Jump to content

Dream holiday turned to nightmare for friends who lost everything in Thailand fire


Recommended Posts

Posted

Dream holiday turned to nightmare for friends who lost everything in Thailand fire

By Katherine Bainbridge

 

KVR_MEN_090218_ThailandFire_01.jpg

Dan Norman, Patrick O'Donovan and Danny Hamlett (Image: UGC MEN)

 

The blaze swept through the October Hostel on Koh Phi Phi Island in Thailand, destroying it completely

 

A dream holiday turned into a nightmare for three friends after they lost all their belongings in a hostel fire.

 

The blaze swept through the October Hostel on Koh Phi Phi Island in Thailand on Tuesday evening (February 6), destroying it completely.


According to a report in the Phuket Gazette, nine people were injured and ‘officials suspect the fire was caused by an exploding gas tank’.

 

Full story: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/dream-holiday-turned-nightmare-friends-14271312

 

Manchester Evening News: 2018-02-11

 

  • Confused 1
Posted
1 hour ago, mjnaus said:

Again the first move these days seems to be asking strangers for handouts... Am I that weird for thinking to ring up one of my parents, brothers, close friends, etc and ask them to transfer a few thousand by Western Union or bank? It seems that would be such an easier and faster way to get your hands on some much needed cash...

 

And how are they going to get their hands on the funds generated from their gofundme efforts? I would assume it's paid out by Paypal or bank transfer, neither of which they can currently access it seems. 

 

Finding a person you can trust, possibly a tourist police officer, and have someone within Thailand transfer them some emergency cash would get you back on your feet within 1 hour (depending on the time of day obviously). Next best thing would be someone abroad doing a Western Union transfer, which would probably see you sorted within 1 day or so. All beats having to wait a full week for small donations from strangers.

Maybe parents dont have any money!  But the advice kind of tells us quite a bit about your background.

  • Like 1
Posted
41 minutes ago, mommysboy said:

Maybe parents dont have any money!  But the advice kind of tells us quite a bit about your background.

One day i got robbed in Greece, went to our embassy and they could get my money from my bankaccount with my signature.

Posted
1 hour ago, mommysboy said:

Maybe parents dont have any money!  But the advice kind of tells us quite a bit about your background.

Even his username

Posted
2 minutes ago, Gillyflower said:

I'm about to start a GOFUNDME.  It's the last week and money is a wee bit on the short side.  I am reduced to drinking Chang instead of Tiger.  Please help.

You must be a fraud everyone knows Tiger is the cheapest cat pis$ out there

  • Like 1
Posted
1 hour ago, mommysboy said:

Maybe parents dont have any money!  But the advice kind of tells us quite a bit about your background.

Quite possible that the parents do have money , but would prefer it that other people use their money to help their children

  • Like 1
Posted
2 hours ago, mjnaus said:

Again the first move these days seems to be asking strangers for handouts... Am I that weird for thinking to ring up one of my parents, brothers, close friends, etc and ask them to transfer a few thousand by Western Union or bank? It seems that would be such an easier and faster way to get your hands on some much needed cash...

 

And how are they going to get their hands on the funds generated from their gofundme efforts? I would assume it's paid out by Paypal or bank transfer, neither of which they can currently access it seems. 

 

Finding a person you can trust, possibly a tourist police officer, and have someone within Thailand transfer them some emergency cash would get you back on your feet within 1 hour (depending on the time of day obviously). Next best thing would be someone abroad doing a Western Union transfer, which would probably see you sorted within 1 day or so. All beats having to wait a full week for small donations from strangers.

 

 

I wonder what:

 

- The typical age ranges are for folks who so quickly want the public to support them?

 

- How many of these folks embark on holidays abroad without enough funds?

 

- How many have never given any thought whatever to what risks might be involved?

 

- How many have never given any thought whatever to what risks might be involved but when something does go wrong they instantly expect that others should pay the bill?  

 

Why? A western colleague was recently staying in a 3 star hotel in Bkk, several young backpackers sharing the next room, they rented motorcycles, one had an accident, one leg badly broken and more injuries and quickly a hospital bill several hundred thousand Baht. His buddies approached my colleague asking for a donation for their friends hospital bill and they approached other hotel guests as well.

 

The crunch - One of the buddies was saying to the people he was approaching for donations  'it's just not fair my friend has to pay the hospital bill because he's just having fun in his gap year.'

 

They were also mentioning that they had approached their embassy with the same line: 'it's just not fair my friend has to pay the hospital bill because he's just having fun in his gap year' and they were angry that their embassy would not discuss this point. 

 

 

 

  • Like 1
Posted
8 minutes ago, Dave67 said:

If they were in a hostel I doubt they had many possessions, money or soap

You'd be surprised at how many backpackers carry around brand new MacBooks, iPhones, iPads. Some of them look like a walking advert for Apple!

Posted
4 minutes ago, madmitch said:

You'd be surprised at how many backpackers carry around brand new MacBooks, iPhones, iPads. Some of them look like a walking advert for Apple!

A mate who is German has a BMW bike and new Merc at home.Just flew over to BKK from Frankfurt Business class.He stayed in the shittest cheapest hotel in Ayutthaya. Left today to go to Pattaya taking a bus from Ayutthaya to Bangkok and then another bus to Pattaya

Posted

Unfortunate accident, shit happens,,, they should be lucky they are alive.

No travel insurance, no ATM cards,, no personal effects insurance back home.

They would have had their mobiles in their pocket so can call for assistance,

Methinks this is a bit of a melodramatic opera

  • Like 2
Posted

and ofcourse absolutely none of the money raised will end up behind some bars in bkk coz they are just going to stay in their room, eating street food and drinking water. yeah right

  • Like 1
Posted

I would presume the British consul or embassy would take care of the lost passport situation, whilst their travel insurances would take care of the remaining issues.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Posted
4 hours ago, champers said:

I am sure the British Embassy would help out in what is an emergency that is in no way the fault of the tourists. It just doesn't seem to have even crossed their minds to ask for help. GoFundMe appears to be the default position for many now.

Am I alone in thinking that it can be a nice little earner, creating a chunk of leftover cash once costs have been covered?

You're not alone in your thinking.

Posted
3 hours ago, madmitch said:

You'd be surprised at how many backpackers carry around brand new MacBooks, iPhones, iPads. Some of them look like a walking advert for Apple!

yes exactly, walking around _ not likely to leave in hostel while they are out

 

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.




×
×
  • Create New...