Immigration rules led me to attempt suicide, says long term Belgian expat

[Somtamnication]

This hot country is a cold cold place, emotionally. I hope he finds help, but this will not be the only one trying out stupid things and maybe succeeding. ????

[NickokasH]

I'm the author of this article printed in The Nation and I just want to clarify a few things.

 

I moved to Thailand at the age of 31. Up until then, I had always worked in the IT field. Upon arriving in Thailand, I started an IT consulting firm and then moved on to become a freelancer (no WP necessary there, at least according to one of the honchos from immigration.

 

I never had any mental issues until 2014, when I fell into a deep depression and started suffering from acute agoraphobia. I stopped working at that time and started living on my savings. I left my nice condo in the Silom area and moved to a concrete box in Udomsuk to save costs.

 

Things started going better in 2016, which is why I decided to fix my legal situation by going to Don Muang and leaving the country.

 

Once in Vietnam, I didn't know anyone, all my friends had been left behind in Thailand. I felt utterly alone and swallowed 3.5gr of codeine, which, unfortunately, did not kill me.

 

One of my friends contacted the Belgian embassy which pit me in touch with their consulate in Hanoi. I met the consul who oversold me the repatriation back to Belgium, saying that I was going to be taken care of, medically and financially. I agreed to take the flight back home, met representatives from the Red Cross at the airport and they dropped me in front of a homeless shelter with no money and no social security.

 

It took me 3 months to finally be eligible for social security and healthcare coverage. In the meantime, I was staying in a shelter for the first time of my life. The first night I spent there, two guys threw another bloke out a second floor window because of an argument. 

 

Since then, my mental situation has deteriorated. Two years of living out of shelters will do that to someone's especially someone who's always had a stable life. I have no family left so getting help from a third party was not an option.

 

The past two years, I have gone through hell. I have now been in a mental hospital for the past three months and have started the process to formally request euthanasia, which thankfully is legal in Belgium even for psychiatric ailments.

 

None of this would have happened has I been allowed to stay in Thailand. I 2qs ready to work again and had a friend network that was able to help me.

 

Again, like I said in my letter to the Nation, I understand the need for immigration laws. But, like the recent changes to the immigration laws for retirees, I think they could be applied more humanely.

[wmccpa112253]

This story frankly sounds fishy and is short on facts.

[sanemax]

3 minutes ago, wmccpa112253 said:

This story frankly sounds fishy and is short on facts.

The facts have all been posted in the post above yours .

[jgarbo]

6 hours ago, Myran said:

The immigration rules are hardly the problem here. He should've gotten medical help to deal with his anxiety.

Obviously, Thailand causes panic attacks in Belgians. Call M. Poirot, tout de suite!

[55Jay]

I do not see how Thai Immigration had anything to do with the onset of your mental problems.  Did you get caught up in Thai Immigration's efforts to clamp down on Tourist Visa / Exempt Entry abuses?

Edited February 8, 2019 by 55Jay

[Danthai]

Forget all the bloggers think so negative on this website all the time and think they are medical trained to give advice about medical issues. There are a lot of good positive people on this site.

Many medical problems happen slowly over time and not caught until its too late to figure out.

I am sorry for your circumstances and hope you can get the help and finances you need. 

 

Immigration does not make it easy to figure out what's going on or assure they will follow their own rules from place to place. Most, I guessing, have never had depression, or panic attacks. Find help fast and think positive. Never give up. Think of your heath first. You are not alone.

[BigC]

If he had panic attacks and it was a recognised condition then surely he shkjld have been going in anf out of hospitals fkr treatment 

 

I dont know about belgium but in Uk he would have been hospitalised.

 

Maybe if he seeked medical assistance first  then this may habe helped hks visa situation

 

There are allot of people in hospital technialy on overstay

 

I am not sure how they get round this and something i should look into 

 

I never had to overstay because i was in hospital  but i bet it happens allot

[smtsetup]

I am sure that if the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs heard of this serious issue, they would immediately address it by hiring an army of qualified psychotherapists to offer their services to foreigners living in this country. The services would preferably be free of charge to those who need them and one's personal opinion would be sufficient to qualify for a 10-year-long treatment. During which time the participant would be exempt from any disturbing visa formalities that may worsen his/her fragile mental health.

Edited February 8, 2019 by smtsetup
Edit

[catman20]

A Belgian man who lived in Thailand for ten years has said that the country's "harsher overstay rules" led him to attempt suicide. 

 

i feel like that every time i see the exchange rate for sterling. ????

[Formaleins]

I was going to say something but I best keep my mouth shut tight.

[Happyfarangguy]

Darwinism. 

[ravip]

If only humans were humane... sigh

(including all the Organisations's who says they are)

Edited February 8, 2019 by ravip

[Ulic]

All he had to do was fly out and pay his fine during the long signaled blacklisting amnesty when there were no blacklisting penalties being enforced for overstaying. Just clear you overstay by leaving and paying the 20K fine. The coming blacklisting penalty for those that did not make their stay legal was understood by everyone. 

[Caine]

Worked all your life, your only 42 get off your arse and do a days graft. 

[bkkgriz]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

He told the Nation that in 2015 after being a "law abiding citizen" in Thailand for ten years

A law abiding citizen on overstay. Methinks this fellow doesn't understand the meaning of law abiding.

[unamazedloso]

no wonder he felt so helpless. Just look at the reaction from posters here. I am also that way inclined to think "attempted" suicide is a cry for help but no one knows all the details.

Im lucky enough to have a well off family and if immigration kicked me out my whole family here in thai is fine but some people arent so lucky. With out a place to go which maybe the case for me one day i would be feeling just as shitty. I sold my house, cars, etc.. back home well over 15yrs ago so theres technically nothing for me and everything that should be of value wont be so im sympathetic to those that put way too much effort in to life in a country where the human condition is non existent.

[chainarong]

7 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I somehow suspect that the number of sad stories related to immigration issues are likely to rise dramatically in the next year or so. Genuine medical issues aside, there are undoubtedly many out there right now experiencing anxiety or worse over the current situation.

It certainly will exacerbate an existing problem

[HampiK]

I am confused a little bit. As for me it seems the panic attacks not coming from the changed rules. As he was here still legal, when his panic attacks started. Please correct, but the problem with the changed rules, was that at the end the 3 year ban came. But the attacks itself were coming without the change?

 

And if the attacks are coming because of the change, then I am still wondering why they coming, as it seems when the attacks started he still was in Thailand legaly. It seems more like the sickness came, because of this he stop working and then the whole trouble with Immigration started.

[Thaidream]

18 minutes ago, unamazedloso said:

no wonder he felt so helpless. Just look at the reaction from posters here. I am also that way inclined to think "attempted" suicide is a cry for help but no one knows all the details.

Most people do not understand how completely debilitating some type of anxiety and other mental illness actually are.  I seriously doubt he understood the ramifications of what he was doing and possibly had no friends or family to work with which makes the isolation even worse.  Since he is Belgium I have to believe he has a health network/social service  department that will work with him

 

In addition, I doubt the Embassies who have stopped the letter fully understand how their stopping a service that benefited so many of their citizens will have a real negative impact on their lives.

 

Then throw in the anxiety being caused by Thai immigration who keeps changing things - not providing complete information or even in correct information and leaves  us  twisting in the wind trying to figure out what they want.  And the only way we have any chance of figuring it out is  keep reading what individual posters provide as to their experience at a particular Immigration Office.

[JimmyJ]

6 hours ago, Old Croc said:

Another narcissist attacking an inevitable differing opinion even before it's written.

As someone who is pretty well housebound because of physical, medical problems, I still meet all immigration requirements. I have no sympathy for this character. It seems he came here in his 20's and gradually became a hermit, although it seems he is able to visit a 7-11 at night for food. No mention of where his money came from in the first place, but I'm guessing his contribution to society is fleeting. 

Now, having been repatriated to his home country he still blames Thailand for not giving him a free ride. Even if Thailand miraculous developed a humanitarian visa, this guy wouldn't qualify.

He's now living on the streets, his panic disorder seems to have different parameters now.

 

"I have no sympathy for this character."

 

I'm sorry Sir, but this thread's award for "First Poster with 'I have no sympathy...' "was won by Post #15.

Two hours into the thread and Post #22 is way too slow if you want to be competitive.

 

Thank you for playing though, and please come back - there will be 100's of more opportunities for you to proudly display your lack of humanity.

 

Edited February 8, 2019 by JimmyJ

[Jim7777]

7 hours ago, Myran said:

The immigration rules are hardly the problem here. He should've gotten medical help to deal with his anxiety.

Oh hell yeah I agree with you 100%.  And I figured that this was probably just another doom and gloom article about immigration that this website sometimes likes to post to get our attention which is why I wasn’t planning on even clicking on it and reading it in the first place.  But I did skim over it just out of curiosity because I just happened to be surfing on my iPhone anyway at the time I saw this article otherwise I would have ignored this article for sure.  I’ve normally been ignoring articles like this talking about how horrible immigration is.  From my experience Immigration has been nothing but nice to me and I love it here.  

 

Sometimes they post articles like this to get our attention so we keep reading.  They even posted an article a while back bragging about how they do that lol.  Although this forum does put out a lot of good information as well so it’s just like anything else you can’t believe everything you read but some of the info they put out is accurate and some of it is not.  The new immigration rules are really not that bad in fact I actually love the new rules.  I think the new immigration rules are better than it was before.  The new Immigration rules actually makes the process for long stay Visas easier as long as you actually do make enough money in monthly income or have enough money saved to qualify for the marriage or retirement extension.  The people who don’t like the new rules are mostly the people who don’t or are maybe borderline.  It would be nice if they’d lower the income bar a little bit for the people who might be living here on Social Security alone and stuff because you definitely don’t have to be rich to live here.  Regardless I still really like the new rules better but that’s just my personal situation the new rules work out great for my income situation but everyone is different. Not everyone makes as much money as some of us do.  

 

Anyway like you said hell yeah he should have gotten medical help for his anxiety I know because I’m retired military and I’m a 100% disabled veteran also and I have issues as well.  I don’t want to get into my personal details but I have no problem getting medical help here in Thailand.  They actually make it easier and it’s cheap here to deal with anxiety.  You can get benzodiazepine medications like candy such as Diazepam and others.  At most clinics the doctors will give you enough medication for anxiety and mood disorders for a month at the most at a time.  They’ll take care of you here as long as you seek help if you have serious problems you better have medical insurance.  

 

I don’t know what this person has been through in life so I don’t want to compare myself to him but I have no problem getting medical help here in Thailand and I’m a 100% disabled veteran with multiple medical issues.  Although as I am retired military my medical coverage is really good.  But for someone with serious anxiety issues you don’t need insurance just to walk into a medical clinic here because it’s so cheap and easy at the clinics.  I often just pay for most of my medical stuff out of pocket because it’s so cheap I don’t even bother to file a claim with TRICARE or the VA unless it’s an expensive surgery or procedure.  

 

This is obviously a story of a guy who has very serious personal problems and they are wrongly trying to make it seem like it’s immigration’s fault and it is not their fault for enforcing the rules.  As long as you qualify for your extension the new rules actually makes the process easier but this guy overstayed and is now trying to blame it on the system.  I have issues too as a disabled veteran but I’m not gonna let my extension expire unless I’m dead or hospitalized and 20 years from now I’ll still be here unless something very unforeseen occurs and even if it did I’d just come back.  Nothing is ever that bad or horrible that’s worth taking your own life but I don’t look down on people who have committed suicide because some people have demons and sometimes the demons win unfortunately.  But my belief is to never give up no matter how hopeless something might seem, and I’ve acquired that belief through real life personal experience situations.  

[shaurene]

8 hours ago, Myran said:

The immigration rules are hardly the problem here. He should've gotten medical help to deal with his anxiety.

Myra, We do not know the situation these people experience. 

 

[Bantex]

I feel sorry for anyone with anxiety problems but I detest people who can’t take responsibility for their own lives or actions and always blame others when things don’t go their way. Why is he blaming the immigration rules because he won’t seek medical help for a problem he has. Even when he returned to his home country, the anxiety problems will still be there and so will his suicidal thoughts or tendencies as they obviously stem directly from his anxiety. 

I’ve just burnt my dinner but it’s not my fault, it’s this Belgium expats fault for making me respond to this post.

Edited February 8, 2019 by Bantex

[Accidental Tourist]

As I feel sorry for his medical condition (if there where one), I don't understand why this making the news.

Leaving in Thailand for 10 years and working ALL his life (by 2015 he was only 38, means stop working at home with 28 of years) that leaves lot to desire about his story, which is personal and unfortunate, but not Thai News.

[Nanaplaza666]

I wonder why he got a 3 year ban he wasn't caught he did a visa run and paid the 20.000, i thought you wouldn't get a ban if you weren't caught and paid the fine . Sorry if i'm being wrong about that 

[orchis]

9 minutes ago, Nanaplaza666 said:

I wonder why he got a 3 year ban he wasn't caught he did a visa run and paid the 20.000, i thought you wouldn't get a ban if you weren't caught and paid the fine . Sorry if i'm being wrong about that 

you are wrong. it is explained in the first post.

[easydoor]

I am also a Belgian citizen and what this man is telling is what I would call bullsh.... 'He worked all his life' ... how can he says so??? At an age of 38 ... he maybe 'worked 18 years or maybe NEVER worked at all. I feel no compassion at all. In case he was in troukle his only way was returning to Belgium, but his own choice was staying illegal in Thailand. What was keeping him here? Better this kind of people are send back. He even has luck he did not ended at IDC were he belonged.

[sibeyide]

Quote

Give us a break - it’s drowning decent helpful posts about VISAS!

 

This is the news section, not the visa section. Learn to read.

[Jingthing]

28 minutes ago, Benroon said:

For Christ’s sake this is getting ridiculous now - how many more sob stories ?

 

Life can throw you a curveball - accept or adapt! It’s how life works.

 

Tomorrows headline ‘I had to put all the cats in a sack and throw them in the river’ due to slightly amended immigration rules!

 

I had to shower twice in a day due to new immigration rules etc etc etc

 

Give us a break - it’s drowning decent helpful posts about VISAS! 

 

 

Serious mental illness just like serious physical disease is not something you can just make go away with mere will power. Treatment is needed.