Go Fund Me appeal saves British couple trapped in hospital on Koh Samui

[ukrules]

On 7/19/2019 at 3:37 PM, webfact said:

Earlier this year, officials said that foreigners cost the Thai state some 300 million baht annually in unpaid medical bills.

Every one of them will get free treatment in the UK, I wonder how much the Thais cost the UK each year?

 

[Rocking Robert]

Who paid for the rescue team and speed boat?

[ericjt]

At the risk of being called naive -- Let's assume everyone was acting in good faith. 

 

If the hospital/care facility gave back the passport, that would have been around 300,000 THB they could have written off.  That's a big amount here. 

 

The couple took out insurance.  Good for them. 

 

A "gotcha" clause in the insurance or refusal to pay the whole claim?  Not uncommon.  Did anyone here read all the exclusions in an insurance policy they last time they bought insurance?  I've never done it.  And even if the policy didn't exclude these costs, what position are any of us in to make an insurance company pay?  Especially in a foreign country far from home? 

 

Didn't wear proper protective clothing?  Most motorcycle riders don't.  Including me, when I rode.  If I was going to ride a motorcycle, I'd take the risk of an accident and injuries.  It's not much fun riding a m/c with a bucket on my head.  I drove VERY carefully, and until I got too old to ride, I avoided serious accidents. 

 

The people on GoFundMe?  Good for them.  A guess there a few other people out there who are willing to give other people the benefit of the doubt.  It's essentially an informal version of the 20 THB insurance fund the Thai govt wants to start, so no other foreigners get trapped like these guys.  Sounds like a good idea.  And affordable.  I say, "cheers" for the agency that is pushing this insurance program. 

 

Finally, these were not rich people.  Caregivers aren't high on the pay scale.  Still, they did a lot of things right.  It's possible the brakes might have given out suddenly when needed the most.  Low brake fluid?  Leak in the lines?  With a shift bike, if you're good, you can use lower gears to brake, but not everyone is good enough or fast enough.  And this might have been a auto bike. 

 

Pissed?  I didn't see anything about alcohol in the story.  Did I miss something? 

 

So come on guys.  It's easy to poke holes in a story or claim, but it's also possible these guys did most things right and just got caught in a sticky situation far from home.  I'd give everyone who helped them a cheer and a POB (pat on back).  I might have even donated a few quid myself. 

 

Most of us don't do everything perfectly (especially on a honeymoon), and there was a lot of caring shown by a lot of people in this situation.  Let's all ease up on everybody involved, and hand out a few gold stars. 

[Thairealist]

8 hours ago, padgebkk said:

"officials said that foreigners cost the Thai state some 300 million baht annually in unpaid medical bills"

Wow!! 300million baht!! That's huge!!

Almost .0002% of the revenue the Thai Government gets from tourists visiting this country (between 1 and 2.5 trillion baht, depending on which source you read).

How do you say "duty of care" in thai?

 

 

 

 

 

 A couple of years ago, the authorities in Phuket, stated that foreigners cost Phuket 4 Million Baht for unpaid medical bills. And this for a region heavily popualated by foreigners, yet they are now stating 300 million for the whole of the country. 

[AdamTheFarang]

I was on holiday in Los Angeles and dislocated my arm and went to hospital. At the time quite dazed, I did not have cash on me. I did have insurance, but again not on me. They did not hold my Passport which is possibly illegal. I doubt this couple had their Passports on them so the hospital took matters into their own hands. 300m Baht is a tiny amount of money compared to the billions of Baht tourists bring in every month, to a country mostly of uneducated peasants. I am Jewish and most Thais did not even know what a Jew was. Amazing Thailand for the wrong reasons!! Talk about uneducated. Thailand is all take and gives back nothing, not even showers on the beach. Australia, Israel and many more have showers on the beach in tourist areas, Phuket the Jewel Of the Andaman I never saw a shower and if there are they are not government funded as they do not respect the tourists putting money into the economy like Australia, Israel and many more. Thais just think they are superior, which is inverted and show little respect and give nothing back. I lived there for 7 years and from landlords, to girlfriends this was shown over and over again. So if Thailand get so many tourists and a few have accidents Thailand should pay for them. It is no wonder less people are going, high Baht (are the elite buying abroad) as the economy is not good and the Baht is not a freely convertible currency. Is the Baht manipulated, make it convertible and we will see!! Visas are harder to get now. One of the many things Thailand does not understand now is the world is global and Thailand is still xenophobic. Imagine Isarn without any foreign money from the hookers. I once met a lady who said her boyfriend, a German had died and they lived with her family and she said her father loved the German. It took me w while to realise why...............westerners do not stoop so low.......the old man loved the German's money not him! Peasant people. How many foreign doctors, lawyers etc do you see, none as the Thais know they are better than them!

[APJ291]

13 hours ago, wgdanson said:

What's a CBT please?

Its a UK Government run/DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) governed one day course that covers all aspects of controlling and handling a scooter up to 125cc including an eye test with a small bit of highway code. Once you pass, you a given a certificate to then drive legally on the road for two years on completion of the course.  This allows you to drive with "L" plates on your scooter during the 2 years.  Prices vary around the £100 mark

 

It's usually the first stage for people wanting do their full motorcycle licence.  

 

Some people who do not want to do the full motorcycle use this 2 year CBT for work purposes like delivery jobs for fast food, pizza etc as most of these bikes are 125cc used by the companies.

 

Most UK nationals/tourists in theory should the above CBT a minimum included with their Full UK Car Licences when they hire scooters, as well as a International Driving Permit IDP which lasts for a year but can be easily obtained at some Post Offices back home for £5.50.  All you need at the post office is a passport style photo and your UK Driving Licence for ID and they will make one up for you while you wait.   Once you have these documents and licences most if not all Insurance companies back home will not have an issue paying out as you are covered, but also check with the insurance company beforehand that you will be covered using scooters/bikes on your policy.

 

Here are some links below;

 

CBT

 

https://www.gov.uk/motorcycle-cbt/prepare-cbt-course

International Driving Permit (IDP)

 

https://www.postoffice.co.uk/identity/international-driving-permit

 

Both are very useful when wanting to apply for a Thai Car and Motorbike Licence as they are the required documents that UK nationals should use the help aid their application process.

[harriott456]

2 hours ago, Rocking Robert said:

Who paid for the rescue team and speed boat?

rescue team is an all volunteer group, speed boat evac is around 50k,

[mick01827]

????????You've got to love stupid people????????

I'd like to know how long he's held a motorbike license in the UK?

[JamJar]

11 hours ago, sawadee1947 said:

well, and the couple got faulty brains coming to Thailand without an travel health insurance.

 

They had travel insurance. Seems you didn't even bother to read the original article before posting. Impressive. ????

[JamJar]

10 hours ago, oldrunner said:

Go fund me is bu.s.it. My daughter, granddaughter and daughter's beau spent 30 days out of USA via Japan, Bangkok, Pattaya didn't need it but had plenty of insurance. Why so many Brits got their hands out all the time for bar bills (oops Hosp bills), etc. Yanks just hang in until they die.

 

Plenty of insurance? What kind of foolishness....?

Their is little doubt that their insurance had a minimum of £5,000,000 of medical cover. You will be hard pushed to find lesser coverage in the UK. Mine is something like £15,000,000.

What you might not know is that some insurance companies will refuse to pay the inflated bills of a certain group of hospitals in Thailand.

Too many people voicing an opinion without the slightest amount of knowledge on the subject.

Many of them haven't even read the article and claim the couple had no insurance at all, so eager are they to post a negative comment come what may.

 

[meshborg]

Weelcum to Tilaand stoopid farung toorists.Laand of smile wen we see u monee.U pay fur motobike repair or wee call corupt pleesman.ok..

[JamJar]

10 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

Seems to be the latest trend, used to be full moon parties or visiting drug dealers in a Thai prison. Now it's come here without travel insurance, that's if you can find one to cover stupid activities,  get on a bike on the most dangerous roads in the world, inevitable accident then online for the go rescue me appeal. Not sure who the bigger fools are the tourists or those donating.

 

Who arrived without travel insurance? Certainly not those featured in the article. So what is your point?

 

They had travel insurance. But don't let that stop you from an opportunity for a rant.

 

I've heard of incidences wherein people who have suffered accidents and were taken to a certain hospital where they had a reputation for inflating bills. The insurance companies began to refuse to deal with them.

So it could be a case of where the insurance company refused to pay an inflated bill. 

Not difficult to find articles about private hospitals overcharging.

On the other hand, one would not expect that the insurance company would leave the couple in the lurch. Rather they would simply renegotiate the bill.

So there is likely more to the story. But not having travel insurance is wide of the mark.

 

[JamJar]

9 hours ago, Liss Camber said:

Sorry but I do not have any comprehension for foreigners going on a vacation without a travel insurance. Everyone can have an accident not important what country they are going to. It's just reckless to do so and having others to pay for their negligence.

 

Who didn't have travel insurance? Are you just a Troll who clearly did not even bother to read the original article?

[Mel52]

I’m glad they’re going to be ok

 

 

 

 

[JamJar]

10 hours ago, wmccpa112253 said:

More trash tourist that should stay home if they don’t have any money to take care of themselves 

 

To whom do you refer? They had travel insurance.

Interesting that there are so many comments from people who are clearly unable or unwilling to read the original article.

Just itching to bash someone regardless.

[Scott]

Inflammatory post and reply reported and removed.  

 

[Mel52]

 
To whom do you refer? They had travel insurance.
Interesting that there are so many comments from people who are clearly unable or unwilling to read the original article.
Just itching to bash someone regardless.

Just like you [emoji38][emoji38][emoji38][emoji38][emoji38][emoji38][emoji38]

[mike787]

Absolute idiots.

[RJRS1301]

5 hours ago, JamJar said:

 

To whom do you refer? They had travel insurance.

Interesting that there are so many comments from people who are clearly unable or unwilling to read the original article.

Just itching to bash someone regardless.

Poor comprehension skills for many it seems, or just trying to try to confirm preconceived notions of others. 

[wgdanson]

7 hours ago, meshborg said:

Weelcum to Tilaand stoopid farung toorists.Laand of smile wen we see u monee.U pay fur motobike repair or wee call corupt pleesman.ok..

I thought Thai Visa Forum was English only !

[RJRS1301]

1 hour ago, wgdanson said:

I thought Thai Visa Forum was English only !

That is english

very easy to understand

 

[wgdanson]

1 hour ago, RJRS1301 said:

That is english

very easy to understand

 

Sorry, forgot the LOL or 5555

[justinnsamui]

Beggars. Asking people to pay for their luxury holiday **** ups.. shameless.

 

Sent from my Redmi Note 5 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

 

[Pachalan]

Either the amount of 463,000 is completely fictitious, or the hospital needs investigating; this amount is preposterous for what limited knowledge we have of the treatment that they received.

 

I have visited the Bangkok hospital in Hua Hin, which is one of the more expensive ones, several times for different treatments, and fail to see how such a sum could be accumulated. Last December I visited the Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok for a prostate scan with the latest 3T MRI machine (which they don't have in Hua Hin) and the whole procedure and consultation was 20,800 Baht.

 

I’d be interested to know if they posted a copy of their hospital receipt on the Go Fund Me page (*∆°)

[sawadee1947]

14 hours ago, JamJar said:

 

They had travel insurance. Seems you didn't even bother to read the original article before posting. Impressive. ????

Crap reply.

They spent a lot of money for their holidays, however too stingy to supply a sufficient travel insurance with a proper coverage.

 

[RJRS1301]

1 hour ago, sawadee1947 said:

Crap reply.

They spent a lot of money for their holidays, however too stingy to supply a sufficient travel insurance with a proper coverage.

 

Well we don't know do we, insurance companies will always try to not pay. 

Perhaps the insurance assessors used the "contributing" negligence clauses that are found in many policies.

Any comment on their "stingy" insurance cover is pure supposition. 

[geoffrobbo]

On 7/19/2019 at 1:47 PM, colinneil said:

Up until now i thought it was only Thai drivers who blamed faulty brakes.

If as they claim the bike had dodgy brakes, why did they take it?

Exactly, why not check the bike first before riding off

[hotchilli]

Always check your health insurance.. many have opt-out clauses if you're on a motorcycle or doing dangerous sports.. having said that... even a Thai health policy only covers you for a percentage of any surgery fees.... 

I just had a quote as an expat 60 years of age from a well known Thai insurance company.

They wanted 45,000 baht premium for one years cover.

But it only paid out a maximum of 20%-30% of any claim (one allowed per year) with a cap of 35,000 baht

and only a maximum of 10,000 baht as an out patient !

If you claimed you wouldn't even get your premium back... how's that for a scam of a policy?

You pay the rest !!!!

[AdamTheFarang]

On 7/20/2019 at 6:30 AM, oldrunner said:

Go fund me is bu.s.it. My daughter, granddaughter and daughter's beau spent 30 days out of USA via Japan, Bangkok, Pattaya didn't need it but had plenty of insurance. Why so many Brits got their hands out all the time for bar bills (oops Hosp bills), etc. Yanks just hang in until they die.

Because Americans have had to pay for medical insurance in the USA for many years, otherwise what happens if they get sick, or have an accident. The UK has mandatory contributions taken from earnings, so that medical cover, including because of an accident like this are "free"

[Snow Leopard]

On 7/19/2019 at 1:03 PM, wgdanson said:

Because they were riding a motorbike.

Somewhere in the small print i would guess.