Thailand – What To Do If You Lose Your Passport In Thailand
OK, so I’m British. This guide is aimed at British people who have lost their passports whilst visiting Thailand. The finer points, such as the location of various places will change based on your nationality but the basics should be pretty similar.
All prices are correct as of the Summer 2011.
Firstly some background. I lost my passport whilst I was on Ko Phangan. I was doubly gutted because it was the day of the Full Moon Party and I really wanted to enjoy that carefree. Unfortunately I couldn’t because I had to sort the mess of the lost passport out.
Firstly, you need to get a police report. This is critical as everyone will ask you for it when you are trying to get a new passport. It may seem trivial and firstly I wasn’t going to bother but believe me, I’m glad I did. The police report can be used anywhere a Passport would normally be used so make sure you get one. It’s usually pretty easy to find the police station if you ask people. If you’re on Ko Phangan, the police station is in the main town, Ton Salad. This isn’t walkable if you’re in Haat Rin or Baan Thai or anywhere worth being on that island and just forget about it if you’re on the north coast. Suck it up and get some public transport. You’re going to be spending a lot of money so a couple of hundred Baht now is nothing.
The police were very friendly for me. They will take a few details like where you lost it and how. They will also need you to spell out your name so they can write a Thai translation on the page. If you’re thinking of getting a tattoo with your name or something in Thai, here is a good way to check that they’ve not just written Wanker on your arm or something. The cost of the police report is 20 Baht.
The next thing you need to do is get a new passport. Unfortunately there isn’t a Consulate around Ko Phangan / Ko Samui so you’re going to have to go somewhere else to get it. Now you have a choice. You can either go to Chiang Mai, Pattaya or Bangkok. Basically if you’re in South Thailand, be prepared to travel a long way. From what I understand, each Consulate is equal but I know my way around this system in Bangkok well so I will write the step by step details for Bangkok. If you decide to go somewhere else then you’re on your own.
The good news is that your police report will allow you to travel freely round the country and stay in hotels, but you will need a passport to get out of Thailand. You don’t need to get the replacement passport until a few days before you leave. However the process will take a couple of days so you should allow some time for this.
If you’re in the South, the best thing you can do is go to Bangkok. From the Samui Archipellago area, the most stress free way to travel is to get a Night Train to Bangkok as this will leave you feeling relatively refreshed for the hectic day you have ahead of you.
The train to Bangkok leaves Surat Thani in the early evening, around 5pm or a later train at 7pm. Depending on how much time you have before you go, it is worth getting the earlier train, arriving in Bangkok at around 6am. With this in mind, you can take your time for the remainder of the day. The 5pm train is rarely booked up so you shouldn’t have to worry. The 7pm train was always booked when I tried to get it so it’s probably best unless you’re booking ahead to get the earlier train. There is literally nothing to do in Surat Thani. I sat for 6 hours in the train station and made some big strides reading through my current journey book, Blood Meridian. This is another reason to not be in a massive rush to get to the train station. As usual, everything is very leisurely in Thailand so don’t stress it.
I arrived from Ko Phangan via the Joint Ticket company. They dumped me in the middle of Surat Thani but near the bus stop. I don’t remember the bus I got but it was the bus they told me to get. Trust them. It took about 20 minutes to get to the train station. It is impossible to miss the train station in Surat Thani so don’t worry about missing it. Unless you are completely blind you will see it. The price for this journey was approximately 20 Baht.
The train journey is a train journey. You sit there for 13 hours and eventually you get to Bangkok. I think it’s worth the extra money to get a lower bunk on the night train. They’re considerably more comfortable and hardly any more money. If you’re a small person, you’ll probably be fine but I’m about 6′ tall and the top bunks are just too small for me.
Once you arrive in Bangkok, you’ve got a couple of options. If you’re not in much of a hurry you can get yourself into a hotel around Khosan Road and chill for a bit or if you’re really hauling ass you can get yourself straight to the British Embassy.
If you really want to be there and done as soon as possible you can probably do the whole passport thing in a day. You need to start early though. Firstly, get on the Metro to Asok Station. Asok Station is in the direction of Bang Sue. Once you get to Asok, get off the metro and get onto the BTS Skytrain and go to Phloen Chit. This station is right on Wireless Road, where the British and American Embassies are located. Total fare is around 50 Baht but you need to get coins for the machines. The station exits into a shopping centre of sorts. You need to get passport photos for your new passport assuming you don’t have them already. There is a shop on the bottom floor which sells them. They are quite expensive, around 400 Baht, but they are really convenient if you’re a bit of an idiot like me.
This bit is important.
You need to get to the British Embassy EARLY. Before 11am when they go for lunch. After lunch, they only deal with pickups. When you get to the British Embassy you need to have the following: Passport Photos, Police Report, Flight Details for your trip, around 10000 Baht. If you don’t, you will be unable to get a new passport. The people are helpful and there is internet access in the Embassy. They can also let you use a phone for free. I needed to call my airline to email me the flight details.
You’ve now got a couple of hours to kill. There’s nothing very touristy near Wireless Road so you might want to take a book.
Once you’ve picked up your passport, you still need to sort out your Visa.
They explained it to me but they weren’t very helpful or clear so after trial and error I found out where to go. Here is the scoop. This is the best way to get to the Visa Office in Bangkok.
You need to get a taxi.
Shocking but true.
The Visa Office is nowhere near Wireless Road. It is completely outside of Bangkok, right near the airport. You cannot walk to it. The complex it’s self is almost a mile from end to end (I clocked this on the Taxi Meter). The fare should be around 200 Baht each way and you will need to pay additionally for the freeway. You should not under any circumstances go onto the website and get the directions from that. They take you to the wrong building. It was very confusing when I got there because they have maps of the same map the British Embassy give you but you are definitely at the wrong building. After harrassing a number of official looking people I eventually conceded that I was at the wrong building and got a taxi instead.
Once you get to the building you need to fill in a form and get photocopies of the form, your passport and the police report. There is a photo copy shop on the floor below the desk where you sign in. It’s cheap, around 1 Baht per copy. After you’ve got this, it’s simply a case of filling in the form and waiting to get your passport re-stamped. Once you’re done here, you’re done with the Visa and Passport process and you can go back and carry on enjoying your holiday. Get a taxi back to the Hua Lamphong train station and be on your way.
It is very important that you do this final step. Before you get on the plane to leave Thailand there is a visa check, to make sure you’ve not overstayed your welcome. If you don’t have a stamped visa I don’t know what happens. The best I can assume is that you have to pay a 500 Baht fine for every day you were in the country. The worst, you’ll miss your flight back because they send you to the Visa Office. Just do it. It’s not worth the hassle.
The whole process of getting a new passport when you’re abroad is hassle and there is hardly any information about it online. I had to figure it out and make mistakes of my own to work out just what I had to do. Hopefully this mini guide (around 1600 words by the way) will help you if you’re unfortunate enough to loose your passport.