Thanks again Dave and Alan. Invaluable to minimize problems and frustration.
I saw plenty of that. Two guys really lost the plot. One threw ALL his toys out of the pram and stood yelling (not understood) at the lady serving him for about two minutes with his wife slapping him the whole time. He left. The other, spat his dummy, stood up and yelled "I am me" for about a minute until his serving lady fled the scene into a back room. He left. All followed by an embarrassed silence and the Thais smiling at each other. I guess they see too much of this and it does not help any of us.
Step 1....immediately take a number ticket from the machine (behind the entry door), press 1 for annual renewal.
My docs were done to the letter. Sorted, clipped and marked with stick-it notes... eg TM copy #1, TM copy 2 etc. But the paper shuffling is beyond belief. Soon it was 'no copy' of this or that (there was) and papers being handed back 'not need'...then asked for a minute later. Meanwhile, the wife was struggling to fill in given forms for couples with children or adopter's (we don't have), before being given the correct 3 page form. That has two sections, her information and yours. Your information will largely be a repeat of the TM 7 information.
N.B. Your wife needs to know your parents full names (can be in English or Thai) and how many brothers & sisters you have. Also need to know name and family name of your Pu Yai Ban (village), Gung Num (?) (Tambon) and Mayor (Amphur). There are students available (I think 100 Baht) to help wives that struggle with Thai to fill in documents.
Step 2. Take another ticket (press 1). Next counter with the well endowed Miss Dow. More shuffling, fill in something like another TM 7, a few more copies needed of this and that.
Probably won't effect many....but my Yellow Book registers me in Surin, the wife's Blue Book is Bangkok. I needed copies of her sister's Blue Book (Surin) and the wife's documents showing legal title to the land.
Finally the one month 'Under Consideration' stamp, to return to Khorat in a month. Note, if you purchase a multi-exit at this time, it is only valid for that month. Get a single if needed.
Two hours. We were 2nd in line being there at office opening (8:30 AM). Probably another 10-15 arrived while we were there.
Clearly the system is designed to make sure you will make more copies. I think this is just part of the office Xmas fund. You could take more copies of everything but you might get more shuffling till you do contribute.
FYI, Khun Dow said document copies go to the local Khorat HQ for approval, not Bangkok. She also said all the immigration heads have been re-shuffled and they are desperately trying to protect their own ass from Farangs in their jurisdiction giving problems, hence the demand for more hoops and information.
Again thanks. I hope others can contribute any new twists, turns or updates to keep this thread current.
