Phuket Passport Office opens Thursday

PHUKET CITY: Phuket’s Thai citizens will be able to apply for new passports without leaving the island once the new Ministry of Foreign Affairs office opens at Phuket Provincial Hall on Thursday.

Foreigners hoping for visa services, certificate translations and marriage certification services will have to wait, however.

Acting chief of the ministry’s passport section, Jackrid Kanjanasoon, said the office will begin providing these services “as soon as possible” – though he wouldn’t be drawn on when.

Mr Jackrid said the passport application process at ‘Phuket Passport Office’ will take just 15 minutes.

Passports would be delivered to the applicant’s home within seven days via EMS delivery, he said.

Mr Jackrid said the Phuket office was opening due to popular demand.

“We used to have a mobile passport unit come to Phuket once a year. There were so many people using the service, about 1,000 per day, that we thought it was worth opening a permanent office in Phuket,” he said.

At present, the regional passport offices in the South are at Surat Thani, Songkhla and Yala.

The office will issue three types of passport: standard, government and Haj – a special passport for Muslim pilgrims going to Mecca.

Fees for standard and government passports will be 1,035 baht, while Haj passports will cost 435 baht.

The new office is located on the first floor of Provincial Hall. Opening hours are 8.30am – 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

For more information, call Phuket Passport Office on 076-222-080-1 or 076-222-083.

— Pimwara Choksakulpan