The Military Council’s Consulate Office in Chiang Mai announced on March 18 that Myanmar citizens residing in Thailand must submit recommendations from their ward administrators and police stations in Myanmar to obtain embassy endorsements for visa and stay permit extensions. For those living in Chiang Mai, obtaining an embassy endorsement will require copies of recommendations from their ward and police station in Myanmar, along with the original TM 30 form showing their current address in Thailand.
The Chiang Mai Consulate Office has declared that they will no longer process any endorsements except for tourist visas and visa extension recommendations. However, according to a source close to the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok, their office continues to provide endorsements for bank account openings and driver’s license applications. The Bangkok embassy also accepts black and white copies of documents and does not require ward and police station recommendations for extensions. The source confirmed these differences in procedures between the two locations.
At the Military Council’s Consulate Office in Chiang Mai, applications for notary and various embassy endorsements are only permitted for Myanmar citizens who have long-term residence permits in Thailand. For notary services, applicants must submit original translated documents along with color copies of all other documentation. The office has set a processing time of three days for regular embassy endorsements and up to 14 days for notary certifications. These new regulations will be implemented starting March 19, according to the announcement from the Military Council’s Consulate Office in Chiang Mai.
A CDM officer residing in Bangkok analyzed that these restrictions by the military council specifically target CDM staff and political activists who have fled to Thailand, deliberately making their situations more difficult. The officer emphasized that requiring ward and police station recommendations from Yangon for foreign residence permits and visa extensions is an improper procedure, creating particular hardships for CDM staff and political activists who cannot safely obtain such documents from military-controlled administrative offices in Myanmar.
