Teak Door Suggestion Box: Things That Would Make Suanplu Immigration More Bearable

Please read and deposit your suggestions here!!!

Just spent the day at Suanplu Immigration Department and have to say it is boring as all get out there.

The day went like this:

7:30 am arrived to find a long line of farangs out front waiting for the doors to open.

7:45 Could see the immigration staff standing at attention in rows whilst some old codger gave them instructions - My thought? "Try your hardest to frustrate these imperialist pig farangs. Make them crawl on their knees to stay in our great country paradise....blah....blah.....blah"

8:00 am Staff inside and lemmings outside snap to attention for the Thai national anthem.

8:05 am They pop the locks and the doors open, followed by a stampede for the cue desk. The best was this Thai music that piped up just as we all began to wander around the place. It was like a Thai version of "Dawn of the Dead" as the Thai music had a similar beat and we were milling about like a bunch of Zombies.
12 Noon I am told to come back for my 1 year VISA in 30 days.

From 8:05 to 12 noon I was bored out of my skull.

Any Teak Door style suggestions to make our trip to the immigration office more bearable? :)

Maybe like Virgin airlines, they can offer in flight massages?

Have a karaoke bar set up in the place?

Your input will be amusing!!!

proper organised Parking facilities to start with, for more vehicles

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Originally Posted by good2bhappy

proper organised Parking facilities to start with, for more vehicles

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Or you can have your wife drive around the lot is circles for hours whilst waiting for them to call your number. :(

Take a book, Ipod and PSP. You only have to do this once a year. I still have the pleasure of doing a visa run every 90 days so count yourself lucky.

Was this for a new visa or a renewal?

Last time I renewed mine it took all of 40 minutes start to finish. Walk in, fill in a form, rubber stamp, walk out.

Suan Plu has made giant strides in the last couple of years.

A trip down to the rubbish bins and smoking area for a fag killed 20 minutes.

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Originally Posted by zedhex

Was this for a new visa or a renewal?

Last time I renewed mine it took all of 40 minutes start to finish. Walk in, fill in a form, rubber stamp, walk out.

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Renewal. They spent a lot of time telling my missus that I would be better off getting a retirement VISA until they realized I am only in my early 40's. Not sure why they would care though. I wonder if I look 50? :)

Had to give them pics of the house and us, income verification etc.

I dunno, maybe a few Pattaya style beer bars in the car park with assorted short brown lasses and warm beer.

You need to arrive at these places sometime in the afternoon Chi, the early morning arrival is what screwed you.

When I said Teak Door suggestion box, I expected this kind of response and not take an Ipod or a book :)

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Originally Posted by Spin

I dunno, maybe a few Pattaya style beer bars in the car park with assorted short brown lasses and warm beer.

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1. Move to a premisies thats twice as big and get twice as many staff.

2. Get a few information staff that can that can speak english.

3. An up to date computer system.

4. They've already got some t.v's. Turn them on.

5. Maybe a cafe with wi fi.

6. Clean the bathrooms.

7. Get rid of the bloody ridiculas system where the people who have mates that work there go straight to the front of the line.

Number 7. doesn't affect me personally as our secutary is one of the girls who gets to jump. But I always feel a bit sorry for the people who are getting shafted and number 1. will speed things up anyway.

^^ Glad to be of real assistance:)

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Originally Posted by Spin

^^ Glad to be of real assistance

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Bugger Chitown jumped in there with his last post whilst I was typing.

O.k Blow job with every signature you make:)

get rid of all the farang

Politically correct and incorrect suggestions are welcomed!

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Originally Posted by The Fresh Prince

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Originally Posted by Spin

^^ Glad to be of real assistance

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Bugger Chitown jumped in there with his last post whilst I was typing.

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Originally Posted by The Fresh Prince

Bugger Chitown

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Non sequitor post

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Originally Posted by Chitown

Politically correct and incorrect suggestions are welcomed!

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I think Suan Pluu is wonderful in tems of atmosphere, service and efficiency. I don't think there's much they could improve on.

What I used to do was just hand in my stuff and tell them I would come back the next day, that was at Pattaya Immigration though.

Can't quite fathom how you could find something only executed annually to be boring.

I actually enjoyed my odd stints in Suan Plu and found the time flew by but then I am an imaginative fellow and relished the opportunity to observe the different types of folk one sees there and how the staff interact.


I suggest you take your play station with you next time.

They should have public humiliations every hour on the hour.

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Originally Posted by Nawty

They should have public humiliations every hour on the hour.

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It seems many are into self-humiliation anyway, looking at what they drag in there with them.

Get the ignorant Indians to do their visas at another office!

Every time I go there it is full of them, they seem to just walk to the window regardless that it is not their number being called and the fact I am being served they don't care, just try and force their papers under the glass!!!

Usually results with a stare until eye contact followed by ..............................."OI APU F*CK OFF AND WAIT FOR YOUR NUMBER!!!"

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Originally Posted by chitown

Teak Door Suggestion Box: Things That Would Make Suanplu Immigration More Bearable

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Quite simple really. Install a wireless internet hot spot in the office. TD members would hardly notice they had just spent 10 hours waiting to accomplish so little.:)

Another suggestion to ease the boredom. Take a camera and do a pictorial thread. "A day at Suanplu".

I've posted this on another thread that I ran a year or so ago.

You can do just about all of the necessary crap at ANY immigration office. You definitely DO NOT need to keep returning to the same office you started with originally. It may take a minute or two to establish yourself but often times it is worth it. (There are exceptions of course, if your initiating a visa that ONLY the Bangkok office can issue)

There are at least two offices I've dealt with on the same retirement extension with absolutely no hassle or problems and the max time has been twenty minutes. It all depends on what office you use.

Yesterday an expat living in our condo was over the moon with regards to me telling him to go to the Samut Prakan office for his 90 day visit. His quoted comment: "WOW that was easy, if I hadn't told the taxi driver to wait I would have stayed and chatted with them for a few minutes, very pleasant staff."

Yep, the taxi driver waits while you go in and get your stamps sorted... takes at most five minutes. Another comment: "If I lived next to the immigartion office in town I would take a taxi out here, its that good!"

Another great immigration office is Pong nam ron (sp?) near the Cambodian border on highway 317 out of Chantaburi. Great folks and will try and keep you hanging out to keep the conversation going. The lady in charge of the office is the one that clued me into the fact that ALL imigration offices can do anything you need.

If your are about to redo your visa it may help to go back to the originating office and get a copy of your 'file' (no charge) but is totally unnecessary. In the two offices I've mentioned I've never spent more than 10 minutes waiting in line.

Typically in the Samut Prakan office, if there are folks from the area's companies with lots of passports getting processed, you walk in and almost immediately (or when the opportunity arises) one of the women will push aside the corporate stuff and wave you into the process and idicate a seat for you to take. You get your stuff done and she returns to handling the coporate pile. Very nice and sociable and no one gets a hair across their ass. Totally civil.

E. G.

EDIT: If your on a 90 day reporting period it helps to take a couple of forms with you so that you can have it filled out when you get there, no hassle trying to find a pen that functions etc.

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Originally Posted by chitown

Any Teak Door style suggestions to make our trip to the immigration office more bearable? :)

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https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif

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Originally Posted by Norton

Another suggestion to ease the boredom. Take a camera and do a pictorial thread. "A day at Suanplu".

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No can do! It was my plan, but no pics allowed. Sir, Sir Suuutop, suuutop...... :)

Change the glue they use to stick your photos with.

All tatto-ed thug farangs with their slagdogs can get a separate office in Soi bu-kaow, Pattaya

All Germans can get their own office in any other city in Thailand except Bangkok

Never been there, once, in 5 years of working in thailand.

Office sorted it all, in fact once a year immigration would visit us.

:)

I know, I know, not everyone has the luxury. I'm just boasting, sorry, please allow me the one small benefit

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Originally Posted by kingwilly

I know, I know, not everyone has the luxury. I'm just boasting, sorry, please allow me the one small benefit

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Had the same when I was working in Bangkok. Always went to the hi so one stop office on Ratchada with an overpaid company lawyer. He did all the talking as I sat with him in front of a smiling helpful immigration officer. I signed where she told me to sign. Got a big wai and was on my way in five minutes.

After retiring from my job, I headed for the Suanplu office for my first visa extension as a retiree. Blissful in my ignorance of the real world, I of course decided paying someone to assist in what I knew to be a "simple" task a waste of money. I drove into the car park at 9AM. Being a fast learner, I immediately concluded this was not going to go as easy as in the hi so office. After an hour of driving slowly in circles through the car park I spotted one of the thousand cars crammed into the 100 slot car park leaving. I accelerated around to the row where they had left only to run into a slight problem. Six other cars were queued waiting to get into the empty slot! OK, more than one way to skin a cat. I'll just find a parking spot down the road and walk to the office. Cars in front of me were die hard optimists and clearly were going to wait it out. No room to drive around so started to back up only to find there was another guy behind me waiting for a parking spot. Being trapped and with no other option, I shut off the engine and just sat there organizing the phone numbers in my hand phone. At 12 sharp, suddenly and without warning a herd of khaki clad immigration officers swarmed out of the building and much to my great pleasure, jumped in their cars and headed out of the lot leaving it virtually empty. Wasting no time, I quickly parked my car and headed for the office entrance.

Pushed the door and it didn't move, pulled it and got the same result. Noticed a sign, read it. CLOSED FOR LUNCH! Went home, laid on my bed in the fetal position with my security blanket and after a few hours, was over the trauma of my first venture into the real world of Thai immigration.

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Originally Posted by chitown

When I said Teak Door suggestion box, I expected this kind of response and not take an Ipod or a book :)

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Originally Posted by Spin

I dunno, maybe a few Pattaya style beer bars in the car park with assorted short brown lasses and warm beer.

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What a stupid idea, should be cold beer of course.