Farang on Suk Soi 19 on his last legs

[Guest]

>>>I believe the devil will be in the details. The only way I can see such an organsition coming into being is if a new or existing NGO expanded its activities and asked for funding from different embassies. Thus, providing a clear separation from the embassy although still a close link, ie like the British Prisoner's Abroad.<<<

 

 

that is exactly the point. but i think details could be worked out. maybe making a proposal to a reliable and experienced NGO via government social workers?

 

 

 

>>>There would also be a question of, does the organisation only accept nationals from embassies who provide funding? If not, how would they balance the large number of 3rd world nationals (whose embassies are unlikely to provide much funding) in comparision to nationals from developed countries?<<<

 

 

 

that i guess would have to be analysed. burmese refugees for example do have many NGO's already. with african and middle eastern refugees it's more difficult, but i think they are sort of covered by the UN high commissaire for refugees, have lotsa shelters.

the bigger problem would be for nationals from western, or semi western countries which are too poor, or too ignorant, to take part of such a venture.

but i guess that should be then the usual case where the rich countries have to carry them through. we are not really talking about an operation of the size of afghanisthan or cambodia.

 

apart from the obvious benefit of such an organisation - helping people in trouble - another benefit would be to ease the work load of embassies, and embassies would know where to send those sort of problem cases they have serious difficulties to deal with.

instead of one or two overworked local hire staff suddenly a whole organisation could deal far more efficiently with the situation.

and i reckon, such a venture would be welcomed by the thai authorities as well, who are also not really that happy to deal with those down and out westerners.

 

for comparably little amounts of moneys i think there could be a lot achieved in terms of actual help, and in terms of brownie points with the thai authorities.

[jitagawn]

On a slighltly smilar topic... Today on Chareon Krung I saw a Farang guy, sitting

on the curb, in front of Robinsons creating er "sculptural doodads" out of coke cans for sale.He had a small display of

his creations set up rather nicely as he worked ona new one.. At least he is "working".. :: ::.

[Khun_Kong]

flyonzewall said:

 

... i do measure a society by its capacity for compassion (which somehow complies with the morals set by our religions and philosophies), and not just by its productivity.

 

So, how does Thailand measure up under this criteria?

[Guest]

>>>So, how does Thailand measure up under this criteria?<<<

 

 

rather low, unfortunately.

 

but there is always space for improvement.

[gummigut]

In contrast, I do think compassion is higher than average.

 

Donations is a large part of merit making. My problem is that corruption seems rife. I haven't gone to an orphanage in about 8-months (about time I do something like that again). The one I did go to received tons of gifts of food and toys. Under royal patronage. Being farangs, we went behind the front building to work with the kids that don't get shown. None of the new toys worked it's way back there. Where is all the extra stuff going? Not to mention the obnoxious staff who probably don't want many people adding things up. Hopefully I'm too cynical and they re-distributed the gifts to needier places.

 

I never see empty donation boxes here. Yes, they may have only a pittance, but there's always something in them and they are all over the place. In New York I don't see half as many and sometimes they are just plain empty.

 

Beggars do a nice trade here. Not just in the farang ghetto. It's thais more often than not I see giving to beggars than farangs.

 

In my opinion, Thais are a lot more prone to generosity than New Yorkers or Chinese.

 

<<burp>>

[Guest]

i would agree that the average thai is individually more compassionate than the average westerner.

 

but as you hinted at - corruption, and dictatorial politics (drg war, tak bai, etc.) do nullify a lot of that individual acts of compassion.

 

that was why i judged society as a whole rather bad here.

[Nervous_Dog]

Sad to see the Victory Monumen close, and kids go to pakkred,

 

While the staff are wonderful, if asked, they will say "She/he deserves o be here because of what they did in last life.

 

Merit making is for the individul giving, not for the recipient mostly.

 

DOG - that said, I find them very generous people.

 

DOG

[FIGJAM]

SingaporeSteve said:Despite having a very large population in Thailand the British Embassy certainly has no consul offices outside of BKK (perhaps with exception of CM) and certainly not in Pattaya, Phuket or Samui where most brits live outside of BKK. [...] So really it has nothing to do with a countries wealth etc, but its more of a policy decision,

The British Embassy does have a Consular Office in Chiang Mai.

The fact that there are no other Consulates despite a possibly higher presence of Brits somewhere else in Thailand is, of course, a political decision since the country's wealth does nothing but limit the options left to the politicians.

 

which is ironic as the British government takes such a different view of visiting nationals in its own country

Absolutely agree...

[FIGJAM]

suadum said:Then you are extremely fortunate to have such a service and I highly suspect that yours is unique. I know that the US and UK embassies DO NOT offer that.

From the official British Embassy's website (under the section "Consular Services -- What a British Consulate can do for you")

 

- Issue emergency passports.

- Contact relatives and friends and ask them to help you with money or tickets.

- Tell you how to transfer money.

- In an emergency, cash you a sterling cheque worth up to £100 if supported by a valid banker's card.

- As a last resort, in exceptional circumstances, and as long as you meet certain strict rules, give you a loan to get you back to the UK, but only if there is no-one else who can help you.

- Help you get in touch with local lawyers, interpreters and doctors.

- Arrange for next of kin to be told of an accident or a death and advise on procedures.

- Visit you if you have been arrested or put in prison, and arrange for messages to be sent to relatives and friends.

- Put you in touch with organisations who help trace missing persons.

- Speak to the local authorities on your behalf.

 

 

From the official U.S. Embassy's website (extract from the section "Emergency Financial Assistance")

 

Q. IF FAMILY OR FRIENDS ARE UNABLE TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, ARE THERE OTHER SERVICES AVAILABLE?

 

A. U.S. citizens destitute abroad in need of help should contact the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate or the U.S. Department of State, Overseas Citizens Services , Office of American Citizen Services and Crisis Management, (202) 647-5225, for information about other assistance available to eligible persons.

 

 

The program is... No money, can't go home? Too bad pal! Here is a 5 minute phone card to call mummy. She doesn't want to help you? Sorry, don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out!

 

In fact, during the tsunami diaster, it was Thailand who offered free lodging and free air tix to those stranded here. Not the person's respective embassy. We can debate the correctness of that in another thread as it is off topic a bit here.

 

It sounds like a cold system, but it is necessary as there are waaayyy too many deadbeats out there. And face it -- we are all adults. We do not need "big brother" to get us out of trouble. If you do, then maybe you need to starve for a bit so you understand the error of not planning for an emergency. JMHO, YMMV.

 

I point this out to help others who may think that there is some kind of a safety net when travelling internationally. There is not. You are on your own. Plan accordingly.

The fact that usually embassies seem, let's say, "reluctant" to provide the services they must provide by law (and for which you are paying) is a complete different matter and is due to them being, generally speaking, full of scumbags (too long to explain why, here).

The rest is BS.

 

Examples of embassies doing their job, when "well" pressured, have already been given in this thread.

Usually complete destituites, like the one we are talking about, have no power/means to vindicate their rights (which they usually don't even know, as others here...) and those waste of space at the embassies just take advantage of that.

I might add to those examples a couple of my own, the Italian Embassy in BKK isn't any better than the UK and US ones.

 

So what I point out to help others who may find themselves in unfortunate positions while traveling abroad is to inform themselves of their rights and the ways to make them enforced by the people called by the law (and paid by you) to help you.

Not planning for emergencies is of course still an error but the further help you may get from your embassy (and for which you are paying anyway) should be known and taken advantage of at least as a last resort. Like the chap we are talking about here.

 

 

P.S. Western govts do go out of their way to help people who "not plan for emergencies", both citizens and foreigners (even people who are there illegally), both in the West and outside BUT not their own citizens abroad and this really is an interesting subject...

[Guest]

Then there are people who are citizens of one country trying to become citizens of another country who try to get help.

 

I know of one lady who married a falang. She came close to becoming a US citizen when her husband decided to leave her. She is caught in Thailand without any money and would like to end her marriage with her husband in US. From what she says, no help available.

 

Another problem is people who speak out against the US may end up on one of there shit list. Right now, the US has at least 3 shit list that are used to intimidate people. The worst list is the no-fly list. If a person gets on this list, they can not return to the US. And being they are on the no-fly list, I would assume going to the US embassy would be a waste of time and if they should go there any ways, they might get arrested!