However, attempting to use the standard emergency number is equally fraught with difficulty, as Kent housewife Marjorie Frollock can testify. “I dialled 999 when I thought I heard someone breaking into my house on night, and found myself put through to a call centre in Bangkok,” relates the forty seven year old. “Although they spoke English, it still took me over half an hour to make them understand that I thought there was a burglar downstairs, by the time they said they were sending someone round, the intruder was breaking down my bedroom door!” In the event, it took the officers four days to arrive. “They sent them from Thailand, at first I thought it was some mistake, but apparently it’s cheaper,” explains an exasperated Frollock, who is currently attempting to sue her local police force, after she was left bound and gagged for three days by the intruder. “Luckily, one of the neighbours realised something was wrong when they noticed the front door was off of its hinges, and came in to free me!” The burglar, who stole over £5000 of jewellery, household appliances and cash from Mrs Frollock’s house, has still not been caught, although the three Thai policemen who attended the scene did severely cane several local youths they suspected of dropping chewing gum on the pavement outside.