Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing effectively Travel Tips for those who may find themselves in trouble here in Thailand; specifically we are talking about the issue of Embassy assistance. This is actually one of those things that I think that there are a lot of misnomers out there in the sort of popular zeitgeist, what I would call the “conventional wisdom”.

It's like years ago, long before I ever started this channel, but around the time I started this channel, there was especially here in Thailand there was this like common misconception especially as it pertained to US Visas, that "oh you just make an appointment with the Embassy and walk on down to the Embassy and present documentation and an Officer is going to look at that stuff and for example if I try to bring my wife to the US, I can be at that interview and I can talk to the Officer that is adjudicating. They take their time and look it over and sort of really think over whether they are going to approve this thing." Nothing could be further from the truth in that context. There was a movie I remember watching - I can't remember the title of the movie but it had Robert Forrester playing a Consular Officer - and the way that they portrayed how visa adjudication worked was just completely out of kilter with the reality; it's just not the way that that happens. One, it takes months to even get an interview, especially for family-based visas and then, not the interview itself, just the process to get up to interview, and then at the end of the day it's kind of like a conveyor belt. It is not a particularly long endeavour unless there is a fraud prevention unit angle. Meanwhile, the tourist visa process is not really at all how it is portrayed on TV sort of thing. 

This is similar with the idea of Embassy assistance, like Consular assistance. There are a lot of movies about this. I think Richard Gere was in a film, it's quite good, called Red Corner where in that set of circumstances there was all kind of political implications so in the movie it wasn't completely I think out of whack with the reality, but still it kind of was insofar as this guy gets arrested - in the movie it was China - and it was as if the Consular Officer from the Embassy was like his personal Attorney; that was almost how it operated. In reality I've been actually present when the Consulate has been doing what are called jail visits, basically prison visits to ascertain whether or not somebody who is incarcerated in Thailand is being mistreated, and that's all they are there to do is just kind of check in. Is this guy fed basically; is he being beaten or something? As long as there are sort of minimum standards maintained for that person's well-being, all is right with the world sort of thing, and they move on. It's not the level of detail that a lot of folks think it is when you are talking about Consular assistance for somebody who is being incarcerated, here in Thailand or anywhere else, okay. They are not your lawyer and they are not like a minder for Americans in that country. Again they will show up, they will ascertain and make sure that the person is not being abused, but sort of short of that, as long as basic human rights are sort of maintained, the laws of the jurisdiction in this case Thailand, are going to apply. If they are incarcerated pursuant to those laws, it is not really the Embassy's business to intervene in that. 

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Latest British video glimpses Bangkok nightlife behind the curtain. I believe this one's by Barry Kenyon, tip of the hat to him, as usual a good article. I go into some in-depth stuff about, and in fact I am going to do some in-depth stuff in my upcoming long-form video on our paid news service. If you're interested in that, [email protected] is the email address where you can subscribe to get on the email list for that. We are actually working on setting up its own platform, but I am going to do a video on things like Embassy visits, what can the Embassy really do for you, sort of more in-depth, some of my stories, what I have seen. To be clear, I don't work for the Embassy. I have never worked for the Embassy, but I have done Consular processing in a US Immigration context for a number of years. I have assisted in cases that involved criminal proceedings against Americans here in Thailand where I am assisting their Thai Counsel, oftentimes in a kind of translator sort of capacity or where it interacts with American law; I have dealt with that in the past on some cases as well. So I have seen the Embassy's function over the years; I can provide some insight into that. That said, again it would be on our paid new service, again [email protected]. While I am talking my book, it is worth pointing out, my better half and I did set up a restaurant here in downtown Bangkok, Pancake Palace. We've got American Diner style food as well as breakfast anytime; links are in the description below. We'd love to see you there. 

That said, I want to get back into this. I have seen this myself, but again I want to be clear. This is like a misnomer out in the popular zeitgeist about "oh if you're arrested in a foreign country, the Embassy is going to swoop in and help you out." That is not exactly how it works. Quoting directly: "There is useful footage about the British Embassy in Bangkok and what they can and can't do for distressed nationals." And that's in this article, again Barry Kenyon, Latest British video glimpses of Bangkok night life behind the curtain, pattayamail.com. "There has been an increase in the number of Brits arrested since the delisting of Cannabis as a narcotic because taking the stuff out of the country still requires an export license. It's also mentioned that the death penalty still exists for trafficking, although it's also true that no foreigner has been executed in Thailand since the 1970s. And he was Japanese." Quoting further: "Zara" - and they are talking about this woman who did some, I don't know, documentary, some Netflix or something; I think it's for the BBC. I did a video on this because I have a problem with the kind of presumption of the foreigners just walking around filming everybody around here treating Thailand as if it's effectively a human zoo or something. I really don't like that. That said, quoting further: "Zara accompanies a Consular Officer to the Immigration Detention Center though she isn't allowed inside with cameras. The Officer repeats several times that one cashless Brit was arrested and deported with just a two-minutes Visa overstay. How typical is that?" Well it's actually relatively typical depending on the circumstances. If you are after midnight and they catch you, I've actually seen that, a guy on overstay. He was drinking, he got into a fight, he was on overstay by a day because he was planning to leave; a lot of people do drink basically right up the moment they get on to their flight back home. I've seen that not a few times. He got into a fight, he got detained by a Police Officer and they found out oh he's on overstay and boom, he was he was immediately detained and then processed. He missed his flight, had to buy a new ticket and then when they processed him out, he had a five-year overstay. As we have discussed in other videos, if you are apprehended in Thailand, on any type of overstay, you are immediately blacklisted for five years. Excuse me, any type of overstay if in Thailand you are apprehended. So if you leave voluntarily, and they get you at the airport, that's a fine although as we have discussed in other videos, down in Phuket, they were actually finding people at the airport who had yet to touch base at the immigration checkpoint and they were basically arresting them and saying "hey we caught you in country, you weren't at immigration yet." Boom you are on a five-year overstay." So immigration does take this seriously. I expect that's why that Thai Immigration Officer was pointing out the fact that two minutes got the person an overstay finding. I wouldn't say it's typical by the way but it's not outside the realm of possibility. I've seen that stuff before. That said, quoting further: "The footage showing the unloading of prisoners from a huge cage on the back of the truck is a timely warning of the consequences of arrest. The embassy has no magic wand." 

So that's the point of this video. Travel Tip. If you are a foreigner and you think you can just do whatever you want out here in Thailand and somehow the Embassy is going to come in and like some kind of fairy godmother from Cinderella, just wave away whatever problem it is you've got, that's a bad attitude to have. One, to begin with, it's just not a good attitude to have as a guest in someone else's country but also, it is not the reality of the situation; that's not the Embassy's function. And although this comes from the standpoint of the British Embassy here in Thailand, I can tell you it's pretty similar to the American paradigm with regard to these matters. If you are going to come over to Thailand and get yourself into a big bunch of trouble, so long as you are not being abused in prison, as long as you are being housed and fed to the basic levels of humane treatment, they are not going to make a big deal out of it. They are going to check on you; they are going to basically say do you want us to contact anybody, let you know you are in here. They usually give you a list of attorneys. Oftentimes we will get contacted because we are on the list for the American Embassy and we will go from there. But long story short, again it is no magic wand. So don't come over to Thailand thinking that you can raise hell and then you get arrested and then your Embassy is going to come in and save the day. That is not the way it works at this time, here in the Kingdom of Thailand.