It is also to assist and protect the citizens of the consul’s own country.
In Phuket, there are many honorary consuls working and assisting both expat residents and tourists. They are often called in to assist when their citizens lose a passport or get into trouble with the police.
They act as aids to navigate the bureaucratic practices that people may be unfamiliar with.
On, thankfully, rarer occasions they are the first port of call for help in cases of an expat citizen’s death or a when the citizen’s is the victim of a serious crime.
Honorary consuls called at all times of the day and night to help, and the majority of do this without payment and on their own, for the greater good of their citizens. Many work from home, or from the premises of their full time job.
Up until the tri-monthly honorary consul meeting were halted, axed by the Governor last year, the honorary consuls even acted as spokespersons for their citizens and on more than one occasion – usually to little avail – took the relevant governmental representative to task in the public meeting.
Speculation was rife again this week that the island would finally have a beefed-up Australian honorary consulate.
The service, which according to unconfirmed reports would have six employees, and be able both to issue visas for Australia and to issue passports for children would be a welcome service on the island.
Unfortunately, for the moment at least, it has not been given the green light.
In fact, despite the huge numbers of expats and tourists that come to live and visit here every year, there is only a handful of countries that have a full consulate in Phuket.
One is Austria. Unlike many other counties, the small, central European nation is actually very well represented in Thailand, with offices also in Chiang Mai, Pattaya and of course Bangkok.
Oddly, none of the ‘big four’ in terms of visitor numbers – China, Russia, Australia and the United Kingdom, – has a consulate in Phuket. China doesn’t even have an honorary consul on the island.
Phuket has developed as a destination to the point where consular services are of great importance.
Indeed, it could be argued that they’re now essential.