This afternoon I went to the immigration department in Chiang Mai to do my yearly extension. A few observations which I hope will be helpful to others.
They are in super safe mode because of the pandemic. Masks are compulsory.
At the entrance you have your temperature taken. Everyone over 37 degrees is directed to sit down in a tent at the side to wait to cool down. I'd parked my car at the petrol station about 100m away and walked in the direct sun to the entrance, the outside temperature was 42 degrees, so of course I failed the temperature test and sat in the tent for twenty minutes along with a lot of others. I eventually cooled down after necking a cold bottle of water and was allowed in.
So if you have to go to immigration, take a cooler bag with water and anything else you can think of to cool you down as getting in on a roasting hot day is the major hurdle. If you're driving, you can't use their car park so be prepared for a walk in the sun.
The reason the car park is closed is because of the tent but also because they've set up a drive through 90 day reporting window with vehicles snaking round the building.
Once inside you see half the seats are shut off for social distancing and the long desk counter on the ground floor, behind which all the immigration officers sit, has a plastic sheet from the top of the counter to the ceiling with small slits at each position to pass documents through.
It was actually surprisingly quiet in the building with no queues, something I can't remember seeing before.
They are in super safe mode because of the pandemic. Masks are compulsory.
At the entrance you have your temperature taken. Everyone over 37 degrees is directed to sit down in a tent at the side to wait to cool down. I'd parked my car at the petrol station about 100m away and walked in the direct sun to the entrance, the outside temperature was 42 degrees, so of course I failed the temperature test and sat in the tent for twenty minutes along with a lot of others. I eventually cooled down after necking a cold bottle of water and was allowed in.
So if you have to go to immigration, take a cooler bag with water and anything else you can think of to cool you down as getting in on a roasting hot day is the major hurdle. If you're driving, you can't use their car park so be prepared for a walk in the sun.
The reason the car park is closed is because of the tent but also because they've set up a drive through 90 day reporting window with vehicles snaking round the building.
Once inside you see half the seats are shut off for social distancing and the long desk counter on the ground floor, behind which all the immigration officers sit, has a plastic sheet from the top of the counter to the ceiling with small slits at each position to pass documents through.
It was actually surprisingly quiet in the building with no queues, something I can't remember seeing before.
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