boemba Posted January 21, 2003 Report Share Posted January 21, 2003 I remember reading in this section of the webboard how restrictions on entering and staying in Thailand are to be expected in the future. Up to now, as far as I know nothing much of these predictions have come true. I would like to air the problem from another angle. At least one embassy in Thailand is putting restriction on its residents who want to stay long time in the country. (I am a citizen from a small country at the 'heart of Europe') When applying for a new passport the other day, I was told I could not get one. Yes, that is right, my own country refuses to issue a new passport to me, when my old one is about to expire. And I am not on any black list, having behaved in some unruly way. The reason for this, is that I am staying here in the country on a 'tourist' visa, and this is seen as no good reason for prolonging my stay be issuing me a new passport. If I would have a work permit or another kind of visa, things would be different. The only way for me at present to get a new necessary passport is to leave the country and apply for one in my own country. (unless overthere they also make a problem, because I am not residing there). This might take up to 6 weeks according to new rules, but could be speeded up if necessary, I was told (but with no obvious guarantee to the latter) Instant passport on demand at the embassy are also out, as a matter of fact. All this is apparently related to some bad press, because in the recent past, a bunch of passports disappeared in some diplomatic missions, making more stringent rules necessary (the recent terrorist activity probably also made a contribution). The above changing of the rules will make me have to leave for my own country, while I had not planned to do so, and probably make me spend between 50,000 and 100,000 baht in the process. This may be an indication of things to come, and one should not be surprised if other countries in the EU are having or planning similar draconian measures, in the process causing a lot of hardship for their citizens living abroad. I still have difficulties getting over this. Being refused a passport of your country at the embassy for what I judge to be a trivial reason, and being forced to go back to Europe to get one. One other issue is that it is difficult to conceive that my embassy has judged independently that people living here on a tourist visa are somehow not welcome to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racha Posted January 21, 2003 Report Share Posted January 21, 2003 I can tell you that toursit visa's are getting harder to get in some places nearby for tourists that are staying long lengths of time in Thailand, and will get even harder to get in nearby countries in the future especially for people staying with many multiple entries already, As far as a new passport not being issued I have not heard this before or even believe it could be legally possible, To solve the problem is very simple if you happened to lose your passport they would have to give you a new one, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 21, 2003 Report Share Posted January 21, 2003 What country are you a citizen in, if you don't mind my asking? Also, if you're desperate not to have to go home to get a new passport, why don't you just tell them your old one was lost, stolen, or destroyed? Or just run your jeans through the washer with your passport in the back pocket, then take what's left of if to your embassy with a big shit-eating grin on your face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straycat Posted January 21, 2003 Report Share Posted January 21, 2003 As already noted by racha and PvtDick this policy seem very strange -- if not illegal. You're a citizen of X and it's a general principal of law that X's government cannot deny you entry to X. Entry is obviously only possible if you have a valid passport, even in case they have to issue one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelgianBoy Posted January 21, 2003 Report Share Posted January 21, 2003 Boempa, Lemme guess you are from where I come from........ A few points : - call embassy again, after checking the website, ask for the visaofficer direct, or even the embassador, he is a nice guy.... - do as PvtDick suggests : have the passport do a dissapearing act - in Belgium it takes exactly 4 weeks to get a new passport in a normal process, but a speedier process ( more expensive ) takes exactly 10 days....... - then go to the Thai embassy ( even better Thai consulate in Antwerp ) with proof of rent, etc... and you'll get a 1 year visa issued within 3 days, specially as your nickname suggest that you are 50+ years old........ Good luck ! Cheers ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boemba Posted January 21, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2003 I did not mention that they are indeed willing to process a 'temporary' passport. This is also what one would get when the old one is lost, I suppose. The problem is that this temporary passport has a validity of 6 months. I was shown one, I am not even sure if there is room for more than one stamp. So basically you can only use it to get out of the country, not to get back in. At least one would not want to risk being turned away at the border or the airport, because with a validity of less than 6 months most countries in this region, would not let you enter. So same result, you have to get a real passport in the home country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pharcyde Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 Let me get this right. Even if you claim your passport to be stolen, your embassy wont let you get a new one whilst in the kingdom. Sounds strange to me, because if you technically "lost" your passport, then there would be also no prove of multiple tourist visa stamps, and they would have to order you a new passport. I have had a temporary passport issued from the danish embassy in bangkok, as my original dissapeared somewhere in silom. The paper-copy they handed over to me was a folded three-pager made of paper which I, including a police-statement of the loss of my passport (made in suan plu police box) brought to the immigration in the same area. There they, if unwillingly, issued me another six weeks visa. After that I had to travel to malaysia to renew, and believe me, i did that on my piece of scrap-paper. I even got a double entry tourist visa clipped into it. The temporaray passport raised eyebrows at the border, but they eventually had to let me pass, no illegal action. It is possible. Good luck with it, Cheers, Pharcyde Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limbo Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 Hi Boemba, I heard this before that an embassy can only issue a temporary passport in case your passport has been lost. Still worthwhile giving a try tho, the amazing dissapearing passport act. Also interested to find out what country you're talking about. Good luck. Limbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 I'm a US citizen. I had my passport stolen once in Indonesia, and it was replaced by the US consulate in Surabaya with a new one within the space of an hour. It was a normal passport with full ten-year validity that I still use today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 You may not get that sort of service anymore as I hear from American frinds that all passport applications now have to go through one central processing office back in the States somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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