Tourist police to the rescue - British pensioner has no relatives left and owed 17,000 baht to the hospital

[Kwasaki]

How much is his overstay bill.

[Letseng]

10 hours ago, asiaexpat said:

How is it that a foreigner with a car traveling out of province has no money? Why is it anytime an old Brit gets ill and ends up in the hospital they have no money and need help? At my age I can understand the inability to procure medical insurance but can not understand the lack of emergency funds if without insurance. 

They are British!

Nobody would help a foreigner in UK. Just follow the saga how working, taxpaying foreigners get treated in UK. They get charged higher NHS fees than Brits. And many Brits think this is fair because "we have paid in longer". 

[kingdong]

9 hours ago, steven100 said:

what do you think is the answer for old folks in his situation  ?

Euthanasia?

[kingdong]

9 hours ago, steven100 said:

what do you think is the answer for old folks in his situation  ?

Euthanasia?

[kingdong]

9 minutes ago, Letseng said:

They are British!

Nobody would help a foreigner in UK. Just follow the saga how working, taxpaying foreigners get treated in UK. They get charged higher NHS fees than Brits. And many Brits think this is fair because "we have paid in longer". 

And how do,es the los treat its tax paying foreigners?you can buy a bar and get fined if you pick a glass up,

[geriatrickid]

9 hours ago, stephenterry said:

I'm the same age as him. My frozen UK pension is £600 a month. And at my age no insurance company that I know of, provides cover after 75 - or maybe at best, a ridiculously high premium. 

 

If I'm hospitalised, I'll use my savings. 

Coverage is available, but you have to use common sense. You can purchase a  lower catastrophic care limit and use a self retention. Basically you  fund the small stuff and have the insurance for a catastrophic care incident.  The typical sales agent  won't consider this because it requires time and effort to set up and foreigners don't want to pay for that service. Agents are paid a commission on the sale.  Also too many customers expect to make a profit on the insurance or to  pay unreasonable premiums. Insurance is a risk transfer financial tool. Understand the tool, take charge and you can  obtain what you need.  First step is to find an experienced  insurance  broker or approach one of the health insurers directly. Due to the complexity, send a written request in simple terms what you are looking for.

 

[kingdong]

27 minutes ago, DaRoadrunner said:

The standard of news reporting here! Nothing is more annoying than reading a news report that leaves one with unanswered questions because the reporter was useless.

 

As for the British Embassy; - don't bother us, we are too busy enjoying our overseas hardship pay, duty free privileges, accommodation allowances etc.

 

As for the guy having no money, has a Farang finally out-conned the Thais?

Many a true word spoken in jest.

[kingdong]

4 hours ago, DogNo1 said:

Many of us old timers came here when things were much, much cheaper and then fell victim to unexpected calamities.  That leaves many of us between a rock and a hard place.  We can’t afford insurance or medical expenses here but we can’t afford to return to our home countries either.  It would be nice if there were some fund to pay our medical expenses here or some charitable organization back home to welcome us back and help us get settled in.  I don’t suppose that some of the insanely rich companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google or Amazon would be willing to set up such a fund.  There seems to be plenty of money around for illegal immigrants.  Why not some for poor and stranded citizens?

Judging by some of the vitriolic posts on here regarding some poor sods misfortune I wouldn,t hold your breath,however one fact seems to have gone unnoticed,did he ask for help or was it given?

[Mister Fixit]

11 hours ago, dcsw53 said:

The hospital should pursue him for the money. What about seizing the vehicle he was driving ?
Too many people over here chancing their arm by not having insurance. Make insurance mandatory, and provide cover at reasonable cost. Premiums would depend on the hospital you want to go to, high for the fancy internationals, lower for the basic municipal.

Yet another one who hasn’t the faintest idea what he’s blithering on about.

[kingdong]

8 hours ago, smedly said:

very true but there is also a dark side 

I went there once,it's just the other side of the sukhamvit road in pattaya.

[alacrity]

11 hours ago, asiaexpat said:

How is it that a foreigner with a car traveling out of province has no money? Why is it anytime an old Brit gets ill and ends up in the hospital they have no money and need help? At my age I can understand the inability to procure medical insurance but can not understand the lack of emergency funds if without insurance. 

As you're so affluent, why not help the guy out? Surely you could raise a profit in organizing a 'go fund me' page. Your time is a worthy expense after all.

 

That said. How do you know it's not just a compatriot grifter?

[impulse]

Is there any visa/extension he could be on that would allow him to keep less than 400K in a Thai bank account?

 

Seems like the 17K hospital bill may be just the start of his troubles.

[Odysseus123]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

Is there any visa/extension he could be on that would allow him to keep less than 400K in a Thai bank account?

 

Seems like the 17K hospital bill may be just the start of his troubles.

On the other hand-he may not be having any problems at all.

 

A classic example of a feel good story being overtaken by speculation and condemnation with only marginal access to the facts of the matter.

[DaRoadrunner]

31 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

A classic example of a feel good story being overtaken by speculation and condemnation with only marginal access to the facts of the matter.

And why is it we only have marginal access to the facts?

 

2 hours ago, Mister Fixit said:

Yet another one who hasn’t the faintest idea what he’s blithering on about.

Love that comment.

[impulse]

2 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:

4 hours ago, impulse said:

Is there any visa/extension he could be on that would allow him to keep less than 400K in a Thai bank account?

 

Seems like the 17K hospital bill may be just the start of his troubles.

On the other hand-he may not be having any problems at all.

 

A classic example of a feel good story being overtaken by speculation and condemnation with only marginal access to the facts of the matter.

 

I hope it's a feel good story.  But I struggle to understand how it's going to end well for a foreigner who claims to not be able to pay a 17K hospital bill.  Especially with the recent changes in visa/extension rules and the current focus on recouping hospital losses from foreigners who can't (or won't) pay.

 

So I ask again, is there a legal extension that would allow a foreign national to stay in Thailand long term without having the dosh to pay a relatively minor hospital bill?  If there is, a lot of others tuned in here would love to know about it.

 

[Chelseafan]

18 hours ago, steven100 said:

so he has been here 15 yrs and has no money and no relatives. geeeze .... 

he certainly didn't plan his exit.  Go fund me ... here we go again.

I say raise $800 and throw him on the plane to the UK.  One way ticket. 

 

There's going to be a lot more of that over the coming years especially as the pension laws were changed a few years ago allowing you to withdraw all your pension rather than taking an annuity.

 

[Travis179]

8 hours ago, Letseng said:

They are British!

Nobody would help a foreigner in UK. Just follow the saga how working, taxpaying foreigners get treated in UK. They get charged higher NHS fees than Brits. And many Brits think this is fair because "we have paid in longer". 

Unless they're African migrants. Then they get the red carpet treatment. Especially in Londonistan.

[kingdong]

1 hour ago, Chelseafan said:

 

There's going to be a lot more of that over the coming years especially as the pension laws were changed a few years ago allowing you to withdraw all your pension rather than taking an annuity.

 

Is that state or private pension?

[kingdong]

1 hour ago, Travis179 said:

Unless they're African migrants. Then they get the red carpet treatment. Especially in Londonistan.

Right as well after what Michael Caine did to them in zulu.

[Chelseafan]

12 minutes ago, kingdong said:

Is that state or private pension?

Private.

[Don Chance]

He would be better off in Portugal, Costa Rica, Ecuador etc. where they have free health care.

[tropo]

20 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

I love it how the armchair judges look down on this guy. Maybe he did have an exit plan but it failed? He lost his wife 2 years ago. A million things could have happened to him between his wife's death and today. 

 

Nothing like a Thaivisa kangaroo court with absolutely no compassion whatsoever to bring out the tar and feathers. I'd say a fair number of Thaivisa contributors were school yard bullies in their time.

 

[tropo]

2 minutes ago, Don Chance said:

He would be better off in Portugal, Costa Rica, Ecuador etc. where they have free health care.

He'd be better off in many countries, including his country of origin, but he's here.

[pineapple01]

Just seen his Pic. Reminds me of how most English Teachers end up here at 75..

[kingdong]

22 minutes ago, tropo said:

Nothing like a Thaivisa kangaroo court with absolutely no compassion whatsoever to bring out the tar and feathers. I'd say a fair number of Thaivisa contributors were school yard bullies in their time.

 

Probably victims of bullying first the playground now by their Thai wives,trying to assert their masculinity from behind a keyboard.

[zyphodb]

14 hours ago, colinneil said:

Your a bit off with your private room pricing, when i was in a private room at Khonkaen government hospital, it was 1200 baht per night.

I think it varies according to individual hospital directors Colin, that's how much it is in Mukdahan, and I seem to remember it being 100 Bht less in Chaiyaphum gov. hospital...

[zyphodb]

^^ Either way, a lot less than 17000 Bht which was the point...

 

[maxcorrigan]

20 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

When you're 75, let us know how you're doing with getting health insurance. Thanks.

Yes they all trot out the same <deleted>, every single time these topics come up, of course we know it's sensible to have insurance any dope knows that, i was with BUPA for many years the premiums increasing by huge amounts every year, it got as far as £83 (if i remember) a month when i thought to hell with it, i stopped the standing order they did not even bother to get in touch and ask why, i had been with them for a number of years 10 at least (if i recall) at that time i had no health problems at all and did'nt made one single claim, but they were quite content to take your money though! 

[nausea]

I'm guessing he lives month to month on his pension, and pays an agent for the retirement extension. It's all money ìnto the Thai economy. Beats living in some death camp care home in the UK. Win/Win situation, Thailand wins, he wins, UK loses though. Maybe, if they made things slightly easier to take your Thai SO into the UK, they might see more of my money. Don't see why I should have to justify myself as a Brit born and bred, with stupid income rules. I refuse, almost on principle. Me and my lady would be probably dashing between here and the UK all the time without these stupid rules.

[Odysseus123]

5 minutes ago, nausea said:

I'm guessing he lives month to month on his pension, and pays an agent for the retirement extension. It's all money ìnto the Thai economy. Beats living in some death camp care home in the UK. Win/Win situation, Thailand wins, he wins, UK loses though. Maybe, if they made things slightly easier to take your Thai SO into the UK, they might see more of my money. Don't see why I should have to justify myself as a Brit born and bred, with stupid income rules. I refuse, almost on principle. Me and my lady would be probably dashing between here and the UK all the time without these stupid rules.

As you say..you are guessing...

 

Splendid post tho' as it reminded me of the Last Stand of the 44th Regiment at Gandamak.