British Behaviour Abroad Report
http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk 2011-08-05
The annual British Behaviour Abroad Report was published by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 4 August.The report shows that, proportionally, British Nationals resident in, or visiting, Thailand were more likely to be arrested and admitted to hospital than in other countries.
Over 50,000 British people are resident in Thailand or spend much of the year here. 847,000 British tourists visited Thailand last year (2010). And of the 347 deaths in the last year, 263 (over 75%) were residents, and after natural causes, the most frequent cause of death in Thailand was road traffic accidents. Other causes of death included drowning, falls from balconies and suicide.
Hospitalisation overseas can entail numerous problems. For example people admitted to government run hospitals in Thailand can often have difficulty communicating with staff. As a result the patient or concerned family members in the UK contact the Embassy for assistance. And in other cases patients have no insurance, or it has been invalidated, leaving them to pay sometime very large medical and hospital bills themselves. Insurance can be invalidated by not wearing a motorbike helmet or if a motorbike’s engine was over the specified size, also through substance abuse or self harm. And often insurance has simply expired. Some hospitalisations in mental health facilities are due to drug-use causing mental illness.
The British Ambassador Asif Ahmad said, “Generally Thailand is a safe place to visit, but there are some risks as the report shows. Taking some simple steps to prevent problems can help ensure your stay in Thailand is trouble free and enjoyable. I’d encourage those thinking about visiting Thailand to have adequate travel insurance; check our Travel Advice; ensure your passport is valid and know when your visa expires; and bring enough money to enjoy your stay and make sure you have access to emergency funds in case something goes wrong.
British Nationals resident in Thailand face a variety of other issues. My Consular team is working on a project to help us better understand the issues affecting retired British Nationals living in Thailand so we can help signpost them to help available locally.”
If British Nationals need advice about a difficult situation, they will find information about what they can do to help themselves, as well as what the British Embassy can do (and what we cannot do) on our website. If they can’t find the information they need there they should telephone the British Embassy on 02305 8333.
The head of the Consular Section at the British Embassy in Bangkok, Michael Hancock, said, ‘the British Behaviour Abroad Report highlights many of the issues my team deal with on a daily basis. For example, in one day in June, we:
Sadly dealt with 4 new deaths, and 9 other recent death cases. There were 4 hospitalisations, one mental illness case, three ongoing parental child abduction cases, 7 ongoing arrest / detention cases. The following evening there were three more Road Traffic Accident deaths.
Three prison officers from a London prison arrived to prepare to transfer a British prisoner to the UK under the UK/Thai Prisoner Transfer Agreement. A consular officer visited the Immigration Detention Centre to visit 6 British Nationals detained there. Our Honorary Consuls also conducted prison visits.
We issued 3 Emergency Travel Documents, 7 people visited the Embassy in need of advice on welfare, 59 people visited the consular counter for documentary services (e.g. certifying copies of passports), we received 157 emails from customers, 251 phone calls from customers, 2 emergency out of hours calls.
Foreign Office releases figures on Brits in trouble overseas
The number of Britons arrested overseas has fallen by over 10%, but despite this positive trend Foreign Office staff still handled 5,700 arrest cases last year.
Though down by 20% overall, Drug arrests continue to be a significant problem for some countries, particularly parts of South America and the Caribbean where a high proportion of total arrests are drug related.
Foreign Office Minister David Lidington said: “We work hard to warn British nationals about the consequences of breaking the law abroad so it is really encouraging to see the overall number of cases of arrests and drug arrests falling. But last year there were still 5700 arrests of British nationals overseas. Prison conditions in some parts of the world can be very poor, overcrowded and, in some cases, dangerous and sentences can be much tougher than in the UK. People are mistaken if they think the Foreign Office can get you out of jail. We can’t, but we will work hard to try and ensure your safety, and that you get a fair trial.”
Foreign Office research reveals that:43% of 18-24 year olds know someone who has taken illegal drugs whilst abroad. It also showed that two thirds of people in Britain don’t always find out about the laws of the country they are visiting before they go abroad – putting themselves at risk of unknowingly breaking the law.
nearly a third (32%) of people are not aware that they will always be prosecuted under local law if they break the law abroad - with 6% of people thinking they will be prosecuted under UK law, 22% thinking it depends on the country they are in and 4% admitted to not knowing at all.
Aside from arrests, the British Behaviour Abroad report published today shows that the number of Brits hospitalised abroad has increased to 3,752 cases, despite fewer people from the UK travelling abroad last year. Medical treatment abroad can be very expensive and to avoid being faced with large bills if taken ill or after having an accident, the Foreign Office is urging people to take out a comprehensive travel insurance policy before they go away this summer. Previous research suggests that 15% of Britons travel abroad uninsured.
Other key findings:
Spain continues to be the country where most Britons require assistance (4,971 cases) but when you take visitor and resident numbers into account, you are most likely to need consular assistance in the Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan.
The number of rape cases in Greece almost halved since 2009-10 from 27 to 15, although the numbers of sexual assault cases rose significantly
The number of Brits hospitalised abroad has increased with Spain handling the most cases (1,024) followed by Greece. Proportionally Brits are most likely to be hospitalised in Thailand
In total Foreign Office staff handled 19,228 serious consular cases last year
View the full report (PDF File): http://www.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/consular-bba2011Source:http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/news/?view=News&id=639222082http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/news/?view=PressR&id=640040982
Search Option
Recent Posts
Todays Birthdays
