Chaengwattana Immigration to Re-open on 16 December 2013

Due to the recent occupation by protesters of the Government Complex at Chaengwattana, Immigration has relocated to their offices on the 5th floor of Imperial Ladprao (see map). This is their offices for Legalized Labor from Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. However, due to the political situation, all foreigners were asked to use the Lad Prao offices. This is open Monday to Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. The Immigration hotline is 1111.

The protesters moved out of the Government Complex on Monday 9th December and so far haven’t gone back. This situation might change of course. At the moment, Immigration is expected to re-open at Chaengwattana on Monday 16th December 2013. I will post updates about this on Twitter @RichardBarrow.

The following are some notes written by Tod-Daniels on the ThailandQA Forums:

Last Tuesday I went to the alternate Immigration Office at Imperial World Ladprao. It was a LOT better than the previous day (when I was there too) as it was barely controlled chaos then. They had a good system of temporary tables, good clear signage up, had pre-printed queue numbers, vetted people’s paperwork before they gave you a queue number, and really for the volume of foreigners there, it ran smooth.

I’d say if you hafta go to Ladprao, go early. Last Tuesday I got there at 8:30. Walking outta there at about 11 when I was done shepherding the two people I was with it was totally packed outside Immigrations in the staging area.

Here’re some of the tricks to making it as painless as possible:

  • If you call The Thai Government Hotline at 1111, they’ll say it opens at 8:30, which it does NOT. It opens at 10:30, like the Immigration announcement says.
  • There’s a big sign in front on the ground floor which says Immigration Bureau next to the McDonald’s. DON’T go in that way as those doors don’t open until the mall itself opens.
  • If you’re there at 9 when Big C opens go in that entrance and instead of entering the store veer right and go into the darkened mall. Climb up the escalators (which aren’t working at that time) to the 5th floor, or take the lifts which do work. You can also go into the parking garage in back and walk right up to the back door of Immigration.
  • While they don’t let you into the Immigration Office until 10:30, they have a “staging area” where you can get your queue number, have your paperwork vetted, get applications, and today that area was staffed starting at about 8:45 when I walked up there. There are copy shops on the ground floor if you need them.
  • One other thing, they had a sign saying 10:30-18:30 (no lunch) meaning they weren’t closing for the one hour lunch, but doing split shifts to cover the volume of people.

Kudos to the Thai Immigration people for stepping up and making do with a tough situation because it ran as well as could be expected.

Good Luck. hope it helps.

Let us know in the comments if you have anything else to add.

One thought on “Chaengwattana Immigration to Re-open on 16 December 2013

  • March 11, 2014 at 6:08 pm
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    I went through this process today (March 11), and it’s just as Tod-Daniels describes, including walking up the non-working elevators and how the staging area works.

    The whole process is pretty slick; I got there a little after 9:00 and was out by 11:30. Not bad, considering the volume. Bring reading material, there’s a half-hour wait to get your passport back after they take your photograph at the window.

    Oh, and the officials are insistent about taking applications in order BY NUMBER. It doesn’t matter where you stand in line, they want that number; all to the good, I think.

    Thanks to Richard Barrow for his marvellous tweeting and site.

    Reply

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