British Embassy in Bangkok changes appointment system

[ronwparker]

I think our Embassy does very lkittle -the "dipomats" and other local staff don't even provide passport renewals!!!!

They have a great security system

The Consular Sevice in Chiang Mai does even less.

I was advised by the Thai immigation officer in CM to renew my passpurt in England -the Peterborough Office is very quick.

[ronwparker]

The local consul now has his office in the grounds of the British Council-which mainly provides lessons on learning English to non English speakers.

[ronwparker]

at a price!!

[ronwparker]

At times I wish I had emmigrated to New Zealand like my sister did-We sgould hhave on on line system like theirs!

[Corkie]

And who is it do you think pays for overseas embassies? The beleaguered British taxpayer who has faced cuts in public services, a run down of the NHS and increases in fees and charges, like cost of passports, over here!! Why should we in UK subsidise the requirements of ex pats who've chosen to live overseas. Thailand doesn't subsidise the Royal Thai Consulates overseas. They have to pay their way out of fees they charge in whatever country they are located. Why should UK be different in Thailand? ?

[finnomick]

And who is it do you think pays for overseas embassies? The beleaguered British taxpayer who has faced cuts in public services, a run down of the NHS and increases in fees and charges, like cost of passports, over here!! Why should we in UK subsidise the requirements of ex pats who've chosen to live overseas. Thailand doesn't subsidise the Royal Thai Consulates overseas. They have to pay their way out of fees they charge in whatever country they are located. Why should UK be different in Thailand? ?

A very good point Corkie, however, consider this. Despite currently residing in Thailand, I am also a beleaguered British taxpayer who has well over 30+ years of 'contributions' in the governments coffers. I do not get any public services. I do not get anything from the NHS. So why can't I get something from the British government in the form of an embassy and it's services ( services, that's some kind of a joke ) ? I am sure the British embassy here makes a profit on their services judging by the fees they charge -- even to speak to someone on the phone you need to quote a credit card number first so I very much doubt they are a burden on a British citizen who is still lining the pockets of the UK government in the form of taxes etc. back home.

As an aside many years ago I was involved in transport. When the British embassy in the Czec Republic was having building alterations and repairs done, ALL materials were containerized and transported by road from the UK to the embassy. You'd probably find all the building workers were British too. Tell me if I am wrong, but wasn't this a case of the British government wasting the British taxpayers money as opposed to British citizens living abroad ?

[harveyw]

Truly the most pathetic service for any consulate around the world ,they are a disgrace.

[Corkie]

"Truly the most pathetic service for any consulate around the world ,they are a disgrace."

You must be very well travelled to have visited every Britush Consulate in the world!

Whether you live at home or abroad, you can't choose what services you have paid in for over the years but in these days of severe austerity the principle of charging the minority of service users for services they require as opposed to spreading them over the majority who will most likely never use them is better and fairer in my view than cutting services that the majority are likely to use.

[Veritas48]

It's more convenient to get your passport renewed in the UK, and use the same day service. Plus you can spend a day or two in a world class city. Visit art galleries and stock up on books from Foyles.

The current passport for expats in Thailand are renewed in the UK via the HMPO office in Liverpool, to suggest that it is convenient for applicants to travel to the UK for their passport renewal is not sensible.

In the past passport applications were done by the UK Embassy in Bangkok and applicants did not have to travel to Bangkok (as is the case now) they were able to use the local consulate offices and the consul did sent the application form with the passport to the UK Embassy in Bangkok and the new passport was then sent back to the consulate and the applicant collected it,

The current procedure as is known requires two visits to the Trendy office in Bangkok, the travel is expensive due to the frozen state pension income of the retired Brits.

Should the Labour party win the next general election in May 15. then it is possible that they might change the passport application procedure again to the F.C.O. (Foreign & Commonwealth Offices)

[Veritas48]

It's more convenient to get your passport renewed in the UK, and use the same day service. Plus you can spend a day or two in a world class city. Visit art galleries and stock up on books from Foyles.

The current passport for expats in Thailand are renewed in the UK via the HMPO office in Liverpool, to suggest that it is convenient for applicants to travel to the UK for their passport renewal is not sensible.

In the past passport applications were done by the UK Embassy in Bangkok and applicants did not have to travel to Bangkok (as is the case now) they were able to use the local consulate offices and the consul did sent the application form with the passport to the UK Embassy in Bangkok and the new passport was then sent back to the consulate and the applicant collected it,

The current procedure as is known requires two visits to the Trendy office in Bangkok, the travel is expensive due to the frozen state pension income of the retired Brits.

Should the Labour party win the next general election in May 15. then it is possible that they might change the passport application procedure again to the F.C.O. (Foreign & Commonwealth Offices)

[for real]

It's more convenient to get your passport renewed in the UK, and use the same day service. Plus you can spend a day or two in a world class city. Visit art galleries and stock up on books from Foyles.

Does Foyles still sell books written in English?

For decades now my own public library 's english section was miniscule and hidden out of sight.

Foreign books and foreign newspapers filled the vast hall.

All government leaflets were in numerous languages.

One local newspaper there written in English proudly boasted[word for word]...

.........'At White Hart Lane school in Tottenham,children from 50 countries speak 34 languages'

that was in the paper about 15 years ago.

[Veritas48]

Please do not wish for a Labour Government.....nothing is worth the pain of listening to the "Millipede"!!!

[15Peter20]

I renewed my daughter's British passport at Trendy House a month ago. I found the service to be quick and efficient apart from the silly thing about having to colour copy every page of an empty passport.

Those racists among the readers here who hanker after the Empire should consider - in their twilight years - that time does indeed tend to change things.

[bikerbri]

I will never forget my experience with the British Embassy in Bangkok. My wife and I were traveling to a French overseas territory and required verification of our marriage from the British Embassy in Bangkok,regardless of the fact we had a marriage certificate issued in Bangkok. On arrival at the consular office I was told they didn't know anything about this requirement and therefore didn't have any form for me to complete. After a lot of hassle from the Thai staff they came up with the idea that I should write the letter my self an provided me with a blank sheet of A4.I completed the verification letter and the consular official produced the consular stamp,which I presumed made my document official.The bill for them picking up the stamp was 2,500 Baht.The reply to my complaint about the charges for something I created and they only stamped was " Its Government policy" If you can do anything to avoid having to go to this little part of the great British Empire and its corrupt, robbing,totally self serving diplomats I would encourage you to do so.

[NCFC]

So many whiney Brits. Glad to be shot of you but you'll be up at the Embassy for a handout from the taxpayers when yer money runs out.

[wileycoyote]

Logical change

[DaveinAsia]

A simple answer to all the questions made here about why our government is sociopathic, inadequate and delusional; they don't give a f-k about us!!
Solution; vote in a better government coming May. Anything is better than Dave and his cronies who only answer to the elite and large corporations

[DaveinAsia]

And who is it do you think pays for overseas embassies? The beleaguered British taxpayer who has faced cuts in public services, a run down of the NHS and increases in fees and charges, like cost of passports, over here!! Why should we in UK subsidise the requirements of ex pats who've chosen to live overseas. Thailand doesn't subsidise the Royal Thai Consulates overseas. They have to pay their way out of fees they charge in whatever country they are located. Why should UK be different in Thailand? ?

What a joke mate! I suppose you would rather pay for the posh little trips MP's make all year round or their hooker/charlie/champagne parties. Yes, let's spend more taxpayer pounds on corrupted government officials who suck the system dry but cut down on services for ex-pats who have been paying tax for 20 or 30 years. You must be having a laugh

[doctormann]

So many whiney Brits. Glad to be shot of you but you'll be up at the Embassy for a handout from the taxpayers when yer money runs out.

And what do you think would happen?

I'll tell you: he would possibly be allowed to phone a relative, back in the UK, at tax payers' expense but, otherwise, would get no financial assistance whatsoever!

DM

[dragonfly94]

I renewed my daughter's British passport at Trendy House a month ago. I found the service to be quick and efficient apart from the silly thing about having to colour copy every page of an empty passport.

Those racists among the readers here who hanker after the Empire should consider - in their twilight years - that time does indeed tend to change things.

For the worse for a number of former colonies, as for the rest surely they only benefited. You do not have to be a 'racist' (the insult is so worn out) to appreciate the good points about the empire, long gone anyway.

[dragonfly94]

So many whiney Brits. Glad to be shot of you but you'll be up at the Embassy for a handout from the taxpayers when yer money runs out.

Are you an American? our Embassy does not hand out money

[Anon999]

the british embassy is full of sh-ite...and thats just the arrogant staff.vile rip off merchants which we cannot do a thing about ..i f-----g hate them

Next time I have reason to visit the British Embassy I'll have to ask if I can meet one of the arrogant staff as I haven't met one of them since the 90's.

[Anon999]

So things are going from bad to worse....or is that worse to incredibly useless ? If this is the same system now that they use at VFS in Trendy House the appointment system is a total waste of time. You get an appointment, turn up, then you're given a number and told to wait until it is called. Our appointment a couple of weeks ago was one hour late and the office had only been open one and a half hours -- such efficiency. Two days for the paperwork to get from the embassy back to VFS, a distance that can be measured in metres rather than kilometres. Over 24 hours to get the paperwork to a courier service -- AKA the Thailand Pot Office which in my view is not a courier service and we know how unreliable the post office is, then 2 days to travel 400kms to our sorting office. And if that wasn't bad enough, cost has already been mentioned. You cannot pay in sterling, it has to be US dollars. Why, this is the BRITISH embassy and I am British. You want to talk to them on the phone, well please have your credit card ready and expect to pay 1.27 ( could be 1.37 ) pounds per minute AFTER you have already forked out for a visa which you are not guaranteed to get.

If you think this is a rant then I've got it right !

Obviously you live in an area where the posty is unreliable as so far over numerous years the PO here has been pretty reliable with my mail and no worse than that in the UK.

Edited March 12, 2015 by Anon999

[Anon999]

The correct link is:

https://www.gov.uk/notarial-and-documentary-services-guide-for-thailand

And after you've made your appointment, make sure you have a fat wallet ready for the fees.

Your time with someone working for HM Govt will be billed at 130 quid an hour!!! KERRRRCHING!!

Yes - 'rip off Britain' extends way beyond the country.

A simple proof of address for a driving license where you show them a bank statement and they sign a form (which you have to fill out yourself) costs 60 quid. 10 minutes for them at most. If you want two copies (eg for a car and bike license) that's 120 quid for 15 minutes.

Reminds me why I am here.

Why you would go to the inconvenience and cost of getting proof of address for a drivers license beggars belief, not to mention the cost. Your nearest police station will do it and many for FREE!

[Jonmarleesco]

Makes sense. I last made an appointment by phone, which worked well enough, but the phone system - as in their answering it - is unreliable. Online can only be an improvement.

[Jonmarleesco]

So many whiney Brits. Glad to be shot of you but you'll be up at the Embassy for a handout from the taxpayers when yer money runs out.

You're experienced in scamming taxpayers, then? Pray enlighten us.

[ravip]

The correct link is:

https://www.gov.uk/notarial-and-documentary-services-guide-for-thailand

And after you've made your appointment, make sure you have a fat wallet ready for the fees.

Your time with someone working for HM Govt will be billed at 130 quid an hour!!! KERRRRCHING!!

And I've heard complaints about 10 - 20 TBH been over charged.

Edit

And reading most of the posts here I thought it was about Thailand and Thainess!

Edited March 12, 2015 by ravip

[Thai at Heart]

Why have an embassy at all? What possible help can they give a uk citizen anyway except say don't return home there's no jobs. The British Empire has turned into little britain. No wonder they're are so many British expats living over here, here we're treated better.Great Britain should be renamed and ambassador Mark Kent does renewing your passport take 9 weeks compared to 4 years ago when it only took 11 days to receive a new passport. What a turn around for UK expats. Maybe the real reason we don't want to go home is that we're ashamed to. What has happened to our Empire?

What on earth are you prattling on about.

Unemployment is tumbling, we can't get labour around here.

The govt hasn't got any money because the previous bunch splurged it away and then bailed out the world. Hence why the service is being reduced.

Our empire disappeared decades ago, didn't you notice....but still have plenty of things that are light years ahead of the rest of the world.

[Hugh Jarse]

No way i'm paying 60 quid for a letter to prove income from those shites, I'd rather keep a bit more in the bank here for an extension and you get a better interest rate anyway. The only reason I would ever go to the Embassy would be for a travel document if I lost my passport, I expect they screw you for that as well.

I agree it is an outrageously high charge for such a simple bit of administration: downloading a template letter with your name on it after a clerk has checked the source of the income. I always complain and get the usual response "... fees are set by parliament"! The entry clearance fees are daylight robbery too. No wonder UK government has lost any respect from its nationals here and in other parts of the world.

[Wilsonandson]

To be honest IF and yes its a big IF, the British embassy could sort out the passport renewal system, then I personally would be happy. As for ambassador Kent, I apologise for offending you in anyway, you are much better than your previous 2 ambassadors and I'm glad to see that you have a keen interest in the social media as being an ambassador who is easily approachable or contacted. Yes the credit crunch and crash of 2008 has cost the uk a lot but an improved passport renewal system is an important service to expats in Thailand. Is not the world more international now? Why cut back? Increase spending on those who are embracing this new more international world. Captain Cook was a hero for travelling the world and exploring new countries, yet today we are all treated as losers who couldn't hack a job back in the uk. Stereotyping is part of Ukip politics. I am British, I waw born in the British Isles, I am living in Thailand and want equality when renewing my passport. I am not racist as I love Thailand and its people. I just want better service, but when I ask its the same replies. God help the UK if Ukip is elected. Working overseas has broaded my view of the world but shorten the view of some so called politicians in the uk.