New Passports

I must say I am shocked! Last Tuesday Rusty and I had an appointment at the consulate to apply for new passports. I really hounded him about leaving the school as soon as he finished teaching so that we would be on time since he teaches about 45 minutes from home on Tuesdays. He made it home in plenty of time, we found a great parking place near the consulate, and then waited outside with the rest of the Americans for the consulate to open after lunch. We chit-chatted a bit, and then it was time to line up for security checks.

It really is a large compound, but we only get to see part of one building and the seating area right outside of it. No cell phones are allowed inside so this pic of the outside wall is all you get to see.

I like the new appointment system. We were in and out of the consulate in less than an hour. If you show up without an appointment they just work you in when they can. We turned in our paperwork and then went outside to the seating area to wait.

They have t.v.'s set up at least so we were able to catch up on some news. The Syria debate was happening while we were there, and then we watched a segment on fitness apps on cell phones giving away personal information. About that time the consular general announced over the loudspeaker, "Rusty and Susan, I see you sitting out there all relaxed and watching t.v., but it's now time for you to come to window 3." We were laughing. You just never know when you're being watched!

They sent us an email yesterday saying that our passports were already ready! The consular general told us that there are maybe three countries including ours that will handle passport services locally. The citizens of all of the other countries have to travel to Bangkok to get theirs. We are blessed indeed! And ours last for ten years...another blessing!

Can you imagine that within one week we have new passports in hand that were made in America? That just seems very fast to me! I was in an out of the consulate very quickly today, and as I stood outside waiting for Rusty to pick me up, this is what I saw:

I think this group of tuk-tuk's was part of a tour going to the nearby market, but I had never seen a line so long. I missed at least the first half of the line before I snapped the picture.

Sometimes I have joked about the consulate having very limited time available for citizen services, but I must say with the efficiency that we experienced there's probably plenty of available time for citizens to get their work done. The new system is efficient, clear, and easy. Now if all of our paperwork was that easy!