When Australians are in trouble overseas there is one place they go for help – the Australian Embassy.
Now in a world first, we go behind the scenes with unprecedented access to join the diplomats of Australia’s consular team in Bangkok as they work to keep us safe and out of strife in The Embassy.
Close to a million Aussies visit Thailand every year, making Bangkok one of the world’s busiest Embassies – and every day brings a new crisis.
In Episode One: It’s crunch-time for Aussie Matt and his Canadian partner Wayne. They paid a surrogacy agent for a son each. Their fraternal twins, Jaxon and Logan, were conceived from Matt & Wayne’s sperm, using the egg of a Thai female donor, and carried to birth by a surrogate mum. It’s a brave new world of baby making – and the Embassy is again on the front line.
Plus: The Embassy has been alerted to a young Australian, who has been jailed for overstaying his visa in a remote prison near the Burmese border. David has been locked up for three terrifying weeks in a cell with 120 other prisoners. He is dangerously ill with pneumonia. Will the Embassy be able to help David in time?
Meanwhile, an innocent abroad is in hot water. Seven hundred Australians lose or damage their passports in Thailand each year – young Declan, a Melbourne University Law student has come up with a real first. But there’s more to his passport than meets the eye!
Long after her day at the Embassy is done, diplomat Trudy McGowan is called at home about a drunken soap opera turned ugly. Tonight’s incident involves four young Aussies who’ve been involved in a punch up in Phuket. Can the Embassy help them see sense before they wind up in jail?
And there is another young renegade to deal with: 22-year-old Cameron, a store packer from Newcastle, has gone AWOL in another notorious holiday hotspot – Pattaya. His parents are frantic – he’s already missed two flights home and is not answering anyone’s calls. They’re also terrified he’s overstayed his visa and could wind up in prison if picked up by Thai police!
Produced by Fredbird Entertainment and Southern Pictures for the Nine Network.
The Embassy
Sunday, October 19 at 6.30pm on Nine
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