One of her former teachers said, "She was very popular. I remember she had a bizarre sense of humour. She was very bright... she always got As and Bs." There is no British embassy in Laos, a communist dictatorship of 6 million people. British diplomats in next door Thailand only learnt of her detention months after she was arrested. Since then she has been allowed to meet a consular official for only 20 minutes every month, always with a guard present.