Alzheimer's patient forced out of Thailand: Daughter tells Thaivisa they love Thailand but immigration rule changes mean mum must go

[webfact]

Alzheimer's patient forced out of Thailand: Daughter tells Thaivisa they love Thailand but immigration rule changes mean mum must go

 

Happier times: 77 year old Alzheimer's patient Anna Padgett on a field trip with care home staff

 

A distraught daughter of an ailing Alzheimer's patient has told Thaivisa how her stricken mum is being forced out of Thailand. 

 

And the family is laying the blame firmly at the door of Thai immigration for changing the financial rules. 

 

The daughter has spoken of her family's love for Thailand but this morning 77 year old Anna Padgett will be removed from her Chiang Mai care home and taken to Manila in the Philippines. 

 

There she will easily get a three year visa without bothersome financial hassles.

 

Daughter DeAnna Denis, 57 said she personally loves Thailand and doesn't want to go to the Philippines but the family have no choice. They simply don't have enough money to deposit 800,000 baht in the bank and leave it there. 

 

Mrs Denis and her husband who is 55 originally come from Atlanta. They were attracted to Thailand as a retirement option after running a successful web development business that they sold. 

 

They still live off some revenues but it is not a great deal.

 

Her mother was looked after in the states by a relative until 2017 when they decided to move her over to Thailand. She has had Alzheimer's for about 15 years.  A home that specializes in Alzheimer's care in Chiang Mai called Care Resort was found. 

 

Though it costs 85,000 baht a month they could just afford it and pay for their own retirement needs first in Koh Samui then on the mainland in Khanom, Nakorn Sri Thammarat. 

 

Everything was great and the family were all happy. 

 

But when immigration shifted the goalposts all that changed. 

 

Immigration refused to negotiate and allow the 86,000 baht to be considered as her mother's income. 

 

Rules are rules they said and if they weren't able to deposit the money that was that. 

 

The family have put 800,000 baht in the bank and Mrs Padgett could stay to February next year. But with worries about her condition deteriorating and being unable to move her in the future they have decided that it is now or never. 

 

Mrs Davis described dealing with immigration as highly problematical. She has received mixed messages but the bottom line for her mother is pay up or go.

 

"Of course my mother is blissfully unaware of all this. She doesn't even know who I am. But she is happy where she is and we are very concerned about moving her into another potentially confusing environment".

 

She first came to Thailand in 2015 knew it was for them. They threw themselves into learning Thai and the future looked rosy. They were delighted when mum moved here too in 2017 along with the couple's 24 year old daughter who is an English teacher on Koh Samui. 

 

"We are not totally happy about going to the Philippines. The care will not be so good as in Chiang Mai and the environment is not so good", added Mrs Davis.

 

Mrs Padgett will be in Metro Manila - costs are a third of Thailand for her care. 

 

"We love Thailand and we don't want her to go but we now have no choice. We have been forced out by the new rules and we may go to live in the Philippines ourselves in the future". 

 

They hope that visiting mum will not be too great a drain on their resources.

 

She noted: "Thailand talks about being a hub for medical care but the immigration rules are just not conducive to that especially in our case."

 

She said that costs in the USA were not affordable - a situation that led to Mrs Padgett being relocated to Thailand in the first place. 

 

The family will be flying to Manila at 8 am today.

 

They hope to all come back one day and live in Thailand - but it may need changes to the immigration rules before that could ever become a possibility. 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2019-05-28

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[Chazar]

14 minutes ago, webfact said:

Rules are rules

Love the mentality, questioning isn't allowed,  follow  the  rule, obey, conform.

It would be nice to see this "Thai  Visa/Nation contacted immigration to hear their comment on this  case"

Edited May 27, 2019 by Chazar

[RotBenz8888]

So much for Land Of Smiles...

 

A smile will cost you 800 000 in the bank, NO negotiation.

[Jingthing]

Tip of the iceberg. Think of all the people that will leave, are soon leaving or have already left due to the weirdly changed and unclear immigration policies that never post and never make the news.

 

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

 

[aussienam]

The reality is IMO that the Thai establishment no longer wish for low end expat spenders, preferring for upper middle and high end income earning expats.  Health insurance is obviously an issue as is other issues that could burden the Thai economy - but I feel in the whole scheme of things that this would only account for a small percentage.  I get that having people here financially self sufficient is a good idea, but their requirements I feel are too rigid and with the new laws it makes those who have been doing the right thing all along being punished.  Of course there are those who have caused problems and hence the crackdown and changes.  But I feel that there may be a bigger strategy here to change the face of those who come here.  There is always the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam and probably a few other places as well that in time will cater better for expats and those needing care.   Sad for the lady though.  A bit of flexibility in circumstances like this would be good IMO.  

[Jingthing]

Half baked policy changes mean many good people are getting burned and many others are left feeling raw.

[Jingthing]

12 minutes ago, aussienam said:

The reality is IMO that the Thai establishment no longer wish for low end expat spenders, preferring for upper middle and high end income earning expats.  Health insurance is obviously an issue as is other issues that could burden the Thai economy - but I feel in the whole scheme of things that this would only account for a small percentage.  I get that having people here financially self sufficient is a good idea, but their requirements I feel are too rigid and with the new laws it makes those who have been doing the right thing all along being punished.  Of course there are those who have caused problems and hence the crackdown and changes.  But I feel that there may be a bigger strategy here to change the face of those who come here.  There is always the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam and probably a few other places as well that in time will cater better for expats and those needing care.   Sad for the lady though.  A bit of flexibility in circumstances like this would be good IMO.  

I think you overestimate the planning that has gone into these policy changes. Were the changes that basically punish mainly people that have been following the rules designed to actually go after "cheaters" or were they designed to drum up business to agents? I don't know, it's all speculation, but what is clear is that there are real life human consequences to any government policy change and it's hard to know which of the consequences were intended and which were not. 

Edited May 27, 2019 by Jingthing

[donnacha]

I feel bad for the lady with Alzheimer's, but something is fishy about this story.

An American husband and wife team who ran a Web design business successful enough to be sold, and still relatively young, are unable to drum up one bank deposit of $25K which will allow their mother to stay in Thailand until she passes.

During the course of their business careers, did they not forge strong enough relationships with clients or collaborators to be able to ask around for help now that they have a real problem?

Don't they have have any family or family friends in America? Is gathering $25K really such an insurmountable challenge? 

Do they really think that living in Manila is going to be that much cheaper than Chiang Mai?

Do they understand how much harder it is to find a place to live there, and how much more expensive rent and utilities are?

Have they ever experienced the existential struggle of trying to find edible food in the Philippines?

Surely, if they had made any friends at all in during their 4 years in Thailand, someone would have pointed out that they can simply pay $600 per year for an agent to grease the wheels for them and stay right here in Chiang Mai. I mean, seriously, that is less that what their flights to Manila will cost them.

 

My guess is that their back story is bullshit and this is an attempt to salt gullible people, farang and Thai, into donating money to them. They have no intention of folding up their tents and moving their circus to Manila.

 

Edited May 27, 2019 by donnacha

[unamazedloso]

Not to worry. To even things up after reading this i will no longer be supporting 4 elderly people and there grand children in my street. Government steals their money, doesn't care well then neither do i. Hard to do but care has to work both ways.

[donnacha]

11 minutes ago, unamazedloso said:

To even things up after reading this i will no longer be supporting 4 elderly people and there grand children in my street.

Your wife and her family will be devastated.

 

Edited May 27, 2019 by donnacha

[colinneil]

16 minutes ago, donnacha said:

Something is fishy about this story.

An American husband and wife team who ran a Web design business successful enough to be sold, but now cannot drum up one bank deposit of $25K which will allow their mother to stay in Thailand until she passes.

During the course of their business career, did they not forge strong enough relationships with clients or collaborators to be able to ask around for help now that they have a real problem?

Don't they have have any family or family friends in America? Is gathering $25K really such an insurmountable challenge? 

Do they really think that living in Manila is going to be that much cheaper than Chiang Mai?

Do they understand how much harder it is to find a place to live there, and how much more expensive rent and utilities are?

Have they ever experienced the existential struggle of trying to find edible food in the Philippines?

Surely, if they had made any friends at all in during their 4 years in Thailand, someone would have pointed out that they can simply pay $600 per year for an agent to grease the wheels for them and stay right here in Chiang Mai. I mean, seriously, that is less that what their flights to Manila will cost them.

 

My guess is that their back story is bullshit and this is an attempt to salt gullible people, farang and Thai, into donating money to them. They have no intention of folding up their circus and moving to Manila.

 

You think something fishy about it.

You clearly have dont know much about immigration officers here.

Rules are rules they say, they have no compassion what so ever.

My own experience with them.... Being in a coma is no excuse for overstay.

Your husband will be deported, thats what my wife was told when she went to sort things out.

[mok199]

My prediction is Our Commander Prayut, will swoop in with cameras blazing and sieze this golden opportunity to save the day.. ''never let a sad story go to waste''..

[donnacha]

4 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Rules are rules they say, they have no compassion what so ever.

My own experience with them.... Being in a coma is no excuse for overstay.

My sympathies on that situation, it must have been incredibly upsetting for you and your wife.

You are, however, missing what I'm saying about the couple in this particular story. I am not suggesting they plead their case with the authorities - which might be part of what they are trying to do in drumming up this publicity - because, I agree with you, in this in this situation the only solution is to deposit $25K in a bank and let it sit there until their mother dies.

Given their backstory, $25K should not be a problem.

They say that they are American. They are in their 50's. They say they ran a Web design company which was so successful that they managed to sell it - you have to attain a certain size for it to be worth anyone's while to buy your company.

Now, for some reason, they are no longer able to use their valuable tech and business skills to drum up a relatively small amount of money. Even a coder without a history of business success would be able to earn that amount of money in about a month of working hard on freelance projects. There are two of them, it should be even easier.

Neither are they able to turn to family, friends, business colleagues, people they have helped in the past, members of their church or other groups they have been involved in.

Sadly for their mother, the reality is probably that the claimed business success never happened and they long ago burned all their bridges with friends and family.

 

[THAIJAMES]

25 minutes ago, colinneil said:

You think something fishy about it.

You clearly have dont know much about immigration officers here.

Rules are rules they say, they have no compassion what so ever.

My own experience with them.... Being in a coma is no excuse for overstay.

Your husband will be deported, thats what my wife was told when she went to sort things out.

That was not the point of his message. He or she is not debating the corruption of immigration or their insensitivity to people's problems.

 

Just the fact that there are ways around it and the whole thing sounds fishy. And I agree.

 

Edited May 27, 2019 by THAIJAMES

[Destiny1990]

Where are those expat guys now always falsely claiming that nothing has changed for the visa extensions?

That family was probably spending 170 k monthly here and then whats the advantage of them relocating to dirty Manila?

Edited May 27, 2019 by Destiny1990

[Small Joke]

3 hours ago, Chazar said:

Love the mentality, questioning isn't allowed,  follow  the  rule, obey, conform.

It would be nice to see this "Thai  Visa/Nation contacted immigration to hear their comment on this  case"

I applaud your heart, but dream on, these guys (TV) are hard nosed businessmen. Even if they were SJWs, the Thais would ignore them. Expats have no standing here, other than as a revenue source, and they're not even an important one at that. 

Edited May 27, 2019 by Small Joke

[stanleycoin]

Thailand's,  true face of authority,  shining through. 

Good to see this story out there.

It puts resent changes,  into the real light of day. 

 

A very sad state of affairs. 

 

 

Edited May 27, 2019 by stanleycoin

[sqwakvfr]

“There she will easily get a three year visa without bothersome financial hassles”

 

How? What kind of PI Visa?  I researched living in Manila or Cebu for years and discovered the PI’s version of the Retirement Visa is more difficult to obtain the LOS.  

[Isaanbiker]

1 hour ago, colinneil said:

You think something fishy about it.

You clearly have dont know much about immigration officers here.

Rules are rules they say, they have no compassion what so ever.

My own experience with them.... Being in a coma is no excuse for overstay.

Your husband will be deported, thats what my wife was told when she went to sort things out.

Sorry, mate to hear that. Must have been hard on both of you. 

 

  There's no more Land of Smiles, more lies and cries. 

 

   

[DingDongLing]

Anti-farang rules and attitude will show its effect on the thai economy in the coming decade. 

 

More people= More money/economic movement = more taxes/vat/ect

Basic economic principals that they do not realize. 

[Power of life yoga]

1 hour ago, donnacha said:

I feel bad for the lady with Alzheimer's, but something is fishy about this story.

An American husband and wife team who ran a Web design business successful enough to be sold, and still relatively young, are unable to drum up one bank deposit of $25K which will allow their mother to stay in Thailand until she passes.

During the course of their business careers, did they not forge strong enough relationships with clients or collaborators to be able to ask around for help now that they have a real problem?

Don't they have have any family or family friends in America? Is gathering $25K really such an insurmountable challenge? 

Do they really think that living in Manila is going to be that much cheaper than Chiang Mai?

Do they understand how much harder it is to find a place to live there, and how much more expensive rent and utilities are?

Have they ever experienced the existential struggle of trying to find edible food in the Philippines?

Surely, if they had made any friends at all in during their 4 years in Thailand, someone would have pointed out that they can simply pay $600 per year for an agent to grease the wheels for them and stay right here in Chiang Mai. I mean, seriously, that is less that what their flights to Manila will cost them.

 

My guess is that their back story is bullshit and this is an attempt to salt gullible people, farang and Thai, into donating money to them. They have no intention of folding up their tents and moving their circus to Manila.

 

I agree with you mate, just doesn't add up 

[kingstonkid]

First and foremost I have to wonder the about the planning that went into this.  

 

First they say that they had enough money to get them through.  That to me sounds like they had JUST

[phantomfiddler]

3 hours ago, aussienam said:

The reality is IMO that the Thai establishment no longer wish for low end expat spenders, preferring for upper middle and high end income earning expats.  Health insurance is obviously an issue as is other issues that could burden the Thai economy - but I feel in the whole scheme of things that this would only account for a small percentage.  I get that having people here financially self sufficient is a good idea, but their requirements I feel are too rigid and with the new laws it makes those who have been doing the right thing all along being punished.  Of course there are those who have caused problems and hence the crackdown and changes.  But I feel that there may be a bigger strategy here to change the face of those who come here.  There is always the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam and probably a few other places as well that in time will cater better for expats and those needing care.   Sad for the lady though.  A bit of flexibility in circumstances like this would be good IMO.  

Not arguing with you, but your first sentence does not go along with the apparent government wish to ship in hundreds of thousands (yea millions !) of Indians and zero baht Chinese, which I do believe is going to have a serious impact on Farang arrivals in the future. Simply put, Thailand is going to emerge as a not so pleasant place to be in. ????

Edited May 28, 2019 by phantomfiddler
Hundreds of thousands to millions

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, donnacha said:

An American husband and wife team who ran a Web design business successful enough to be sold, and still relatively young, are unable to drum up one bank deposit of $25K which will allow their mother to stay in Thailand until she passes.

They were unable to drum up 800,000 baht for the mother's bank account, plus:

• 800,000 baht for the husband's retirement extension;
• 800,000 baht for the wife's retirement extension;
• 1,000,000 baht a year for the care home for the mother;
• their own living costs; and
• insurance and miscellaneous other expenses.

In total, this amounts to a fairly substantial sum that they may not have bargained on when they planned their early retirement.

 

A sympathetic and resourceful senior immigration official could undoubtedly have found a legal solution that avoided the family needing to deposit 800,000 baht in addition to the million baht a year care home costs.

[Crash999]

1 hour ago, colinneil said:

You think something fishy about it.

You clearly have dont know much about immigration officers here.

Rules are rules they say, they have no compassion what so ever.

My own experience with them.... Being in a coma is no excuse for overstay.

Your husband will be deported, thats what my wife was told when she went to sort things out.

Why didn’t the hospital apply for a medical extension?

[BritTim]

1 minute ago, Crash999 said:

Why didn’t the hospital apply for a medical extension?

Because she is able to travel so would not have been granted any medical extension.

[colinneil]

3 minutes ago, Crash999 said:

Why didn’t the hospital apply for a medical extension?

You ask why the hospital didnt ask for medical extension, well because being a government hospital they were not prepared to get involved.

[Seth1a2a]

   If their own country did not bend to accommodate their financial constraints then how does it become Thailand's responsibility to take that burden instead ? Shopping around was a great idea.  The Philippines became the solution so now the problem is solved  . Hopefully when/if their funds run below the Philippines requirement  they don't call a press conference to condemn them as well. 

They admitted that the lower financial requirement also lowers the amount of service and convenience that more money would have provided in the USA and then in Thailand.

Two people Retired before 50 years of age who are unable to set aside 25,000$  means we would have been hearing another hardship story in a few years about how unfair the financial requirements are for them as well .   

 

 

 

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[Seismic]

2 hours ago, donnacha said:

Have they ever experienced the existential struggle of trying to find edible food in the Philippines?
 

Wow, In 40 years of visiting and working in the Philippines, I never once had a problem with finding edible food. What's wrong, don't you like Balut ?????

[rexall]

1 hour ago, THAIJAMES said:

That was not the point of his message. He or she is not debating the corruption of immigration or their insensitivity to people's problems.

 

Just the fact that there are ways around it and the whole thing sounds fishy. And I agree.

 

The article says the pay B85K monthly to the care facility.  Where is the money coming from? If it is coming from overseas, which it should be, then why not deposit it in the bank and then pay the care facility?  "Fishy" may be a unnecessarily pejorative, but something doesn't add up. Perhaps the article is just badly written?