It was an eventful month but turned out okay in the
end. I chose to have some elective
examinations done at our local private hospital, not because of any problems
but because of some family history of diseases and the fact I’m pushing
70. I stayed overnight and the next day
had my upper and lower GI scoped. Good
results.
Because I had to stop taking my anti-coagulant meds a week
before the exams, my DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) came back with a
vengeance. My legs swelled up and hurt,
putting me down for a while. I was put
on newer meds and after a while recovered enough to march my normal distances
in the neighborhood. The way looks clear
to re-start my exercise routines in full.
Then yesterday I had to go to Immigration for the 90-Day
Report of my address in Thailand, with all the paperwork nonsense it
requires. But I was especially concerned
that this may be a more difficult visit than normal because I had just
discovered that an Immigration Officer had made a major mistake in my paperwork
on my annual April Extension of Stay (based on retirement) visit two months ago
– the most important Immigration visit of the year. She had approved my Extension of Stay for
another year and stamped my passport to that effect, but she messed up on one
important (newly required) document attached to it. She either stamped the wrong year on the stub
or attached last year’s stub instead of this year’s. I was afraid that this would be enough of a
transgression against most-High-and-Holy paperwork dogma that they would make
me go back home and try to find my father-in-law (who is not at home right now)
for a new signature. Nightmare
bureaucratic scenario.
But I was surprised by having one of the easiest Immigration
visits I’ve ever had. I got a taxi
immediately after leaving home. I only
stood in line at the desk where they do a preliminary review of your paperwork for
five minutes, and they didn’t catch the mistaken date. I was given a number and sat down only to be
called on immediately (instead of an hour).
The Immigration Officer quickly looked through my papers, stamped them
with a smile, and sent me on my way. I
even got a taxi home as soon as I went out the door, rather than having to walk
to the main highway for one. I was
neither broiled in the sun nor drenched in rain.
This Immigration paperwork error still may sting me in the
ass at the next 90-Day Report or further on down the line, but then they always
throw surprises at you. The surprise
yesterday was that they let me out of there so quickly. After the events of the last month, I needed
that.
-Zenwind.
.
