Tourist visa extention (medical) - big problems in BKK

[AsiaCheese]

A good expat friend of mine who's living in upcountry Thailand had his (grown-up, late 30ish) son come for holidays in Hua Hin. His son is bipolar but can apparently "function" normally on his medication, holds an IT job and all the rest. He checked with his doctor and got a green light to fly. No-one knows what happened in Hua Hin - one needs to suspect some over-the-top partying/drinking, and the guy lost it (and his meds). Went into overdrive, until the cops picked him up and locked him up. Long story short: my friend fetched his son in Hua Hin to BKK, because he was due to fly home on 18th. All this happened under police supervision, and the son was brought to a government mental hospital, for one to wait out his time and to evaluate if he was fit to fly. Meanwhile, his tourist visa expired... The friendly people at the hospital prepared a health certificate and sent the father off to grapple with BKK Immigration.

 

My buddy (the father) isn't brilliant at English, but managed to get there, was shown to the wrong queue, the lady officer (nurse) spent most of her time measuring blood pressure on immi people and was really upset that she needed to actually look at papers and work... My friend had his son's passport, the medical certificate and that was that (enough, according to the hospital, who in turn said that it wasn't the first time with this). The immi ladies respone: the medical certificate needs to be in Thai and English (it's in Thai), and she needs passport photos of the son. <deleted> - English translation for whom??? The Thai version makes it rather clear that the son is currently unable to fly - what else is needed??? And passport photos? How do you get that from someone behind bars in a 100 strong group at a mental hospital? My friend offered face photos from his mobile - not accepted. My friend threw a bit of a (frustration) fit in his turn, grabbed all the papers and left. He says "shove it" - let's just hope that an overstay won't be all deadly, maybe with the help of the medical certificate (which he's holding onto).

 

Anyone knows if there's an office to register a complaint with BKK immi (I think it was Chaeng Wattana - only one, right)? Or some sort of ombudsman? He's all but given up, but the way he was treated is just beyond the pale, shouldn't happen, and was completely unhelpful...

[jackdd]

We've had stories where immigration insisted that somebody had to be brought to immigration with an ambulance to get an extension, so your story does not surprise too much.

I think passport size photos are just always required for an extension, there won't be an exception. The father should probably also have a power of attorney to be allowed to handle the extension.

 

1 hour ago, AsiaCheese said:

let's just hope that an overstay won't be all deadly, maybe with the help of the medical certificate

I doubt the medical certificate will help anything in case he is on overstay, everything that matters for them is that he is on overstay, not why.

 

Your buddy should seriously try to get this extension, or once the son is released from the mental hospital he could end up in the detention facility, then have another break down, and so on...

[Puchaiyank]

The way he was treated was not abnormal for many interactions where a farang requires Thai assistance.  Suckit up ...  get the required docs and photos...or try your luck at the airport...

[Letseng]

18 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

The way he was treated was not abnormal for many interactions where a farang requires Thai assistance.  Suckit up ...  get the required docs and photos...or try your luck at the airport...

I have no personal experience but perhaps this would be a way to do it: Bumrungrad has some Saturdays an immi official for ext. due to illness of tourist. I understand one can use the service as non-Bum patient. Appointment is needed and can be made at the hospital business centre 10th fl.  

Perhaps a member with pers. experience can give his comment.

[natway09]

Maybe this kind of person should not travel to places like Thailand & if they do knowing about his problems should not have been left on his own to "paint the town red"

[Briggsy]

The father needs to pay for someone for the government psychiatric hospital to go and do it for him. The father is unlikely to succeed in getting an extension for his son.

[geisha]

Gosh, has the man finally been allowed to leave ? A bit late now, but shouldn’t they have got in touch with the sons doctor back home, who could have communicated with the Thai doctor ? And their Embassy, surely this is an emergency and has certain procedures ? Why is the overstay important ? How much over ?

[DrJack54]

4 minutes ago, geisha said:

Gosh, has the man finally been allowed to leave ? A bit late now, but shouldn’t they have got in touch with the sons doctor back home, who could have communicated with the Thai doctor ? And their Embassy, surely this is an emergency and has certain procedures ? Why is the overstay important ? How much over ?

So now I'm posting. Reason I avoided before is that OP has given zero update and contribution. The father should be in bkk trying to get him to airport asap. The overstay is not an issue if can get to airport, pay overstay and fly out. I would suggest papa needs step up to plate and fly with him. BTW from op detail sounds like papa also us a short fuse. On an aside...why do people start a thread and not be active contributor. Waste of time

[BritTim]

8 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

So now I'm posting. Reason I avoided before is that OP has given zero update and contribution. The father should be in bkk trying to get him to airport asap. The overstay is not an issue if can get to airport, pay overstay and fly out. I would suggest papa needs step up to plate and fly with him. BTW from op detail sounds like papa also us a short fuse. On an aside...why do people start a thread and not be active contributor. Waste of time

The big question at this point is whether his son is now fit to fly. I have assisted someone in the past who was bipolar and suffered a manic episode. He was in hospital for about a month before being considered stabilised to the point where a flight was considered reasonable. If his condition is still unstable, the airline would probably be reluctant to carry him, and (if he did get on a flight unsupervised) the consequences could be unpredictable.

[DrJack54]

11 minutes ago, BritTim said:

The big question at this point is whether his son is now fit to fly. I have assisted someone in the past who was bipolar and suffered a manic episode. He was in hospital for about a month before being considered stabilised to the point where a flight was considered reasonable. If his condition is still unstable, the airline would probably be reluctant to carry him, and (if he did get on a flight unsupervised) the consequences could be unpredictable.

Excellent post and very true. Clearly you have some knowledge in this area. If son cannot be stabilized in short term with meds then the issue becomes (to borrow your word) unpredictable. To cut op some slack perhaps papa has not updated him. Having said that, Brit Tim, given your background with your friend. Would you be comfortable with your son (if he had this condition) heading off to hua hin? Presumably alone. 

Edited February 25, 2019 by DrJack54
Error

[Fairynuff]

12 hours ago, natway09 said:

Maybe this kind of person should not travel to places like Thailand & if they do knowing about his problems should not have been left on his own to "paint the town red"

I’m sure the OP found your comment extremely helpful

[BritTim]

43 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Brit Tim, given your background with your friend. Would you be comfortable with your son (if he had this condition) heading off to hua hin? Presumably alone. 

That is difficult to say. It is easy to be wise after the event. Often people with bipolar disorder can be properly stabilised for many years. People must be given the freedom to live their lives as they see fit, unless there are strong reasons for intervening. In retrospect, allowing someone who may be mentally unstable to launch themselves into a crazy, party environment could seem unwise, but I wonder if there was really a proper justification to intervene. I would certainly not be judgemental without a lot more information than we have from this thread.

[DrJack54]

2 minutes ago, BritTim said:

That is difficult to say. It is easy to be wise after the event. Often people with bipolar disorder can be properly stabilised for many years. People must be given the freedom to live their lives as they see fit, unless there are strong reasons for intervening. In retrospect, allowing someone who may be mentally unstable to launch themselves into a crazy, party environment could seem unwise, but I wonder if there was really a proper justification to intervene. I would certainly not be judgemental without a lot more information than we have from this thread.

Rather than just tick "like" post. I need to complement Tim. One of most balanced informed posts i have read on TV. Cheers.

[AsiaCheese]

4 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

So now I'm posting. Reason I avoided before is that OP has given zero update and contribution. The father should be in bkk trying to get him to airport asap. The overstay is not an issue if can get to airport, pay overstay and fly out. I would suggest papa needs step up to plate and fly with him. BTW from op detail sounds like papa also us a short fuse. On an aside...why do people start a thread and not be active contributor. Waste of time

Yep - right. I haven't had much of an update myself (worth posting), and as things tend to come in pairs, I'm grappling with a newly broken hip bone...

The hospital is a government hospital; apparently no-one there can be coaxed into going to immigration, for love, money or the mix thereof. You're correct: papa's fuse blew possibly a tad early... He did contact the Swiss embassy who confirmed that they'd heard of troubles like these before but were unable to help/assist (note to self: at the point where an embassy can be helpful, you're probably toast already). Papa's ready to fly his son home at a moment's notice. "Stabilze" is applying lithium, which was the son's medication before, but it seems to be extremely difficult to get a home doctor on the phone with a relevant doctor on the Thai side - don't even start with linguistic incompatiblities... 

 

BritTim: you're spot on. The son has gone with a lengthy spotless period - there was no way of knowing that he might hit an icey spot, so to speak. And yes: it is actually really hard for pretty much anyone (from relative to government agency) to stop a grown-up person from doing something they want or from going somewhere on holidays; authorities can and will only get active once the brown stuff has already hit the proverbial fan.

I know from another friend in Switzerland who has a condition in a somewhat comparable area (dissociative identity disorder; another doctor's term for actually we don't really know but) and he certainly needs the odd session or five with his psychiatrist before he's let go anywhere - he could go, but he sticks with what the doc recommends.

 

I should get an update today Tuesday - papa had to drive back to Isaan over the weekend; he has a life too, but said he'd be back in BKK sometime Monday. Expect updates  ????

[sanemax]

Getting a document translated and getting PP photos isnt such a big ask 

Photo shops will be able to make PP photos from a photo on a camera and just get the document translated at  translation shop

[AsiaCheese]

1 minute ago, sanemax said:

Getting a document translated and getting PP photos isnt such a big ask 

Photo shops will be able to make PP photos from a photo on a camera and just get the document translated at  translation shop

Right you are. Cut papa some slack; he's going on 70 and isn't someone who can playfully improvise by nature. Says the OP who's also going on 70, but I've had a lifetime of challenges (which I enjoyed) to run up against with ideas & attitude, kinda... 

[WonnabeBiker]

18 hours ago, Letseng said:

I have no personal experience but perhaps this would be a way to do it: Bumrungrad has some Saturdays an immi official for ext. due to illness of tourist. I understand one can use the service as non-Bum patient. Appointment is needed and can be made at the hospital business centre 10th fl.  

Perhaps a member with pers. experience can give his comment.

PHAYATHAI Hospital had people for this. They came to the ICU, took a photo of me with IVs and the daily newspaper... But that was years ago! 

 

OT: some Thais make up their rules or change goal posts or they enjoy throwing their weight around.

[AsiaCheese]

5 hours ago, WonnabeBiker said:

PHAYATHAI Hospital had people for this. They came to the ICU, took a photo of me with IVs and the daily newspaper... But that was years ago! 

 

OT: some Thais make up their rules or change goal posts or they enjoy throwing their weight around.

Me and Valentines Day this year didn't have a good vibe; I stumbled over a small ledge and broke my hip... A bunch of bleeping painful hours later at Bangkok Hospital in Pattaya, I had a customer relations guy (speaking Swiss, no less!) coming to inquire if anything needed done regarding visa or 90-days reporting. Standard there - I've heard it from others. Unfortunately, the mental hospital where the headliner here is at currently is a government place, with no resources (even if they wanted to).

[AsiaCheese]

A few final notes on this story (I was told/updated with occasional news over the phone). The patient in question was flown home to Switzerland in the beginning of the week. His take-me-home insurance had sent a doctor and a nurse - the doctor to finalize/synchronize things with the Thai doctors at the government mental institution where the patient had been held for the last weeks and to assess the viability of an undisturbed 11+ hours flight. One condition was that the patient would go straight to a mental hospital, where they would work on getting him "back on track" - which will take a month or three...

 

My contact, the dad, said that he had received a lot of help from someone at the Swiss embassy - and he spoke highly of their committment - which is really nice to hear! They couldn't do anything in regard to the original theme of this post, the problems with getting a visa extention for the son, but were very helpful and attentive with everthing else. Kudos!

 

The son is now back in Switzerland and all went well. Dad had stuck a few thousand THB into the passport and told the doctor/nurse combo that there would be a visa issue (overstay payment). No details of that, but apparently everything went without a glitch.