west atc, I was the miscreant who repeated the hoary old tale about the United pilot and I can assure you
Anyone who says this has obviously never flown through Tehran airspace, Muscat airspace, Mumbai airspace, Latvian airspace etc.
in my case, does not apply. I spent almost 20 years based in Dubai, so I can assure you, I have flown quite a lot in most of the ATC regions you mention, Latvia being the exception, (although I've used Russian airspace more than a few times).
At the risk of causing Jack Ranga to foam at the mouth again, let me repeat what I said in my first post - and what obviously caused such offence to some. Australian ATC is (or should that be 'Australian ATCOs are') unique. They're obviously better trained and far more skilled at their jobs than controllers in many other countries, particularly in some 'Third World' nations.
(For instance, I've never had an Australian ATCO clear me for line up with a 737 clearly in sight on one mile finals. I have had a Nigerian ATCO do exactly that to me. I've never had an Australian ATCO clear me for take off - on a very dark night - on a runway that was closed and cluttered with construction equipment. I have had a Thai ATCO do that to me. I could list three or four more similar instances, all of which would have resulted in a major incident if not accident had I blindly obeyed.)
However,
(with one exception - an ATCO at Athens, who (I believe) tried to trip me up by putting me in what I think she thought was an impossibly steep position before clearing me for a visual approach - I don't know why), I have never felt that any of the non-Australian controllers were setting out to catch me out. They were sometimes incompetent, and sometimes they were battling with radios - and/or ATC systems - that were third rate to put it kindly. India, particularly (but not only) its HF comms, was in a class of its own in this regard, although CPDLC has transformed the situation there in recent years.
I have had a number of non-Australian colleagues comment to me that when they operate in Australia, they feel as if the ATCOs are purposely trying to catch them out at every turn, as if it's a point scoring exercise where the ATCO feels he's had a win if he can put in a report admonishing the pilot over some (sometimes trifling) matter.
As I said in my first post, I'm telling you how you are perceived by quite a few non-Australian pilots. So please, don't shoot the messenger - just take it as read. Rightly or wrongly, that's how you are perceived.
I must admit, I've had a few instances myself where I've come away asking myself what in the world the ATCO was trying to prove. As I said in my first post, it's as if some among you (quite a few, in fact) feel as if
YOU are the end users rather than the service providers and that the aeroplanes are there only to give you an excuse to apply the 'rools' you all so strictly adhere to. (I accept the comments some have made that you're forced to do so by the System - but if that's the case, I can't help but comment that I've never experienced a similar attitude among ATCOs or ATC systems anywhere else in the world.)
I'd better log off and strap my helmet on and start digging my foxhole quite a bit deeper than it currently is, for I fear the 'incoming' is going to be quite thick and heavy.