Australian passport washed and ruined Need advice

[ronrat]

Went to hospital (Pattaya City) Saturday and after 5 hours waiting for blood tests results came home and had a snooze. Forgot to take passport out of zipped pocket. The girlfriend normally goes through my pockets before washing. Last night she she didn;t and when I got home from a nearby bar after farewelling some Aussies she was in tears.

 

Passport is now a a sodden lump of paper and plastic.

 

In it was my TM 7, retirement extension until may and a reentry visa I had got last month as my Mum will knee replacement surgery next year and I will have to go back.

 

Anyone had experience as to what is required to get all the stamps back and what the Australian embassy will require. They are shut today so can't ring the useless bludgers.

 

All I can work out is I will have to Bangkok and pay 8800 baht for a new one. And make an appointment.

 

 

 

[ubonjoe]

I assume you have checked here on the embassy website for info: https://thailand.embassy.gov.au/bkok/Australian_Passports_Page.html

After you get the new passport you will need to go to immigration and have your stamp done in it.

Do you have copies of your passport pages.

If any of the page are legible in your old passport it will help immigration to do the stamps.

 

[petermik]

Tough luck Ron....I hope you did not shout at her

 

I guess a police report about it and replacement from your Embassy in BKK then a visit to Jomtien Immigration plenty of waiis and get them to replace your visas etc......time and money I guess....good luck anyhow and report back the outcome.....

[ratcatcher]

"Passport is now a a sodden lump of paper and plastic."

The OP has had the experience everyone dreads, everyone , that is,who has not taken the trouble to have a credit card sized laminated copy made of their passport with copy of their latest visa/extension of stay stamp. This is normally acceptable to police, hospitals etc. Many expats who have been here for years, some with yellow tabien baans, use the pink Thai ID card or their Drivers License if they possess one.

The passport is far too valuable a document, which being the property of the issuing government, needs to be guarded very securely. The Police had issued a statement some years ago to the effect that a copy was acceptable, but the holder must be able to produce the original, if and when requested.

I hope the OP manages to get his stamps sorted out with Immigration Dept.

 

 

[jacko45k]

4 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

"Passport is now a a sodden lump of paper and plastic."

The OP has had the experience everyone dreads, everyone , that is,who has not taken the trouble to have a credit card sized laminated copy made of their passport with copy of their latest visa/extension of stay stamp. This is normally acceptable to police, hospitals etc. Many expats who have been here for years, some with yellow tabien baans, use the pink Thai ID card or their Drivers License if they possess one.

The passport is far too valuable a document, which being the property of the issuing government, needs to be guarded very securely. The Police had issued a statement some years ago to the effect that a copy was acceptable, but the holder must be able to produce the original, if and when requested.

I hope the OP manages to get his stamps sorted out with Immigration Dept.

 

 

Or simply taken a few copies with their phone and stored it on cloud? 

[madmen]

Or simply taken a few copies with their phone and stored it on cloud? 

You don't even need that. Got caught up in a drug search lower Sukhumvit. Asked for passport said it was in my room. No problems, after 20 mins sent on my way.

I had pics on my phone which I would have whipped out if it got to that

[mvdf]

1 hour ago, ronrat said:

They are shut today so can't ring the useless bludgers.

That's appalling behaviour. Why would you label embassy staff "useless bludgers"? It's Constitution Day in Thailand, a public holiday. Are they "useless bludgers" because they're not open 24/7 for YOU to quickly correct your washing machine's wrongdoing? 

[jacko45k]

1 minute ago, madmen said:

You don't even need that. Got caught up in a drug search lower Sukhumvit. Asked for passport said it was in my room. No problems, after 20 mins sent on my way.

I had pics on my phone which I would have whipped out if it got to that

You are correct and actually agreeing with me. I have lived here over 10 years and never been asked for my passport except when checking into a hotel, or a couple of times at road checks way up North in the exotic substance days. This little laminated copy is rather old-hat.

[jacko45k]

Well OP, you will have to get a new clean passport, which of the 2 is cleaner is another matter.

[scorecard]

7 minutes ago, mvdf said:

That's appalling behaviour. Why would you label embassy staff "useless bludgers"? It's Constitution Day in Thailand, a public holiday. Are they "useless bludgers" because they're not open 24/7 for YOU to quickly correct your washing machine's wrongdoing? 

I have renewed my passport (time expired) 3 times through the OZ embassy consular staff plus they have handles several others matters over 3+ decades, they have always been courteous, listened well, been friendly focused and gave good help and as quickly as possible.

 

Closed today, OZ public holiday, nothing wrong with that.

 

Read the website and read the renewal on-line process, then call the embassy consular people, they don't bite, they go out of their way to be friendly clear and helpful. 

 

Once you've completed the procedure replacement is pretty fast. You nominate whether you want to pick it up at the embassy consular counter (no they're not open 24 hours), or posted to your residence by EMS.

 

They always say 2 to 3 weeks on the website pages but every time I've done it the passport has arrived by post (at my request) at my house in Chiang Mai by EMS in 3 to 5 working days.

Edited December 10, 2018 by scorecard

[ronrat]

Quote

 

Thanks. I have a laminated copy of my passport hadn;t got round to updating it because I was going to do it next week as my landlord has a copy shop and they do it for me for 20 baht.

 

As it dries out we can make out the main page and visa stamp. When it fully dries I will see if the unused re entry stamp is visible. The TM7 won;t be a problem.

 

No I didn;t yell. My fault for leaving it my pocket and she has offered  to sell some gold for the cost of replacing it.

 

The website mentions nothing about damaged passport and says you have to go to Bangkok to pick it up. And when I tried emailing it throws something up that doesn;t work.

 

And last time I went to the embassy I was the only client there. I was told to take a number and waited 15 minutes before they saw and charged me an a heap of money to witness my stat dec. It wasn't lunch time so what were they doing?

 

 

[ubonjoe]

15 minutes ago, ronrat said:

The website mentions nothing about damaged passport and says you have to go to Bangkok to pick it up.

I think they do not put in a damaged passport in a special category. It is the same as requesting a renewal.

There are only special requirements for lost/stolen passports.

Note that you have to pay for it with a credit/debit card.

[atecom]

My situation was a little different, but I did go through something similar.

 

Back in June I had to return to Australia for 1 week for a work conference, this was mandatory, so I couldn't miss it on account of being in Thailand, however my company covered the cost of airfares. The weekend before I decided to motorbike out from Chiang Mai to Doi Inthanon. Turns out I chose a bad time, as with the rainy season it was monsooning like crazy. Me paying more attention to the roads and little attention to what was in my pockets didn't really think much, until I returned back to the condo. My pocket contents were soaked, including the passport, with just a week before I had to return to Australia for a week. I tried to dry out the passport, but there was clear water damage. Monday was a public holiday, so I couldn't do much, but I flew down to Bangkok on the Monday night, so that on the Tuesday I could seek advice from the Australian consulate there.

 

I showed the consulate the Australian passport, they said it was still in an okay enough state to return to Australia, as the chip was still fine but they had no idea if it could get me back into Thailand. I got back to Australia, no troubles, and had to organise an emergency passport. As it was replacement for the old, damaged passport, I couldn't use the online application, and I had to use the long passport application which people applying for one for the first time have to use (Requiring Birth certificates and everything). However as I was able to show my old damaged passport, there was no further penalty and its expiration date was 10 years from when I got it replaced. As I had an METV, I jsut brought my old passport along with my new when I entered Thailand, and had no further issues.

 

Sadly, I don't think I have much info that can help in your specific situation, but I do know how frustrating that situation can be in nonetheless.

 

Regards

~Atecom.

[Notout]

I often wondered how people could wash their passport until I achieved that status. I thought I had totally destroyed my passport, took days to dry it out. On conferring with the Australian embassy they told me to send a copy of the bio page and they would determine if the passport was in fact destroyed. They got back to me and said they can still read my details so the passport was fine. All I needed to do was to apply on line to renew my passport as you can renew a passport at anytime before it's expiry. That saved a lot of hassle I can tell you. I collected my new passport from the embassy then headed off to my local immigration, with a copy of my old (prewashed) passport and they re did the retirement extension, reentry and transfer stamps all rather painless apart from my very red face. I used my old washed passport when I flew to Bangkok to get my new one so as pale as the bio page was it was still OK to be used.

[Catoni]

Sorry to hear what happened to your passport.  

That's another good reason to ALWAYS keep your passport in a medium size Ziploc Storage Bag.  It has a double seal... not just single seal.. Then I fold it and keep it in a front zippered pants pocket,.....  my wallet in the other front pants pocket.. Both in Ziplock bags during Songkran. Three days totally soaked during Songkran.... my wallet and passport completely dry.....

     If in a pocket... it will give at least some protection if your pants go into a washing machine.  Maybe even totally dry. 

 Don't use cheaper... thinner... single zip bags.   Use the Ziploc Storage or Freezer bag..... thicker and stronger than the Ziploc regular or sandwich bag. And the double zip is much better than the single zip on cheaper bags. 

     I always put some Ziploc storage bags in my bag before going to the airport. 

Edited December 11, 2018 by Catoni
correction

[brianthainess]

I  found the OZ embassy great, and they reply to emails fairly quickly better than phone .

[Old Croc]

17 hours ago, ronrat said:

The website mentions nothing about damaged passport and says you have to go to Bangkok to pick it up. And when I tried emailing it throws something up that doesn;t work.

And last time I went to the embassy I was the only client there. I was told to take a number and waited 15 minutes before they saw and charged me an a heap of money to witness my stat dec. It wasn't lunch time so what were they doing?

 

You and your lady managed to destroy your passport and all you can do is blame others because embassy staff aren't rushing to your aid and delivering a new document to your door. You damaged the document, it doesn't take an Einstein to work out you will have to apply for a new one. The procedures are well publicized. 

You can't get an email to work so obviously it's their incompetence. They're closed on a public holiday and, as you never took a day off in your life, they should be there waiting at your beck and call.

You had to wait for a whole 15 minutes to get served in a government office! It wasn't lunch time so they were obviously goofing off just to annoy you, and they then had the temerity to charge the standard fee as set by the government!

Have you gone through your life always looking for others to blame when you stuff up?

[jacko45k]

Being British I simply keep my passport on my person, so it will never get washed!

[connda]

It's really a no-brainer - You take it to your embassy and request their assistance.  At the end of the day, that's all anyone is going to tell you on this forum.

[HHTel]

I don't know the procedures in the Oz Embassy.  But as a brit, it happened to me some time ago in the floods.  Applied for a new passport - no problem.  Immigration transferred all the stamps into the new passport (500 baht) and again, because they have all your details on file, no problem.

[The Fugitive]

33 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Being British I simply keep my passport on my person, so it will never get washed!

So am I and so do I. I never know from day to day what my Thai Mrs has in store for me so I always carry it just in case. Wrapped in a polythene bag inside my man bag it should survive.

[OZEMADE]

First of all you have to book an appointment on line, you can't just rock up to the Australian Embassy in Bangkok without an appointment, they wont see you unless it is an emergency. (Which yours may well be)

Click on the link at bottom of page and follow the steps to book an appointment.

Go there by taxi as there is no parking anywhere near the Embassy. I found it easier to park in a Lotus supermarket and taxied from there and back. Normally first 3 hrs free.

Passport and Notarial Services by appointment ONLY, Monday to Friday between 8:30am and 3:00pm(subject to appointment availability and excluding Embassy public holidays).

Booking policy

Clients should arrive 10 minutes prior to appointments for security screening.  If you arrive late for your appointment you will need to reschedule to when an officer is available.

Bookings can be made 2 months in advance.  Refer to your notification email if you need to amend or cancel your appointment (see example below).  

Please ensure you select the correct type of service when you make the appointment.  If you select the wrong service, we may not be able to help at your appointment time.

 

Take your old passport with you as they will want to see the damaged one and order a new one for you.

Make sure you tell them you want to pick up your NEW Passport up at the Embassy as they have to place a small stamp into your old one, which states, 

(This Passport has been cancelled and replaced

by passport number _________________________ 

Any valid visas in this passport remain valid.

Australian Embassy Bangkok.)

They will then stamp it with a small stamp that states,

( Deptartment of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Passport Office.)

The new passport is going to cost you about AU$300.00 and the embassy stamp about THB1900.00.

Credit/Debit Card, not sure about cash?

Click this link for your appointment which will be Messaged back to you for confirmation. They should message you when your new passport arrives and you can pick it up at the embassy. Make sure you take your old passport and drivers licence for identification or they wont give it to you.

Once you have the new passport and the old passport with the embassy stamp in it, fill out a form at the Thai Immigration office, something like transfer visa stamp to new passport letter. You can down load it off this Thaivisa link I think. 

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=439177

Australian Embassy Link

https://thailand.embassy.gov.au/bkok/home.html

Hope this helps

OZEMADE

 

Edited December 12, 2018 by OZEMADE
Thai visa link found.