Fighting the administration in Bangkok

My original plan was to go to Laos before celebrating Songkran in Chiangmai, but all buses and trains towards Laos were fully booked, so I decided to play safe and stay a few days in Bangkok.  There was only 1 problem, the stamp I got in my passport at the border in Aranyaprathet was only valid for 15 days, so it was about to expire.  Going to Laos would solve that problem, as I would get a new one upon re-entering Thailand.  Another solution was to apply for an extension at the Immigration Office in Bangkok, which I decided to do.  I took the BTS Skytrain to its terminal station at Mo Chit, from where I traveled onwards by local bus 52 to the Government Complex Commemorating His Majesty the King Chaengwattana, where I could find Immigration Division 1.  The complex is huge, so when I got there by bus, I actually had to take a motorbike taxi to the right entrance, which was all the way at the other end of the complex.

When I got there, I had to present myself at the information counter, where I got the form TM.7, which I had to fill out and hand in together with a passport photo and a copy of my passport.  I didn’t have these last two, but no problem, the complex is that huge that it is not only used by the government, but it actually has shops and even a 7-eleven in the basement downstairs.  There was also a copyshop that made passport photos.

After having my picture taken and filling out the form, I was allowed to enter the next room, where I got a waiting number.  There were 38 people waiting for the same service.  I waited and waited as the numbers slowly went up, but then the clock said 12 o’clock: lunchtime for the civil servants, everybody out of the room and come back at 13h!  Thus I went back to the basement to have lunch myself and at 13h I got back upstairs to the immigration office.  Things suddenly went fast and I handed in my form and paid the fee of 1900 baht.  15 minutes later someone called me forward and my visa was now valid for 30 more days, more than enough time!  In the end I found that everything went quite straight-forward.

After the administrative part, I visited the nearby Museum of Contemporary Arts (or MOCA), which was really impressive.  Therefor I only show some photos of the artworks in this blogpost.  And in 2 days on to Chiangmai for Songkran!