Queue Counter Time Change at Chaeng Watthana

[Tom Parkinson]

I went to Chaeng Watthana on Tuesday to get a one-year extension of my 90-day non-immigrant retirement visa.  Getting my bank letter from Kasikornbank proved to be a major circus lasting four hours (and travels between three branch offices between Muang Thong Thani and Phrom Phong).  After a taxi ride involving several wrong turns, I finally arrived at CW, made copies as needed, and got to the queue counter at 3:31 -- only to find out that the queue counter (as of September 1) now closes at 3:30.  

 

Having spent the whole day in pursuit of the extension -- and having missed the cut-off time by such a slim margin -- I was not going to give up that easily.  So I waited until the last queue number had been served and then pleaded with an immigration officer and clerk to serve me.   After I deflected their initial salvos of "cannot be done without queue number" and "bank letter cannot be accepted without the listed balance of each separate account", I guess they figured the path of least resistance was simply to serve me.  Thankfully, I got my extension at 4:17 pm.  Thank you, Immigration!

 

But I thought I would note the changed timing of the queue counter so as to save anyone else potential inconvenience (and frustration).

  

[TerryLH]

You probably could have used the bank in the building and saved a lot of time.

[ubonjoe]

The last queue number being given at 15:30 has been in effect for little over a year now.

 

Quote

Attention
Immigration Division 1 would like to announce the change of the Queue Cards’ timing at Government Complex branch from: 08.30–16.30hrs to 08.30–15.30hrsstarting 1st September 2015.
Our service will be provided at normal office hours from 08.30–16.30hrs or until the last queue.

Source: http://bangkok.immigration.go.th/en/base.php

[Estrada]

Next time just go to Chaengwattana and go downstairs to Kasikorn Bank and get your letter there. It takes 10 minutes.

[mercman24]

would that apply to Bangkok Bank, when i tried to get the letter from my local bank at phra khanong (just round the corner from my condo)last year, they told me i had to go to the branch at soi 11, where i first opened my account 3 years ago,

[lopburi3]

Yes that also applies to Bangkok Bank at Immigration - believe they will all issue letters for account holders regardless of branch location held.

[Tom Parkinson]

On 9/29/2016 at 1:20 PM, TerryLH said:

You probably could have used the bank in the building and saved a lot of time.

 

That's what I thought too.  But it didn't work out as expected...

 

My 800,000+ baht includes amounts from a Thai savings account and a US dollar savings account.  I asked at the Chaeng Watthana Kasikornbank branch for them to update my two passbooks and issue me a letter.  They said they could update the Thai savings account and issue a letter for that account, but not both accounts.  They said that I would need to go to the Muang Thong Thani branch to get the US dollar savings account updated, since that was the closest branch with a foreign currency office.

 

So I got a taxi to the Muang Thong Thani branch.  The customer service rep determined that she could update my US dollar passbook, but she didn't know how.  So she got help... After about 20 minutes, she successfully updated my passbook.   So I then asked for her to issue a letter.  To make life easier for her, I had a copy of the previous letter I had used when I got my 90-day visa.  Once again, she had to get help.  The branch manager came over, they chatted a while, and the branch manager informed me that they could not issue the letter at this branch -- that the only branch that could issue a letter on a US dollar account was the branch at which I had opened the account.  I calmly but insistently asked, "Why?"  Of course, she had no answer except "bank policy".  But when I refused to go away, she called someone else on the phone who spoke good English and informed me of the same rule... again without any explanation of the logic for the rule (not that I really excepted an answer).

 

So I got a taxi back to BTS Mo Chit, took the BTS to Phrom Phong, went to the Sukhumvit soi 33 branch and obtained a letter without incident in about 20 minutes.  When the customer service agent was done, I asked her if it was really true that, of the hundreds of branches in Thailand, this was the only branch where I could get the letter I needed.  Having lived in Thailand for 7 years, I was reasonably prepared for the answer... "No, you can get such a letter at any branch!"

 

I hoofed it back to the BTS, rode to Mo Chit, and got another taxi back to Chaeng Watthana...  All in all, just a routine day in Thailand...

        

[Tom Parkinson]

On 9/29/2016 at 1:27 PM, ubonjoe said:

The last queue number being given at 15:30 has been in effect for little over a year now.

 

Source: http://bangkok.immigration.go.th/en/base.php

 

Ubonjoe, thanks for the clarification.  I was basing my statement on what I saw posted in Chaeng Watthana, and must simply have misread "2015" as "2016".  I was a little flustered by that time...