Help paying for a hooker, a sports bar search party and a prisoner who didn’t like #Thai food: The most bizarre requests #Australians make at embassies are revealed
A man in Thailand was unable to pay for his prostitute so he decided to ask the Australian embassy for assistance – a request they politely denied.
While embassies are designed to assist travellers and those living overseas, one consular official has revealed the bizarre requests the Australian Embassy in Thailand has received.
First Secretary and Consul Anita Downey said most travellers do not understand what the embassy does, The Advertiser reported.
Ms Downey relayed some of the standout requests, including the time a prisoner asked for Australian food because they didn’t like Thai cuisine.
‘Recent questions include the email from a woman asking ‘can you check where Marjorie is’ — that was it, Marjorie. The woman was worried because she had not heard from her,’ she said.
A man who had lived in Thailand for six years asked the embassy to call a taxi for him and another person requested the embassy call and complain about their ‘noisy’ hotel.
‘There was the gentleman who had ordered glasses online and they had not arrived so could we pop out to the glasses shop and see how that was going for him,’ Ms Downey said.
One family was worried about their ‘missing’ dad so they suggested officials look at pubs and bars that show the AFL, as they didn’t have a contact for him.
Ms Downey’s favourite request was a gentleman who visited the embassy with a lady friend he had spent the previous night with.
The man had run out of money and asked if they would be willing to pay for the service on his behalf.
‘I’m sure as Australian taxpayers you will be pleased to learn the answer was ‘no’. He had to make his own arrangements,’ Ms Downey said.
Ms Downey said the embassy spends most of their time trying to assist families, typically in relation to hospital care.
She said a lot clients don’t have money or travel insurance and the main clientele is aged between 65 and 75.
The Australian Embassy in Thailand dealt with 200 hospitalisations, 74 missing persons cases, 100 arrests, 201 deaths and 16 Australians in Thai jails in 2017.
Ms Downey stressed the importance of travel insurance and recommended the Federal Government’s website, smartraveller.gov.au.
