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

[DrTuner]

5 hours ago, CapraIbex said:

Compassion fatigue is real.

It sure is. I have none left for Thais.

[Guderian]

13 hours ago, Chazar said:

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

 

And that's just the attitude of 75% of the members of this forum, lol.

[rexall]

3 hours ago, LukKrueng said:

Thailand is not a Buddhist country. It is a sovereign country in which about 95% of the citizens are Buddhist by religious definition. And as in most countries, when a loophole is a law is found, there is an attempt to fix it . Duh! Sigh!

I think Thailand is a Buddhist country. However, be that as it may, taking your pont, I guess the 5% who are not Buddhists must run the gov.

[BritTim]

9 hours ago, Seth1a2a said:

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 ?

What "burden"? In the US, full time care costs at least $10,000 a month. In Thailand, it costs less than $3,000 a month for superior care. Thus, the OP wants to support a Thai care facility that employs many Thai staff by having the care home take care of their mother. The cost of Thailand is zero. There is only a net benefit.

[KPG59]

11 hours 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.

 

Wow. Aren't you just a ray of sunshine...

[Speedhump]

EXCUSE ME. How much 'compassion does US immigration show when their rules are not complied with? 90 percent of comments here are a bad joke. 

[e2x10]

Land of smiles

[LukKrueng]

1 hour ago, rexall said:

I think Thailand is a Buddhist country. However, be that as it may, taking your pont, I guess the 5% who are not Buddhists must run the gov.

What I meant is that Thailand does not run by religious rule, but by civil law, same as the USA, UK and so on. It is the Thai people and government's prerogative to decide who can visit Thailand, who can stay in Thailand, and the conditions under which they can. 

Whether you (or any other non Thai) accept or agree to these facts, whether you accept and respect the Thai culture or not - it is not up to you.

If I wanted to visit or move to live in the USA / NZ / Canada / India / Pakistan or any other country which I am not a citizen of, I would have to fulfill all the requirements for the permit to stay or visit there, and it makes no difference if I like it, I am comfortable with it or not. If I am up to THEIR standards - I can go. If I am not, then I can't go. And in most places you can't really contest the decisions made about you. So why should it be any different here?

[Traubert]

6 hours ago, cougar52 said:

First of all, lets actually point out the cost that they are talking about. Husband visa 8000,000 Baht, add 800,000 for wife makes 1,800,00, now add 800,000 for the Mother adds up to 2,600,00 Baht not to add 1,020,00 the cost of the monthly care for Mom, which adds up to3,620,000 a year without a dime left for living cost, food, utilities, rent ,etc. You people are nothing more that computer warriors, and a sad lot. 

Not a maths major then?

[Humpy]

Do what thousands of others do, find a 'helpful' visa agent !!!

[LukKrueng]

1 hour ago, GAZZPA said:

What! they are not asking for any donations. why can their story not be true? Why would they go through all the inconvenience if they could easily stump up the cash? Your point makes zero sense. The Thais dont want foreigners, simple as that, time to leave and I already have. What is so good about Thailand that makes it worth living in an unfriendly, xenophobic country? Absolutely nothing, leave them to it. The Philippines is certainly not an expensive ( its cheaper then Thailand), I have a Filipino wife and been there many times. Also the beaches and natural beauty are far better then Thailand. All contrary to the picture you are trying to paint. I wish the family well, they should leave with a smile on their faces.

 

They are not moving themselves. Only shipping the mother.... 

from the OP:

"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.

[mikebike]

4 hours ago, smedly said:

are you seriously trying to compare Thailand with the UK, here's a clue - freeloading on benefits NHS and housing - and freely able to work pushing wages lower - Thailand offers none of this - retires here generally pay their way on retirement and claim for nothing

You apparently have no clue that Burmese, Loatian, Cambodian, etc... come here and work for lower wages than Thais AND get Thai govt health care while they are on work permit.

[smedly]

10 minutes ago, mikebike said:

You apparently have no clue that Burmese, Loatian, Cambodian, etc... come here and work for lower wages than Thais AND get Thai govt health care while they are on work permit.

what has that got to do with Farangs retired here

 

Absolutely nothing

[mikebike]

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

What "burden"? In the US, full time care costs at least $10,000 a month. In Thailand, it costs less than $3,000 a month for superior care. Thus, the OP wants to support a Thai care facility that employs many Thai staff by having the care home take care of their mother. The cost of Thailand is zero. There is only a net benefit.

The "burden" for Thailand would be bending the rules for someone who does not seem to fit in their pigeon-holes just to accommodate a family who have chosen to be here rather than their home country.

[mikebike]

6 minutes ago, smedly said:

what has that got to do with Farangs retired here

 

Absolutely nothing

It has to do with your crappy comparison to the UK...

[connda]

7 hours ago, chuang said:

This has nothing to do with religion. 

Actually it has everything to do with the state religion of Buddhism.  This is not a secular nation.  It's a Buddhist nations.  You'll find virtually no Thais other than the Muslims in the South who don't identify as Buddhist.  And Buddhism is based on compassion.  Buddhism is about seeking an end to suffering.  Buddhist have empathy for the suffering of others.  Those who call themselves Buddhist, like the majority of Thais, but who are devoid of compassion?  Sort of difficult to actually say you're a Buddhist when you lack empathy and compassion - like Thai Immigration so obviously lacks.
Most first world countries have exceptions to their immigration rules for humanitarian reasons.  Obviously not Thailand - "The rules are the rules, they can't be bent."  

[chainarong]

You have from time to time the same coming out of Oz , just last week a young girl with massive medical  problems born in Australia to a family on visa's ,  the family has been told to leave Australia because the daughter is a burden on the Australian medical costs , I can tell U there's a whole heap of people that is a burden on the Australian tax payer and they get special favorable treatment, same crap coming from the government,  different country.

[Fred white]

17 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

So much for Land Of Smiles...

 

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

the page says she hass the 800,000 in the bank 

[AmericanSafety]

Genuinely sad. I feel this it only the beginning though.

I only imagine what additional hurtles we must all jump here in the future.

[Yme]

14 hours ago, donnacha said:

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.

 

I don't know what it is you've been smoking, but I'd like the name of your dealer. Even by Thaivisa standards your first two replies to this topic are full of nothing but fancy speculation based on nothing except the excrement passing through your cranial cavity. Seriously, some of the most brainless stuff I've read here in the last 10 years.

[rexall]

3 hours ago, LukKrueng said:

What I meant is that Thailand does not run by religious rule, but by civil law, same as the USA, UK and so on. It is the Thai people and government's prerogative to decide who can visit Thailand, who can stay in Thailand, and the conditions under which they can. 

Whether you (or any other non Thai) accept or agree to these facts, whether you accept and respect the Thai culture or not - it is not up to you.

If I wanted to visit or move to live in the USA / NZ / Canada / India / Pakistan or any other country which I am not a citizen of, I would have to fulfill all the requirements for the permit to stay or visit there, and it makes no difference if I like it, I am comfortable with it or not. If I am up to THEIR standards - I can go. If I am not, then I can't go. And in most places you can't really contest the decisions made about you. So why should it be any different here?

200 words devoted to stating the obvious!  Sorry. I don't see anything you have written here which precludes gov and imm officials from behaving compassionately. Nor do I see anything you have written which precludes people from discussing, criticizing, and expressing an opinion, even if those opinions are expressed by greasy, slimy foreigners.  It would be interesting to see how well your faux Stoicism would hold up when they come looking for you.

[elliss]

5 hours ago, DefaultName said:

What I don't understand is the 85,000 a month.  My mother is in a dementia care home with 24/7 nursing care in the UK, and it costs half that.  Surely Thailand would be cheaper?

 

  The jury is out on this one,  I am not convinced , all the facts have been told. 

 

 

[brianthainess]

15 hours ago, mok199 said:

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''..

If only big joke was back what a photo op

[elliss]

7 hours ago, nabbie said:

https://mymodernmet.com/alzheimer-village-dax-france/?fbclid=IwAR2acpwbxVwUYD60lBHGS2OFeUjQbpKI_TaOFmZ4_CV5lJlTIULX57EvmbI

 

 Please do not do down load links , they should be not allowed on open topics. 

      

[elliss]

31 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

If only big joke was back what a photo op

 

 He would advise OP,  on a quality agent . aka as immo ..

 You could not make this up , matey . 555

 

 

[kevin612]

Immigration is kicking people out of Thailand 

[Selatan]

2 hours ago, kevin612 said:

Immigration is kicking people out of Thailand 

Frankly, as a Malaysian, I find it rather surprising that so many Westerners in Thailand don't have the 800k baht required. You guys come from high-income countries. I think the typical Malaysian middle-class earner would consider that amount to be not that much, considering that Malaysia is just a middle-income country. If really don't have the 800k, then totally deserved to be kicked out.

 

Is it because Westerners generally don't have a savings habit?

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, Selatan said:

Frankly, as a Malaysian, I find it rather surprising that so many Westerners in Thailand don't have the 800k baht required. You guys come from high-income countries. I think the typical Malaysian middle-class earner would consider that amount to be not that much, considering that Malaysia is just a middle-income country. If really don't have the 800k, then totally deserved to be kicked out.

 

Is it because Westerners generally don't have a savings habit?

Could be. 

 

Quote

6 in 10 Americans don't have $500 in savings

https://money.cnn.com/2017/01/12/pf/americans-lack-of-savings/index.html

[dadokk]

17 hours ago ,niebla said:

If the son or daughter is on a retirement visa and has a birth certificate the mom can be added as a dependent on the son/daughter's retirement visa with no income or 800,000 requirement. 

 

This seems to me the solution.

[Selatan]

41 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Could be. 

 

https://money.cnn.com/2017/01/12/pf/americans-lack-of-savings/index.html

Wow! I find that to be rather unbelievable. I also find it rather strange that some Westerners have to resort to retire in a far cheaper place such as Thailand as if the social security and healthcare systems in the West have failed.