line of people ahead of me. The primary purpose of the facility seems to be focused on laborers. Foreigners are permitted to go there if they choose.

It is closer and faster for me than Chaeng Wattana, and I appreciate the convenience of getting in and out in ten minutes. I usually persuade my taxi drivers to wait for me with the meter running, so the entire transaction is very fast and smooth.

As I mentioned, Chaeng Wattana was a madhouse, when I first received my queue number there were 184 people ahead of me in line.

At Suksawat, I am always the next customer. It is much faster, and far less stressful, than Chaeng Wattana, for me.

Edited March 6, 2015 by ma91c1an

[Too]

You did a report of staying longer than 90 days in the country. It is not a renewal or an extension.

It does not surprise me that they would not do the change of address at Suksawat.

Do they do change of address at Jomtien?

Do they do change of address at Hua Hin, too?

I might move into one of the rooms owned by my school soon.

What exactly will I need for it? Will I need to ask my school director

to issue a proof of my residence to me?

Thank you.