British Ambassador: Thailand remains popular among British travelers

[OJAS]

2 hours ago, AndyOz said:

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. 

We may need to get used to the idea of budgeting on the basis of 1 pound = 1 satang before too long!

[useronthenet]

Apparently under the new regulations, those that only speak fluent English,  and have a job can apply to see the Ambassador. 

 

(so it seems his dairy will be pretty empty for the duration of his appointment)

 

 

 

 

[gios50hk]

2 minutes ago, useronthenet said:

Apparently under the new regulations, those that only speak fluent English,  and have a job can apply to see the Ambassador. 

 

(so it seems his dairy will be pretty empty for the duration of his appointment)

 

 

 

 

Do they also need to be gay and have an Oxbridge education....?

[jayboy]

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.

You are talking unadulterated rubbish on a subject you clearly know nothing about.

There is a Diplomatic Service fast stream and it is conducted on the basis of interviews and a very demanding set of exams.In the Bangkok Embassy I doubt whether there would be more than 2 or 3 of these.Wealth and private education are neither here nor there.It is simply untrue that most attend leading public schools and an absurd accusation for the Foreign Service as a whole.It's true there are quite of lot of Oxbridge graduates in the fast stream - though not nearly a majority - which is hardly surprising given the high quality of students there.

There would generally be no fast stream people dealing with consular work.Diplomats are not particularly well paid - basically civil service salaries and do not have extravagant life styles.

The one area where "extravagance" is on display is not in Thailand at all but in Washington,Paris, Tokyo, Beijing etc where entertaining by the Head of Mission is on a lavish scale.There are sound arguments this is in Britain's interests.

My impression over many years is that the UK is well served by its Foreign Service officers.

Of course what probably lies behind the ludicrous accusations is the injured pride of some long term tourists (I have avoided the more unkind description) who didn't receive the red carpet treatment at the Consular Department.I am sure there are from time to time legitimate criticisms of the Embassy but these cartoon like generalisations show a shocking level of ignorance.The class hatred is surprising given from the accents at least the majority of Embassy staff are much more Slough than Eton.

[evadgib]

Ferrero Rocher are partially to blame in bringing the digital trapdoor spiders out whenever keywords trigger their appearance.

 

A fuller explanation was posted on the 'Brigades' thread some years ago. I can't be bothered to dig it out.

Edited October 9, 2016 by evadgib

[sahibji]

On 08/10/2016 at 9:53 AM, whatproblem said:

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

what  the tourists should do is to register themselves with the British Embassy upon arrival so that the embassy has data base to work on in case of issues. of course it may not be practical for short terms visitors. 

[evadgib]

<deleted/pissing in the wind!>

Edited October 9, 2016 by evadgib