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[folium]

Took this off the UK Foreign Office website today:

We advise against all but essential travel to the city of Chiang Mai where a number of violent incidents, some involving gunfire, have occurred following the clearing of the Red Shirt demonstration sites in Bangkok. Red Shirt demonstrators have set up a demonstration site at the Chiang Mai railway station. British nationals already in Chiang Mai should monitor this travel advice and local media before going out during the day, and otherwise comply with the curfew in force.

have been following events in Thailand and CM in particular, but this seems to be different to what I have heard since the military cleared the demonstation sites in Bangkok. As I am not on the ground in CM, interested to know how reliable this statement is.

[Loaded]

The only gun fire should be the sound of the embassy staff, who write this rubbish, being shot for blatant lying and scaremongering (note to mods - just a joke!).

The site at the station had been there for months and was dismantled around last Wednesday.

Brits have probably the most expensive consular service of any nationality living here, but a Bangkok embassy staff that is incompetent and lazy. For example, it takes them 10 days to issue a tourist visa and the applicant must travel to Bangkok to make the application - ridiculous. They will cite security concerns - security concerns my bum, they are just highly inefficient at their job.

PS

The women at the consulate in CM do a grand job but they are only admin staff following the bs of Bangkok.

Edited May 27, 2010 by Loaded

[fcgprg]

The only gun fire should be the sound of the embassy staff, who write this rubbish, being shot for blatant lying and scaremongering (note to mods - just a joke!).

The site at the station had been there for months and was dismantled last Wednesday.

Brits have probably the most expensive consular service of any nationality living here, but a Bangkok embassy staff that is incompetent and lazy. For example, it takes them 10 days to issue a tourist visa and the applicant must travel to Bangkok to make the application - ridiculous. They will cite security concerns - security concerns my bum, they are just highly inefficient at their job.

PS

The women at the consulate in CM do a grand job but they are only admin staff following the bs of Bangkok.

I agree what a load of rubbish the embassy put out ,do they not travel round Chiang Mai and see for them selves what it is like.

[BlueTerrace]

Having been involved in business in North/South Asia the past 15 years I have often wondered what value the embassies actually are.

The staff seem to be on constant rotation, rarely speak the languages of the countries in which they live (“Bonjour Monsieur Bunispatispron”) and posses only superficial views of the social, political, economic situation.

The few times I have turned to them for assistance I have found them to be zero help and when we have signed up to receive their bulletins or paid to receive reports, the advice looks like it was prepared by a first year college student working from local newspapers and can be quickly discarded.

My favorite embassy warning came whilst I was in Japan 1999/2000. They issued advice to leave the country as the “Y2K bug might lead to a break down in society and possible rioting”. A truly execrable piece of advice – staggering in its ineptness – I should have framed it for laughs.

This is not specifically a dig at the British embassy; I have citizenship of two other countries and find their embassies to be similarly useless, although the British spend far more money to do it.

[Lizard2010]

All they are worried about is if any of there country persons get hurt it would not be there problem

[jayjay0]

The only gun fire should be the sound of the embassy staff, who write this rubbish, being shot for blatant lying and scaremongering (note to mods - just a joke!).

The site at the station had been there for months and was dismantled around last Wednesday.

Brits have probably the most expensive consular service of any nationality living here, but a Bangkok embassy staff that is incompetent and lazy. For example, it takes them 10 days to issue a tourist visa and the applicant must travel to Bangkok to make the application - ridiculous. They will cite security concerns - security concerns my bum, they are just highly inefficient at their job.

PS

The women at the consulate in CM do a grand job but they are only admin staff following the bs of Bangkok.

Have you ever been there. Two people I know of personally went there and got nothing. Fortunately there is a group of Christians who check in there and they were able to help these people out. They are completely useless and probably the ones who gave the information to the Embassy in Bangkok.

[cpofc]

I know that because of this age of litigation the Foreign Affairs Department in Oz always errs on the side of caution when it comes to issuing their Overseas Travellers Alerts..

Australian tourists who find themselves victims of terrorist acts overseas, will try to blame the government for not issuing the proper warnings to them otherwise.

Sad but true, people should take more responsility for themselves. It has been said that Australia is fast becoming a 'Nanny State'. Like the guy who posted the thread about having a Plan B in case the shit hits the fan in the LOS. The Australian's Plan B is to sit on your arse and whinge and let the government get you out of the shit, and if they don't, sue!

Edited May 27, 2010 by cpofc

[Loaded]

The only gun fire should be the sound of the embassy staff, who write this rubbish, being shot for blatant lying and scaremongering (note to mods - just a joke!).

The site at the station had been there for months and was dismantled around last Wednesday.

Brits have probably the most expensive consular service of any nationality living here, but a Bangkok embassy staff that is incompetent and lazy. For example, it takes them 10 days to issue a tourist visa and the applicant must travel to Bangkok to make the application - ridiculous. They will cite security concerns - security concerns my bum, they are just highly inefficient at their job.

PS

The women at the consulate in CM do a grand job but they are only admin staff following the bs of Bangkok.

Have you ever been there. Two people I know of personally went there and got nothing. Fortunately there is a group of Christians who check in there and they were able to help these people out. They are completely useless and probably the ones who gave the information to the Embassy in Bangkok.

Yes, I have - many times. You are describing other people's experiences, so I guess you haven't.

[OOB]

Fortunately there is a group of Christians who check in there and they were able to help these people out[/b]. They are completely useless and probably the ones who gave the information to the Embassy in Bangkok.

Yes, I have - many times. You are describing other people's experiences, so I guess you haven't.

I have also been to the British Consulate here in CM and the staff there are excellent. What a third party religious group could possibly do for me when trying to get a formal UK document is completely beyond me, however. It would be helpful if you explained what the 'two people you know personally' were trying to accomplish at the Consulate and in what way this group were better able to help.

Edited May 28, 2010 by OOB