Transferring stamps to a new passport

[frequent]

I simply hire a limo and keep the driver waiting. USD90 for a once-a-year expense

[francois]

When I applied for an O visa and later retirement extension at Chaengwattan that is what I did.
Hired a car, had him wait, and took care of business. It did cost about 4000+ TB. Now just use an agent.

[Jellybean]

I haven't used Uber but I have used Grab in similar circumstances at the Immigration Office in Chaeng Wattana - late afternoon, no taxis arriving etc

the app showed many cars available and they allocated the closest who unfortunately was on the other side of Chaeng Wattana road and it took him 20 minutes in traffic to get to the nearest U-turn and get back and into the complex and down to Immigration but he did keep in contact to assure me he was coming and the rest of the taxi crowd were jealous when he turned up and I got in leaving them stranded with still no other taxis arriving

and like you I am usually not in a good mood after wasting/spending hours at the Immigration Office and I find the difference in price v's the difference in comfort and convenience for a taxi to Mor Chit then Skytrain to SIlom then a walk v's a taxi straight to my place in the Silom area makes the Skytrain option hard to justify - particularly as it is only once a year for the extension, but "your mileage may vary" and I am sure some here would not agree with this laziness and flagrant waste of money, there are after all non-air-con bus options that will cost less than 30 Baht for what could be a 3 hour journey during afternoon peak hour - at my age personally I just couldn't be bothered!

Grab, like Uber, offers many types of service, but one of their options actually uses licensed Bangkok taxis with licensed drivers if that consideration is important to you, and their corporate philosophy does appear to be slightly less toxic - but again "your mileage may vary" with that

bkkguy

Thank you bkkguy for posting about your experience of GrabTaxi. The information was very helpful and much appreciated. I shall have a look at GrabTaxi and Uber and download one or the other, or possibly both, apps.

Adopting a belt and braces approach seems entirely sensible to me, given my stressful experience at Chaeng Wattana this year.

I simply hire a limo and keep the driver waiting. USD90 for a once-a-year expense

Wow! I am impressed, frequent. A limo waiting to pick you up, was it a yellow Rolls Royce by any chance?

But do you think the driver, in my case, would have been content to wait over 5 hours to receive 2,818 Baht (US$90)? And, was that a standard hire charge, or did your chauffeur charge by the hour?

When I applied for an O visa and later retirement extension at Chaengwattan that is what I did.
Hired a car, had him wait, and took care of business. It did cost about 4000+ TB. Now just use an agent.

And françois, spending 4,000 Baht on a limo, in addition to forking out 6,000 Baht on agent’s fees. My, how the other half live.

And not for the first time do I feel like the poor relation on this forum.

[francois]

.

And françois, spending 4,000 Baht on a limo, in addition to forking out 6,000 Baht on agent’s fees. My, how the other half live.

It wasn't a limo, just a car!

No easy transportation from Pattaya to Chaengwattna.

The visa agent was a more recent happening. But then, when you are a millionaire, money is not a problem.

[Up2U]

After reading and having friends tell me the horror stories of Chaeng Wattana, I am happy with dealing at Pattaya Immigration. 90 day reporting, 5 minutes, retirement extension 30 minutes, and transferring stamps which I did two weeks ago was about 30 minutes because of a surprisingly long que. Pick up the passport the next day, no waiting. The stumbling block can be the American embassy since they reduced the number of Pattaya visits. If you are ignorant and don't do your homework (have documents, pictures, etc.) then any waits or problems are self-inflicted.

[Jellybean]

. . . If you are ignorant and don't do your homework (have documents, pictures, etc.) then any waits or problems are self-inflicted.

Let me make it absolutely clear, that at no time were any of the delays in my January 2018 and March 2018 visits to Chaeng Wattana, down to me having incorrectly completed the various forms or having incorrect paperwork.

All my documents were in perfect order. As described in my various detailed posts, once called by the immigration officers, I spent no more than a few minutes while they examined my documents and carried out their stamping, recording and other duties. The delays, as far as I could tell, were due to the sheer number of people present, or maybe due to not having sufficient staff on duty to cope with the high volume of applicants.

Of course, the process in Pattaya will be considerably quicker. And, as I mentioned at post #1 . . .

. . . It was never like this when I lived in Hua Hin and dealt with the immigration office there . . .

Then, on a good day, I could renew visa and permit in 20-25 minutes!

[frequent]

After reading and having friends tell me the horror stories of Chaeng Wattana, I am happy with dealing at Pattaya Immigration. 90 day reporting, 5 minutes, retirement extension 30 minutes, and transferring stamps which I did two weeks ago was about 30 minutes because of a surprisingly long que. Pick up the passport the next day, no waiting. The stumbling block can be the American embassy since they reduced the number of Pattaya visits. If you are ignorant and don't do your homework (have documents, pictures, etc.) then any waits or problems are self-inflicted.

You don’t report online?!

[Up2U]

You don’t report online?!

I don't personally because some people here have had difficulties with the system and 90 day reporting here is so simple. Last visit took me two minutes.

The system here at Pattaya Immigration is well organized. First step is your documentation is given a cursory review then you are given a three digit number. The first digit tells you what desk number you go to. Desk 3 for 90 day reports, Desk 9 for retirement extensions, Desk? for residence certificates etc. and the desk numbers, que numbers are visually displayed and publicly announced. If you need additional copies there is a machine with attendant (2 baht/copy) within the office or you can step outside as use one of the vendors. From what I'm told the system at Chaeng Wattana is different.

[frequent]

I don't personally because some people here have had difficulties with the system and 90 day reporting here is so simple. Last visit took me two minutes.

How long did it take for you to travel from your room to the office and back?

[christianpfc]

Sorry to hear about your (jellybean) troubles at the Immigration office. I had several extensions of stay there, and all went smooth. I used to arrive after lunch break, or during lunch lunch break to have lunch there, and always got out with extension before they close.

There are more options to get to/from Government complex:
They have a free shuttle service to main road (I did walk a few times, it's about 2 km),
[edit: less than 1.5 km to bus stop on main road]
there is a bus station that has buses to i.a. Victory Monument close (less than 500 m) from Government complex.
Details here: http://christianpfc.blogspot.tw/2014...nt-center.html

One can assume that when normal taxis are all occupied, Grab and Uber have only few vacancies as well. So you still would have to wait a while, but at least you know that someone is coming to pick you up.