The Embassy series on Channel Nine reveals Australians in strife in Thailand

FACTUAL TV series Embassy lifts the lid on the lives of Australians in Thailand and the embassy staff who must deal with their dramas.

Drama of all kinds comes across her desk ... Trudy McGowan, the Australian Embassy in Bangkok’s First Secretary and Consul.

FROM the hapless Aussie bloke who has lost his money, passport and several hours to alcohol and a ladyboy, to the heartbreaking trip home for an Australian family with the body of the child who has died overseas, The Embassy lifts the lid on the lives of Aussies in Thailand.

And also on the embassy staff who solve those problems.

Set in one of Australia’s busiest embassies in Bangkok, and the playgrounds across Thailand holiday-makers flock to, the observational documentary series was more than five years in the planning, and is a first for Australia, the Australian and Thai governments and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The faces Australians in strife go to in Bangkok ... Australian Embassy in Bangkok’s First Secretary and Consul, Trudy McGowan, and her team.

It offers unprecedented access to the embassy, the diplomats that staff them, and what happens when cultures collide and accidents happen.

And with around one million Australians now travelling to Thailand annually, The Embassy producers Laurie Critchley and Craig Graham say it was worth every minute of the five years it took to get the show off the ground.

“I think there’s been a real interest in what happens in our embassies for a very long time,” says Critchley, taking brief respite from the 33 degree heat and oppressive humidity in a small bar in busy Bangkok.

“Australians are travelling more than ever before when we are at home we throw the passport in our drawer and forget about it.

“When you travel that passport is our identity as Australians and we wanted to investigate what does that mean and what does it entitle us to. And just as importantly what doesn’t it entitle us to?”

One woman who knows exactly that is The Embassy’s Trudy McGowan — the Australian Embassy in Bangkok’s First Secretary and Consul.

McGowan is forthright, confident, and has a ready laugh and an ability to call a spade a spade which might just make her gold TV talent.

She also has a highly developed bulls@#t antenna which makes her able to deal with anything a day at the embassy can throw at her and her staff.

She’s empathetic, and with the mastery of a true diplomat, conceals an iron fist.

They are skills which equip her and her colleagues to deal with scenarios that might see them one day sorting out a lost passport, to holding the hand of a dying elderly expat in hospital in the next.

Has to deal with any thing and everything ... Trudy McGowan, Australian Embassy in Bangkok’s First Secretary and Consul.

What she couldn’t believe, initially, was that anyone would be interested in a television show about life behind embassy doors.

“One of the things having the crew filming us has been the crew saying ‘why didn’t you tell us that”. What we tend to think is run of the mill and boring apparently is good TV,” McGowan says.

But Critchley says the hard thing about four months filming “was knowing when to stop’’.

“The Australian embassy in Bangkok is one of the biggest embassies Australia has, and one of the busiest,” she says. It’s also one of the most varied.

“You have the holiday-maker in Phuket who has just come for a week. You have people who have lived here for a long time, you have ex-patriots who are working, the innocent honeymooner, the seasoned traveller, or the Australians who have been coming for a lot of years and have families here.”

And, you can never predict which of those groups will end up at the embassy.

“Sometimes because we made a mistake, or we could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time or you are OS when something tragic happens to your family — they are all reasons we have an embassy,” says Critchley.

“As much as Thailand is the land of smiles, it’s also the land of surprises.”

McGowan’s embassy team is a mix of Thai nationals and Australians whose biggest skill is making the judgement call: “When does somebody need our help, when should somebody help themselves.”

“The top reasons Australians seek out the embassy are probably to get married because they’ve found the love of their life and they need us to sign off on a piece of paper so they can marry a Thai national; to get a new passport because it’s expired lost or damaged; to ask for help because they’ve run out of money, they have nowhere to go, they don’t have a ticket or they’re destitute of they’ve had an accident or someone has robbed them or if someone in their family has died — either here or over there,” McGowan says.

Shows what an embassy can and cannot do ... Trudy McGowan, Australian Embassy in Bangkok’s First Secretary and Consul.

No two cases are the same. Every lost passport has a story.

For McGowan, that can mean moments that are almost comical, and others which are hard to shake.

“We have to help everybody no matter what their story or no matter how true or untrue it is,” she says. “But it makes things a lot easier if we know the full story and what we’re dealing with. There’s a lot of stuff we do that people don’t see.

“We are always trying to be clear on what we as an embassy can and can’t do with people and for people.

“This show is a way of showing that, and it gives context into why I can’t come down to the airport and sort out why you can’t get a flight or why you didn’t get your business class upgrade because I’m busy supporting this family whose dad has just died.”

McGowan says among her most difficult tasks are jail welfare visits — about 17 Australians are currently in custody in Thailand. “You just detach yourself from what it is that they have done wrong.

“But it’s hard seeing really good people who did nothing wrong go through horrible, heart-wrenching events. You know anything from their child dying, or being caught up in a boat crash.”

McGowan confesses it can be hard to keep a straight face at some of the half-truths that emerge — especially with male travellers who may have fallen victim to being robbed after a big night out with female or lady boy company.

“Some days I wish a woman would walk through the door and ask for help having been ripped off on a big night, lost their wallet and passport,” she laughs.

“It helps to imagine every circumstance as if it was you. It might be a stupid thing they did, but in the end it’s about how you solve it, because we all do stupid things.”

THE SUPPORT STAFF

CALLUM STARR — THIRD SECRETARY AND CONSUL

Callum has worked at the embassy for almost three years and travels regularly all over Thailand dealing with Australians in trouble. He joined DFAT as a graduate several years ago after living and working overseas in the corporate work.

“You never specialise in one thing,” he says. “The role is ever changing. I do consular and corporate work. You learn there are no normal days. The best part of the job is genuinely helping people. There are people who do the wrong thing, get into trouble and learn their lesson and we never see them again. The repeat offenders who don’t learn from their mistakes, they’re the frustrating ones.”

His best advice to young Australian travellers?

“You may get away with doing silly things here, but there’s also a very good chance you can get busted. And getting busted for drugs here is just not worth it.”

KHUN JEAB — SENIOR CONSULAR ASSISTANT.

KHUN BEE — CONSULAR ASSISTANT

Both are Thai nationals who have worked at the Australian embassy in Bangkok for about four years. Jeab previously worked at the British Embassy, and enjoys the more laid-back approach of Australians. “British customers would say you have to treat me well because I’m British, Australian customers are slightly more easy to work with,” she laughs.

Bee was well-acquainted with Aussies on holiday thanks to 10 years working as a flight attendant for Qantas on the Sydney-Bangkok route before he began work at the embassy.

He “gets” Australians. “I’d seen their difficulties in a confined space. Once the plane lands, you’re done, that passenger is gone. But this job is an ongoing thing until their issue is sorted and we get a positive outcome.” He jokes that low cost airfares meant the end of “the calm” for consular offices.

The Embassy airs on Channel Nine at 6.30pm tonight

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