Transcript of the above video: 

I am making this video talking about processing passport renewals here in Thailand. Recently I had to take my child to get their passport renewed here in Thailand and we went ahead and went through - with child renewals you have to do everything in person still, you can't necessarily do it all by mail or remotely - and we had to go through that process. We went ahead and submitted it and then subsequent to that I received an email. Quoting directly: "The US State Department has received your application for your passport book on August 11, 2025." Now bear in mind, I actually went, we went in together to request the new passport and lodge the application on the 7th. So we are receiving this on the 11th. "We are now reviewing your application and supporting documents." That's another thing that's bothering me. Reviewing what? This isn't an adjudication. The child has a right to the passport at the end of the day. I am really getting kind of angered by the way bureaucracy is sort of moving in the sense that everything is becoming this presumptive adjudication, as if there is some sort of discretion in the matter. I mean where is the discretion? The application is filed, the requirements are met, photos. The person is an American citizen. What else is there here? I mean reviewing! Reviewing what? And by the way, what was the point of even seeing somebody in person anyway? Quoting further: "You requested routine service when you applied. Routine service can take 4 to 6 weeks." Immediately when I read that, I'm sitting there going well, should I have applied for a Fast Track service? I mean. Quoting further: "Our processing times begin the day we receive your application at a passport agency or center, not the day you submit it." Now talk about bureaucratic double-speak.

I mean again I just really don't like the way things are moving. It's really nobody's fault inside, well it is everyone’s fault in a sense. It is institutionally a problem that everything is becoming nothing. A submission isn't a submission. Going in and dealing with something in person isn't the reality. The reality is what we say it is in this digital, virtual space that no one can ever actually interact with somebody, and it's really just disconcerting. Quoting further: "Your application locator number is (I'm going to redact that). If you are travelling within 2 weeks and have not received your passport, please contact the National Passport Information Center with your application locator number." Well, okay, thanks. At the end of the day though, I did appreciate the folks that were actually at the ACS window were competent, knew what they were doing; they assisted us as best they could, and they were of good assistance. 

I have got to be honest with you, I am not going to get too deep into this but I was very, very unhappy with the way that the security folks were acting that day, and I am really kind of getting tired of just this constant arbitrary imperiousness that you get when you are dealing with any kind of government office anymore, especially in an American context. It's very disconcerting. It's not what it was when I first got over here some near 20 years ago. And why it has moved in this direction, I do not understand, but whatever, I am not going to go too far into that. 

The point I am trying to make with this video and the big one to take away from this, is even if you submit the passport application in person at an Embassy as noted in this communique, it's not considered received until the Agency, the actual passport issuing Agency receives it. So again, it is this kind of like you have submitted it but when have you submitted it? So something to bear in mind for folks who are looking to renew their US Passports here in the Kingdom of Thailand.