Martin2009

This was my first impression

After 6 years here things have changed

Sorry but her most vote catching policy was about reconcilliation, imhp. There are other things about her that most voters like more. Where you back in Denmark during the elction?

This is great news. I did complain to the Foreign Secretary about the refusal of the Embassy to give me a letter after I had my passport stolen. This of course forced me to leave Thailand as obviously the Royal Thai Immigration service could not give me a replacement "O" visa with the Embassy confirming I was getting a new passport even though I had the Thai police report about the robbery.

Clergy at both St Louis and Holy Reedemer confirmed that non-English UK passport holders have never received the letters from the Embassy required by the Thai authorities forcing us to leave our homes and families as well as facing the expense of foreign travel.

Obviously I cannot claim credit for his being moved but I am having a party under the Society of William Wallace at the Highlander in Pattaya to mark his departure. ALL WELCOME

If they were not continually declaring that children were the problem then Child Watch and similar panic merchants would be out of business. These are the same people who criticize every aspect of youth culture and continually run down kids.

While it is laudable that the great and good of the New York Times should mention that the increased Thai Government spending on education in the last decade has been disproportionately allotted by the high-level bureaucrats for their own benefit rather than paying teachers better salaries and improving facilities for students it is sad they have to run out the old myth that 2,500 drug dealers were killed by the police during Taskin’s anti-drug campaign which was proven to be completely false by the United Nation researchers in 2004.

There has been a rise in drug abuse in recent years in Thailand but it cannot be quantified as “an epidemic” as there is no evidence to support this media hype. It can certainly be partly attributed to police being drawn from their normal duties, whether from the border with Myanmar or patrolling the Sukhumvit Road, to perform riot control. Such a change in policing will also certainly have contributed to the increase in alcohol use by many young people here. Drinking among teenagers, given per capita beer sales are up 52% since 1997, will have increased, certainly with comparatively cheaper beer now readily available.

I live in Isaan. I teach Thai kids a couple of days a week. I have seen the extensive underage drinking especially at festivals but only heard rumors about the increased drug use. However I come from Scotland were the illegal drug use is out of control because Social Workers teach children how to inject drugs. I personally find the Thai kids far more self disciplined and polite then their counter-parts in my home country and am old enough to remember when Labour politicians began blaming all the country’s problems on the youth. The kids are an easy target since they have no way to address such self serving adults.

Sorry to be quick but is there anything you can do about getting me a British Passport? We have met but I'm a pal of Johnny McCarthy and never saw to point of sitting in Walking Street.

After my passport was stolen in Bangkok on 24 June I paid the Embassy 161 GBP for a replacement. They told me the application would be sent to Hong Kong and sure enough the DHL website shows it was delivered to Hong Kong the next day. Nothing has happen since the 29 June.

I have been looking at the various FCO Web sites and wondered if, with your TV Channel, if you were interested in producing a programme on how Careline Services, a private company, has been providing UK passports since 1 January 2009. It actually took this company 2 months to give me my last passport and they do not answer the London number given out by the Hong Kong Consulate nor answer emails.

I live in Isaan where my wife has a farm and a few other commercial interests so I am well aware of how fortunate I am compared to the British people who get robbed here and have only your new FCO colleagues to go to for help. I also have an 'O' visa which is valid until 15th September and since I know many Thai police and local Immigration officials socially I do not anticipate any problems no matter how long Careline Services actually take to send me a new passport. However I feel strongly that victims of crime need more help and certainly truthful information from the FCO.

I am writting to the new Foreign Secretary because Stephen Hale, Head of Engagement and Digital Diplomacy in London has refused to explain either how Twittering helps UK civil servants do their jobs better and why these people are even needed as all British victims of crime have Careline Services thanks to Jack Straw as you can see on http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/roller/hale/entry/british_embassies_and_social_media

I the interest of balance any programme about the lack of help provided to British victims of crime here would need to have some explanation from the new coalition government