Dad stranded in Thai hospital after surviving fall from sixth floor balcony

[Techno Viking]

6 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

He may have been using the income method. As a retired pilot he likely has a good pension.

 

He was a baggage handler.

[Stoker58]

I think he just wasn’t expecting to need insurance.

[Mutt Daeng]

Sad to see so many negative (some downright nasty) comments regading insurance  and financial stability about a guy with mental health issues and some holier-than-thou fookwit even suggesting he has a dodgy visa. Im not surprised though because this is Thaivisa...

Whatever happened to compassion towards ones fellow man? Leave him and his family alone an let them deal with it.

Edited November 8, 2020 by Mutt Daeng

[Captain Monday]

1 hour ago, harleyclarkey said:

Wow......three weeks in a hospital with 24 hour care, skilled surgery and multiple operations and medications. ..... for £10,000. ??!!

Good job he didn't fall off a balcony in, say, Florida. 

In the US you would exceed $10,000 moment you were rolled off ambulance.

[samsensam]

6 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

I was attending hospital in the UK for treatment and checkups until 2 years ago and there were notices in all the waiting rooms saying this. Something about if a British citizen is not ordinarily resident in UK then treatment must be paid for. I advise anyone leaving UK to go abroad to maintain an address and remain on gp register in UK. This will also help with pension increases too. 

 

absolutely, it's a no brainer maintain the illusion of uk presence, it's not difficult; keep a postal address, keep registered with a gp - and if you happen to be in the uk make sure you visit with some small medical issue, also keep bank/credit card statements going to that address, as well as any other pensions or organisations you deal with.

[Myran]

If the family is so anxious to get him home, why aren't they paying for the bills? It couldn't be that hard to scrape together a few thousand pounds among a few family members. But they aren't, because their funding campaign isn't about getting money for hospital bills, but about getting money so they won't have to touch their bank accounts or, heaven forbid, sell possessions in order to help out their own family member.

 

They should rename the campaign: "Help us avoid having to sell our iPhones, TV's and cars".

[Neeranam]

2 hours ago, rickudon said:

Yes, my son went to work in Africa (voluntary work for 3 months). When he returned he was denied benefits for 3 months. That was 2.5 years ago. I do not think the habitual residence test mattered, just being abroad for 3 months was the key. Also then got stiffed for dental treatment because he couldn't sign on. 

After living here for 5 years, I went back to the UK for a couple of months. First stop was the Job Centre to get a UB40 or whatever it was called. They said I would get no money for 6 months but I got free dental/health treatment, just showed the booklet. Would never do it now, as I'm a law-abiding citizen.  

[Neeranam]

2 minutes ago, Myran said:

They should rename the campaign: "Help us avoid having to sell our iPhones, TV's and cars".

No integrity, IMHO. 

[Airalee]

43 minutes ago, cjinchiangrai said:

Kind of makes you wonder if $100,000 might be excessive for covid.

Exactly...but if you question that in a COVID thread, you will have throngs of people chastising you with the usual...

 

“Do you know how much healthcare can cost in Thailand!!!?  I know people who paid millions of baht after an accident!!!”

 

Makes me wonder if those people work for the health insurance companies here in some capacity.

[craigieboy1973]

9 hours ago, 2long said:

 

Probably not the best picture to put with the text underneath it.

First class but no insurance ...... idiot ... cheap charlie..... good advertisement for insurance

[FritsSikkink]

9 hours ago, RJRS1301 said:

May have disclosed his MH issues and diabetes as a pre-existing condition would possibly made him ineligible for coverage.

He worked for the airlines before retirement, explains cheap BC travelling

 

 

From the link: "he didn't take out medical insurance because he was managing his diabetes very well through his diet."

Just another idiot.

[gamini]

An ex-friend of mine put out a very convincing "go fund me" for an urgent operation. He raised $15,000. And then had the operation done free of charge at a government hospital. He borrowed $10,000 from me a long time ago and never made any attempt to pay it back. That's why I call him an ex-friend. I think there's a lot of people abusing it.

[impulse]

1 hour ago, Acharn said:

This is a rhetorical question, probably been addressed before, but what's with all these people who "fall off" sixth floor balconies? It seems to happen at least once a week, and they usually don't survive. I never had friends who lived in high rise apartments, or tall hotels, but it seems hard to think the rails on their balconies are so low.

 

If you're accustomed to living in nanny states where regulations are in place to protect us from our own actions, Thailand presents a lot of dangers. 

 

The railings in my Asoke apartment were definitely lower than any I lived with back in the USA.  When I first moved in, I leaned out over to look at a couple of birds fighting on the balcony below mine, and suddenly realized that my center of gravity was way out over the railing.  Had the floor been wet and I lost traction, I wouldn't be here typing today.  Only sheer, dumb luck protected me that day.  Some folks learn the same lesson a much harder way...

 

Edit:  I also noticed that a lot of the hotels I stayed at in Thailand had low balcony railings, with many of them built up higher, as an obvious after thought.

 

 

Edited November 8, 2020 by impulse

[DBath]

9 hours ago, Wildliferescue said:

 

Of course nobody wants to see another person in this situation, and we all hope the story is true and we are not been taken for a ride here. I feel for him too, but why on earth go abroad without insurance? 

Or certainly don’t be practicing hand-stands on the balcony with no insurance. 

[2long]

If someone wanted to fake or make up a similar serious injury and set up a funding page after alerting certain dodgy and untrustworthy news outlets, what would be the chances and first steps?

Asking for a friend.

 

I posted this several hours ago, but from my phone while on the loo, so not accusing anyone of unpublishing it.

[nickmondo]

pay your own bill!

im sick of these spongers trying to get money from us for their mistakes!

deal with it!!!!!!!!!!!

[Andy from Kent]

8 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

I was attending hospital in the UK for treatment and checkups until 2 years ago and there were notices in all the waiting rooms saying this. Something about if a British citizen is not ordinarily resident in UK then treatment must be paid for. I advise anyone leaving UK to go abroad to maintain an address and remain on gp register in UK. This will also help with pension increases too. 

 

Yes but isn't that a serious crime?

[samsensam]

1 hour ago, Stoker58 said:

I think he just wasn’t expecting to need insurance.

 

when it comes to optional insurance there are two types of people; risk takers and risk avoiders, the latter take out insurance the former don't. we are adults and having made the decision not to take out insurance a person should have a contingency plan should the worst happen; i.e. access to funds, and not simply assume/rely on strangers helping them out.

[teacherclaire]

11 hours ago, Wildliferescue said:

So this guy flies around the world in Business class, but can not afford a medial insurance and now begs for help from other who do?

 

 

          Your post made me very sad. 

 

Perhaps there'll be the time when you start begging for help. Do you know what an accident means?

 

And believe me, the majority of expats living here for many years do not have an insurance that would cover such injuries. 

 

Do you know what kind of surprises life will have for you in the future? A hit and run, and you could be in an even worse situation.

Why is there so much hate between foreigners who're trying to live here? 

 

     

[CorpusChristie]

50 minutes ago, Andy from Kent said:

 

Yes but isn't that a serious crime?

No, its not a crime .

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, craigieboy1973 said:

First class but no insurance ...... idiot ... cheap charlie..... good advertisement for insurance

How do you know what's going on in his head? Maybe he didn't get insurance as he thought he would be dead.

[teacherclaire]

1 hour ago, gamini said:

An ex-friend of mine put out a very convincing "go fund me" for an urgent operation. He raised $15,000. And then had the operation done free of charge at a government hospital. He borrowed $10,000 from me a long time ago and never made any attempt to pay it back. That's why I call him an ex-friend. I think there's a lot of people abusing it.

 You gave somebody money and you didn't get it back. Does that mean that all people are like that?

 

   The guy lost one leg, do you understand how strange that is? A friend of mine got hit on his motorcycle by a woman who couldn't drive.

 

I've watched all steps from rehab to the first try to walk on a prosthetic leg. 

He always thought he'd be back on this Triumph, but that never happened. 

 

An infection here, a problem there and you know that you are fragged. 

 

  

[ronaldo0]

Doesn’t sound like an accident from the details unfortunately.

[KhunFred]

Cases like this are one of the main reasons that I am moving to the Philippines, when it opens back up to expats. PhilHealth is affordable insurance for all residents. To get insured in Thailand would completely erase the other financial benefits of living here. The cost of medical insurance in Thailand is simply insane.

[michaellee]

12 hours ago, 2long said:

 

Probably not the best picture to put with the text underneath it.

Look like he’s flying in business class thats almost the same price as his hospital fees. 

[Scouse123]

4 hours ago, Sheryl said:

He may have been using the income method. As a retired pilot he likely has a good pension.

Sheryl.

Where do you get retired pilot from?

He was ground staff and a crew leader in the BAGGAGE HANDLING department at the airport.

[CharlieH]

Various posts removed for a veriety of reasons.

 

 

[Jimbo53]

15 hours ago, sanuk711 said:

Thanks bobanddyson.....so he would have been better off arriving in Dover in a rubber dingy ......... he must get the medical treatment surly?

Correct,he will have a NI number,and will get benefits after completing the Habitual Residence Requirements for the DWP.

[bobandyson]

14 hours ago, colinneil said:

16 hours ago, bobandyson said:

Any Brit who has lived outside of the UK for more than one year would have to wait 6 months before receiving benefits upon returning.

That's from what I've heard.

Where do people get that idea from?

I know 2 Brits who both live in Thailand, went back to the UK, got their problems ( operations done ) then both of them flew back to Thailand.

 

Sorry, when I mentioned about not receiving benefits I was meaning not receiving unemployment benefits, not about receiving NHS care.

[Jimbo53]

4 minutes ago, bobandyson said:

 

Sorry, when I mentioned about not receiving benefits I was meaning not receiving unemployment benefits, not about receiving NHS care.

He will also receive unemployment benefits/Disability Allowance.