Immigration office to open in Chalong
CHALONG: Phuket Immigration has set up a permanent service counter at Phuket Port Control Center (PPCC) in Chalong.
From next Tuesday (June 7), the counter will be open every Tuesday and Thursday between 9 am and 3 pm. It will be staffed by three Immigration officers.
Phuket Immigration Superintendent Pol Col Witawat Buranasompop told the Gazette that he expected that, by the high season, the counter would be open full-time every day.
He said, “The Chalong counter will be useful for the many residents who live or work in Chalong, Rawai, Nai Harn or Kata-Karon, because it will save them having to go into Phuket City to deal with certain immigration matters.”
Counter staff will be able to handle applications for short-stay extensions (10-30 days), re-entry permits, extensions of one-year permits to stay and notification of residence for aliens, and will be able to advise on other immigration matters.
He added that his office is looking to set up a similar service counter in Cherng Talay, but has yet to find a suitable location.
Col Witawat acknowledged that the mobile immigration service offered in several hotels earlier this year had not been as successful as he had hoped.
“We think some residents were reluctant to use the service because they didn’t want to have to dress up to go into the hotels where immigration staff were running counters,” he explained.
More information is available from the visa section at the Phuket Immigration Office at Tel: 076-212108 or 076-221905, ext 28.
