Having just had my residential qualifications challenged by the visa for India process, it was something of a shock to find myself being treated as a second-class resident yet again. This time the culprit was True, the company that has the contract to sell the iPhone in Thailand.

Having eagerly gone through the booking process to order the phone, I then took the time to read the small print. This is the small print:

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When I pick up the phone they want a copy of my work permit. Which of course I don’t have, unless they will settle for the version from 2004. If it’s good enough for the Indian embassy it should be good enough for True.

This is nonsense and I decide to go down the the True Office and have a good old moan about it. On the way there I practice my diatribe.

You want a work permit? To buy a phone?!! I have bought a condo without a work permit! I have bought cars without a work permit! I am a subscriber to your generally crap satellite TV service without having a work permit!

I think of all the other stuff that I have bought without a work permit which I can add in to the argument if things get rough. I am not sure what I want to achieve. A refund? No, I just want the bloody phone with a minimum of hassle.

Suitably steamed up, I arrive at the True office, which is actually just a small stall in a supermarket. It is staffed by a very cute young lady who is very eager to help me and all thoughts of shouting just disappear. He English is slightly better than my Thai (i.e. crap), so we make slow progress. There are many phone calls made to colleagues and it soon becomes clear that she has no idea what a work permit actually looks like. Her main concern seems to be that I really have a passport. Once I have assured that I do, it seems that all I have to do is turn up with a copy of that, plus a copy of something else which we can agree to call a work permit.

We part as excellent friends and agree to meet again on the 28th when I will give her a pile of money, a copy of my passport, and a copy of my grandfather’s ration card. And she will give me a phone.