mickkie

according to the website https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passport...wing_new/adult i have to go to bangkok to renew my passport. does anyone know if it is possible to apply by post without having to travel to bangkok?

bakedbean

Just to say welcome to the forum

When we lived in Thailand, the drill was to send all the stuff to Hong Kong. Looks like that has changed again.

The way I'm reading that link is that you need to make a trip to Bangkok to deliver everything, then make another trip to pick up the new passport when it is back from UK. What a pig's ear.

Hope that someone in Thailand can confirm or advise otherwise for you.

wwinit

Wow... That's good news! You can now renew your passport at the UK Visa Application Centre in BKK rather than sending all documents to Hong Kong. I think you need to email the Centre ([email protected]) in order to book a date and time for your interview in person. Anyway, it's great.

nonthaburi

I think this is worse than before. You still have to make the trip to Bangkok if you don't life there and you still have to pay the courier fee for the documents to go to the UK. The advantage of doing it at the embassy before was that they issued the passports themselves so no courier fees. Then the advantage of sending to HK/UK was that you didn't have to go to BKK, just download the forms and DHL it.
This seems to wipe out all advantages, you still go to BKK(twice) and you still pay for the courier fee. Last time I did my kids, DHL went all the way to the middle of nowhere to our house to deliver. So it seems that the courier fee now only pays for BKK to the UK and back again. If you live in Phuket or Chiang Mai you're not going to be happy about this.

wwinit

Well, everything has some advantages and drawbacks. As you know of, Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, is the massive black market for fake passports and official documents. A British passport is one of most sought documents after the American and Japanese, so it might not be safe to deliver it by post and gone missing. I think it is a great idea to have a place in Thailand, namely Bangkok, to deal with the passport issue. Come to interview in person and collect it yourself for the security reason even though you are likely to pay a bit more for your travel expenses and courier fees that incur. Just look at it on the positive side. If you stayed quite away from Bangkok, you would possibly like to plan for your holiday or shopping in the capital two times every 10 years for your passport renewal. Do the benefits outweigh the risks?

mickkie

thank you, you make a good point.

BritInParis

It's the same practice in other high risk countries like Russia. It's a small inconvenience given the implications of having your passport and identity stolen.

mickkie

i have sent 4 emails to the embassy in Bangkok over the past 3 weeks, still no reply or confirmation. what is my next step?. I live in Northern Thailand.

mickkie

finally got a reply about renewing my passport. "Your appointment has been arranged for 19th October 2014 at 08:25 hours. This is the earliest appointment that is available". isnt that a Sunday, or is my calendar wrong ?

wwinit

Yes, it is Sunday, 19th October. They might work during weekends with special shifts. If not sure, just phone up the Passport Adviceline in the UK on +44(0)300 222 0000 Monday to Friday, 8.00 am to 8.00 pm (UK time)
Saturday, Sunday and public holidays, 9.00 am to 5.30 pm (UK time)

mickkie

got a reply, i go on October 14th. does anyone know anything about the proof of address situation. i can get a letter from my school, where i have worked for 5 years. is that enough. ?