On Sept 13 we had the joy of traveling to Bangkok to attend a wedding and visit the Aussie Embassy. What was supposed to be a 4 day trip turned into a 6 day adventure into depths of Bureaucracy.

Because we had to travel so far and had such important business, I made sure I checked the Embassy website for office times and required documents. Everything was in order…

Day one: We having woken up at 5am in order to catch our early flight, we decided to hang out in our hotel room for a few hours, cause, according to the website, we couldn’t pick up Samantha’s Citizenship docs till the afternoon. When we arrived at 2pm, we discovered the Visa & Immigration office is closed in the afternoons. Hmm, what to do?? Thankfully, they let us pick up her certificate anyway. So, Kudos to the Aussie Embassy for taking care of it’s citizens.

Then it’s off to the Consular office to apply for Samantha’s passport. Hand over paperwork. Within seconds the reply: “Do you have your marriage certificate??”
“Uh no, the website didn’t say it was required.”
“Well, your maiden name is on Samantha’s birth certificate under ‘mother’s name’, so you need proof of change of name.”
At this point I’m ready to cry. I’ve just dragged my husband and child half way across the country, thinking I’ve dotted all my “i’s” and crossed all my “t’s” and they throw this at me.
He must have sensed my distress, so he suggested we have someone mail the certificate directly to the embassy. So, we frantically begin to contact Pastor Gampon to search our files for the Marriage Certificate and wait. Turns out it’s too late in the day for express mail, so we have to wait until Monday, meaning we have to forfeit our amazing cheap tickets and hope for the best.

Day two: we hung out with our friends in BKK. It was really nice. Even got to meet Angelina & Matt, friends from Hannah’s Prayer.

Day three: spent the morning at the hospital baby sitting for our good friends James and Jill. Wedding in the afternoon.

Day four: hung out at the hospital again with James & Jill and their son William.

Day five: to the Embassy yet again! The envelope Gampon sent is waiting for us. And, as Murphy’s law was in charge of this little adventure, there was a COPY of our certificate (on fax paper, no less), and so it was unacceptable. I’m standing there, pleading with the woman, explaining that I have come all the way from CM, that there was no mention of the need of this certificate on the website, and please, please, please don’t make us go all the way home just to get this stupid piece of paper. Cold, cold, stone wall.
So, we leave feeling quite annoyed and very cheated by the Embassy. At that point we thought the only solution was to all go home and come back the following week just to lodge that one form. But as we were entering the hospital to hang out with James and Jill again, I realized the best solution was for Sean to jump on a plane ASAP, find the certificate and come back that night. So, off he went, while Sam and I went to Central World Plaza for a ‘girls day out’.

Day 6: Back to the embassy, yet again. We arrive, and sit around for donkey’s ages, staring into space (even though there’s no one else waiting). Then, just as Samantha’s hungry and I start nursing, the lady calls us up. So, Sean takes over. It’s a good thing he did, cause I was so sick of being messed around, that I would have been really narky about some of the questions she asked. Also, when Sean explained what we had been through, this woman, who has been messing us around, said, “Oh, you didn’t need to do all that, we could have made a special arrangement for you.” WHAT!!! How many times did I tell them we came all the way from Chiang Mai? How many times did I ask for a special arrangement only to hit a brick wall? I seriously wanted to slap this woman. Obviously she likes handsome, charming men, because she wouldn’t give me an inch!

My question is this: Why not just make the marriage certificate a general requirement when applying for a passport for an infant??????? My birth certificate (Australian) has my mum’s maiden name on it. Samantha’s birth certificate (Thai) has my maiden name on it. The Embassy has to know this. So why not just put it in the list of required documents on the website.

So, in the end, we managed to get the passport. It’s a very expensive passport. Probably more than anyone has ever paid. Perhaps we should send the Embassy a bill for the air tickets, taxi rides, extra meals and extended hotel stay. Maybe then they’ll get the message and update their website.