Immigration Promenada One Stop Service 2016-2017

[NancyL]

10 hours ago, Mapguy said:

I have listened to this back and forth for years now, more than months, between NancyL and others. It gets entirely too nasty.

 

NancyL's critics don't seem to understand that her basic point is that the Bureau of Immigration has been mismanaged and/or overwhelmed to the point that frustrated or other "customers" seeking relief from the bother of it all seek out agents to facilitate what is needed. She really, as I understand it, has never criticized the use of agents except that they have seemed unfairly favored by the Immigration staff.  One can quickly understand why they would be favored given the complexity of some procedures.

 

A lot of the conversation here just seems argumentative, not informative.

 

Well, the management does seem to be improving. Please keep in mind that commonplace bureaucratic inertia common worldwide has hobbled Immigration.  On the other hand the amount of business has increased hugely in ten years, especially in the last five years, give or take. And, quite simply, lots of new arrivals  just can't seem to handle ambiguity well or deal with a new culture smoothly. And some unfortunately have a misplaced sense of entitlement with some  having appalling manners.

 

The solution here in this thread would be  just to  lighten up!  Provide helpful information!

 

Thank you for providing some much-needed prospective. I think most of us can agree that for a variety of reasons the level of service provided by the CM Immigration office is out-of-line with what is provided in other provinces.  Let's not forget either, that CM isn't exactly the leader in retirement extensions.  Chonburi (Pattaya) has us beat by nearly 4 to 1, and I don't believe that the Pattaya retirees are any better groomed, informed or polite than the CM crowd.

 

Because of "encouragement" given to Immigration by the Consular Corp, Chamber of Commerce, Governor's Office, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Foreign Affairs there have been some improvements of late.  Where do you think those groups get their data?  Most of them are Thai people, either serving foreign residents or trying to promote this region as a place to live and visit.  They don't have a clue about what's happening at Immigration unless they get feedback from customers.   Believe it or not, the Consuls really do want to receive feedback from their nationals and they seek it from the leaders of expat groups.

 

In his description of his recent annual extension, hml367 perfectly described a recent innovation in customer service.  Imm. has made an effort to move ALL the agents out of the early morning queue by giving them access to service by appointment at a desk in their second floor office.  This serves to free the limited number of morning queue tickets for the "retail" customers and the special agent desk is available to ALL agents, not just giving special access to G4T as was done in the past.  Kudos to Imm. for this enhancement.  In effect, they've quietly added a second Imm. officer to handle retirement extensions.

 

But, the way they handled the implementation of this new service was interesting.  They called in all the agents to talk with them.  There are some very small time operators who didn't really think of themselves as visa agents who were called in.  People who own travel agencies, restaurants, small shops and occasionally, like maybe once or twice a month, would go out early, sit in the morning queue and them stay with a client and help him through the retirement extension interview.  They didn't really think of themselves as visa agents, but rather just nice people helping one of the regular customers of their main business, for a small fee -- like maybe 500 or 1000 baht.  These nice ladies were also called in, thinking they were going to be told to stop doing early morning line sitting.  Nope, instead they were invited to join the ranks of the big name visa agents and given access to the appointment book of the 2nd floor desk serving the customers of visa agents.  All for a fee, of course.  The fee is well in excess of what they charge their customers.  When they complained about this, they were simply told to raise their rates.

 

So, this is an example of while the service is improving at CM Immigration, the basic underlying driver of how one gets access to improved service isn't.  It's just like the 500 baht fee needed to get a Cert of Res in a timely fashion.

 

 

[Lizard2010]

Thanks to Mayguy and Nancy L

It is good to see things changing

It has all been said now

There are also other things in the pipeline that hopefully will be implemented

Especially when Immigration return to the Airport Site

So hopefully we will not see so many complainers complaining

 

[hml367]

12 hours ago, evenstevens said:

^^^^what a lulu

posted ages ago, that  the C/Mai  Immgr Dept have beaten u up ,fair and square., the above post confirms it

whilst being a  visa agent client,   f or  last  4 yrs or so, the previous 12 yrs,    E/S has been a D.I.Y.  in many different ways

presently i am with G4Tvisa agent, but that may well change  if another viable option. which suits me,  crops up

over the past 2 to 3 yrs you have waged a bitter campaign against C/mai Immgr Dept services, and at times your posts were warranted, but it was the way which you went about it, that offended E/S, now u have started   to slate Visa Agencys role in doing our business with  Immgr dept,are you ever happy???

leave it to the punters to decide which suits them, and stop posting negative posts  , most members have  had a gutful

Promenada Immgr Dept is ,I.M.O  a massive improvement to the Zoo days at the airport,and hope it continues

its a Chelsea F.C ,  EPL champions 2016/2017,  good nite to all

As a follow up to the comment in the green colored text, the following page may help some people understand about dealing with Thai people in the Thai culture.  Some people will not understand.

 

http://www.thailand-family-law-center.com/demystifying-kreng-jai/

Edited May 14, 2017 by hml367

[Lizard2010]

2 minutes ago, hml367 said:

As a follow up to the comment in the green colored test, the following page may help some people understand about dealing with Thai people in the Thai culture.  Some people will not understand.

 

http://www.thailand-family-law-center.com/demystifying-kreng-jai/

Sorry to say this

But i do not think you should be advising us via this forum post

How to conduct ourselves here

[Sparkles]

48 minutes ago, Lizard2010 said:

Thanks to Mayguy and Nancy L

It is good to see things changing

It has all been said now

There are also other things in the pipeline that hopefully will be implemented

Especially when Immigration return to the Airport Site

So hopefully we will not see so many complainers complaining

 

Yes hopefully IMM will become more efficient,the bickering on this forum can stop and we can move on.

 

However the move back to the Airport site is no guarantee of any improvement .

 

Its the Bangkok/CMI decison makers and staff that are the key to providing that.

 

Its very evident that the unprecedented influx of permanent residents to CM is likely to continue and whether CMI can keep pace with progress 

[chuang]

14 hours ago, evenstevens said:

agreed whole heartly, but  the below post  was the first  shot fired, , being called a  dope , with other members  ,  by Nancy L , ...E/S  knows who the dope is!!!!

 

I am going to attend a course to improve  my  "poor reading comprehension" can anyone advise me where.....

Maybe scottiejohn, evenstevens, sappersrest and rawhod can help.....BTW hope I won't be charged for clicking "LIKE"..

[scottiejohn]

1 hour ago, chuang said:

I am going to attend a course to improve  my  "poor reading comprehension" can anyone advise me where.....

Maybe scottiejohn, evenstevens, sappersrest and rawhod can help.....BTW hope I won't be charged for clicking "LIKE"..

I do not think there is any reason for you, or I and a few others for that matter, to attend a course to improve your/our "poor reading comprehension" as you have proved with your post that you can read a post and comment on it accurately, unlike certain other people on this Forum. I also believe there is only one person who needs to be on that course , but being a gentleman I could not possibly name her!

 

Your concern over pressing a ‘like’ button on a post supporting the use of Agents, or any other free choice action you care to mention, may however get you into deep trouble with she who must be obeyed. You have been warned.

Edited May 14, 2017 by scottiejohn

[CharlieH]

I would strongly advise that participants here DO NOT make personal remarks. Keep it civil, abide by forum rules please.

[scottiejohn]

Maybe I need to clarify a remark above regarding ‘she who must be obeyed’.  This is not a reference to any individual on this forum or anywhere else, but a quote from the author John Mortimer in the ‘Rumpole’ series of books.

 

If anyone needs more info either read the books or Google the quote.

Edited May 14, 2017 by scottiejohn

[NancyL]

12 hours ago, hml367 said:

As a follow up to the comment in the green colored text, the following page may help some people understand about dealing with Thai people in the Thai culture.  Some people will not understand.

 

http://www.thailand-family-law-center.com/demystifying-kreng-jai/

Ah, hml367, once again you misinterpret one of my posts.  You said I'm starting to "slate visa agencies roles" (whatever that is, but it sounds negative)  in doing business with Imm.  No, all I'm doing is relaying some stories I heard directly from the owners of small businesses who did a bit of "helping out" regular elderly customers with their retirement extensions for a small fee.  All the sudden, Imm. considered them to be "visa agents", and "invited" them to join the program with the big boys whereby the could forego the 5 am queue sitting and simply call the magic number to make a next day appointment for their customers -- for a fee, of course.

 

Visa agents and compassionate small business owners helping elderly foreigners are providing a much needed service.  It's unfortunate they have to pay Imm. a special fee to be able to access this special desk in the second floor office at Prom.   

 

 

[sappersrest]

On 5/13/2017 at 5:21 PM, aaronshih2001 said:

But I m confused! My wife n I r Farang, she's the own of the house n I hold ' we still be penalty for a total of 4kbaht

Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

not sure what you mean

[hml367]

7 hours ago, NancyL said:

Ah, hml367, once again you misinterpret one of my posts.  You said I'm starting to "slate visa agencies roles" (whatever that is, but it sounds negative)  in doing business with Imm.  No, all I'm doing is relaying some stories I heard directly from the owners of small businesses who did a bit of "helping out" regular elderly customers with their retirement extensions for a small fee.  All the sudden, Imm. considered them to be "visa agents", and "invited" them to join the program with the big boys whereby the could forego the 5 am queue sitting and simply call the magic number to make a next day appointment for their customers -- for a fee, of course.

 

Visa agents and compassionate small business owners helping elderly foreigners are providing a much needed service.  It's unfortunate they have to pay Imm. a special fee to be able to access this special desk in the second floor office at Prom.   

 

 

NancyL,

 

YOU misinterpret.... I meant nothing towards visa agents, comments about them, or using them.  It is specifically about how foreigners deal with Thai people within the Thai culture.

 

 

Edited May 14, 2017 by hml367

[hml367]

7 hours ago, NancyL said:

Ah, hml367, once again you misinterpret one of my posts.  You said I'm starting to "slate visa agencies roles" (whatever that is, but it sounds negative)  in doing business with Imm.  No, all I'm doing is relaying some stories I heard directly from the owners of small businesses who did a bit of "helping out" regular elderly customers with their retirement extensions for a small fee.  All the sudden, Imm. considered them to be "visa agents", and "invited" them to join the program with the big boys whereby the could forego the 5 am queue sitting and simply call the magic number to make a next day appointment for their customers -- for a fee, of course.

 

Visa agents and compassionate small business owners helping elderly foreigners are providing a much needed service.  It's unfortunate they have to pay Imm. a special fee to be able to access this special desk in the second floor office at Prom.   

 

 

Nancy,

I did not say that you are starting to slate visa agencies roles.... that is in a post I quoted.  

[NancyL]

What does "slate visa agencies roles" mean anyway?  And I don't need a tutorial in kreng jai.  The article you posted wasn't an especially good explanation of it anyway.  I know perfectly well how it works and am able to work effectively within Thai bureaucracies.  Just ask the folks at Suan Dok hospital about my involvement with Lanna Care Net.  

 

 

[scottiejohn]

18 minutes ago, NancyL said:

What does "slate visa agencies roles" mean anyway?  And I don't need a tutorial in kreng jai.  The article you posted wasn't an especially good explanation of it anyway.  I know perfectly well how it works and am able to work effectively within Thai bureaucracies.  Just ask the folks at Suan Dok hospital about my involvement with Lanna Care Net.  

 

 

Even with my poor reading comprehension skills I was able to look up the Oxford English Dictionary which explains that ‘to slate something’ is to ‘criticize severely’.

[NancyL]

1 hour ago, scottiejohn said:

Even with my poor reading comprehension skills I was able to look up the Oxford English Dictionary which explains that ‘to slate something’ is to ‘criticize severely’.

In North American English, the verb "to slate" is a passive verb that normally means that something is planned for the future as in "the conference is slated for July" or someone or something has been selected for a position or job, as in "she has been slated to play the lead in the new play".  As such, I found hml367's use of the verb in the context of "slating the visa agencies" to be incomprehensible.

 

So, scottiejohn after your jab, I used Dr. Google to look up what meaning "to slate" has elsewhere in the world.  Ah ha.  In British English it seems the verb "to slate" means to criticize.  That's one of the interesting features of living in Chiang Mai -- learning all the interesting English slang from elsewhere in the world.  It does seem that the Brits have so many ways to describe complaining.  Interesting how North Americans use the same word to describe something constructive.

[FolkGuitar]

One year Visa extension/renewal (call it what you will,)  in and out by 10:15am Smooth as silk.

 

We hired a 'sitter' who got there at 12 midnight yet could only grab the 7th and 8th seats. Some people got there at 11pm the night before. (The people in the first 4 seats were all Farang pensioners.) We arrived at 8:30 and received our numbers, had them called by 9:45, got our passports back at 10:15. 

 

We did all the paperwork ourselves, starting with checking the week before to see if there were any 'new' additions to the stack. Nothing new written on the paper they gave us, but we were told that now we needed to show the 'receipt' for the TM-30. Never had been asked to show that before, seeming only to be required of home-owners. But a friend got dinged for 1,200 Baht for not having the receipt with her so we got them from the condo manager. And the Immigration Officer did examine them.  Saved us 2,400 better spent elsewhere.

 

Smooth as silk. It's a shame the this Immigration Office only has one Officer doing the checking. He did have a trainee looking over all the paperwork, each page four different times, slowing things down as he then went through all the paperwork, each page four different times. It's also a shame that people have to get there so early just to get a required procedure. But that's life in Chiang Mai. Cost us an extra 350 baht NOT to have to get there early. I can afford that.

[chuang]

3 hours ago, NancyL said:

What does "slate visa agencies roles" mean anyway?  And I don't need a tutorial in kreng jai.  The article you posted wasn't an especially good explanation of it anyway.  I know perfectly well how it works and am able to work effectively within Thai bureaucracies.  Just ask the folks at Suan Dok hospital about my involvement with Lanna Care Net.  

 

 

Jai yen yen.....

[jonesthepost]

Nancy there is no such language as north american English  

[CharlieH]

20 minutes ago, jonesthepost said:

Nancy there is no such language as north american English  

I think it is quite clear what she meant and there is no need to criticise or "split hairs" over it.

[scorecard]

On 5/14/2017 at 11:24 AM, Sparkles said:

Yes hopefully IMM will become more efficient,the bickering on this forum can stop and we can move on.

 

However the move back to the Airport site is no guarantee of any improvement .

 

Its the Bangkok/CMI decison makers and staff that are the key to providing that.

 

Its very evident that the unprecedented influx of permanent residents to CM is likely to continue and whether CMI can keep pace with progress 

 

Just a side comment, I heard a comment recently that the Hua Hin Imm. office is quite similar to CM in terms of lining up hours before the doors open, etc. 

[Lizard2010]

4 hours ago, CharlieH said:

I think it is quite clear what she meant and there is no need to criticise or "split hairs" over it.

Well said

i think a few of the Old Timers have nothing to do but complain

[scottiejohn]

1 hour ago, Lizard2010 said:

Well said

i think a few of the Old Timers have nothing to do but complain

As you appear to be an old timer yourself, compared to others, why are you complaining about old timers complaining?

 

 

Edited May 15, 2017 by scottiejohn

[Mapguy]

Please desist !!!!

 

NancyL and some of her "fans" may not like or agree with each other, but so much of the recent conversation above is simply off the point of being helpful on dealing with Immigration that it is just disruptive, not helpful, especially newcomers.  I do believe that NancyL does in frustration post some interesting insights in how Chiang Mai Immigration operates.  That is fair enough, but I suggest that this thread be about the mechanics on a day-to-day basis of the experience.

 

It is indeed fair to comment on the efficacy of Chiang Mai Immigration procedures, but commenting on this bureaucratic headache (which exists in one form or other everywhere, not just in Thailand) should not overwrite the helpful day-to-day reports that some TV members have been kind to provide, usually accurate and in understandable English.  This sort of straightforward reporting is indeed helpful.

 

Should we start a new thread entitled "Pissing and Moaning about Chiang Mai Immigration" ?  Perhaps so!  Otherwise, please --- you know who you are --- just desist !!

[opalred]

for all the old timers like me / you dont no more have to put carbon paper down to do a copy 

there is a new machine that copy all documents

then make copy and do same /same/  same/  thing every time

if cant push button on copy machine  

go to a mob and pay /good for you

but stop the b/s about forms / same/ same/ same/

get a life and go watch the monkeys at cm zoo

happy days /but i am still amazed how that carbon copy works

 

[CharlieH]

Can we please keep to the topic and not comment/diiscuss other members please.

[roo860]

One year Visa extension/renewal (call it what you will,)  in and out by 10:15am Smooth as silk.
 
We hired a 'sitter' who got there at 12 midnight yet could only grab the 7th and 8th seats. Some people got there at 11pm the night before. (The people in the first 4 seats were all Farang pensioners.) We arrived at 8:30 and received our numbers, had them called by 9:45, got our passports back at 10:15. 
 
We did all the paperwork ourselves, starting with checking the week before to see if there were any 'new' additions to the stack. Nothing new written on the paper they gave us, but we were told that now we needed to show the 'receipt' for the TM-30. Never had been asked to show that before, seeming only to be required of home-owners. But a friend got dinged for 1,200 Baht for not having the receipt with her so we got them from the condo manager. And the Immigration Officer did examine them.  Saved us 2,400 better spent elsewhere.
 
Smooth as silk. It's a shame the this Immigration Office only has one Officer doing the checking. He did have a trainee looking over all the paperwork, each page four different times, slowing things down as he then went through all the paperwork, each page four different times. It's also a shame that people have to get there so early just to get a required procedure. But that's life in Chiang Mai. Cost us an extra 350 baht NOT to have to get there early. I can afford that.

Bloody hell, queuing up the night before, they'll be bringing their own orthopaedic beds next!!!
Now there's a nice earner!!!!!

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[CharlieH]

Off topic removed.

[HullyGully]

I was at Immigration today, arrived at 0700hrs for a medical extension, which is the same queue as retirement.  I received number 9, was out the door by 1100hrs.  I believe Immigration had computer issues this morning.  Lots of people around, large number for 90 day reporting, When Immigration started issuing numbers, there were 14 in the queue

Edited May 15, 2017 by HullyGully
additional info

[cusanus]

On 5/14/2017 at 11:24 AM, Sparkles said:

Yes hopefully IMM will become more efficient,the bickering on this forum can stop and we can move on.

 

However the move back to the Airport site is no guarantee of any improvement .

 

Its the Bangkok/CMI decison makers and staff that are the key to providing that.

 

Its very evident that the unprecedented influx of permanent residents to CM is likely to continue and whether CMI can keep pace with progress 

In twelve years, I've never had a problem with Immigration or serious impediment of any kind. Initially, there could be some confusion and anxiety about getting it done, it can be crowded, plus at times the increasing workload has led to long lines, extra confusion and a bit of inconvenience. Clearly, the CM immigration folks are really good people doing their best to keep up with big changes. Some people who are in poor health or for whatever personal preferences may benefit or feel safer using the agencies. It seems very out of synch with both basic human courtesy and especially the civility of Thai culture to be negative or personal or to even acknowledge overly critical and harsh sentiments. Indeed, it is, I believe, against forum rules to criticize Thai institutions unless perhaps a special case arises where someone has been badly victimized.  If anyone has an axe to grind, I really suggest that you examine yourself carefully and consider adjusting your attitude. Sit back and appreciate the Thai culture, the friendly smiles, the great scenery, the conveniences. Be at peace.