How a tuk tuk and a homemade sex tape landed an Aussie tourist in hot water

THE sex tapes and steroid use were fine. But what was it that landed this Aussie traveller in trouble during a ‘body improvement’ trip to Phuket?

HE RECORDED his steroid usage and encounters with local women on his GoPro, but that’s not what landed Gold Coast bodybuilder Nathan in trouble on a holiday in Thailand.

Lying to the Thai police about his video evidence as he pleaded he was not at fault when knocked off a motorbike in a brush with a tuk tuk really got him in hot water.

Throw in his lack of travel insurance, and Nathan winds up pretty much a classic example of what can go wrong when travelling in Thailand, say Australian embassy staffer Trudy McGowan.

“He really hadn’t done anything wrong until he lied to the police. That was the big issue,” says McGowan, who is by Nathan’s side as his holiday turns to hell in the first episode of the returning observational television series The Embassy this week.

Nathan’s idea of a dream holiday is heading to Phuket on a body improvement holiday, where he can take growth hormones and steroids illegal in Australia, but legal in Thailand, and spend time with the local women.

He records the trip on his GoPro, which also happens to be recording when he’s in a motorcycle accident which leaves him badly injured and in a Thai hospital.

McGowan becomes involved when his mother contacts the embassy concerned for the welfare of her 28-year-old son.

“We found out about his case when his mother contacted us because she couldn’t find out about his condition in hospital,” says McGowan.

“More often the embassy is phoned by a funeral director or a hospital in relation to a motorcycle accident than we are by the actual person.”

Nathan is lucky to be alive, but that’s where his luck has runs out.

He’s seriously hurt, uninsured, the bike hirers want $5000 in compensation for the damaged Harley, and he tells McGowan police have his passport.

McGowan arranges a meeting of all parties at the hospital, and gives Nathan a dose of reality.

While he’s adamant his video footage shows he was not at fault in the accident, he’s now telling police the camera is broken.

When McGowan warns him they know he’s lying, and his swearing and lack of respect to the locals is on the verge of landing him in jail — he comes clean — the camera isn’t broken — but he fears they will watch not just the accident footage, but the sexual content.

“What he doesn’t get, and what many tourists don’t get, is that the police couldn’t care less. They aren’t interested in his home movies — it’s the lying that is more serious,” McGowan says.

For McGowan (who was until recently the First Secretary and Consul at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok, and is now back the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia after her posting ended), watching a tourist’s homemade movies, sorting through the all-too-familiar tale of a stolen passport, or keeping a straight face while Aussie travellers complain that Thai speak bad English and complain about falling victim to a jetski scam are all part of a day’s work at the embassy.

“Lost passports, scams, surrogacy issues, weddings — you think there’s not much that can surprise you, but then once a month something new happens and as you relay the story you’re thinking ‘I can’t believe these words are coming out of my mouth’,” she says.

The Embassy series has meant DFAT can make people more aware of what embassies can and can’t do for Aussies in difficulty overseas.

“The big message is ‘we can help you, but we can only help you to help yourself. We’ll advise, but we’re not going to pay the fine, you have a personal responsibility too,” McGowan says.

The sometimes hilariously straight-shooting McGowan’s other tips about what every embassy worker wishes Australian traveller would remember includes:

TRAVEL INSURANCE IS A NO-BRAINER: “If you don’t have a $100,000 credit card to back you up wherever you go in the world, get travel; insurance. Even if you do, get travel insurance. The amount you pay if you don’t have it and something goes wrong is just ridiculous. I’ve seen people financially ruined.”

AUSTRALIAN LAW DOESN’T APPLY WHERE YOU’RE GOING: “The Australian government is not in charge of the world. We (the embassy) can’t make Thailand do things. They are actually in charge of themselves.”

DON’T UNDER-RATE THE LOCALS: “Don’t make assumptions. Nathan made assumptions police would judge him because of the sexual encounters on his GoPro, when in fact the Thai police know exactly what they’re dealing with. Some Australians make the mistake of thinking foreigners are not as smart as us. They know exactly what’s going on.”

Nathan in a Thai hospital after being involved in an accident. Picture: Channel Nine

Straight-shooter: The Embassy’s Trudy McGowan, who until recently was the Australian Embassy in Bangkok’s First Secretary and Consul, has a wealth of travel tales and tips. Picture: Supplied

The Embassy is on Channel 9 at 8.30pm on Wednesday.