British Ambassador Mark Gooding spent the day with Honorary British Consul Ben Svasti in meetings with the governor, the chief of police as well as a few resident Brits.
Members of the British community were asked to register to join the meeting at the Chiangmai Gymkhana Club where a dozen or so turned up.
Aydan Stuart, ex deputy editor of Citylife, reported that the British Ambassador answered questions from the mostly-elderly members who turned up, with the majority of questions involving pensions, while young Aydan’s question was about the revaluation of the student loan threshold for young Brits living abroad. He was also asked to help make certain types of pension tax free by negotiating with the Thai government. There were questions as to how the community could better contact the embassy authorities, and seek help when needed as MPs in various constituencies at home were not responsive to expatriate questions and concerns.
The ambassador then had a chat and some tea with members of the community, but his general response was that his powers only lay in feeding back questions and concerns to the government and follow up due to him having no specific authority to take action.
Honorary Consul Ben Svasti also officially announced that he would be retiring later this year and that he and the embassy were now actively seeking a replacement. Any serious suggestions are welcomed.
