The new Koh Phangan Immigration Office opened today!
But it seems, for limited services only:
- extensions of short-term visas incl. 60-day covid extensions, but apparently not for long-term visas incl. ED visas, Smart visas (I heard about both cases) and I guess not for Non-O, Non-OA and Business visas neither (no confirmation yet)
- 90-day address reporting, but a completed TM47 is required (available there), not just the passport like in Koh Samui
- notification of residence (I guess that's address changes, but not sure)
Also, they seem to enforce the "dress politely" rule a bit more than in Koh Samui Immigration, which basically means no tank tops (showing shoulders) and no shorts. I heard of one lady who was sent home to dress up, but I also saw others in tank tops and very short shorts there.
There is a photocopy service on-site, but no option to take passport photos. Different TM forms are freely available and can be taken from drawers.
There is a strange confusion that people who went there for 60-day covid extensions were apparently told that they would need to do 90-day address reportings as well (everyone knows that it doesn't make sense, no need to point it out any further), the first time in person with a TM47 form and from then on possible to do online. I guess it comes back to "things in Thailand don't need to make sense, every Immigration Office invents their own rules". 馃槅
All in all, good to have this office open now, but not that useful for everyone. I fear that I still need to do Koh Samui trips for my own Non-O retirement extensions in the future. Oh boy... 鉀达笍
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The new Koh Phangan Immigration Office has opened, offering limited services such as extensions for short-term visas (including COVID extensions) and 90-day address reporting (requiring a completed TM47 form). However, it does not currently handle long-term visa extensions (e.g., ED, Smart, Non-O, Non-OA, and Business visas). There is a stricter enforcement of the dress code compared to Koh Samui Immigration, and while photocopying services are available, there are no passport photo services. There is some confusion regarding the 60-day covid extensions and the necessity of a 90-day address reporting.
NON-O RETIREMENT VISA RESOURCES / SERVICES
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