Thursday, December 14, 2023
Visa extension at Immigration and other adventures

This post covers a few days and a few miscellaneous events. As I have stated in previous posts, I have a 60-day tourist visa obtained online from the Royal Thai Consulate Los Angeles. Since I am planning on being in the Kingdom of Thailand for a total of 74 days, I must go to Immigration to have my visa extended for 30 more days. Since the Tuesday before my eye re-check was basically open, after having a smoothie with John at Khun Kae’s Juice, I thought would go to Immigration and learn exactly what documents were needed and the process for getting the extension.

There is much information regarding visa extensions on the internet from tourists, some misleading, some contradictory, and taken as a whole somewhat confusing. While I had a general idea of what was needed, I wanted to go see for myself. And maybe get the process started.

There are two Immigration offices in Chiang Mai. The office near the airport is said to be extremely busy, chaotic, and not well organized. There is also an office in the Central Festival shopping mall farther away, said to be less busy, and possibly better organized. I got a ride out to Central Festival at 120 baht (about $3.70) and arrived at about 2:45 PM. I knew this was late, but my goal was to get information and maybe start the process. Immigration here at Central Festival is much, much busier than I expected, and very chaotic. I got the TM7 visa extension form and completed most of it. I knew that I needed a passport photo and copies of my passport identification and entry stamp pages, so I went outside Immigration to a kiosk where a man, James, will make needed copies, and will take a passport photo and glue it to the TM7 form, all for a small, reasonable fee. James knows exactly what is needed (he does this every day, all day). While he and his assistants were helping me and several other customers simultaneously, he advised me on completing the TM7 form correctly and told me I also needed the form authorizing my 60-day tourist visa. I found the form in my e-mail, forwarded it to him, and he printed it. He also told me I needed a copy of the TM30 form. This is a form completed and sent electronically to Immigration for all foreigners when checking into a hotel or other accommodation. He told me to call The 3-Sis and ask them to send me the TM30. I tried, but could not get the call to connect (I have a U.S. phone number). So he called them, spoke in Thai, and about 10 minutes later, I had the TM30 in my e-mail. I forwarded it to James, he printed it, and I was essentially done with my paperwork – except for getting it checked by the Immigration agents. The cost for James’ assistance, the passport photo, and several copies was 170 baht (about $5.25).

I went into Immigration, somehow in the unorganized chaos got in the queue to have the documents checked, and I got my documents checked by about 3:45 PM. They clipped everything together with the 1900 baht fee, and placed a sticker with the date stamped and signed by the person checking the documents. I was told that the Immigration queue was full for the day (Immigration closes promptly at 5 PM) and to return in the morning. Even though I did not get my extension, I was much farther along than I had expected.

I returned in the morning at 8:30 and got in a long line of people waiting for Immigration to open at 9:00. Just before 9, some Immigration people started going down the line, and people with a sticker indicating the documents had been checked were sent to a separate line. This line was let in first when the doors opened at 9:00, and I got queue number 2. By about 9:20 I had my visa extension stamp in my passport. Now I must leave the Kingdom by February 17 (not a problem, since my flight home is scheduled for February 1).

New friends at Tha Phae Gate

The camera I use on most of my walks is a Sony RX100 mark VII. According to Sony, “Inside its compact body the RX100 VII is packed with everything it takes to deliver gorgeous images.” I do not disagree -it is packed with features and it is a nice compact body. Just how gorgeous the photos come out is partly or probably mostly the photographer. It is a very good camera in a compact size, just right for my travels. I formerly had an RX100 mark IV, sold it to a colleague, and bought a mark VII since it has a much longer physical zoom in the same compact format. Modern phones can take good photographs, but the amount of data in images from most modern digital cameras is better, and the physical zoom lens is a very nice feature.

I see many, many people with large digital cameras and large lenses. I was walking through the Tha Phae Gate area and saw a young man with a Sony A7 with an impressive lens. I struck up a conversation, telling him I was also a fan of Sony cameras, and another young man with a Sony A7 joined the conversation. The first man, Daniel, was from Singapore and the second, Sai, lives in Australia and is from Myanmar. We had a fun discussion about cameras, photography, the challenges of getting good photos, and things to see in and around Chiang Mai. And with all of our “fancy” cameras, this photo was made on a Samsung phone:

Jok

One of the remedies when Thais are sick is “jok” a rice porridge or soup. This is similar to the tradition of chicken soup in the U.S. So after my recent intestinal distress when I felt ready to eat something, I went to Jok Somphet along the north inner-moat road. Jok Somphet is open 24 hours per day and primarily serves jok and variations thereof. I had jok with a little boiled chicken.

Omsala

I mentioned in a previous post that I was having chi nei tsang with Khun Ohm. I have known Ohm for at least 8 or 9 years. She is a skilled chi nei tsang and gua sha practitioner. Much of her focus is teaching both treatment styles at her studio called “Omsala.” She closed her old location during the pandemic and recently found a new place just outside the old city near the northeast corner of the moat. Omsala is on a quiet side street near the outer moat road, just north of Miguel’s Mexican restaurant.

Big Old Tree

Just to the east of Omsala is what Google Maps calls the “Big Old Tree.” It is big and it is old. Here are two views, the first from the west and the second from the south. A very cool tree.

Nong Lom Chedi

And a bit farther south of the Big Old Tree down a soi is what Google Maps calls the “unnamed Chedi.” When I was taking a photo, I saw an older man doing his laundry. Using Google Translate, I asked him if the chedi had a name. He responded that it was called the Nong Lom Chedi. A lady listening to us validated the name. Here is the Nong Lom Chedi:

Street Pizza

After my chi nei tsang session with Ohm, I was feeling like Western food. I eat a LOT of Thai food here, and sometimes want something familiar. Because the distance from the farm to your plate is very short here, the ingredients of all food are fresh and the flavors of all food taste so good. An Italian man who ran an Italian-style restaurant told me that he can make better-tasting food here than back in Italy because of the freshness of the ingredients: the tomatoes, the shallots, the basil, the garlic, the onions…all fresh. So I went to Street Pizza. They make everything fresh every day, the dough, the sauce, everything. I had a combination I have had many times over the years: a basalmic salad, small pepperoni pizza with olives and jalapenos, and a watermelon smoothie.

A filling and satisfying meal to end another excellent day in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Next: Eye infection healed, back to yoga and the gym