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

[Stargeezr]

Well this family, could just repack up  and move back ro England, most

be some family back there.  Bad timing and bad luck, with the virus situation,

but they do have a choice, right?  Go back home, or live off their money

and pay rent where they are at.

Geezer

[bkk7]

Cases like this take away from stories that deserve more attention.

Facts:

1) they JUST moved to Thailand WITH all of their savings (presumably a LOT if they sold EVERYTHING a month ago)

2) they have no long-term ties to Thailand (no family here, no girlfriends, no people who depend on them)

3) they aren't homeless. nobody kicked them out.

4) the husband "lost" his diving "job" after 2 weeks

 

Other people have been here much longer and might be between visas, their long-term jobs might have been killed, they might have long-term leases to pay, they might have girlfriends/boyfriends or other people who depend on them, they might have had pay cuts recently WITHOUT having recently "sold everything" so they have no fallback plan.

 

These people JUST arrived so they can go back home very easily. 

[norfolkandchance]

28 minutes ago, Mister Fixit said:

Aaaand another contradiction.  C'mon, get a grip.  

Don’t mention the war.

[CH1961]

Irresponsible naive millennials, no mercy at all. 

[CG1 Blue]

2 hours ago, Logosone said:

Oh please, almost all the best dishes of the world are traced back to German cooking, the hamburger, the hot dog, Gevillte Fish, veal Milanese (schnitzel), the Baguette, the Croissant, the Bagel, the "Danish"....all  German....

 

I am so sorry for this poor family that they can not enjoy our many delicious German foods, makes me feel sad for the whole UK really...

 

Having said that the aisles of every supermarket in Chiang Mai are overflowing with German products, from Fleischwurst to liver sausage, German rye bread to Pretzels, German chocolate, butter, cheese, smoked pork, sour cherries, Haribo gummy bears and many other delicacies. No doubt a portion of that will be available in Big C on that drug island.

I'm sure that family would rather eat sand than eat German food, but luckily they don't have to face that dilemma. They are fortunate to be in a country that has amazing food available at cheap prices.

Now, if they were stranded in a German supermarket, then I'd definitely contribute to their gofundme collection to help them escape that nightmare ????

[norfolkandchance]

8 minutes ago, CG1 Blue said:

I'm sure that family would rather eat sand than eat German food, but luckily they don't have to face that dilemma. They are fortunate to be in a country that has amazing food available at cheap prices.

Now, if they were stranded in a German supermarket, then I'd definitely contribute to their gofundme collection to help them escape that nightmare ????

Greasy pork knuckle with sauerkraut comes to mind.

[mike787]

1 hour ago, spoon1967 said:

Idiots, soon to be scroungers wanting everyone's cash while sitting with £1000's in the bank.  No sympathy from me, far from it.

Morons...i say suck it up...they are young, capable, people worse off are doing better here. 

[Lissos]

13 minutes ago, Logosone said:

We gave you your language, 

Odd way of putting it, as in 'giving' to somebody else, because we're not apart from you, we 'are' you - North Germanic peoples. I at least have no problem seeing us as Germanic. Anyway, yes this couple simply need to get on the next flight home and call it bad luck with the timing. I would have done it quietly myself rather than going to the press and opening myself up for a stoning from angry citizens at home (or expats in Thailand). People back here in Britain are rightly pointing out online that for every article coming out daily now about someone claiming to be marooned in Thailand with flights costing many thousands to return, the schedule for April is full of flights going down to about £260 one way towards the end of the month now that the panic is over. 

[newnative]

Boo hoo

[QPRFC]

Switch water for muff....oh no sorry, she's from UK. 

[rgraham]

What is anyone this utterly stupid doing teaching?

[Iron Tongue]

While I don't have a great amount of sympathy for this family, I do think that they probaby believed in all the lies issued from Thailand that "everything is OK here!", up to just 2 weeks ago. 

 

I do not understand how they could be "homeless" since there are so many vacant homes, condos, apts. everywhere.

[Oziex1]

They've taken a dive.

[CG1 Blue]

7 minutes ago, nauseus said:

More deception - he's from Austria!

Well spotted! Maybe Logosone has been watching The Sound of Music and forgot we've moved on from that era...

[Dustdevil]

16 hours ago, 19DL86 said:

???????????? Comedy Gold on the appropriate day 555.  This has to be a joke.  Right!!!

From the opening line with "immigrated" instead of migrated, it's just absolutely tosh.

 

Some great one liners, "Chinese whispers" 555 try Chinese sneezes, more like it.  We feel like we re "living in a bubble" - No sh** Sherlock?!?! No way is this beauts name WISEman and the son Ifor, 3 = I for free...... Lol

 

Some research might not have gone a miss, prior to jumping off a cliff edge, hey?

 

Do you use "migrate" to mean emigrate? Migration normally refers to people or herds of animals moving to another area regardless of national boundaries. An example would be the Syrian and other refugees heading on foot or by boat to Europe. Emigration refers to legally leaving one country to live in another. Immigration = legally arriving to live in a new country. Well...I suppose if this family arrived legally but then planned to stay illegally and permanently, it was a form of migration.

Edited April 1, 2020 by Dustdevil

[Dustdevil]

The guy's already in his 40s--kind of old to be a naive backpacker, a permanent (British) beach boy. But genuine beach-boy / girl backpackers don't usually have a spouse and two infants to worry about.

[Dustdevil]

16 hours 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. Likewise, you have no idea what their true financial position is. You just posted wild speculation.

My tone to you is aggressive because you posted similar misinformation during the Australian bushfires, claiming over 90% of them were caused by arsonists, a statement completely debunked by authorities on the spot - not some right-wing rag in the USA whose views you embrace with fervour.

If you don't like being called out on BS, either stop posting, or get used to it.

 

Or some racist British tabloid that helped run Megyn right out of your country. Or the type of insane British tabloids that Robert Ressler (FBI's original serial-killer profiler, who coined the term "serial killer") found appalling and extremely annoying.

[Dustdevil]

15 hours ago, bangkokbonecollector said:

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!

I did that while working in Dubai--renting out my two houses in Houston (one of which was paid off). Lesson One, though: always sell your furniture; never include it in the rent. Lesson Two: nine out of ten renters will trash your house--dog pee under the baseboards, filthy walls, all three toilets in one house broken; big dent in the garage door because they didn't know how to drive; in one case failure to pay rent resulting in eviction; shall I go on? A better strategy would have been to either (1) keep the house empty and hire a property manager to keep it and the lawns in good condition, or (2) accept only professional tenants with exceptionally high credit ratings.

Edited April 1, 2020 by Dustdevil

[nauseus]

33 minutes ago, CG1 Blue said:

Well spotted! Maybe Logosone has been watching The Sound of Music and forgot we've moved on from that era...

The Sound of Music. A bunch of Trapp?|

[Dustdevil]

15 hours 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.  

 

 

 

No such thing as a VOA for 30 days, but there is obviously a visa exemption scheme for certain nationals allowing a 30-day stay.

[Dustdevil]

15 hours ago, Logosone said:

With two rents to pay? 75000 Baht? I'm in Chiang Mai, I easily pay 140,000 Baht. A house here costs 35,000 if it is of any any quality with a good pool. Even with a a cheaper house that'd be 60000 Baht alone, add university fees, food, I spend 30,000 Baht on food alone every month. Do you live in a rural villlage or something?

 

I'm not talking about Thai families, I'm talking about European families living a lifestyle they are used to.

I see lots of okay flats in Chiang Mai (suitable for one person, admittedly) for 6 to 10K baht.

[Dustdevil]

15 hours ago, Logosone said:

No, but I don't believe the figures coming out the UK either. Even Sir Patrick Vallance doesn't. He said the real number of cases is ten or twenty times higher. And Neil Ferguson said peak infection time is about second week of April. 

 

Could get ugly in the UK.

US medical authorities (and my excellent physician) suggest five to ten times the known infections in the U.S., which didn't handle the onset of the virus any better than the UK.

[Dustdevil]

12 hours ago, Logosone said:

 

Well, this poor family will have to, since they seem to be running out of options. But I can understand they are running down their savings the way they are, life in Thailand is not that cheap. Not much cheaper than Germany.

 

I just don't understand the lack of sympathy for a family that did nothing wrong. They got a job before they came out. They got into diffficulties through no fault of their own, only because of the global lockdown of the economies. It was not their fault. A man is deprived of his livelihood and there's no sympathy for a whole family in trouble?

 

They're your own people, British compatriots, What a strange attitude towards this nice family.

I can get a reasonable apartment in Chiang Mai for 10k baht (or less). Utilities including internet probably 3200 b. or so. American breakfast at a small local cafe for $1; a sandwich for lunch and 50-60 baht (under $2) for a nice Thai dinner in one of the open-air restaurants (in non-coronavirus times)...and you call that "not much cheaper than Germany"? That's absurd.

[Mywayboy]

21 hours ago, Youlike said:

I see a gofundme coming...

Poor me poor me POUR ME ANOTHER DRINK

[Mister Fixit]

5 hours ago, Dustdevil said:

No such thing as a VOA for 30 days, but there is obviously a visa exemption scheme for certain nationals allowing a 30-day stay.

I know.  That's what I said.  Read it again.

 

Never mind, I've done the work for you - 'Visas on Arrival are for 15 days and are for 18 countries and people can enter any way they like AFAIK.'

 

Edited April 2, 2020 by Mister Fixit

[SiSePuede419]

On 3/31/2020 at 6:44 PM, webfact said:

It’s kind of Chinese whispers at the moment - it’s hard to get reliable information

 

Before you arrived on the island...

 

Ever heard of this "Chinese whisper" service called google.com?

 

If so, you would have known this virus was devastating Wuhan, China and spreading to Thailand.  Doh!

 

Hey.  Up to you if you want to learn, you know about something called "reality" that's ABOVE sea level, not just below it. ????

Edited April 2, 2020 by SiSePuede419

[norfolkandchance]

7 hours ago, nauseus said:

More deception - he's from Austria!

Same Same but different.

[Logosone]

5 hours ago, Dustdevil said:

I can get a reasonable apartment in Chiang Mai for 10k baht (or less). Utilities including internet probably 3200 b. or so. American breakfast at a small local cafe for $1; a sandwich for lunch and 50-60 baht (under $2) for a nice Thai dinner in one of the open-air restaurants (in non-coronavirus times)...and you call that "not much cheaper than Germany"? That's absurd.

Look we're talking about a family here with two adorable kids. They can't live in a one bed apartment, And in Chiang Mai why would you rent a condo when houses are so cheap? Plus you really need a pool in 40 degree heat. And look what happened now all the condos are closing the pool and gym facilities while those who rent a house with pool can still enjoy their facilities. You get what you pay for.

 

The same applies to food, an American breakfast for 30 Baht is totally impossible in Chiang Mai. It's just not feasible. Tell me where you get an American breafkast for 30 Baht. I've had American breakfast in Chiang Mai and paid substantially more than 30 Baht.

 

A sandwich for lunch? Are you pulling my leg?

 

Okay, 60 Baht for a nice Thai dinner at a food court is possible, but you forget the drink! Plus dessert. And you're already at 105 Baht. Now times that by four for the Wiseman family!

 

I can tell you shopping is not much cheaper than Germany, if anything quality food is more expensive in Thailand. Housing, you get more for your buck, but is still expensive.

 

So clearly this Wiseman family will have great expenses and I understand their financial concerns if they only have 20,000 GBP or so.

Edited April 2, 2020 by Logosone

[PatOngo]

16 minutes ago, Logosone said:

So clearly this Wiseman family will have great expenses and I understand their financial concerns if they only have 20,000 GBP or so.

So no doubt you'll be offering a generous donation?

[Logosone]

I have considered it. I hate to see good people suffer.