Can Thailand visa extension be processed online? It's good news, but it's not what you think.

Thailand's Immigration Bureau announced its online visa extension (e-extension) service on November 8, calling foreigners and tourists who need to extend their stay to reduce the confusion of the visa extension process.

The head of Thailand's national police, General DaMRongsak Kittiprapas, said the electronic extension would allow foreign tourists to apply online, improving visa services.

The move is expected to reduce corruption in the system, covering the entire process, including paying fees. This will reduce the time for processing applications from one hour to three minutes, the chief said.

Every year, more than 200,000 foreigners try to extend their visas for reasons such as holidays, teaching work, study or family affairs. A growing number of applicants have drawn attention to the time-consuming and inefficient use of this process.

The service will be piloted first for expatriates living or working in Bangkok, who can submit applications on the official website. Eventually, however, they had to go in person to the immigration office of the government building on Chaeng Wattana Road, just like the old system.

As before, after the shocking traffic through Bangkok, applicants will have to wait in line as usual to obtain a visa stamp. The waiting time is unknown. You still need to expect a full day to do this. And have to watch once again a must-see attraction for tourists-the immigration office building.

In other provinces, foreigners still have to travel to industrial areas outside the provincial capital for expensive and meaningless time-consuming trips, usually overnight. But the good news is that the whole process may be shortened by half an hour, for which we should all be grateful.