Video A Message for British Nationals in Thailand from British Ambassador Brian Davidson CMG, 27th April 2021.

[unblocktheplanet]

Back to 'resident' again! No doubt the generals will twist this to mean only permanent residents, leaving the rest of us stuffed.

[CharlieH]

A reported post has been removed.

 

Express your opinions/thoughts etc but remain polite and courteous please.Abuse will not be tolerated, your post will be removed and you may face suspension.

[Pilotman]

Sir, you rather prove my point with regard to the vaccine against a pandemic virus that is killing millions..  Once British Citizens are clear of the UK shores, you and your colleagues wash your hands of us and confine your activities to meaningless paperwork, for which you charge we tax payers over the top.  Helping a very few families with bereavements seems to be little justification for you and your large staff to even be here. I say again, as strongly as I can, that you should be facilitating a vaccine roll out for UK citizens and not relying on a foreign government to do your job for you. This post is not abusive.

[jayboy]

3 hours ago, Pilotman said:

Sir, you rather prove my point with regard to the vaccine against a pandemic virus that is killing millions..  Once British Citizens are clear of the UK shores, you and your colleagues wash your hands of us and confine your activities to meaningless paperwork, for which you charge we tax payers over the top.  Helping a very few families with bereavements seems to be little justification for you and your large staff to even be here. I say again, as strongly as I can, that you should be facilitating a vaccine roll out for UK citizens and not relying on a foreign government to do your job for you. This post is not abusive, so I hope that it remains here for you and others to read. 

 

This is unfair and inaccurate.Nevertheless it's concerning that the departing Ambassador's letter as pertaining to vaccines seems to have been overtaken by events.This of course is no fault of his but large numbers of British expatriates are feeling very exposed since they had assumed they would be able to obtain vaccinations at private hospitals, not being part of the prioritized Thai health care system.Perhaps in the event they will but the situation is not clear now.Most expatriates will wait to see how the process pans out - what else can they do?

 

One does however I'm afraid detect a slight lack of energy and focus in addressing expatriates' concerns on this issue.In situations of this kind one is always told "we are working hard between the scenes.Most people don't expect the Embassy to molly coddle or be involved in provision of vaccines.One does expect however very intensive work by the Embassy in concert with other Embassies in ensuring that resident expatriates are given equal treatment.This does not mean getting vague assurances but very specific steps agreed.I'm pretty sure Dominic Raab would agree.

 

The next month will be critical.

[Excel]

4 hours ago, Pilotman said:

Sir, you rather prove my point with regard to the vaccine against a pandemic virus that is killing millions..  Once British Citizens are clear of the UK shores, you and your colleagues wash your hands of us and confine your activities to meaningless paperwork, for which you charge we tax payers over the top.  Helping a very few families with bereavements seems to be little justification for you and your large staff to even be here. I say again, as strongly as I can, that you should be facilitating a vaccine roll out for UK citizens and not relying on a foreign government to do your job for you. This post is not abusive, so I hope that it remains here for you and others to read. 

You are spot on with that assertion and facilitating the roll out to UK citizens here. It appears that by previously linking the consular activities in a previous post they would rather put a spin on helping the deceased than helping thousands of us here. Remeber the debacle of stopping  income letters ?  well they responded to my earlier post on here very quickly. What a shame it took 2 emails to them to get a response 2 years ago on the matter of income letters and  provided none of the information I requested  and simply directed me to contact the FCO in London. It then took me a few more months to get the information I was seeking from FCO London and to do that I had to resort to gaining it via the Freedom of Information Act. Yes they certainly know how to treat us UK nationals, well the living ones anyone !

[Pilotman]

20 hours ago, jayboy said:

 

This is unfair and inaccurate.Nevertheless it's concerning that the departing Ambassador's letter as pertaining to vaccines seems to have been overtaken by events.This of course is no fault of his but large numbers of British expatriates are feeling very exposed since they had assumed they would be able to obtain vaccinations at private hospitals, not being part of the prioritized Thai health care system.Perhaps in the event they will but the situation is not clear now.Most expatriates will wait to see how the process pans out - what else can they do?

 

One does however I'm afraid detect a slight lack of energy and focus in addressing expatriates' concerns on this issue.In situations of this kind one is always told "we are working hard between the scenes.Most people don't expect the Embassy to molly coddle or be involved in provision of vaccines.One does expect however very intensive work by the Embassy in concert with other Embassies in ensuring that resident expatriates are given equal treatment.This does not mean getting vague assurances but very specific steps agreed.I'm pretty sure Dominic Raab would agree.

 

The next month will be critical.

and you don't think that when we are facing the most virulent and dangerous World Wide  pandemic in over 100 years that some more practical response and help could be funnelled through the various Embassies? If not, then having Embassies at all is a nonsense and an expense that we could well do without . 

[jayboy]

1 hour ago, Pilotman said:

and you don't think that when we are facing the most virulent and dangerous World Wide  pandemic in over 100 years that some more practical response and help could be funnelled through the various Embassies? If not, then having Embassies at all is a nonsense and an expense that we could well do without . 

Your frustration is shared and I have touched on your concerns in my second paragraph.The British Embassy is doing its best by its own reckoning but there is a rather casual feel in its approach to the real fears being felt by the large British expatriate population. It's almost as if they (Embassy staff) had already been vaccinated!

 

[jayboy]

Out of curiosity I checked the Australian Embassy website.Immediately one sees a video message from the Ambassador on arrangements for travel to Australia and a direct message to resident expatriates with a promise to keep them updated on the rollout of vaccines to foreign nationals in Thailand.

 

The British Embassy website as everybody knows is clunky and hard to navigate.The blame of course lies not in Bangkok but with the long standing London directive for all state websites to conform to one format.On the support for UK residents in Thailand the contrast with Australia could hardly be more striking.It's not that the Australians have more info than the Brits (I would certainly expect a close working relationship and exchange of info between diplomats of both countries). It's more that there appears with the Australians to be more of a sense of urgency and real wish to help.

[GinBoy2]

No skin in this game, I'm American.

 

But for God's sake the dude is an Ambassador, at least wear a shirt an tie, don't look like you're off to a soccer match!