Temporary immigration office opens

Foreigners queue at the crowded Immigration Division 1 centre in the Government Complex on Chaeng Watthana Road in Bangkok on Tuesday. (Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb)

A temporary immigration centre has been opened at the Central Investigation Bureau in Muang Thong Thani estate in Nonthaburi province to relieve congestion at the Government Complex on Chaeng Watthana Road.

Immigration spokesman Pol Maj Gen Surapong Chaijan said on Thursday that opening of the temporary office would ease crowding and facilitate social distancing in queues, a necessary step to control the spread of coronavirus disease.

It would provide a range of heavily used services such as 90-day reports and visa extensions for foreigners, and 24-hour reports on accommodation.

At Immigration Bureau's Division 1 on Chaeng Watthana Road on Wednesday, the queues were so long that people were forced to wait in a nearby compound that once housed a now-shut down market.

The office serves the large number of foreigners who need to renew visas and do 90-day reports, among other services, in addition to migrant workers required to submit paperwork.