jayboy

I didn't argue consular activities were more important than other functions.I argued that in certain countries with very large British populations/visitor numbers, Embassies pay as much attention to consular activity as anything else. Thailand and Spain good examples.This is not even controversial so I don't know why you are reduced to foolish comments like it's just Ambassador's PR. In countries like China,Saudi Arabia etc it's obviously not the case. I have never thought or argued this.

No, his position was made clear in obituaries in most of the British major newspapers.

Depends on the country, and the number of British residents and visitors. Thailand has a large number of both.As I have just pointed out, the former Ambassador to Spain (a much more senior position that the Ambassador to Thailand) saw his responsibilities to British subjects as important as any other area.

You have better information than I do, but it confirms my belief that the high flyers have as little to do with DBS (distressed British subjects) as possible). Actually I have no beef with the Embassy consular staff in Bangkok who do an often thankless job as well as humanly possible.I see no evidence of laziness, lack of interest etc as some of the sillier posts on this thread suggest. Having said that, Thailand has a large British expatriate population and a massive number of visiting Brits.It's important that leadership comes from the top, and that means the Ambassador.During the COVID crisis there was a clear failure in leadership on the part of the then ambassador - in clear contrast with the efforts of representatives of other countries.He went on to Hong Kong and got a CMG so his employers presumably thought well of him.The present (much more personable) ambassador picked up the pieces, and I think does pretty well. Interesting to see in the recent obituary of Giles Paxman (brother of Jeremy) who was British Ambassador to Spain, that he took his duty to the millions of Brits in Spain extremely seriously and one of his major responsibilities.

Neither.Financial inducement was not necessary.It is just the craven surrender to the Chinese gangster state's pressure.Get used to it.

You were shown to be in egregious error by a number of posters so stop trying to deflect. It is a schoolboy error to attribute the military expansion before 1939 to WSC If you had said the government was spurred to action by WSC's calls from the back benches, though only part of the picture, that would have at least been worth discussing.But it's not a point you made. I can't really say any more other than to suggest some reading into the subject - which clearly you have not done up to now.

All you expat pensioners, be afraid.......be very afraid. Back in the real world, audits on expats with modest incomes aren't going to happen.

Oh dear, you are quite the chump.Briefly then, because serious discussion seems beyond you. Churchill obviously foresaw the threat of the Nazis very early but he was not in power.Chamberlain poured money into a succession of 13 RAF expansion programmes, while, as prime minister, he approved the construction of a series of aircraft factories, most notably the world’s largest plant at Castle Bromwich in Birmingham, which was meant to produce 1,000 Spitfires by June 1940. By 1939, rearmament was swallowing 21.4 per cent of Britain’s gross national product, a figure that reached 51.7 per cent by 1940. When Chamberlain finally declared war in September 1939, Britain’s aircraft output had overtaken that of Germany’s. Churchill's greatest living biographer, Andrew Roberts, has repeatedly pointed out similarities between Churchill and Zelensky.

55555555

An excellent point.When I first came to Thailand, it was because I had been sent here by my company in the early 1980's.I had no real choice in the matter: I might equally have been sent to Brazil, Italy or Australia where my company also had branches. I didn't know that many people in Bangkok who weren't employed by multinational companies on the lines you describe.The trading companies employed quite a few - Borneo, Anglo-Thai etc.They mostly belonged to the British Club though the classier ones were also members of the RBSC. There were others of course - often the most interesting - eg academics at Chula, teachers at smart Thai schools, posh remittance men and others avoiding scrutiny from their home country, artists and writers etc.At that time Thai companies - dominated by Chinese family traditions - didn't really employ foreigners.Anyway all in this bunch would call themselves expatriates. The number of well paid multinational company people has greatly dwindled as HQ's realized appointing able Thais is more effective. The expatriate world has changed enormously over the last 40 years, mostly because Thailand has itself transformed into a much richer country.

Brilliant. That did the trick.Thank you very much.

For a long time my Grab app has been linked to my Krungsri debit card.Worked fine. However needed to replace Krungsri debit card (time expired) with new one.But can't for some unknown reason link new card with Grab app - despite multi checking details were entered correctly. Anyone had similar issues? Who do I contact for help =Grab or bank? P.S. Was able to link Grab app with my Krungsri credit card and also True wallet.Now using latter as default payment method.Works fine.

Correct.It was actually often unfairly maligned Neville Chamberlain who began the rapid expansion of the RAF, and ultimately it was the strength of the Royal Navy that deterred invasion - not to mention Hitler's vacillating attitude and preoccupation with making war in the East. I was going to make a detailed rebuttal of the original poster's sillier points but one soon works out it's pointless when the person is clueless. On a side issue, I think Zelensky has quite a lot in common with Churchill but that's for another discussion

Stupid question from forum time waster.Mods please remove.

Oh, the irony.

Puff piece to which there is no particular objection, but it would be interesting to know whether the customer base had an equally sympathetic view. Generally the Embassy officials dealing with consular matters are not top flight Foreign Office types.There are no high fliers (ie those identified as likely to reach high positions) and are generally competent run of the mill types.Actually there is not really a need for them to have brilliant minds - just practical skills, empathy and a sense of urgency when necessary. To be frank the latter is often lacking. The Ambassador and top staff have little interest in consular affairs - though they pretend otherwise - though they are aware that if there is a cock up they will be held accountable.It's hard not to sympathize since I suspect the typical Distressed British Subject in Thailand is not the type of person they would bump into the Travellers Club in Pall Mall.It was all so much more congenial in the 1950's when British visitors to Thailand were mostly gents.

Data!! Look around you. https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-10/A Guide to Recognizing When Anti-Israel Actions Become Antisemitic.pdf

This is the mantra churned out by many. No reasonable person would claim otherwise. However for a significant minority hatred for Jews is the driving factor,

There was another occasion when a wicked aggressor was winning a war in which it sought sought to exterminate a militarily inferior country.The leader of that country said: "Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender" By your debased morality that leader should have kept his bravado to himself and sough a humiliating accommodation with the aggressor.

There is a broader point about the consequences of appeasement - which of course you ignore.

No you do not appear to be a Putin sympathizer (though you might be), more a weak morally incoherent appeaser like Britain's Neville Chamberlain who thought that wickedness could be brought off by (someone else's) sacrifice. It couldn't then and it can't now.

Fair summary but , having had personal experience of both local and foreign issued insurance, I have the following comments. The main hospitals in Thailand's large cities are very well geared up to process claims under foreign policies.In many cases claims are settled directly. Foreign policies definitely tend to be more expensive but it can be a false economy to opt for a cheaper local package, not least because the financial cover tends to be less. I do not see how "compliance with local standards" is relevant if the foreign provider is a blue chip outfit.

I don't think parents at the top public schools worry very much about their kids not being able to compete. Intelligence is a matter of genetics and environment, and the upper middle classes tend to score highly on both counts.

Sometimes it's not completely clear when antisemitism rears its head.This is not one of those occasions.

I don't think most parents send their children to independent schools to "buy advantage".They do so to give their children the best education they can provide.The move by the Labour Government to charge VAT was driven by class spite.They loathe aspiration and rubbed salt in the wound by imposing the measure in the middle of the school year.No other country charges VAT on education and indeed some provide parents with a tax refund if they go independent.The money raised looks much smaller than rnvisaged and will not be ring fenced for state schools = another lie.The whole episode stinks.