Aus Visa office Bangkok catch Sinister Thai Villain - startling - shocking case (NOT) !!!

Sawasdee · Senior Member

Aus Visa office Bangkok catch Sinister Thai Villain - startling - shocking case (NOT) !!!

geeman · Veteran Member

Not good news for anyone

Not much I can say about this bureaucratic bull****, doesn't do much for promoting Australian business

Can’t imagine any reporters or pollies taking any interest in this, nothing in it for them

It sucks but as you know the pollies will always stand behind the “judgement” call

Rudd is worth a try but I wouldn’t expect anything from the duddster

I would try sending thru the media, Howard Sattler / Paul Murray they are good at stirring up something like this or even try Liam Bartlett at 60 minutes

Sawasdee · Senior Member

17/11 - 5.10pm reply from the Visa office Bangkok (Australian Public Servants, serving Australians)
the content of the email from the Chief Migration officer is (not verbatim, we used their translation system) it reads:-

It is noted you confirm you had ability to respond to a request for an urgent meeting but you decided to ignore it for 14 days.

or another translation is
1. Sorry, I was "out of the office on business for 2 wks", I had access to your email titled "urgent", I decided to ignore it.
2. After 14 days I checked your "urgent" query with my staff, they claim you have been fully appraised (refer audit "no replies")
3. I checked Arwee's application.
    a. it did not include the words "highly specialised" (nor could my team comprehend that, from the 40+ pages of supporting docs, nor during the phone interrogation of Arwee, or your detailed email answer to queries. The fact that we ignored your request for meeting/s before a decision was made, to ensure the officer had sufficient innformation will not be answered.
    b. we did however find the sufficient words to form the opinion that work is "ongoing by nature" and therefore you now advise you that you used the wrong visa application form!
    e. we did not notice that you gave us written statement that you already verified with our office that this is the correct visa form and we do not consider that relavent?
4. we trust this will assist you!

our answer is at the bottom of this post:-

17/11 AusWathai Media flew into Thailand to join a major seminar co-hosted by Aus & Thai Government.

The critical bilateral message from the Seminar is captured in our photo collage
1. L.I.F.E. (Leadership, Integrity, Flexibility, Efficiency) Life without Flexibility is a LIE
2. K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid/Short)

Photo collage below shows Arwee (labelled a "bad risk" by the Aus Visa office Bkk) attending and meeting Aus & Thai Govt officials.

See Auwathai report report "making TAFTA work for you"

We Estimate a loss of aud$1,000,00,000 due to obstacles with Aus Visa office Bangkok!!!
Seminar Presenter: Aus Trade commissioner declared a 30% increase in Biz Visa to 9,000 in last 12 months?
According to the Visa office Bangkok - their work is Highly Specliased and their work is not "ongoing in nature"

Post seminar meeting with B.O.I. officials suggest we co ordinate a roadshow to Perth WA with BOI. We requested a meeting with B.O.I to advance talks which will focus on the obstacle is "how do we convince the "Aus Visa office bkk" to stop obstructing AusWaThai which sabotages the link for Bilateral Trade West Australia and Thailand.

Sadly we are now calling upon a foreign Country to help us convince our own Govt that we as an Aussie owned Business (Import/Export) Australian product is "a benefit to Australia!"

19/11/2010 our reply to the CHIEF MIGRATION OFFICER Aus Visa office Bangkok

the following is not verbatim, we have summaried it, we include a link to the email

Dear Chief
I was not able provide a proper reply on 17/11/2010 as I was in the airport boarding a plane to Thailand for participate in a Joint Aus & Thai Got Seminar titled "making TAFTA work for you"

I wish to consider you are a good leader with good intent. I sat before you and your Poxy in 2009 and 2010, listened to the obstacles we face based by the perception of your officers &/or guidelines. We absorbed the criticism objectively and consciously applied changes. In May 2010 I emailed you a report of our work, it was offered under the title of “Goodwill” showing our transparency and a williness to collaborate for the benefit of Australia.

The co host Aus & Thai Govt Seminar was attended by approx 180 Biz people

The key points of seminar are shown in the photo collage, these KEY points gave great relevance to Business relationships, our experience is your officers don't understand or support them, consequently they do not serve business, rather they obstruct.

Please confirm you agree or disagree
1. with the critical key message by the co hosted Aust & Thai Govt Seminar, that good business people must apply the principles of L.I.F.E. and K.I.S.S.

2.That the visa officer/s that assessed Arwees' application have demonstrated the elements of L.I.F.E. and K.I.S.S.

Finally, as the chief (Leader) of Aus visa office Bangkok, having had meetings with me and therefore know the “specialised nature of our work”, what elements of L.I.F.E. and K.I.S.S. do you propose to fix the problem.

Our email reply (available to anyone on request), extensively wastes a lot of time answering innocuous issues that could have been resolved in a 5 minute phone call.

=============================================================

Sawasdee · Senior Member

26/11/2010 - we get the opportunity to speak with the Visa office Bkk.
The 1st request was around 25/10/2010, since that date most all our phone calls and emails have been ignored .. and when we asked why the only answer was "sorry". We said thanks why did that happen - we said "sorry" and that's it?.

The phone meeting ....
not verbatim and due to time constraints to prepare to host our 1st tour of Aussie Execs the following is a brief

"Minister - Counsellor"
1. We are not in "sync" with the purpose of this visa. It is for brief visits ie., meetings.
2. We gave the impression the visit was "working" in an ongoing nature rather then a visit (the discussion gave better explanation),

we agreed agreed that we did not understand the intent of the visa but we requested a meeting with the officer to ratiffy we correctly completed the visa and supporting documentation so why did the officer refuse to collaborate with an Australian Business Citizen - the answer - I have already said sorry they refused and please remove their name from this forum as they fear they may receive hate mail.

we will add content once we have had time to review the notes.

The meeting was terminated by the counsellor after 45 minutes as he had another meeting.

Our point to pursue is not that we made an error but that we sought collaboration and communication the dept and everyone that was contacted "refused" to reply - refer audit.
We have received an apology but it does not undue the loss to business

We now promptly re apply giving attention to the specific travel date and specify the meeting, the nature of the meeting and confirmation of who will attend and the timeframe of the meeting.
The attendees Senior from AustCham Thailand, Biz people in Perth (qualified investors for biz with Thailand).

The meeting includes presentation of the co hosted Aus and Thai govt Seminar that we attended (including Arwee) in Thailand on 18/11.
The material was promised/offered by the host to be available from 01/12 so we make commitments for business based on their commitment to collaborate.

We reiterate that we requested meetings and contact with officers before they made a decision to ensure there was no innocuous issues.
During the phone meeting with the "Minister - Counsellor" we ratified that we were told their is a Counsellor to aid applicants (it is also stated inn the swtichboard announcement). The "Minister for Counsellor" agreed but was unsure if that person was available. After our phone meeting we called the switchboard and left a voice message for the Counsellor.

We will confirm when they call back and the guidance they offer.
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29/11/10 - 10.00 Arwee excused from Hosting the Aussie Exec tour group for 2 hrs whiule she re submits her visa application.
29/11/10 - 15.00 we ph embassy switchboard, follow prompts to speak to the Counsellor. Spoke with a counsellor (not biz visa) he was very helpful and gave good guidance and we thank him for his help and acted on his guidance re the best process for an urgent application.
29/11/10 - we emailed the Biz Visa counsellor outlining, that we called and the counsellor (showed the name) recommended we verify the nature of our urgency of this application in writing.
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29/11/10 we host the aussie biz tour group every day from 10am to 11pm (includes 2 hrs more to host pep work)
03/12/10 we return to Aus with Tour group - Arwee must remain pending answer of her visa - we have Biz meetings planned for 17/12 Arwee is expected or before 14/12

Links
1. our media articleof the event and our proposed seminar in Perth - it requires a translator (Arwee)

JohnT · Veteran Member

don;t feel bad

the visa officers made a real mess of this case.
AustCham's 2009 young Alumni Award Winner and she is a doctor and she invented something very special
the visa officer could not understand - so they rejected her visa?

visa%20rejected.jpg

what is needed is for someone to access the competency of the officers and their supervisors..
most will fail - it's why most of them will not give their phone number or talk.
they will best guess and say "not negotiable"
I guess they work in public service (not to serve but because they can't handle accountability)
for all the other depts., that know about this and do nothing says a lot for their integrity

read more of the wonderful work of Dr. Salinee see this link

-- Edited by JohnT on Monday 13th of December 2010 12:03:43 AM