new immigration office in Lamphun

[higgy88]

It appears that there is a new immigration office in Lamphun. My wife got word of this yesterday, so we went to check it out today. It is on Hwy 11, near the Doi Ti intersection, less than 1 km south of the intersection towards Lampang, and on the west side of the road right next to the big statue of the monk, Kru Ba Sriwichai.

There were absolutely no signs or anything to indicate that there is an immigration office there, but we were assured by the coffee shop in the front of the building that it is indeed located where all the flags are. There is also no word as to what immigration services they may offer, but I am in no need of any services at the moment, having recently both extending my visa for another year and doing my 90 day report. I'm not sure when I can go again during their working hours, but if anyone else in Lamphun is interested in checking it out to see what services they may offer, or if it is even a real immigration office, please report back.

[oldgent]

that,s interesting wonder why ? not many Farrang around that area.

[MadMac]

AFAIK Lamphun and Lampang are together with Chiang Mai under one "immigration authority". There were 90 day reports possible in Lampang and perhaps re-entry permits. Not a full fledged office, but helpful for the people living there.

A number of new immigrations offices are popping up around the country, hopefully it will help to distribute the work load (and travel effort) for all of us.

[Sparkles]

New immigration Offices have also been opened in Suphanburi,Chaiyaphum* Singburi and Ubon Ratchaithani.

(* How many foreigners living in around there , very few I would imagine )

Sadly no staff increase in CM where they are obviously needed.

[MadMac]

I would not discredit this, they are also popping up in Isaan, where probably more Farangs stay than in the entire Chiang Mai Immigration area. These are not all agents to make extra money and I've had not really any bad experiences with any immigration officer in Thailand.

[ubonjoe]

New immigration Offices have also been opened in Suphanburi,Chaiyaphum* Singburi and Ubon Ratchaithani.

(* How many foreigners living in around there , very few I would imagine )

Sadly no staff increase in CM where they are obviously needed.

The office here in Ubon was a move to new office about 30km away from the existing one (until about 6 years ago there were 3 of them here).

The other new ones you mentioned have not opened yet.

[Sparkles]

New immigration Offices have also been opened in Suphanburi,Chaiyaphum* Singburi and Ubon Ratchaithani.

(* How many foreigners living in around there , very few I would imagine )

Sadly no staff increase in CM where they are obviously needed.

The office here in Ubon was a move to new office about 30km away from the existing one (until about 6 years ago there were 3 of them here).

The other new ones you mentioned have not opened yet.

Thanks for that update UJ.As one who is close to all Immigration matters maybe you can shed some light on why CM is so obviously understaffed.

No doubt you have heard about the 2am onwards nightly queues to get a slot and the removal of the online queuing system .

[MadMac]

Roi Et should get a new one, was supposed to be opened already but not yet.

No 2am queues in Chiang Mai, 6am (still sucks) is enough, they give out the numbers more than one hour before they open services. Idiotic at best.

Edited June 18, 2016 by MadMac

[wimpy]

Anyone know if Lampang persons can use this office for retirement extensions??

[victor15]

There will indeed be new immigration offices in Lamphun and Lamphan, both are being set up for full services but are not yet open, immigration officer's have already been posted from Chiang Mai to work there. There will be more officials in Lamphun, this might be because of the new airport that will be built in the Ban Ti area.

[lordblackader]

I would not discredit this, they are also popping up in Isaan, where probably more Farangs stay than in the entire Chiang Mai Immigration area. These are not all agents to make extra money and I've had not really any bad experiences with any immigration officer in Thailand.

Rubbish.

I get that there are a fair few farangs in Isan, but density per head of population would be far, far higher in CM probably compared to anywhere else in Thailand. Last estimate I heard was that there was somewhere in the vicinity of 50,000-70,000+ farang in CM, not including tourists.

[Merron]

Is there somewhere an actual list of immigration offices in Thailand ?

[Sparkles]

There will indeed be new immigration offices in Lamphun and Lamphan, both are being set up for full services but are not yet open, immigration officer's have already been posted from Chiang Mai to work there. There will be more officials in Lamphun, this might be because of the new airport that will be built in the Ban Ti area.

Well if you are correct and they are taking staff from CM to Lamphun & Lampang there will be nobody left at Promenada.

By the way there may well be a new airport but that's a decade away minimum.Swampy, Bangkok took 30 years from approval to completion and is now deemed inadequate

[Sparkles]

Is there somewhere an actual list of immigration offices in Thailand ?

i did a very quick search last night and came up with nothing ,maybe they don't know !

[Merron]

Is there somewhere an actual list of immigration offices in Thailand ?

i did a very quick search last night and came up with nothing ,maybe they don't know !

Did the same, same result.

[ubonjoe]

Is there somewhere an actual list of immigration offices in Thailand ?

i did a very quick search last night and came up with nothing ,maybe they don't know !

There is this list of offices in Thai that I downloaded from the online 90 day reporting site. File name should be contact: Contract.xls

Also this file I created from it: Google translate of immigration contact info.pdf

[OccamsRazor]

By the way there may well be a new airport but that's a decade away minimum.Swampy, Bangkok took 30 years from approval to completion and is now deemed inadequate

Not for a few decades as 12.8 billion baht has been approved by AOT to upgrade the existing terminal until at least year 2035 in two stages.

[MadMac]

Rubbish.

I get that there are a fair few farangs in Isan, but density per head of population would be far, far higher in CM probably compared to anywhere else in Thailand. Last estimate I heard was that there was somewhere in the vicinity of 50,000-70,000+ farang in CM, not including tourists.

And what exactly is your point? We should condemn the opening of new immigration offices in the Chiang Mai area, because there are less farangs in Isaan?

[elgordo38]

New immigration Offices have also been opened in Suphanburi,Chaiyaphum* Singburi and Ubon Ratchaithani.

(* How many foreigners living in around there , very few I would imagine )

Sadly no staff increase in CM where they are obviously needed.

Yes Chiang Mai needs a better setup. Its hard to fathom why offices are built in areas of little demand and ours deteriorates. Even the oneline queue system return would be a big help but under the current agent system highly unlikely. The only positive thing about the agent system is that the morning queues seem to be getting shorter. It is still a "waste a whole day" system. Go early get a number return at the allotted time for your interview leave and return at 4.30pm (if your lucky) and pick up your passport. I think we all know why

[northernjohn]

New immigration Offices have also been opened in Suphanburi,Chaiyaphum* Singburi and Ubon Ratchaithani.

(* How many foreigners living in around there , very few I would imagine )

Sadly no staff increase in CM where they are obviously needed.

Yes Chiang Mai needs a better setup. Its hard to fathom why offices are built in areas of little demand and ours deteriorates. Even the oneline queue system return would be a big help but under the current agent system highly unlikely. The only positive thing about the agent system is that the morning queues seem to be getting shorter. It is still a "waste a whole day" system. Go early get a number return at the allotted time for your interview leave and return at 4.30pm (if your lucky) and pick up your passport. I think we all know why

I don't know why.

I know what the result is but I have no idea why Bangkok will not supply adequate staff in Chiang Mai.

Are you saying the agents are sending money to Bangkok?

[connda]

That would make me a happy camper. Only 30 km to the Northwest. Wife and I pass there anytime we travel to Chiang Mai, or go shopping at Big-C or the markets in Lamphun Meuang district. I'll stop by and check it out the next trip we make.

[cyberfarang]

Last Friday I went for my 90 day at the Promenade, arrived there at 2.30pm. I was shell shocked, hardly anyone there not even a queue. Only 2 people sitting inside the building in the waiting area. Was done in 4 minutes flat, didn`t even bother collecting a number. Saved 300 baht not having to use the G4T. I noticed 2 officers were from the airport immigration office, it was one of those officers that stamped my 90 report. Have no idea if it was busy before or after I left. Maybe I was lucky and arrived during a quite gap.

Seems something is happening, maybe the opening of immigration offices in separate provinces is all part of the master plan. We will see.

[jamden]

went there last week and was told by Immigration staff if is due to open end of this month

[Thailand]

went there last week and was told by Immigration staff if is due to open end of this month

No doubt there will be queues from Saraphi to Lamphun when it finally opens, end of this month is just 10 days away!

[connda]

That would make me a happy camper. Only 30 km to the Northwest. Wife and I pass there anytime we travel to Chiang Mai, or go shopping at Big-C or the markets in Lamphun Meuang district. I'll stop by and check it out the next trip we make.

Wife and I stopped by today. It is a full-service Immigration office. Looks like they will open around the 1st week in July. We spoke to whom I believe will be the head IO there and some other staff. Friendly and helpful. They're setting up the offices now. Everything is built, signs are up, just getting the offices in order.

I'm interested to see how they choose to define jurisdiction boundaries and exactly who they will serve. Migrant labor in the local area for sure, but not sure how they will handle the other foreigners who show up and from where. It's not a big office and if 'overflow' from Chiang Mai ends up showing up on their door, my guess is that it will end up with the same problems as in Chiang Mai. If they are limiting service to just the local community (Lamphun/Lampang), then it will probably be fine, as we locals will no long need to travel to CM and it will relieve some pressure off the Chiang Mai offices. Anyway, I guess time will tell. I only see it as a positive.

Edited June 20, 2016 by connda

[higgy88]

Thanks for taking the time to stop by during their working hours and checking this place out and asking some questions. It would be good if we did not need to go to CM anymore.

H

That would make me a happy camper. Only 30 km to the Northwest. Wife and I pass there anytime we travel to Chiang Mai, or go shopping at Big-C or the markets in Lamphun Meuang district. I'll stop by and check it out the next trip we make.

Wife and I stopped by today. It is a full-service Immigration office. Looks like they will open around the 1st week in July. We spoke to whom I believe will be the head IO there and some other staff. Friendly and helpful. They're setting up the offices now. Everything is built, signs are up, just getting the offices in order.

I'm interested to see how they choose to define jurisdiction boundaries and exactly who they will serve. Migrant labor in the local area for sure, but not sure how they will handle the other foreigners who show up and from where. It's not a big office and if 'overflow' from Chiang Mai ends up showing up on their door, my guess is that it will end up with the same problems as in Chiang Mai. If they are limiting service to just the local community (Lamphun/Lampang), then it will probably be fine, as we locals will no long need to travel to CM and it will relieve some pressure off the Chiang Mai offices. Anyway, I guess time will tell. I only see it as a positive.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Time to rent or buy a place in Lamphun to make sure you qualify..?

[dcmcp]

Immigration police from Chiang Mai used to come down to Lampang a couple of days a month to take care of 90 day reports only. Within the last month, they are now in attendance 5 days a week, but still only for 90 day reports. While doing my 90 day report last week they mentioned that they are currently looking for bigger offices for 15 staff to open a full service branch, perhaps in 2 to 3 months time.

[connda]

Time to rent or buy a place in Lamphun to make sure you qualify..?

We have an extra bedroom to rent. Lol (Wife says, 'not really')

[Sophon]

Stopped by today on our way to Makro for shopping. The office is open, but as their computer systems are not up and running they currently only process 90 day reports and address registration. They didn't know when their systems would be fully operational but it didn't sound like it's right around the corner. Only people living in Lamphun will be able to use the new office.

It might sound strange for them to open a new immigration office in Lamphun considering how relatively few Western tourists and expats you see in the province. However, there is a large industrial estate in Lamphun with lots of workers coming from neighbouring countries, so my guess is that the office is being opened primarily to serve these people.

Sophon