So back to the Thai embassy story.

After our successful visit to the Malaysian embassy, we booked our Singapore-Bangkok trip.

My husband went to the Thai embassy with the usual docs, bank statements, flight and hotel bookings e.t.c for the three of us. On submitting the application, the Nigerian specific requirements in this link http://www.thaiembassyuk.org.uk/vnp.htm were brought to his attention. The most important being the need for us to present a Certificate of Clearance. The visa official who attended to my husband advised us not to bother applying without the said document.

This was not my first experience of Nigerian specific requirements as the Bulgarian embassy in the UK also has a Nigerian specific page for visa fees. http://www.bulgarianembassy.org.uk. The initial dilemma was that we were not aware that this document even existed nor had any clue about how to obtain it. A phone call to the Nigerian embassy was fruitless as they claimed ignorance which conformed with their usual attitude.

After numerous phone calls and emails to friends and family, we discovered that the document did indeed exist but could only be obtained in Abuja after "due process", which in Abuja speak could mean anything from queuing up all day to greasing a few palms. Also one of the key requirements to obtain the clearance was being resident in Nigeria, which none of us involved had the priviledge of.

After exhausting all the contactable contacts, we gave up on the idea of obtaining the clearance but not the trip itself. So upon arrival in Singapore, we diligently searched for the Thai embassy and presented our passports and documents again. One look at our passport and we were told we could only obtain the visa in London.

We enjoyed our exploration of Malaysia and Sinapore but sadly the beauty of Bangkok and Phuket were not ours to behold on this trip. Maybe next time eh:-)