British family makes desperate plea for grandfather seriously ill in Thailand

[Chris.B]

52 minutes ago, phetpeter said:

I tell people all the time sign up and make payments into the social sercuity scheme, about 450 baht per month. after several months you will be able to get free medical services and tablets. plus when you paid in for years you can get a pension or lump sum too, plus child beneifit etc.  I had a heart attack got taken to hospital had a stent and ongoing treatment and tablets at no cost. Don't believe then pop down to the office or local government hospital and check it out or check it out on line. If you are working direct with a government school they are meant by law to put you on the scheme, pay towards it and when you lose your work, you will also be able to claim unemployment benifit for a period of time.

You need a work permit to join the social security scheme?

 

Edited October 4, 2022 by Chris.B

[kennw]

8 hours ago, South said:

Whilst I have some sympathy for the guy and I hope he quickly recovers, these types of stories are becoming too frequent.

Bottom line, if you don't have the funds (to cover your medical/emergency bills), you shouldn't be here.

So how much cover do you think someone should you have to "be here" ?  My friend had a sequence of event many think was caused by a blood clot resulting from an operation end result, B10 m insurance finished so he was tossed out of the hospital but family had to pay B30,000 for the last day. Dont try to support the money machines here. 

[Thingamabob]

8 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I would disagree, I don't expect (nor desire) to live to age 77.

But I would like to choose where I die, which is not in a UK nursing home.

No need to run up expensive medical bills, accept death when it comes.

 

I don't 'self-insure' or have any insurance, and don't intend to pay for long term medical care. It's not required, at 66 I've already had my life.

Well said. Me likewise. I've no intention to go, or be taken to, anywhere near a hospital when the time comes. 

[Chris HIckson]

6 hours ago, proton said:

Wages were a pittance when he was playing in the 60's

£25 per week was the maximum wage I remember.

[NoshowJones]

On 10/4/2022 at 9:13 AM, Tropicalevo said:

I have some sympathy for the poor guy. That one is a killer.

I too suffer from COPD and there is not a lot that the docs here can do.

Even if he has insurance, eventually, the insurance companies stop paying out.

Good luck sir.

"Even if he has insurance, eventually, the insurance companies stop paying out".

No wonder people don't trust insurance companies and try to self insure, they will keep taking your money then when you fall ill they just want you of their books despite you maybe paying premiums for years without making any claims.

Insurance companies, banks, the medical profession. Capitalist b<>&&!!!s.

[NoshowJones]

9 hours ago, South said:

Whilst I have some sympathy for the guy and I hope he quickly recovers, these types of stories are becoming too frequent.

Bottom line, if you don't have the funds (to cover your medical/emergency bills), you shouldn't be here.

I knew it would not take long for a post like this to appear. 

[orchis]

Just now, Dr B said:

As with many of the other posts, this seems to miss the point. Nobody is suggesting the John has a "Go Fund Me" page. He is in an ICU on a ventilator, and probably knows nothing about this, or the rate at which his bills are mounting up, and is powerless to do anything about it anyway. His family in UK are the ones footing the bill, and presumably trying the GFM option.

It's a GFM page set up by third party to his benefit, thus "his" GFM.

[ThailandRyan]

16 minutes ago, Nong Khai Man said:

Bottom line, if you don't have the funds (to cover your medical/emergency bills), you shouldn't be here......How Bloody Cheeky of YOU,Who do YOU Think YOU Are ??

He thinks it is his life that gets impacted by others choices and therefore he believes he is god. So many foreigners think others should live just like they do and do as they do, sad state of affairs when folks seem to always get upset at others misfortunes without knowing the true and whole story.

[ThailandRyan]

3 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

I knew it would not take long for a post like this to appear. 

I am sure the poster also thinks that care is cheap and free for a person who has not lived in the UK for many years. Some folks decide that life is to be lived happily and not in a rocking chair in a nursing home.  Seems the man was having some issues and was trying to get home but before he could he fell upon the need for immediate treatment.

[Chris.B]

4 minutes ago, orchis said:

It's a GFM page set up by third party to his benefit, thus "his" GFM.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/to-help-with-my-dads-medical-costs-in-thailand

 

[ThailandRyan]

3 minutes ago, orchis said:

It's a GFM page set up by third party to his benefit, thus "his" GFM.

So he has access to it?  I do not think that's how it works unless the party setting up the GFM releases the account to the named person. Using the funds would be a hard proposition if the man is incapacitated.

[billd766]

6 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

I don't follow the European football (soccer), I'm NRL. 

 

I just regularly read the millions and millions of dollars these guys earn. 

 

Those are current salaries and NONE of those re still playing at 77 years old.

 

As a reference he would have been 35 in 1980 and probably be nearing the end of his professional career as a footballer.

 

A link for you.

 

https://www.sportingintelligence.com/2011/01/20/from-20-to-33868-per-week-a-quick-history-of-english-footballs-top-flight-wages-200101/

 

Figures cited in the official history of the PFA show that only eight players in England earned basic salaries of £50,000 per year in 1980-81, but this rose to 41 players by 1984-85 and steadily thereafter.

 

https://sportslens.com/news/english-football-wages/

 

In 1984-85, top division players in England earned a basic average of £480 per week (£25,000 a year), which was more than double what the average worker earned, and which was three times as much as players earned in the Fourth Division. Today the difference is 30 times as much.
In 1984-85, according to the PFA’s data, the average basic wage in the First Division – as the top division was then called – was £24,934 a year, or about two and a half times the average working man’s salary. With bonuses, it would have been around £36,000, perhaps more.
In 2009-10, the average basic Premier League wage was £1.16m and the average take-home pay was £1.76m.

[Bday Prang]

so an old guy is sick in Thailand , is this even news ? what are they asking for, they don't seem to be asking for money ,  I don't see the point in this article /

[Lacessit]

3 hours ago, steven100 said:

crikey   '     sorry to hear you've had such a boring life 

Dear me, don't bruise yourself jumping to conclusions.

I've traveled the world, mostly on the company dime. Achieved in sport and my chosen profession. Enjoyed the company of many women. Now create videos for YouTube for a fairly sizeable audience.

To me, people who smoke and drink are as dumb as a can of soup. Gave up smoking in 1983, enjoy a drink once a week. It's called self-discipline.

Your own life must be pretty boring if the best you can do is snipe from the sidelines.

[USEpat]

Sad story.  COPD/Emphysema are very debilitating illnesses.  And they are preventable illnesses.  I lost a friend who had COPD who made it to 94, but was tethered to an Oxygen tank for her last fifteen years or so.  She quit smoking in her forties, but the effects finally settled in thirty years later.  I'm 77 and healthy thank God; I'm not sure there's a "Use By Date" for people and sure hope this fellow recovers. For the fellow who want to hang it up after a "full life" of sixty or seventy years, Godspeed. The speculation about this fellow's financial and insurance situation is silly and a little cruel.  Something is going to kill me, I'm sure of that, so while I have insurance, my plan is to not fight nature and take my licks. 

[Rocking Robert]

Sure he has insurance nobody in their right mind would live in a foreign country without a premium healthcare insurance policy

[anchadian]

8 minutes ago, Rocking Robert said:

Sure he has insurance nobody in their right mind would live in a foreign country without a premium healthcare insurance policy

Read the GFM comments before you post.

 

Link above.

 

He doesn't have any medical insurance and his funds are very low.

 

[grego49]

We all should stop picking the bloke to pieces and hope he recovers or gets home to his family

End of story,,,

[Kalasin Jo]

7 hours ago, arick said:

If he was French or Dutch he would be covered. Poor Brits 

Why? Where? Here in Thailand?

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, Chris.B said:

You need a work permit to join the social security scheme?

 

Well worth getting a part-time job as a teacher for a year, then you can be in the system for life, 432 baht a year. 

[aussienam]

I feel sorry for the guy. It's easy to judge, we don't know his life and circumstances.  Heartbreaking and very stressful, difficult situation for family.

 

Sadly for those pushing past 70 years of age, health insurance cover becomes more unattainable.  Self insurance is the only option - i.e. having enough spare cash.

 

A lot of guys I meet here have been enjoying life for 20-30+ years in Thailand and now in that zone of life whereby they are uninsured (uninsurable), but have no ability to return to their country without being destitute or burden to relatives.  So they decide to run the gauntlet and hope.  Some have accepted they will just die, unable to be treated.

 

It seems this man ran the gauntlet and even though he tried to prepare return in time, with fortunate family support overseas, serious illness struck first. 

 

Many guys here are on pensions without the financial buffer if they need expensive surgery/treatments. 

 

Triple tiered pricing with most farangs charged the top price here in Thailand means lots of us will not be able to afford it uninsured if we remain here. 

 

That means being left to die untreated on a hospital bed/ambulance gurney.

 

Sad reality we all cannot live here till our last breath without extreme risk unless we are the younger and/or wealthier expat community.  

 

Otherwise we need to accept we should be allowed to die untreated.  Maybe for those of us in this situation, a card in our wallets such as "Do NOT resuscitate. I cannot afford treatment. Let me die".  

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2022 by aussienam

[GinBoy2]

We all think we're immortal, until we're not.

 

This forum is littered with posts about health insurance.

 

The dirty rotten truth is that health insurance cost in Thailand is an exponential curve 60+.

 

That gives way to those that can't afford it to play the 'I self insure' card which is total BS

 

I'm sorry for the guy, but these are all the choices he made, and sooner or later chickens come home to roost, but don't expect strangers to pay for those chickens.

 

If the family are so concerned, time for them to put their hands in pockets!

 

 

[Irish made]

10 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I would disagree, I don't expect (nor desire) to live to age 77.

But I would like to choose where I die, which is not in a UK nursing home.

No need to run up expensive medical bills, accept death when it comes.

 

I don't 'self-insure' or have any insurance, and don't intend to pay for long term medical care. It's not required, at 66 I've already had my life.

You must have had a horrible life if you’re ready to check out at 66 ,

[onthedarkside]

An off-topic news trolling post and several ensuing replies have been removed.

 

[Chris.B]

18 minutes ago, Irish made said:

You must have had a horrible life if you’re ready to check out at 66 ,

Why must he have had a horrible time? Illness and sickness can strike out at at any time?

 

Edited October 4, 2022 by Chris.B

[Adumbration]

10 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I would disagree, I don't expect (nor desire) to live to age 77.

But I would like to choose where I die, which is not in a UK nursing home.

No need to run up expensive medical bills, accept death when it comes.

 

I don't 'self-insure' or have any insurance, and don't intend to pay for long term medical care. It's not required, at 66 I've already had my life.

Hmmm I wonder how the blokes who are just finishing up work at the same age and wanting to have a few golden years think about your outlook.  For the record, I too am in your camp, I retired at 45.  I have a incurable chronic genetic blood disease and a host of other tangential health issues.  But knowing my luck I will live to 98 and be flat broke for 25 years.

[steven100]

2 hours ago, Lacessit said:

To me, people who smoke and drink are as dumb as a can of soup. Gave up smoking in 1983, enjoy a drink once a week.

lighten up ....   It was a joke.  Life is too short to be that serious as far as i'm concerned.   

[JeffersLos]

He's a Great Briton that's seriously ill overseas.

 

Great Britain should make sure to fly him back on their national carrier and treat him in their hospitals for free.

 

Make Britain great again. 

[natway09]

He must be in the early stages if last month he did not know. 

A good private hospital could get him back well enough to travel if that is his wish, I am sure,

although his age is about the end of the line age.

I wish him well but to travel if he knew about without the financials available was a recipe for a good burning with 4 monks

[mania]

13 hours ago, PremiumLane said:

Fancy reading one article, judging someone by it and loudly proclaiming you have no sympathy - did your mum not warm your milk or something this morning? 

Yeah your right I should re-phrase that...Because

 

I do have sympathy for this mans family as now they suffer with his poor choices

 

I do have sympathy for the expats that could eventually be affected by folks like this too

because since years ago when it started getting popular to post these pleas for $$ it gets ever closer that Thailand will add mandatory coverage thru long term visa renewals

Which will screw those actually self insuring with a real account dedicated to that

 

Lastly I do also have sympathy for Thailand too that has 70 million of its own barely able to afford hospitalization now also burdened by expats "choosing to die" uninsured in Thailand

or worse yet laying unconscious & their unfortunate families abroad trying to cope with the mounting bills ultimately leaving Thailand unpaid

Edited October 4, 2022 by mania