It's something most of us don't give a second thought to - until we get into trouble overseas and need help. So, who do you call? A Consulate, the Embassy, or High Commission? The following is intended as an unofficial and brief explanation only

Consulates are like mini embassies or branches of Embassy in Thailand embassies. They are found in major tourist cities of the world or areas with large expatriate populations. Consulates issue visas, passports and emergency documents. They also perform notary functions, register births and deaths and handle serious matters such as forced marriages and child abductions. Consulates assist nationals imprisoned abroad and victims of crime. They also help in cases of serious illness while travelling or death of relatives abroad.

They are the first point of contact when passports are lost or stolen or any other serious problem is experienced when living or travelling abroad. Their main function is to assist people; they do not normally get involved in country-to-country relations (which is the main role and function of the ambassador and embassy). Smaller cities and towns may have an 'honorary consulate' which is a smaller version of a consulate.

A consulate establishes a presence in a foreign country mainly to assist expatriates and travellers and to some degree to promote and enhance friendly relations between the countries with regard to trade, investment, and the import and export of services between countries.

Consuls are appointed as official representatives of their government (whereas there is only one Ambassador for each country, representing the head of state). There may be several consuls appointed to a country, performing different roles, with a different consul in charge of consulates located in major cities. A consulate is also sometimes part of the embassy in the capital city of a country.