Today
I did my obligatory in-person 90-Day Report of my current Thai address
(although it has not changed in 12 years).
The new aspect of this routine is that my province’s Immigration Office
has just moved to a new location. It is
more spacious with enough seats, is much closer to home and easier to get to,
and has much better access to taxis for getting back. I like it.
(So far.)
The
last provincial immigration office – which had opened within the last 10 years
or so – was located far to the north and way out in the boonies amongst rice
fields with no taxi traffic, so I would have to pay a taxi driver to stay to
take me back. This meant the driver
would have to wait anywhere from a half hour to three hours. I hated that aspect of it, but I admit I did
like the country scenery of the trip. That
building was rather new and was air conditioned, but all immigration business
was done in just one room, so there were many times when I could not get a seat
and had to stand for an hour or more, packed shoulder to shoulder like a
sardine. Nightmare.
But
the immigration office I went to in my first few years here was even more of a
terrible nightmare. It was in an old
area of Bangkok, and the building had no air conditioning and was absurdly
crowded. The smell of fellow aliens
offended even me! Tuk often went with me
in those days – and she still always does for the major annual April visa
extension – and we would celebrate finally getting our dread business done by
going to The Hard Rock Café for lunch. We
are glad that first office is behind us, although we do miss The Hard Rock Cafe.
This
new office promises to make immigration ordeals more bearable. (We hope.)
-Zenwind.
.
