British Ambassador: Thailand remains popular among British travelers

[Jools]

Thais are well compensated for putting up with the behaviour of Brit yobbos. Quit complaining and show some gratitude.

[evadgib]

14 minutes ago, Raybangkok said:

Maybe they should go back 25 years when I first moved here then we got a new passport issued in 2 days we could register so our relatives could be contacted in times of need or vice a versa we were allowed in the embassy to attend the remembrance service now we are not allowed any basic services that was made very clear by the previous ambassador who said no further services will be given

1. Passports were didgetised post 2001.

 

2. Facebook etc rendered registration obsolete.

 

3. Remembrance details appeared on their website 2 days ago. 

Edited October 8, 2016 by evadgib

[nontabury]

1 hour ago, louse1953 said:

Do expats pay tax?

 

I think you'll find that most ex-pats,if not the vast majority,do in fact pay UK tax. The same can be said of British tourist to Thailand.

[useronthenet]

If Thailand is so popular, then perhaps the Ambassador could explain to the British expats, why the UK Government in it's wisdom decided to sell off the Embassy in Bangkok?

 

Would be a bit embarrassing to find out that all UK citizens will in future have to report to a make-shift mud hut in the middle of nowhere !

Edited October 8, 2016 by useronthenet

[tonyjimmac]

Surely an ambassador's job is to represent the interests of his government to the government of the host country.

Looking after tourists, ex pats etc is the remit of the consulate.

[Raybangkok]

18 minutes ago, evadgib said:

1. Passports were didgetised post 2001.

 

2. Facebook etc rendered registration obsolete.

 

3. Remembrance details appeared on their website 2 days ago. 

Thank you for the info last year the remembrance service was only open to representatives of organisations and invited guests. Passports were issued at the embassy cheaper and faster a good service and why should people rely on face book to tell you relatives have been injured or died.  These are the services we used to have in the old days 

[jacko45k]

4 hours ago, mikebell said:

With the UK pound at its current level + the cost of plane tickets, it would be cheaper to have an all-inclusive 5* holiday anywhere in Europe.

Strangely enough, airtickets are about the same in Sterling terms. And the pound has lost value against other major currencies.  If anything airfares are cheaper now than a decade ago.

[Edu48c]

The guy is in charge of the worst piece of the U.K. I have ever come across. We have had to visit the Embassy three times since March. Staff are rude and unhelpful. We have left each time shaking our heads in disbelief.

As has been said in a previous post, he should be apologising to the British expats who live and work here for the appalling service his building offers before licking the  ar....es of a corrupt government 

 

[Eligius]

1 hour ago, Dogmatix said:

Respect Thai culture and enjoy Thailand even if that leads to violent crimes committed against you and the British Foreign Office soft pedals in pursuing justice for you in a devious and non-transparent way, in order to protect its insignificant trade interests in Thailand on behalf of UK taxpayers and voters.

 

Anyway it is fitting that the Foreign Office will now flog off the rest of the embassy's historic and prestigious site and move into some non-descript office block, more in keeping with the UK's flagging importance in the world, which is about to take another huge dip post-Brexit. I would suggest the Trendy Building to make it more convenient to outsource even more of its services to local firms based there.  

 

Since British citizens no longer get any service or protection from the embassy, except this sort of hot air, and the people they send out to promote trade know nothing about business, the next logical move would be to close down the embassy completely and cover British interests from the embassy in KL or Singapore.

The British Embassy is worse than useless for ordinary Brits: it is an utter disgrace. Where was the firm, ethical but polite outspokenness regarding Koh Tao? Did you see it? I did not. Am still waiting for that one.

 

The British Embassy in Thailand has no point or purpose any more (except for benefiting itself). It does not do 'what it says on the tin'. It would be better disbanded altogether. Who needs brown-nosing, Thai-licking bureaucrats - when there are real crimes against real Brits being perpetrated on a daily basis in Thailand.

 

Let the B.E. in Thailand go the way of all flesh and die the shameful death it fully deserves!

[Grubster]

3 hours ago, Fithman said:

 

Please list what you would have them do to help people. 

 

Perhaps you know of other Western Ambassadors/Embassies which provide the "helping services" on your list ?

 

Understand ? 

I can only say that the NZ embassy was a big help when my Kiwi friend got sick and suddenly died here, They found and contacted his family immediately, and gave those contacts to us " his friends here " so that we could help as much as possible, When his family arrived we made sure they were picked up at the airport and had a good place to stay, while all the time the embassy was constantly doing what they could for the family. They promptly got all the proper things done as to allow his funeral, and cremation to proceed in a timely manner. I was very impressed with their help and so was the family. I sure hope my embassy will do the same, but its hard to know until needed I guess.

[evadgib]

21 minutes ago, Raybangkok said:

Thank you for the info last year the remembrance service was only open to representatives of organisations and invited guests. Passports were issued at the embassy cheaper and faster a good service and why should people rely on face book to tell you relatives have been injured or died.  These are the services we used to have in the old days 

Do you still send Christmas cards via the post office?

Edited October 8, 2016 by evadgib

[NongKhaiKid]

27 minutes ago, tonyjimmac said:

Surely an ambassador's job is to represent the interests of his government to the government of the host country.

Looking after tourists, ex pats etc is the remit of the consulate.

The last ambassador Mark Kent seemed to think his role was protecting the interests of the Thai government especially against complaints.

[Eligius]

4 minutes ago, NongKhaiKid said:

The last ambassador Mark Kent seemed to think his role was protecting the interests of the Thai government especially against complaints.

How right you are! I remember seeing the sickening grovelling and kowtowing - shameless - that this fellow went in for. No sense whatsoever of standing up against injustice and doing his job: protecting the rights, livelihoods and lives of law-abiding, decent Brits!

[Fithman]

20 minutes ago, Grubster said:

I can only say that the NZ embassy was a big help when my Kiwi friend got sick and suddenly died here, They found and contacted his family immediately, and gave those contacts to us " his friends here " so that we could help as much as possible, When his family arrived we made sure they were picked up at the airport and had a good place to stay, while all the time the embassy was constantly doing what they could for the family. They promptly got all the proper things done as to allow his funeral, and cremation to proceed in a timely manner. I was very impressed with their help and so was the family. I sure hope my embassy will do the same, but its hard to know until needed I guess.

It is called "Consular Assistance". Any Western Embassy would provide the same in the circumstances you describe

[AndyOz]

4 hours ago, mikebell said:

With the UK pound at its current level + the cost of plane tickets, it would be cheaper to have an all-inclusive 5* holiday anywhere in Europe.

The pound has dropped against all currencies including the Euro. That makes the all inclusive European trip more expensive also.

[JAG]

3 hours ago, abrahamzvi said:

The Brits can only blame themselves for the poor state of the Pound, which will get worse, as the British economy, including the City, is deteriorating, as they voted for Brexit inspite of all the warnings, which unfortunately, are slowly but surely coming true. The Tories have to understand that you can't have it both ways - either associated with the EU and then accept free movement of goods and PEOPLE, or cut off all ties, with the expected results.

 

Maybe we should wait and watch and see what happens vis a vis the rest of Europe, when the  Germans (people not politician - I believe that there is an election next year) finally declare that they have had enough of propping up the spendthrift bankrupt economies of the southern and western fringes of the eurozone?

[Grubster]

6 minutes ago, Fithman said:

It is called "Consular Assistance". Any Western Embassy would provide the same in the circumstances you describe

Good to know I would also hope they would be as prompt, helpful and pleasant as the Kiwi's were.

[JAG]

1 hour ago, tonyjimmac said:

Surely an ambassador's job is to represent the interests of his government to the government of the host country.

Looking after tourists, ex pats etc is the remit of the consulate.

 

It is.

 

There is a school of thought that holds that they are about as effective as a chocolate teapot, and as for their claims to serve their customers, that they lie like a NAAFI alarm clock!

 

Whilst I have had little  to do with them, they struck me as very expensive and slow.

Edited October 8, 2016 by JAG

[Jonmarleesco]

Apologising for the behaviour of certain groups of British tourists? Where the hell is he - where are any of them - when the issue is the more common one of questionable Thai behaviour towards tourists? We don't need his apologising on behalf of the British government for the behaviour of others; we need him defending the right of British travellers to a safe holiday.

[Eligius]

Just now, Jonmarleesco said:

Apologising for the behaviour of certain groups of British tourists? Where the hell is he - where are any of them - when the issue is the more common one of questionable Thai behaviour towards tourists? We don't need his apologising on behalf of the British government for the behaviour of others; we need him defending the right of British travellers to a safe holiday.

Well said. Grovelling in the Thai sands and disparaging his own people in the way that he did is sickening to behold - measured against the immeasurable levels of abuse, disrespect and crime meted out to Brits and other Westerners by many Thais (including 'officials') on a daily basis

[Jonmarleesco]

4 hours ago, abrahamzvi said:

The Brits can only blame themselves for the poor state of the Pound, which will get worse, as the British economy, including the City, is deteriorating, as they voted for Brexit inspite of all the warnings, which unfortunately, are slowly but surely coming true. The Tories have to understand that you can't have it both ways - either associated with the EU and then accept free movement of goods and PEOPLE, or cut off all ties, with the expected results.

You must be interpreting the direction of the British economy, and the outcome, to date, of the vote to leave, from some unfathomable statistics. Because so far, little of the doom mongering has proved right.

 

And by way of some education, the EU is the progeny of the EC, which was itself the progeny of the EEC, or the European Economic Community; nothing, at the outset, to do with unlimited free movement of people, simply trade.

[kannot]

reminds me of this 

 

 

[Bantex]

5 hours ago, whatproblem said:

Wouldn't it be nice if he did something to help the British people that come here instead of kissing ass

Of course he's going to kiss ass prior to anything after all he's GAY. 

His C.V. lists him as being married to "Mr Scott Kelly Chang".

[kannot]

1 minute ago, Bantex said:

Of course he's going to kiss ass prior to anything after all he's GAY. 

His C.V. lists him as being married to "Mr Scott Kelly Chang".

Possible alcoholic also then????

[goonnerone]

4 hours ago, abrahamzvi said:

The Brits can only blame themselves for the poor state of the Pound, which will get worse, as the British economy, including the City, is deteriorating, as they voted for Brexit inspite of all the warnings, which unfortunately, are slowly but surely coming true. The Tories have to understand that you can't have it both ways - either associated with the EU and then accept free movement of goods and PEOPLE, or cut off all ties, with the expected results.

There speaks another Reomoner

[Eligius]

47 minutes ago, Jonmarleesco said:

Apologising for the behaviour of certain groups of British tourists? Where the hell is he - where are any of them - when the issue is the more common one of questionable Thai behaviour towards tourists? We don't need his apologising on behalf of the British government for the behaviour of others; we need him defending the right of British travellers to a safe holiday.

Malfunction. Deleted.

Edited October 8, 2016 by Eligius
Malfunction of 'comment' facility.

[Eligius]

17 minutes ago, Bantex said:

Of course he's going to kiss ass prior to anything after all he's GAY. 

His C.V. lists him as being married to "Mr Scott Kelly Chang".

I don't care whether he is straight, gay, bisexual or transgender - as long as he does his job and sticks up for the rights and safety of British tax-payers, tourists and ex-pats in Thailand. The sad truth is that he seems more concerned to curry favour with the Thais than to fight the corner of the British (who are paying his salary).

[bamukloy]

4 hours ago, Emster23 said:

"...offered his apologies for inappropriate behavior of certain groups of British..." Like walking on beach in wee hours?

 Had series on Australia+ "The Embassy" that did cover activities of Australian Embassy here. May have been slanted a tad, but did show them helping clueless losers and regular folks, so not beyond realm of possibility embassies could help some of us groundlings.

 

Busy with PR.

I guess that explains why they man the phones 2 hours per day and virtually impossible to get through

[hotchilli]

I agree with many of the previous posts, with the exchange rate dropping monthly it won't be long before Brits find another "paradise" to exploit....

As for Britain leaving the EU I don't see why the pound should drop so far, they left the EU not the rest of the planet.

They still trade & have strong monetary links with the rest of the world!!

Without the ties of EU they will bounce back soon... I hope.

[Enoon]

6 hours ago, whatproblem said:

Wouldn't it be nice if he did something to help the British people that come here instead of kissing ass

 

Yes, it would be nice to have the "best of both worlds" wouldn't it?