Nong Khai Immigration - Good Service

A friend of my warned me that Monday might be a bad day to do to Immigration. However, I was in Udon about 3:30 and decided to take my chances. I got to immigration at 4:25. I was happy to see cars in the parking lot. I feared that they may close at 4pm as was the case in Chiang Mai a few months age. As I walked in I saw the sign that said office hours close at 4:30. Well I hoped to get a re-enry permit and my 90 day reprting out if the way but with 5 minutes till closing, I was ready to grab the blank forms and come back tomorrow. But then I notice that there were a couple people still waiting, I thought I might as well take the tem minutes and complete the forms before I left. It was 4:40 when I finshed filling in the forms. I decide to take the chance of being rejected for being late. I entered the room and saw about 3 of the 5 officers starting to put things away for the night. One of the lady officers motioned me over and took the papers from my hand. She filled in a a couple of missing items for me, and then said 1000 baht for the re-entry visa. I then signed a big book. She gave me py passport with the re-enrry visa stamp and the 90 reporting form. She was not the most pleasant person I have meet in Thailand and she did not smile, but she gave me excellent service and even took a couple minutes to explaing the rules for my upcomming retirement visa. This happy customer was out the door in less than 30 minutes. My thanks to the folks who work at Nong Khai Immigration

There must be a first for everything so congratulations to you for being the No1 happy guy at NK Imm.

Take any prize from the bottom shelf.

There are always those ''good days'' to hang on too

lately, they have been very nice. but not a one off for the above, extra effort.

got there one time at lunch hour, everyone outside, walked up to door, realizing, oops, then a gent walked by, saw my paperwork already filled out, asked, 90 day, to my surprise and joy, i was gone in less than 5 mins. w/smile.

I've had only good experiences at Nong Khai. I have received two retirement extensions (both with Khun Sabai), three re-entry permits and numerous 90 day checkins. The processing time (depending on the purpose) ranged from 10 to 30 minutes.

I have no doubts that some people have had difficulties and my number may come up some day. However, I think if one does their homework and arrives with the proper documentation, is reasonably well dressed and polite with the Immigration people, the meeting will go well.

parrot wrote:We got our 12th annual visa last month....same as everytime.....not much in the way of smiles, but no hassles either. Sometimes the wait is longer than normal, but all things considered, a visit to a DMV office for a license renewal back in the US is more of a pain that redoing annual visas in Nongkai.

Absolutely right on and you have to stand in long lines the entire time!

Just got back from Nong Khai immigration. Didn't have to wait very long. Said "Good morning". No reply. Said "Thank you" No response. In fact the officer did not utter one word the whole time I sat in front of him.
Why, I asked my Thai wife are they not polite. Oh,she said, they put on the uniform and consider themslves far higher than the people they serve. Not only that they don't like Farangs. Visit Thailand the land of the smiles(I don't think so)

Well, here's another plus for them. Also have had no problems dealing with the Nong Khai gang.

Just recently, I noticed that my date for the 90 day report had passed a couple of weeks prior so made the trip to Nong Khai with a little trepidation on a Monday (and it WAS crowded). Took a number but it was every man for himself. They weren't calling numbers. Finally, after jockeying for position, I got up to the desks and who did I get? Yep, Khun Sabai Sabai, the gent who likes to sit next to the window. He looked over my 90 day form and passport and asked, with a scowl, "Why you late?". Well, my excuse, if I needed one, was that I spent the last couple of weeks enduring daily physical therapy sessions for a cervical spinal disc condition and taking goofy pills (pain meds, not yaabaa) at AEK Udon so didn't even know where I was half of the time but I knew I couldn't explain it all in Thai. So I simply said, "I was sick!", in English. He signed off with a flourish and announced, "Next!". No wai or smile given, received or expected. Just said "Khob khun khap" and got the hell out of Dodge City.

Kuhn Sabai is the same person that told me ,over 4 years ago,that although they could not issue me a new 90 day stamp because I missed a 90 day reorting period by 90 days,to not worry and just report 90 days after leaving and reentering the country!

After that incident,I read many complaints about him and assumed that he had become jaded.Since I always had done my yearly visa extension in Bangkok,I avoided NK immigration for extensions.

Last extension,I decided to test them and found the experience satisfying with a slight hitch as he rerquired a proof of address which had never been required in Bangkok for extensions.Took me about an hour to get in and return for approval.Next time I will have it!

A little Off Topic.

Can any one tell me if Nong Khai Immigration are making guys wanting Visa Extensions go to the Immigration office in their province? A guy we know who lives in Sakhon Nakhon was told too go to Nakhon Phanom to get his letter of address confirmation for drivers licenses, they refused to do it in NK. does this now apply to visas as well? Another guy living their who has always done his visas at NK is due to renew in a few days.

Thanks

The guy I mentioned above did get his 'OA' extension (his 5th) yesterday but not without hassles with???? You guessed it - Mr happy face. Demanding things that were not required in the past like a copies of his entire passport not just the relevant pages and his wife's family book. WTF! it's a retirement visa not a marriage visa. Anyway 'happy face' dragged out the whole process for an hour before the sour puss woman had her go at him.

He was not at all impressed when I saw him yesterday!
I'm glad I don't have to deal with that lot any more!
The 12 month + plus 12 Month (2 Year) 'OA' visa issued in Perth works for me now.