2 hours ago, John Drake said:

These sort of stories so often seem to be about the British. Do other nationalities get in the same situation, in a hospital, unable to pay, and seeking to get home?  Or is it we just don't see stories in Chinese, Russian, or French language media? 

Its a valid point... I wonder if proportionately this does occur to more Brits than other nationalities, or, if its simply picked-up because the AN news team are predominantly English speaking and reporting on news already reported on in English (i.e. by British Media). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 minute ago, 10baht said:

Did he wear a helmet?

I really do wonder about some AN members...   that information is almost impossible to miss in the article... and then commented on numerous times by many other posters.....    

 

Quote

"His heartbroken family claims he was hit by a driver travelling at high speed while he was riding his motorbike with no helmet"

 

From the gofundme:

 

"On Friday 25th February at 8.30pm UK time/Saturday 26th February 3.30am Thai time, our world fell apart."

"Jay, a son, brother, father, boyfriend, grandson, nephew, and cousin, was hit by a drunk driver travelling at high speed. He was riding a motorbike and was not wearing a helmet."

 

From the article:

"He is away with his girlfriend but had been out with some of the lads for a drink and told her he wouldn't be long until he was back. He put the phone in his pocket but the call hadn't ended, so she was saying 'hello, hello"

 

Sounds a bit like 2 drunk drivers had a crash and the one on the motorbike was even using his phone whilst riding without a helmet and is now facing the ultimate consequence.  Being out at 3.30am doesn't sound like a pint or two and was probably significantly more than that.    

 

Even if by some miracle he does come out of the coma it sounds like he will be a vegetable anyway.   If it was me I'd really just like someone to switch the machines off and let nature take its course.    No need to waste money on further medical bills.  

any idea how much has been raised ?

2 minutes ago, James105 said:

was hit by a drunk driver travelling at high speed.

so can't the police go after this guy for compensation?

1 minute ago, steven100 said:

so can't the police go after this guy for compensation?

A drunk Thai guy driving a pickup truck at 3:30am?   I guess they could but this doesn't sound like your typical high flying Thai businessman so I doubt there will be much to go after.  

22 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Its a valid point... I wonder if proportionately this does occur to more Brits than other nationalities, or, if its simply picked-up because the AN news team are predominantly English speaking and reporting on news already reported on in English (i.e. by British Media). 

From the insurance (or lack of it) point of view Brits believe their needs will always be taken care of by their National Health Service.

1 hour ago, norfolkandchance said:

I had a minor surgical procedure, down below at our local government hospital. The head Nurse invited 3 young 1st Year students to watch. They didn't bat an eye. Unlike me.

Not a sex change then?

????

38 minutes ago, steven100 said:

any idea how much has been raised ?

£15000.

Perhaps send a one family member here. 

 

Much Cheaper. 

1 hour ago, hellohello123 said:

Assuming he had insurance, would it cover eveyrthing from treatment back home , transport back home?

 

 

Depends on what was in the insurance, some do not include medivac or transport back home,sometimes its an addition that you need to pay extra for,  but the problem here is, it appears from the OP that he was intoxicated and had no helmet, which would probably invalidate any insurance, if he had  it?

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

I don't know, but if my child/son/daughter was in this situation I'd go and sell a kidney or sell my car to help him rather than beg strangers for donations, but this is me.

Firstly,you cannot sell an organ in UK ,it’s illegal. And I’ll go out on a limb and predict the family don’t own a car with that sort of value nor a house with equity that could be released. I’m betting rental..

Basically , he’s switched to 'holiday brain" mode which suddenly disregards all sensible precautions and thoughts of consequences .

No helmit, talking on the phone, accident waiting to happen. 

2 hours ago, hellohello123 said:

Assuming he had insurance, would it cover eveyrthing from treatment back home , transport back home?

 

 

I cannot find any info as to whether or not he had insurance; but even if he did, it would be invalidated by him riding what I assume was a rented motorcycle, under the influence of alcohol, and not wearing a brain bucket.   

1 hour ago, norfolkandchance said:

I had a minor surgical procedure, down below at our local government hospital. The head Nurse invited 3 young 1st Year students to watch. They didn't bat an eye. Unlike me.

I had a procedure like that in Narathiwat, down south. There were three Muslim girls wearing headscarves present. I felt rather uncomfortable in that state.????

4 hours ago, Gaccha said:

He's in a coma so the repatriation flight will be staggeringly expensive. Since you will have to be kept stable it will require intensive care. The cost will be about £300 per mile.

 

How much of this can the family raise...? Perhaps 10 miles...

Would any airline or Medivac  company carry him if he’s in a coma? In that state it would be extremely dangerous to move him out of a hospital where there is all the medical equipment and specialists doctors and anaesthetists available to keep him alive if things deteriorate quickly.
36,000 feet in the air, on a 12 hour flight would be the last place I’d want to be if I was in his condition and my life depended on the medical care only available in a hospital. 
 

He wont be repatriated in that condition, i had the unfortunate situation of organising such a thing and ended up paying for a doctor and a nurse plus their visas and overnight accommodation in London, plus organise a private ambulance to take him to hospital in UK and the total ammount including a month in ICU Bangkok was £65,000 this was a few years ago so no doubt more expensive now.

4 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

I don't want to rehash the usual travel insurance stuff, which is pretty relevant.

 

But in the article is states 'brain function is now minimal'

 

Does that mean he's essentially brain dead?

I'm not sure, but I think anyone in a coma and on life support with minimal brain function is a situation where the doctor usually consults the family. But then in this case the family isn't in Thailand. A difficult situation where even if transport home could be financed he might not survive the trip. Sad state of affairs.

4 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

I think the Brits, especially the younger ones, with their NHS kinda forget that in most countries it's not a totally free system and there is a price to pay.

 

I feel so sorry for the family, but the tales of youngsters in Thailand, little reckless, in a country renown for terrible traffic accidents are so common, and the subsequent 'GoFundme' accounts someone needs to set up a serious ad campaign before these guys get on a plane to tell them the risks

Brits go skiing in Austria, hurt themselves & are surprised that hospitals want money up front. Many can't even be bothered to carry their EHIC card to at least get patched up to be able to fly home for treatment. 

1 hour ago, norfolkandchance said:

2 hours ago, steven100 said:

any idea how much has been raised ?

£15000.

That would buy you a retirement visa extension! …..almost 

8 minutes ago, nchuckle said:

That would buy you a retirement visa extension! …..almost 

That's 15 000 Pounds,  not Baht

My wife and son are both dual nationals and every time they go back to Thailand I always book good quality travel insurance on the same day I book their flights to Thailand.
Yes they are eligible for Thai health care, but for £250 or so I can be sure they are well covered in the event of an accident. Also, she is Thai and knows just how dangerous motorcycles are and wouldn’t dream of riding one. 

I very much doubt that given how serious his condition is that anyone would Medivac the guy even if they came up with the money. Someone posted the cost would be £32k which I very much doubt. Double that and add a few £k and you may get somewhere near the true costs which sadly his family cannot afford. 
The medical tests carried out suggest he is pretty much brain dead, so perhaps it would be better to just have palliative care in Thailand, as it seems he is never going to emerge from his coma. Even contemplating flying him back to the UK is IMHO stupid, instead, how about flying a couple of his closest family members to Thailand, where they could stay in a hotel close by to be by his side as the inevitable decline happens. That scenario has surely got to be much more affordable and safer for him. 

This is a tragic situation. Enough abipout the blame game, there needs to be a positive solution...

There are plenty, of "I-told-you-so"-s and also people blaming the truck.

None of this is constructive or contributes to the situation in any way.

With millions of foreigners visiting Samui every year this sort of thing is statistically inevitable.

I find it hard to believe that various embassies have no facilities for getting these people back home.

The people may end up in debt for the rest of their lives,but at least they'll  have a " rest of their life"

5 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

So is there any proof of the claims or did he just crash because he was possibly intoxicated and talking on the phone while not paying attention to what he was doing.  Been looking for more information on the accident but for the life of me do not see it anywhere.  If there is proof of him being hit by a truck then where is that vehicle and driver? 

Doesn't seem that you were looking very hard when you report that "because he was .... talking on the phone", in common with many other posts. If you take the trouble to read the article from the Manchester Evening News you will find that he had stopped talking on the phone, but it was still connected in his pocket. 

4 hours ago, KhunLA said:

It amazes me the amount (per capita) of farang tourist & expats ride without a helmet.  One guy locally has it strapped to his bike, but not his head.   I'd guess 75-90% of farangs I see here, don't where a helmet.

And what I find the strangest is that tourists come to Thailand, a country they certainly know is the most dangerous on Earth for driving a motorbike, as supported by the number of deaths of Thai people on motorbikes.

And then these tourists, who would certainly all claim to have a finely tuned brain, hop on motorbikes and copy exactly what Thais do on the roads to get themselves killed in numbers that would merit a world prize.

 

-High powered motorbikes

-Reckless driving

-No helmets

-On the phone

-Feeling quite good (sic)

 

I am out of words to express how I feel about this...

 

A reported troll post has been removed.

18 minutes ago, kwilco said:

I find it hard to believe that various embassies have no facilities for getting these people back home.

The people may end up in debt for the rest of their lives,but at least they'll  have a " rest of their life"

No embassies provide evacuation services. There is insurance for that.

5 hours ago, BestB said:

Sad, but this means not only he was riding no helmet but was also on the phone.

 

Putting that aside, and no travel insurance, what i do not understand is why truck insurance is not paying?  Why police are not forcing truck owner to pay?

Also ""He is away with his girlfriend but had been out with some of the lads for a drink and told her he wouldn't be long until he was back."

 

So, if we are to be cynical about it - he was riding a motor bike with no helmet, and had been on the phone moments before the crash, and had previously been having "a drink" with the lads (which was probably more than "a drink")

 

Or to be non cynical, he was riding a bike, had been on the phone before setting off, which he had inadvertently left switched on and was in his pocket, had previously had one drink with the lads, and was later ploughed into by a truck.

 

Take your pick!

6 hours ago, BestB said:

Sad, but this means not only he was riding no helmet but was also on the phone.

 

Putting that aside, and no travel insurance, what i do not understand is why truck insurance is not paying?  Why police are not forcing truck owner to pay?

T I T !!!

3 hours ago, steven100 said:

so can't the police go after this guy for compensation?

Was the pickup driver intoxicated?

 

It wasn't mentioned in the news article, so i suspect that was just sympathy filler in the gofundme script.  The reporter wouldn't print that without seeing a police report.

 

 I suspect they made up some other bits to make the motorcyclist appear more deserving, like the part about ending the call before the accident.  Most likely he was still talking when he hit the pickup.