British Ambassador: Thailand remains popular among British travelers

[Enoon]

47 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

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.

 

"I don't see"

 

That figures.

 

You and 51.9%. 

 

 

[Lord Lucan]

British Ambassador "kissing arse"

Don't go up that road!

[Ridler]

But no apology to the British people for being ripped off by the Thais

[goldenbrwn1]

I know this is off topic. But I have noticed of late at how much the non british ex pats are enjoying the sterling crash and subsequent hardships for British ex pats on Thai visa. What kind of satisfaction are you lot getting from it?  I voted remain but am now quite glad we are leaving, esp with the reaction of our so called European neighbours. But back on topic, yeh complete joke apologising for Brit behaviour in Thailand.  That should be down to the individual, it's not like thousands of brits are kicking off over here. 

[whinginggit]

Did he prostrate once or three times?  

 

If he he really wants to apologise he should stand outside the VFS visa/passport office for 10 minutes or better still wait for the lift to arrive?

[sambum]

3 hours ago, JAG said:

 

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.

 

I also have had very little to do with the  Embassy in general, but I have found the Consular Section extremely helpful, polite, and very prompt with their services.

Credit where credit is due!

[Deepinthailand]

8 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.

Who the hell wants to go to the dump that is Europe. Just because the pound weakens it won't put people off going where they want to go. Bloody good job 99%of them don't read or even know about this forum that would put them off.

[getreal]

1 hour ago, Wilsonandson said:

Rather sad is your middle name. Leave the Owens out of it. Then you slag off TV. Your posting on the wrong expat forum.

 

1 hour ago, Wilsonandson said:

Rather sad is your middle name. Leave the Owens out of it. Then you slag off TV. Your posting on the wrong expat forum.

My post referred to brits killing thais and raping their children and an apology that was certainly justified. 

You are more concerned with me putting down people who constantly slag off thais (3,000+ posts) and the people you probably think are your internet friends. Proves what i said. Thankyou.

Havent got anymore time for you. Sorry. I am heading out for a night of fun with my thai friends. Have fun with your computer. 

Some people fit in easily with the thais, others really struggle.

Best of luck to you.

[nausea]

They have <deleted> all power, and they know it. What do you want them to do, send a gunship.

[SOTIRIOS]

...wow...what a !@#$%^&*(.....

[Asiantravel]

5 hours ago, JAG said:

 

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?

 

Italy will happen first (December of this year)The Financial Times recently put it this way:

 

" An Italian exit from the single currency would trigger the total collapse of the eurozone within a very short period. It would probably lead to the most violent economic shock in history, dwarfing the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008 and the 1929 Wall Street crash."

 

http://www.internationalman.com/articles/the-coming-collapse-of-the-worlds-biggest-economy

 

[evadgib]

5 hours 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.

Given our hosts track record of twisting or fabricating the words of envoys you should take this with a pinch of salt.

 

Remember Mark Kent's twitter denials?

Edited October 8, 2016 by evadgib

[Eligius]

2 minutes ago, evadgib said:

Given our hosts track record of twisting or fabricating the words of envoys you should take this with a pinch of salt.

 

Remember Mark Kent's twitter denials?

Very valid point, which does need to be taken into consideration.

[evadgib]

4 minutes ago, Eligius said:

Very valid point, which does need to be taken into consideration.

I'd go as far as to assume it had happened on any story that doesn't also appear on Embassy media feeds.

[Dogmatix]

Someone told me this afternoon there are 300 people working in the British Embassy.  Lord knows what they all do.  

 

My brother has worked in US embassies on the consular side and told they are not allowed to hire locals as front office staff in the section that  provides assistance to Americans abroad.  It is considered that Americans have a right to be assisted by an American who knows what they are talking about and will have no conflict of interest in dealing with local authorities.  The British Embassy's consular section is almost exclusively staffed by Thais who often don't know what they are talking about and there is one lady who can get quire aggressive.  Once I gave up trying to explain what I needed and had to come back and hope for someone better.  I was going to insist on talking to a real British consular officer but, as luck would have it, was seen by the one that can occasionally be seen there.  She grasped my request instantly and I was out of there in 15 minutes. 

 

Granted, consular assistance is the only role of an embassy but seeing how poorly they perform at that job, relative to other Western embassies, and looking at some of the jokers they send here as ambassador, it is hard to imagine the 300 people there perform any better at any of their other tasks.  So, if they move to an office block or close the whole thing down completely, good riddance to bad rubbish.

Edited October 8, 2016 by Dogmatix

[Cracker2000]

12 hours ago, grumbleweed said:

And we sincerely regret all those Brits who complain about botched murder inquiries of British nationals, or getting mugged, conned, raped 

 

Quite right,....... sorry your glorious Thai males scuffed their shoes while a pack of them  stomped on a pair of British pensions in Hua Hin, and the same to a couple of staggeringly drunk 20 somethings they rolled in Pattaya and felt the need to help themselves to compensation from their pockets.

 

Quite all right old chap, not my kind of people either, I'm just here to kiss the ass of the HiSo's

 

Your tax payers pounds in action

 

PS. ...this is called sarcasm

[3NUMBAS]

Brits can't live with the Brussels dictators like the Thais can't stand dictators ..and juntas so rightly voted to leave the bullyboys in Brussels .despite the ramifications ..which will eventually unwind

[3NUMBAS]

2 hours ago, Asiantravel said:

 

Italy will happen first (December of this year)The Financial Times recently put it this way:

 

" An Italian exit from the single currency would trigger the total collapse of the eurozone within a very short period. It would probably lead to the most violent economic shock in history, dwarfing the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008 and the 1929 Wall Street crash."

 

http://www.internationalman.com/articles/the-coming-collapse-of-the-worlds-biggest-economy

 

Italy and Portugal will cause the EU to collapse before Brexit takes place so May just has to sit tight until the EU is no more... And have a laugh at the mess of France and Germany that ensues

[Anon999]

12 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 your view but as a Remainer you're in a minority and once the situation reverses and the 5th largest economy in the world has put all the pieces together you'll be very quiet. The reason for the big drop in the £ on Friday was down to some hiccup in the trading systems, according to those who should know. Those who forecast doom and gloom are still doing their utmost to damage the economy and much to their chagrin are finding things are not going their way. Not to mention resorting to legal recourse because they did not like the result and think that repeating the same thing will provide a different result. Check on the voters  sentiments in Scotland as an example.

 

Furthermore if you want to be a member of an extremely corrupt self serving system, that has during its existence, refused to submit a set of accounts for audit you're very welcome. Then of course the three countries that have benefited the most from EU funds are .................... Germany, France and Italy, not any of the poorer members. Does that tell you anything?
 

[Xircal]

Popularity will soon wane when the Brits are confronted with the FX rate they'll get now compared to what it was a little over a year ago.

[tukkytuktuk]

Brian Davidson British ambassador of Thailand. Thank you for apologizing. We're sorry Brian and couldn't express that fully, now you have, great job. Let me say as a Brit we are fully behind you on this one and hope the mounting pressure of work doesn't bring you down. Stiff upper lip, Brian, we shall not be beaten by Brexit. A helping hand is all we need and we shall reach out and grab it with both hands.

[Xircal]

1 hour ago, Anon999 said:

Maybe your view but as a Remainer you're in a minority and once the situation reverses and the 5th largest economy in the world has put all the pieces together you'll be very quiet. The reason for the big drop in the £ on Friday was down to some hiccup in the trading systems, according to those who should know. Those who forecast doom and gloom are still doing their utmost to damage the economy and much to their chagrin are finding things are not going their way. Not to mention resorting to legal recourse because they did not like the result and think that repeating the same thing will provide a different result. Check on the voters  sentiments in Scotland as an example.

 

Furthermore if you want to be a member of an extremely corrupt self serving system, that has during its existence, refused to submit a set of accounts for audit you're very welcome. Then of course the three countries that have benefited the most from EU funds are .................... Germany, France and Italy, not any of the poorer members. Does that tell you anything?
 

 

I think you're living in a dream world if you think the state of Sterling is just a hiccup. All countries rely on investment to create jobs and while the UK was a member of the EU it attracted a great deal of it because it gave companies access to the single market both for goods and services.

 

But what we're seeing now from PM May is that she intends to concentrate on limiting freedom of movement rather than ensuring that British firms and international organisations which have invested heavily in the country continue to have access to the single market merely to appease the Leave camp. You have to bear in mind here that once Britain triggers Article 50 it only has two years in which to complete a trade deal. If it fails in that endeavour then their won't be any second chances or extensions and the country will only have WTO rules to fall back on. If she's stupid enough to let that happen then companies like Nissan and Airbus will likely move to the continent resulting in significant job losses. That in turn will mean taxes will have to rise to compensate for the reduced flow of tax revenue to the Exchequer.

 

It's this current head in the sand attitude which is causing the value of Sterling to plummet and many financial houses have forecast that the £ will reach parity with the euro by Christmas this year even. That in turn is going to cause significant price rises due to the cost of raw materials and imported goods. If the Fed increases Interest rates as has been forecast that will also knock Sterling even further into the red. The country already has a £69 million trading deficit and has lost its treasured AAA status with the three rating agencies. A further review can be expected in the not too distant future I suspect and further reduction will only cause the cost of borrowing to rise even further exacerbating the deficit mountain. 

 

You think the country is heading for a rosy future, but in reality it's heading for bankruptcy and will soon be running to the IMF cap in hand for a bailout which will cost you dearly. 

Edited October 8, 2016 by Xircal

[Time Traveller]

Must of been some pressure on him to make him grovel like that.

The English don't apologize for their own actions let alone the actions of others

[bimmerbob]

15 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 is absolutely no conclusive evidence of any benefit or not, of Brexit, so I wish people would stop speculative comments. 

[Veritas48]

I in turn would like to apologise for every overpaid,underworked,chinless,private school educated,well connected,talentless,non-worldly wise,aloof,arse creeping,snivelling,grovelling,PC,inbred,halfwit civil servant that the UK has ever bred just to attend cocktail parties and promote alcoholic beverage companies in foreign lands and charge outrageous prices for passports,letters,visas AND completely ignore the real world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[evadgib]

A " Non worldly wise, inbred, halfwit"  posted #117!

[AndyOz]

On 08/10/2016 at 9:49 AM, 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.

As a Brit I could not agree more. We need to get used to the idea of budgeting on sub 40 baht to the pound probally around 35. 

[Baerboxer]

On 10/8/2016 at 9:49 AM, 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.

 

Fx speculation and possible robot decisions caused the sudden plunge albeit based on stupid remarks from a a stupid PM and even more stupid Home Secretary. 

The pounds currently going through, for different reasons, the sort of thing the USD went through a while back. All those doom and gloomers predicting the end of the dollar, the collapse of the US and disintegration of financial markets. Didn't happen. Now it's the pounds turn. The Euro weathered the storm caused by Greece but that problem hasn't gone away, being solved and festers. The German banks are fragile to say the least, and without them the Euro will crumble. Make no mistake, the EU is built on bigger fantasy than the US debt and the high valued stock markets propped up by low interest rates. The non inner circle members of the EU are now beginning to flex their muscles - note Juncker now worried that some are already holding secret talks with the UK. Paranoia or genuine concern? Who knows but it seems the sheeple countries are no longer content to be dictated to by Germany and the EC with France as the nodding dog. Italy already broke ranks. 

Britain, as it stands, cannot and should not expect to be allowed free market access whilst not being a member, contributing to budgets, part of the decision making process or abiding by all EC edicts. However, there are deals to be done, despite all the posturing currently going on including some politicians who face difficult elections in their countries next year.

[jayboy]

In passing, I hope Mr Davidson will do a better job in respecting Thai culture than he did in respecting Chinese culture.  In his previous post he greatly angered his Chinese hosts by having a same sex marriage,. which is illegal in China, to a Chinese partner within the confines of the British Embassy where UK law prevails.  I have nothing against same sex marriage whatsoever and applaud equal rights for LGBTs wholeheartedly but I think it would have been more diplomatic to travel to the UK and organize a wedding there without causing offence to the Chinese, who have yet to embrace LGBT rights.  I am sure he would have had no trouble in organizing a UK visa for his partner.

Evidence for anger on part of Chinese government?

[gios50hk]

8 hours ago, Veritas48 said:

I in turn would like to apologise for every overpaid,underworked,chinless,private school educated,well connected,talentless,non-worldly wise,aloof,arse creeping,snivelling,grovelling,PC,inbred,halfwit civil servant that the UK has ever bred just to attend cocktail parties and promote alcoholic beverage companies in foreign lands and charge outrageous prices for passports,letters,visas AND completely ignore the real world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was nodding in total agreement at your comment! I have long held the view (and seen it proven on countless occasions) that all Embassy/Consulate staff invariably emanate from wealthy families, attend leading public schools (Eton, Harrow etc) before going onto Oxford or Cambridge and have enjoyed a highly privileged and cosseted upbringing. They have absolutely no concept of 'real' life and the struggles that most normal people face on a daily basis - yet often treat these people with utter disdain and ridicule (as I have personally experienced very recently). The ultimate irony is that at the end of their careers of attending endless wine and dinner-parties, golf tournaments, business junkets, being ferried around in limousines and living in sumptuous government-provided accommodation - whilst doing their utmost to avoid doing anything of real value such as providing help, succour or assistance to fellow (less-advantaged) Britons suffering hardship or extreme problems - they are 'rewarded' with Knighthoods and other awards for their 'services to Britain'! It would be laughable were it not so tragic.

Edited October 9, 2016 by gios50hk