W.A.R.Wood arrived in Thailand in1896 and was posted to Chiang Mai as Consul in 1913. With small breaks he spent the rest of his life here, dying in 1970. Author of History of Siam and Consul in Paradise , he was the most distinguished foreigner ever to have lived in Chiang Mai. A chapel in his memory stands in the Foreign Cemetery .

After his death his daughter, Rose, sold the family house (now the Coq d'Or Restaurant) and went to live in England with her two adopted Thai children.

Later, she decided to return to Chiang Mai. Rose had formerly been our English teacher to the Princess, she now wrote to Her asking for Thai citizenship for herself and her children. The royal wand was waved and her request was granted. In 1994 she returned, expecting to receive the attention and respect that formerly had been hers.

My first contact with Rose was a letter from her saying that she intended to knock down the Wood Memorial Chapel and ship parts of it back to England . A hastily convened cemetery committee meeting unanimously agreed that she should be allowed to do no such thing. When I asked her why she wanted to demolish the chapel that she had been instrumental in building, all she would say was "I have my reasons". The matter was finally dropped when Rose and her daughter returned to England having been disappointed with their life in Chiang Mai.

The son Tom, who was enjoying himself, decided to stay on. That proved to be a mistake. One night the military police came for him and marched him off to do his military service, something that had been overlooked when he took Thai citizenship.

The first I heard of this was a frantic call from Rose asking for my help. Now someone who has dual nationality can not seek aid from one of his countries when living in the other. However I went to see Col. Tanongsak, Chief of Staff of the Third Army, and started telling him about the problem. He held up his hand to stop me, picked up the phone and summoned the chief medical officer. They knew all about the case and were delighted that I had come to see them, as they were desperate to get rid of Tom.

"I can't think how we made such a terrible mistake" lamented the colonel." The boy is albino, so can not be in the sun. He doesn't speak a word of Thai. Won't eat army food. Is dyslectic. He collapsed the only time he went on parade.

"Please tell his mother that the Army Medical Board has recommended an immediate discharge. I apologize for the terrible mistake that has been made. Approval will take a few weeks, during that time Tom will have to remain in barracks but will not be required to do anything."

Next month I heard that he had been release. What became of him I do not know.