Pattaya 30 Day Pandemic Extension Report

[trappedinasia]

Starting a new thread because replies to other posts get buried by people who have too much free time and nothing worth saying.

 

Went to the auxillary IO in Pattaya today at 7:20 am. They started handing out numbers at about 8:20. They gave out 100. I was number 90. (The people at the front of the line were said to have arrived at 4am.) The guys handing out tickets glanced at some people's docs, but not always, and didn't ask me for anything. There was a lady working a copy machine outside.

 

There were over 200 people in line by 8:30, and most of the ones who didn't get numbers didn't seem to know what was happening. I waited in line for a bit, because they were doing some preliminary checks on documents, but then I realized it wasn't mandatory. And I heard from other people who had gone yesterday that they would do 50 extensions before lunch and 50 afterward, so I went home. (All the people without numbers were still waiting, as immigration hadn't broken the news yet - building suspense before the punchline). Took a nap, went for a swim, ate lunch. 

 

Went back at 3pm. They abandoned the number order for the afternoon session. It was now first come, first serve, as long as you had a number. There was still a line of people outside, maybe 50. But they were not people who'd gotten numbers in the morning, so I was able to pass by them and go inside to the first doc-checking area. 

 

There's a big poster outside of the same infographic that was posted on here showing 3 copies needed of every document and photos. The pop-up on the homepage of the Chonburi Immigration website has a similar graphic, except it says you need 2 copies of some docs (and photos) and 3 of others. I thought the 3 copies of everything claim was likely wrong, but I got 3 just in case. 

 

As it turned out, the only thing they took three copies of was the embassy letter. Two copies of passport photo page. One copy of passport visa page. And one of the early stage doc-checkers looked at the booking form my hotel manager gave me, then filled out a TM30 (they didn't check it online), but they didn't keep the booking form or any copies of it, or any copies of the ID of hotel manager who signed it. They had zero interest in maps of the hotel and the TM30 from the hotel (the latter wasn't listed on the requirements, but I brought it just in case). 

 

People who went back at 1pm were done around 3:30, and I was done around 5:30, so about the same wait time either way. A guy who finished at 3:30 said the bottleneck in the Final Room wasn't the doc-checkers and stampers (they barely even glance at the docs) but the fact they only had one cashier. But by 5pm, they had three cashiers working, so maybe they brought some down from Jomtien after closing time, and the pace quickened. 

 

The officers said they worked until 10pm last night, and would be around for a while tonight. I think they may have let in some extra people beyond the 100 today, but I'm not sure. 

 

One of the officers said they plan to do 300 extensions on Friday. I heard from a staff member that they may be working on Sunday and even Monday and Tuesday. (Another thread on here reported people in Udon Thani being told on Wednesday to come back Monday - so maybe they are going to waive overstay fees - or as Ubonjoe said in another thread, they could charge a few days' worth of fees and still give an extension - but I would be surprised if they charge overstay fees for people who are waiting in line this week yet unable to apply). The Chonburi website says extensions are available through the 26th, so I think it means they're planning to work on Saturday, at least, as Phuket announced already, but no one seems to know for sure yet. 

 

They said they 30-day extensions will be available again in October, though of course that could change, for better or worse, and some embassies may stop giving out letters so easily.

 

Home before sunset and ready for a date with a nice young lady. 

 

Immigration offices in Italy are much more crowded and chaotic than this, all year. I'd say it was a pretty normal immigration office experience by world standards. 

 

No arrests, jail, torture, fines, or deportation, to the great disappointment of many TV shriekers. 

 

 

[teacherclaire]

Home before sunset and ready for a date with a nice young lady. 

 

Was she worth the stress? Thanks for the detailed report.