British family relocated to Thailand a week before coronavirus closed down the island - now they’re homeless and without work

[moe666]

1 hour ago, taninthai said:

Sounds like dumber and dumber to me,,come looking for work in thailand with no correct visa just when high season is finishing,,,,,,fly out of Uk in the middle of a pandemic ignoring government advice not to travel,,,ignore government warnings 2 weeks ago that if you want to leave thailand make plans now,,,,,,, I could go on and on????????????????.

These people are an example of lack of foresight and the inability to make a coherent decision, very immature people. Go home 

[cornishcarlos]

11 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I have no idea what their visa status is, and neither do you.

 

Being British and having to extend already after 1 month, then it would more than likely be a Visa Exempt entry....

Which would make their story even more ridiculous ????

Must have been a <deleted> car that they sold, otherwise the money from that should support them for a couple weeks at least !!

[19DL86]

13 minutes ago, smedly said:

Other than him appearing to be working or trying to work without the correct visa and WP I do not see their problem. They just sold their car and house in Devon so will be sitting with millions of baht in the bank. They should just enjoy the next few months of holiday in Phangan and when the world returns to normal decide what to do. They are in a much better position than 99% of the rest of us.

  

Sorry but I think this is a rather absurd comment.  I can't see how on Gods earth they can be classed in the 1% of us?!?!  Whereby or according to you they re in a better position than 99% of us.

 

Homeless, skint, burdened by their 2 infant children, 8,000 miles from home, in a foreign country where there's a crippling virus, travel bans, Illegally working (possibly)..... And once this situation improves, it's then most likely no funds for their airfare back to the UK.  Then where upon arrival they ll be homeless, skint, and at the end of a very very long queue for anywhere to live.

 

I now dirt farmers in Isaan whom are ten fold better off.  You must move in strange circles.

[Bert got kinky]

 

So what cost them £500?

Was that for the 1,900 Baht extension, which would work out as around £188 (1,900 Baht = aprox £47 x 4 = £188) or for the letter that the  British Embassy are giving out for free of charge (0 Baht = exactly £0 x 4 = £0)?

 

If it was for the extension then surely they would have had to get extensions whether the virus had occurred or not. 

 

There are more holes in this story than in a packet of Polo mints.

 

[smedly]

2 minutes ago, 19DL86 said:

  

Sorry but I think this is a rather absurd comment.  I can't see how on Gods earth they can be classed in the 1% of us?!?!  Whereby or according to you they re in a better position than 99% of us.

 

Homeless, skint, burdened by their 2 infant children, 8,000 miles from home, in a foreign country where there's a crippling virus, travel bans, Illegally working (possibly)..... And once this situation improves, it's then most likely no funds for their airfare back to the UK.  Then where upon arrival they ll be homeless, skint, and at the end of a very very long queue for anywhere to live.

 

I now dirt farmers in Isaan whom are ten fold better off.  You must move in strange circles.

when you quote a post within an already quoted post the name gets delinked from the original post, if you want to quote a post go to the original post not a quote of one - you will see my name attached to the post you quoted - I didn't post it

[ratcatcher]

               April's Fools?

[TopDeadSenter]

18 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

You want me to do the work you should have done before posting? I have no idea what their visa status is, and neither do you.

Wrong again. We know they arrived in KPG just before the lockdowns started so that would some time in 2nd half of march, and we know their visas are soon to expire, so they are on either a 14 day VOA(entered over land border from neighboring country) or on a 30 day VOA from international air arrival.

 I had a nonB and WP for decades, for different jobs with different companies. My visa stamps were for either 90 days or with extensions a year. There is no NON-B visa with a work permit that only allows you a 30 day stamp.

 Again please tone down the aggression, this is not a thread about Australian arson attacks, and re-read and carefully consider the available facts at hand here. 

[cyril sneer]

they shouldn't be making kids with that mindset

[tifino]

1 hour ago, RandolphGB said:

Completely irresponsible parents. Moving to a foreign country with their two young children during a PANDEMIC and seemingly working illegally. Then advertising in the world media they are working ILLEGALLY.  (Read the article in the link, the mother says she’s now teaching English online and they have renewed their visas for 30 days, which indicates tourist visas).

maybe they had attended an IO; that 'only' Issues 30days for 1900 - no matter whatever Visa one is on?

[Logosone]

9 minutes ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

Being British and having to extend already after 1 month, then it would more than likely be a Visa Exempt entry....

Which would make their story even more ridiculous ????

Must have been a <deleted> car that they sold, otherwise the money from that should support them for a couple weeks at least !!

The article says that they maybe wanted to move on after being in the island they are in now.

 

Could it be they took the sensible decision to explore SEAsia before deciding to settle down?

 

When she says she can only survive for 3 months, if they have 20,000 GBP it could also be she is keeping sizeable reserve amount in mind, say 5000 GBP, to cover return flights and initial set up in the new place. That would then spread the 15000 GBP over four months. A monthly cost of 3750 GBP is perfectly possible in Thailand, with a family of four that requires a large house and most likely expat shopping.

[smedly]

4 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

               April's Fools?

if it is it is rather poor 555

[tifino]

1 minute ago, smedly said:

7 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

               April's Fools?

if it is it is rather poor 555

...and MrP'ss recently upping the ante on Fake News!

 - they might expect a visit soon...

[ChipButty]

Sell up and come to live and work didnt think this one through Im calling bollicks on this one

[ivor bigun]

14 minutes ago, Logosone said:

The article says that they maybe wanted to move on after being in the island they are in now.

 

Could it be they took the sensible decision to explore SEAsia before deciding to settle down?

 

When she says she can only survive for 3 months, if they have 20,000 GBP it could also be she is keeping sizeable reserve amount in mind, say 5000 GBP, to cover return flights and initial set up in the new place. That would then spread the 15000 GBP over four months. A monthly cost of 3750 GBP is perfectly possible in Thailand, with a family of four that requires a large house and most likely expat shopping.

3750 pounds a month,my God we lived on half of that ,in a big house and a son in university ,and having to pay his rent in BKK.

this pair sound like the usual stupid young that inhabit the UK these days ,thinking that they can do as they please and the world will look after them ,to be blunt ,if they had another brain cell they would be plants.

[LomSak27]

1 hour ago, Yinn said:

Why this story news now? 

Are they famous?

They are Foreigners

 

[bangkokbonecollector]

and trust me, don't sell property back in the UK when you come to live here. Rent it out and use that money to live on until you are properly secure. That way you always have a home to go back to if it doesn't work out!

[DoctorG]

Because we have been warned against April Fools'jokes I have to take this at face value.

So all I can say is - ????

[Logosone]

8 minutes ago, ivor bigun said:

3750 pounds a month,my God we lived on half of that ,in a big house and a son in university ,and having to pay his rent in BKK.

this pair sound like the usual stupid young that inhabit the UK these days ,thinking that they can do as they please and the world will look after them ,to be blunt ,if they had another brain cell they would be plants.

You live on 1875 paying two rents in Bangkok, university fees for son? How do you do that? 

 

This family has two children, they got in trouble through no fault of their own. They had, and still have financial reserves. But due to the lockdown and social distancing  mania the man can not do the job he was hired to do. It doesn't look like they expected anyone to look after them. The woman is working as well.

 

I see this more as a first casualty of the unnecessary lockdown overreaction.

Edited April 1, 2020 by Logosone

[BobbyL]

Very care free approach for a middle - aged couple with kids during what was predicted from early January as a global pandemic. 

[banglay]

With a business/Lifestrategy like there's they are bound to succeed in all aspects of their "Cloud cuckoo land life ambitions  "....... "NOT" ..or is it going to be another "Go fund me appeal scam" ....why the hell would any sane person relocate his family in the middle of a virus pandemic  ???  Utter brainless morons ... Sorry for being so unsympathetic ...  

Edited April 1, 2020 by banglay

[tifino]

1 minute ago, BobbyL said:

Very care free approach for a middle - aged couple with kids during what was predicted from early January as a global pandemic. 

because they'd believed all the fake news coming out of the gubberment - the 100% under control thing 

 - and of course, looking at the relative 'reported' numbers; they must have thought it was a paradise of safety, compared to UK'n'Europe,

 

they weren't emigrating from home, but evacuating...

[Logosone]

1 minute ago, banglay said:

With a business/Lifestrategy like there's they are bound to succeed in all aspects of their "Cloud cuckoo life ambitions  "....... "NOT" ..or is it going to be another "Go fund me appeal scam" ....why the hell would any sane person relocate his family in the middle of a virus pandemic  ???  Utter brainless morons ... Sorry for being so unsympathetic ...  

Actually much better to be in Thailand now, than in the UK. That could turn like Italy.

[19DL86]

44 minutes ago, smedly said:

when you quote a post within an already quoted post the name gets delinked from the original post, if you want to quote a post go to the original post not a quote of one - you will see my name attached to the post you quoted - I d

Yes Smedley you're correct, very sorry it was in deed TopDeadSenter who made the comment which I quoted.

[cornishcarlos]

31 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Poor ole Carlos, not getting any, being stuck in Singapore, wifey in Thailand.

 

Think it might fall off in my hand !!!

[Mister Fixit]

51 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Wrong again. We know they arrived in KPG just before the lockdowns started so that would some time in 2nd half of march, and we know their visas are soon to expire, so they are on either a 14 day VOA(entered over land border from neighboring country) or on a 30 day VOA from international air arrival.

 I had a nonB and WP for decades, for different jobs with different companies. My visa stamps were for either 90 days or with extensions a year. There is no NON-B visa with a work permit that only allows you a 30 day stamp.

 Again please tone down the aggression, this is not a thread about Australian arson attacks, and re-read and carefully consider the available facts at hand here. 

You really don't know your visas very well, do you?

Visas on Arrival are for 15 days and are for 18 countries and people can enter any way they like AFAIK.

Visa **Exemptions are valid for 51 countries and are for 30 days, extendable for a further 30 days on payment of 1,900 baht.  There is NO SUCH THING as a 30 day Visa on Arrival.  

 

It is plain from reading the OP, had you done so properly, that these people are British.  The newspaper article was from a Devon paper and Devon is a county in the south west of England.  That means, by employing just a smidgen of brain power, that they will almost certainly have come in on a standard 30 day Visa Exemption which for some reason they seem to have paid well over the odds for to get extended further.

It's possible that they may have come in on a 60 day tourist visa, but unlikely given they could have extended that easily without need for an Embassy letter.

It reads to me that they have extended their Visa Exemption once, then have extended again with a letter, meaning that this seems to be their third extension.  After that, well, who knows?

 

I attach a document which explains the visas available to citizens of other countries.  I suggest you study it well so you get your facts right in future.  It's dated 1 May 2019 so less than a year old, so should still be accurate.  

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2020 by Mister Fixit

[Bert got kinky]

10 minutes ago, Logosone said:

You live on 1875 paying two rents in Bangkok, university fees for son? How do you do that? 

 

This family has two children, they got in trouble through no fault of their own. They had, and still have financial reserves. But due to the lockdown and social distancing  mania the man can not do the job he was hired to do. It doesn't look like they expected anyone to look after them. The woman is working as well.

 

I see this more as a first casualty of the unnecessary lockdown overreaction.

You live on 1875 paying two rents in Bangkok, university fees for son? How do you do that? 

 

I would suggest very comfortably.

£1,875 at today's exchange rate is just over 75,000 Baht.

Most Expat families could easily survive on that, especially when they are at a stage where they only have rent and food to worry about.

 

I have a wife and three children with me in Thailand with the oldest in her third year of university and we could easily survive on 75,000 Baht per month.

This is Thailand, not Vegas or Dubai.

Most Thai families would be happy trying to survive on 20,000 Baht per month.

 

[banglay]

2 minutes ago, Logosone said:

Actually much better to be in Thailand now, than in the UK. That could turn like Italy.

Do you actually believe all the figures coming out from Thailand ???  they do not add up .. Chinese Year (25th January 20)  over 500.000 Chinese Tourists came to Thailand in that week with unrestricted access and  with a large proportion of that figure coming from the Wuhan province ...

Italy's original infection is believed to come via  Chinese tourist visit the country .. and their number were miniscule compared to how many came to Thailand over the same time period ...

Or maybe  thai's are immune .....

[TopDeadSenter]

6 minutes ago, Mister Fixit said:

You really don't know your visas very well, do you?

Visas on Arrival are for 15 days and are for 18 countries and people can enter any way they like AFAIK.

Visa **Exemptions are valid for 51 countries and are for 30 days, extendable for a further 30 days on payment of 1,900 baht.  There is NO SUCH THING as a 30 day Visa on Arrival.  

 

It is plain from reading the OP, had you done so properly, that these people are British.  The newspaper article was from a Devon paper and Devon is a county in the south west of England.  That means, by employing just a smidgen of brain power, that they will almost certainly have come in on a standard 30 day Visa Exemption which for some reason they seem to have paid well over the odds for to get extended further.

It's possible that they may have come in on a 60 day tourist visa, but unlikely given they could have extended that easily without need for an Embassy letter.

It reads to me that they have extended their Visa Exemption once, then have extended again with a letter, meaning that this seems to be their third extension.  After that, well, who knows?

 

I attach a document which explains the visas available to citizens of other countries.  I suggest you study it well so you get your facts right in future.  It's dated 1 May 2019 so less than a year old, so should still be accurate.  

 

 

 

Thanks. Well I am happy to be proven wrong. So he has a work permit on his Visa exemption. I never knew this was possible, now I know. Good day to you sir.

[Misterwhisper]

“And then we think ‘what happens after all of this, what happens in 30 days or if we’re stuck here for two or three months.’

“We’ll have no money left by that point.”

 

Selling their house and car in England only got them enough to tide them over for a few months?

Been living the high life on the island, haven't we?

[NanLaew]

I noted the following from the cited news article.

 

Quote

 

The pair have been able to extend their visas, they claim thanks to a letter from the British Embassy that asks for british citizens to be allowed to stay an extra 30 days.

 

However this came with a £500 price tag - ...

 

 

If indeed they did sell their Devon home, with a median house price in Devon of £267,956, I reckon they can afford 30-day extensions for at least a year, no?