“One very annoyed farang” (PostBag Jan 17) is certainly not alone in his opinion that the visa service at the Thailand embassy in Phnom Penh is a disgrace.
My experience two years ago was similar: staff arrived over an hour after the scheduled opening time for the afternoon collection time, and the office was very crowded; when the staff did arrive they were surly and refused to answer questions; and, when eventually brought out, bundles of passports were carried in plastic baskets and dumped in a pile onto the counter, the names of the holders called out one by one, and passports virtually thrown at them.
The whole chaotic process was slow and frustrating, especially for those who were due to travel that evening, many of whom had arrived early, on the assumption that the office would open according to the times displayed on the sign outside. My thoughts at the time were that the Thailand embassy was apparently the last refuge for the remnants of the Khmer Rouge.
I wondered why Thailand had so little concern for the country’s public image. Later I learned that at the time of my visit, owing to the political situation in Thailand at the time, there was currently no ambassador. I assumed that, once a new ambassador was appointed, he or she would restore order to the embassy, and fix the embarrassing state of the visa office as a top priority.
I have not been back to the Thailand embassy in Phnom Penh since that last bad experience, but it appears that not much has changed.
Then again, doesn’t that reflect the state of the country as a whole? Clearly there are outposts, such as the embassy in Phnom Penh, where happiness has yet to be returned.
N Parker
Spare a thought
I was quite amazed, but not at all amused, to see the latest Bangkok Post online poll. It asked whether or not dealing with homeless people in Bangkok was an urgent issue. Even one single homeless person, who is homeless not by choice, is an emergency and every effort should be made to remedy the situation, not only in Bangkok but throughout the entire country. The world in general has become such a sordid place because we are living in a “me for myself” era, where no one else seems to count except one’s self. It is a selfish, self-oriented attitude that seems to be increasing rather than abating.
Jack Gilead
Bad, but not bent
First, let me say that I thought the rice-pledging scheme was a bad policy and that many policies of the Pheu Thai government were ill-conceived. However, I am still strongly opposed to impeaching Yingluck Shinawatra for “mismanagement” of the scheme on the basis of its huge costs.
Anyone with pencil and paper could have roughly calculated the costs to the government (the difference between pledging price and the anticipated market price, multiplied by the expected amount of rice likely to be produced, plus some allowance for spillage and loss).
While there have been many claims that the cost of the programme increased due to corruption, not a single person has been convicted of corruption to date.
George Rothschild
Get a proper visa
In response to the complaint by “a very annoyed farang” over the visa service provided by the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh (PostBag, Jan 17), I can recommend the following:
Get a proper working or retirement visa! It is amazing to read all these stories about foreigners living in Thailand semi-illegally, doing their monthly visa runs but complaining about the lack of service which a Thai embassy is rendering.
If you want to live in Thailand do obtain your residency status the proper way.
Patrick R Scheibli
CONTACT: BANGKOK POST BUILDING
136 Na Ranong Road Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110
Fax: +02 6164000 email: postbag@bangkokpost.co.th
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