Yesterday I spent seven hours at Thai immigration doing my first TM47 90-day report. The paperwork itself took about three minutes.
The office had been closed for two days after the flooding, so there were probably more people than usual.
Still, seven hours is seven hours.
What surprised me was the place itself.
The government complex was huge.
There were cafés, restaurants, supermarkets and what looked like a massive market with stalls selling everything from food to clothes. Almost like one of the night markets you see all over Thailand.
At lunchtime, and again later in the day, there was even a woman on stage singing Thai classics, creating a good atmosphere.
It’s often the small moments you don’t plan for that stay with me.
My phone eventually ran out of battery.
Of course, there were also places where I could charge it. The charging station even had cables built in, including the older USB ones, so you didn’t need to bring your own.
I could also keep track of the queue by scanning the QR code on my ticket, so I didn’t have to sit there staring at the number board all day.
Still, you keep one eye on the immigration counters. After waiting that long, the last thing you want is to miss your turn.
By the end of the day, I realized I had gone about the whole thing the wrong way.
If I had known how long it would take, I could have arrived in the morning, taken my queue number, found a café, opened my laptop, had lunch, worked for a few hours, and just waited for my turn.
Thailand keeps positively surprising me like this.
Something can be incredibly inconvenient, but at the same time strangely convenient.
Thailand really seems to have mastered that combination.
Seven hours waiting for three minutes of paperwork.
Next time I’ll bring my laptop and make a pleasant day out of it.
