Central Group buys British Embassy land for 20 billion baht

[hobobo]

10 hours ago, The Dancer said:

This Brexit deal is hitting the UK hard. BBC has it that the Govt., with royal encouragement, is looking at renting out rooms in Buckingham Palace, particularly the bigger ones off the Marble Hall. There is enormous interest from Russian oligarchs and Chinese billionaires in throwing birthday bashes and wedding receptions in the home of royalty.

 

Apparently, too, William and Kate might be available to attend these occasions at an enormous (undisclosed) hourly fee. And the Queen herself might pop in for guest selfies at over 1000 pounds each.

Luckily in the UK you don't get imprisoned for comments like this. Wish all countries would be the same...

[RandG]

2 hours ago, muzmurray said:

 

You do realise that the embassy's main function is not to help out people who should be helping themselves ? They will and do help those in need, but there are a million other things that the staff there do that are more to do with the embassy's actual main raison d'etre.

The embassy is not there to help British citizens at all; that is what a consulate is for. They happen to be co-located.The embassy is there to act as the British government's representative to Thailand; political, trade, military, law enforcement etc., etc.

 

Reading some of the info the FCO put out each year on calls made to British consulates, it is amazing what some people expect of consulates. For many travellers, common sense seems to be in short supply.

[Dogmatix]

Disgusted. 

[alanrchase]

Been to the embassy three times. Needed documents certified. Awful experience. Armitage Shanks toilets.

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[mike324]

11 hours ago, Shaksey said:

Walk up the small Soi next to the staff entrance to the embassy and you'll get to the Nai Lert family mansions and park. It used to include the land the embassy is on that they sold to the British but even without that land it's still a good size and full of trees, greenery etc. It was actually the first public park in Bangkok, pre-dating Lumpini. It's 500thb for a tour and well worth it.

The Nailert family sold majority of their land last year to the Dusit group, it will become some medical center in the future.

[eddysmit]

4 hours ago, colinneil said:

Why all the fuss about the UK selling the land?

Why did they need all that land anyway.

It is called the British embassy, but what use are they anyway, do nothing help nobody.

Just opulent living for an ambassador who does sweet f a.

 

True, it has been a waste of space for years now, no help, with little information, pity really, we should have got the same conditions as places like the Philippines and not have our pensions frozen plus cut down the charges sold off half the land and it would probably have been more viable, lovely place and a good spot.

[Baerboxer]

13 hours ago, daveAustin said:

I don't blame the Brit gov for selling up and making a steal - that's about 460M quid!... enough to pay for the Lords for another few years.  I mean, how many rai does one need for one person to man a phone (from India probably) and say 'sorry, we don't offer that service, cannot help' etc etc?

 

Schhhhhs - don't tell anyone but the British Embassy will soon be outsourced to 7-11's for any services to expats 

 

The Ambassador and secretaries will only be organizing posh do's and piss ups for the elite chosen few. All others are not welcome.

[Baerboxer]

40 minutes ago, RandG said:

The embassy is not there to help British citizens at all; that is what a consulate is for. They happen to be co-located.The embassy is there to act as the British government's representative to Thailand; political, trade, military, law enforcement etc., etc.

 

Reading some of the info the FCO put out each year on calls made to British consulates, it is amazing what some people expect of consulates. For many travellers, common sense seems to be in short supply.

 

The Consulates are part of the Home Office whereas the Embassies are Foreign and Colonial Office. However, the protocol was that Consulates and their officers were subject to local Embassy/High Commission supervision in country.

 

Now a lot of consulates and consul services have been outsourced and no longer co-located. 

 

Expats have different requirements than tourists and business travelers. Most on this site would possible be expats which explains the comments regarding the piss poor service often previously received. 

 

The Embassy, Ambassador and his staff represent Britain and look after British interests, promoting all things British, trade, educational links, cultural links etc. However many people feel that only extends to certain individuals, and like many things these days is wealth, position and connection based. That is not necessarily the case with other Western Embassies.

[samsensam]

3 hours ago, bartender100 said:

But we still have all our gold don't we? lol

 

not as much as we used to after gordon brown sold a heap of it at a bargain basement price

[blackcab]

45 minutes ago, RandG said:

The embassy is not there to help British citizens at all; that is what a consulate is for. They happen to be co-located.

 

You are confusing the words consulate and consular. You will find consular services in an Embassy, managed by the Consul.

 

You will never find a Consulate in an Embassy. 

[geriatrickid]

3 hours ago, muzmurray said:

 

You do realise that the embassy's main function is not to help out people who should be helping themselves ? They will and do help those in need, but there are a million other things that the staff there do that are more to do with the embassy's actual main raison d'etre.

Shh. Ignorant moochers can't handle the truth.

[Dogmatix]

58 minutes ago, RandG said:

The embassy is not there to help British citizens at all; that is what a consulate is for. They happen to be co-located.The embassy is there to act as the British government's representative to Thailand; political, trade, military, law enforcement etc., etc.

 

Reading some of the info the FCO put out each year on calls made to British consulates, it is amazing what some people expect of consulates. For many travellers, common sense seems to be in short supply.

You are right on the separation of embassy and consular functions but what people are complaining about here is the lack of adequate citizen services provided by the consular section which is an indivisible part of any embassy and this applies to British embassies all around the world, not just in Thailand.

 

If we compare with other farang countries' citizen services, say the US for example, we will see some glaring differences in attitude and subsequent quality of service provided to citizens abroad. One huge difference is that the US believes that the staffers of vice-consular rank, the backbone of all consular services, must be all US citizens and international foreign service staff properly trained by the State Dept in Washington. The British Consulate in Bangkok has only the consul who is a bona fide diplomat and maybe one or two assistants. All the rest are low  cost, untrained local hires, either Thais or Brits who came to Thailand as low paid English teachers. The Thais man the desks at the consulate and the former English teachers deal with the undertaker functions for Brits who are murdered or die of natural causes and do occasional prison visits. I can't recall how many times I have tried to get something a bit out of the ordinary done at the British Consulate and found myself confronted with a Thai staffer who was woefully ignorant of British laws and regulations and just handed out her own stupid opinion as gospel,  just like Thai government officials do. These issues were only resolved by appealing to one of the real diplomats later which wasted a lot of my time.

 

US consular staff I have talked to have been absolutely appalled at the stories of inadequate citizen services provided by the British Consulate in Bangkok. One example was the young English teacher who was taken ill with heart disease and found that his Thai employer had simply stolen his social security deductions when he attempted to get treatment under the social security system healthcare system that he had believed he could rely on. The British Consulate steadfastly refused to be of any assistance and uncaringly left the young man to suffer and die. If he had been American, my US consular friends assure me, he would probably still be alive today. There are many other examples but that should suffice. To finish off it is worth pointing out that the horrible service provided to citizens abroad is matched by the indifference and callousness shown by the Foreign Office in London to the families of Brits murdered abroad which has been so bad that MPs have had to complain about it in Parliament.

Edited February 23, 2017 by Dogmatix

[samsensam]

14 hours ago, AGareth2 said:

oh how have the mighty fallen

 

yea, but not too far:

 

'The United Kingdom, with a $2.65 trillion GDP, is currently the world's fifth largest economy. Its GDP in terms of PPP per capita is $42,513.' 

 

[muzmurray]

16 minutes ago, Dogmatix said:

One example was the young English teacher who was taken ill with heart disease and found that his Thai employer had simply stolen his social security deductions when he attempted to get treatment under the social security system healthcare system that he had believed he could rely on.

 

Maybe if the poor gent who passed away had asked earlier where his hospital card was, he would have found out in time that his contributions were not being paid.

 

Also, he could have still received treatment, albeit at a cost. No-one is denied treatment in an emergency.

 

Just to extrapolate on this story - are you saying that the British government should have paid for his treatment ? Are you suggesting that the Embassy is there to babysit the grown ups who don't bother with health or travel insurance ?

[Andrew65]

20 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 

yea, but not too far:

 

'The United Kingdom, with a $2.65 trillion GDP, is currently the world's fifth largest economy. Its GDP in terms of PPP per capita is $42,513.' 

 

Are those up to date $ GDP figures? The £ has fallen somewhat since last June.

 

Then again, the Euro has too....

[Andrew65]

1 hour ago, RandG said:

The embassy is not there to help British citizens at all; that is what a consulate is for. They happen to be co-located.The embassy is there to act as the British government's representative to Thailand; political, trade, military, law enforcement etc., etc.

 

Reading some of the info the FCO put out each year on calls made to British consulates, it is amazing what some people expect of consulates. For many travellers, common sense seems to be in short supply.

Yes, it's the Consular Section within the embassy that people need to use, generally.

[Baerboxer]

4 hours ago, bartender100 said:

But we still have all our gold don't we? lol

 

No - good old Gordon Brown flogged it off cheaply before Blair did a runner and left him in the cack.

 

Financial genius.

[Andrew65]

4 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

No - good old Gordon Brown flogged it off cheaply before Blair did a runner and left him in the cack.

 

Financial genius.

Never been a big fan of GB, but he kept Britain out of the Euro when his boss would have had us in it in a heartbeat.

 

That would have left us with a bill in the tens of billions for bailing out the PIGS countries.

[samsensam]

1 minute ago, Andrew65 said:

Never been a big fan of GB, but he kept Britain out of the Euro when his boss would have had us in it in a heartbeat.

 

That would have left us with a bill in the tens of billions for bailing out the PIGS countries.

 

britain was never even near joining the euro, it would have been political suicide for the government.

[Andrew65]

2 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 

britain was never even near joining the euro, it would have been political suicide for the government.

Well, I remember TB talking it up, and GB making sure it didn't happen.

 

 

[alanrchase]

Never been a big fan of GB, but he kept Britain out of the Euro when his boss would have had us in it in a heartbeat.
 
That would have left us with a bill in the tens of billions for bailing out the PIGS countries.

Bit slow today. Blair had nothing to do with the Euro?

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[Andrew65]

5 minutes ago, alanrchase said:

 

Bit slow today. Blair had nothing to do with the Euro?

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Memory's still pretty good though.......

 

"It remains the government's policy to join the euro provided that the five economic tests we have laid down are met and the British people give their consent in a referendum."

 

Tony Blair, December 2001

Edited February 23, 2017 by Andrew65

[alanrchase]

Memory's still pretty good though.......
 
"It remains the government's policy to join the euro provided that the five economic tests we have laid down are met and the British people give their consent in a referendum."
 
Tony Blair, December 2001

Christ, I am too old. Thanks for putting me straight.

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[elgordo38]

15 hours ago, daveAustin said:

I don't blame the Brit gov for selling up and making a steal - that's about 460M quid!... enough to pay for the Lords for another few years.  I mean, how many rai does one need for one person to man a phone (from India probably) and say 'sorry, we don't offer that service, cannot help' etc etc?

Very humorous and more than likely true. The last sentence was so true and priceless. Its a low ebb on value for tax dollars paid nothing new. I think the tide is going out for so many things.

[gdgbb]

5 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

Oh the shame ! The Ploenchit Fair used to be the best event in Bangers. Rather expensive though, taxin,s wife could have bought it for much less money :)

There's someone who thinks that the Thai government owns that land!  Or someone who doesn't understand what Thaksin and his ex-wife were doing.

[alanrchase]

We are having to pay for all the X Thai bar girls council houses & monthly allowances somehow folks 
hopefully the embassy will become like the Thai visa extension offices make you wait in a 30 something line in 32 degrees make no effort to assist 
that way the thai brides may too walk away and think sod this ! 

Bitter and twisted somewhat?

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[Itsnottheplaceitwas]

9 minutes ago, alanrchase said:

 

Bitter and twisted somewhat?

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The truth always hurts ?

[alanrchase]

The truth always hurts [emoji106]

You can't handle the truth. I stand on that wall.....................

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[Shaksey]

6 hours ago, mike324 said:

The Nailert family sold majority of their land last year to the Dusit group, it will become some medical center in the future.

 

They sold the Swisshotel Nai Lert Park, they have kept their family compound, mansions, park etc and opened it as a heritage park.

[Shaksey]

6 hours ago, samsensam said:

 

not as much as we used to after gordon brown sold a heap of it at a bargain basement price

The reason for that and why he announced he was going to do it before hand (obviously making the price go down, why do that...) is that a few of the big banks had got themselves into potentially disastrous positions around the gold price and with the positons nearing their end the banks would be in serious do-do with the price as it was. Brown stepped in selling the UK gold, announcing it first etc to force the price of the commodity down which meant the banks escaped near collapse. This was all kept hush hush but since then a few sources have leaked this info.