‘Last push’ to get injured English tourist stuck in Thailand hospital back home

[chalawaan]

On 5/24/2023 at 2:08 PM, sqwakvfr said:

I wonder if the hospital will be pressured to let him go?  I would attempt to negotiate a payment plan for the remainder of the bill.  This is the time when an Embassy can get involved and work with the hospital and the family to ensure payments are made in the future.  But just like the US Embassy I doubt the British Embassy wants any part of this.  It would really look bad if his condition worsens while he is being “cared” for while waiting for the remainder of the bill to be paid.  This is the “catch 22’  of this predicament: while he is in the hospital the bill keeps climbing.  So as each day passes the current balance due gets higher and higher until he is discharged.  

Even if they get him out of hospital, which is not looking good as the bill never stops mounting, wait until they get the Medevac Bill!

And even in the UK, there will be ongoing care and rehab costs.

 

On the one hand I would not wish ill on the family, I couldn't imagine such a horrible financial predicament, but on the other, there's that strange "victim" angle, no gratitude for the donations already supplied, plus the inference that it is everyone's fault but his own. 

 

Don't leave home if you don't have insurance AND understand its terms and limitations!

[stevenl]

6 minutes ago, chalawaan said:

Even if they get him out of hospital, which is not looking good as the bill never stops mounting, wait until they get the Medevac Bill!

And even in the UK, there will be ongoing care and rehab costs.

 

On the one hand I would not wish ill on the family, I couldn't imagine such a horrible financial predicament, but on the other, there's that strange "victim" angle, no gratitude for the donations already supplied, plus the inference that it is everyone's fault but his own. 

 

Don't leave home if you don't have insurance AND understand its terms and limitations!

Read the previous posts, he is out and in the UK 

[Celsius]

Keep donating suckers.

 

If something like this happened to me, my family would find the money themselves. The last thing on their mind would be an elephant tour in Thailand while I was lying half dead in the hospital bed. 

 

Then continue asking for money while trashing Thailand. Didgusting. How come no one posted this?

 

 

[richard_smith237]

On 5/27/2023 at 1:52 PM, Mike Teavee said:

On 5/26/2023 at 1:11 PM, richard_smith237 said:

Because it vows to treat all people with equality. 

Non-UK resident Brits visiting the UK are charged 1.5X (150%) of the normal cost charged to a Non-UK Citizen… 

 

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/visiting-or-moving-to-england/how-to-access-nhs-services-in-england-if-you-are-visiting-from-abroad/#:~:text=If you're not ordinarily,of the national NHS rate.

 

[Pedrogaz]

On 5/24/2023 at 1:19 PM, AAArdvark said:

So what next?  He dies and they then get? 

Actually they won't release the dead body without getting paid in full.

[Pedrogaz]

On 5/24/2023 at 2:38 PM, Goat said:

Thailand has enough of its own problems. Millions of Thais are getting sub standard health care.

 

I have already chipped in $500 for this kid.

How about you put your hand in your pocket to help him out.

Or do you just want to complain about the Thais?

A fool and his money are soon parted.

[Pedrogaz]

I've been here long enough to have seen many of these irresponsible and foolish individuals on motorbikes, hearing helmets or not, talking on phones or not, drunk or not, crashing and then crying about getting home, about hospitals asking to be paid and about the costs of flying the fool home to the UK. 

I'm sick of it. If you are such an idiot I don't want you to come to Thailand and give foreigners a bad name as carping Cheap Charie's who won't pay their bills.

Either buy insurance and if the insurance doesn't cover the risks you take don't take the risk....stop with the begging and GoFundMe nonsense. Grow up and take responsibility for your actions. As for the photo of the relatives over here helping with the begging while enjoying themselves as tourists well? What can one say? I'm not impressed....but then I've never appreciated tattoos.

[stevenl]

31 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

Actually they won't release the dead body without getting paid in full.

Good of them to release the living body then.

[Gaccha]

On 5/24/2023 at 2:38 PM, Goat said:

 

I have already chipped in $500 for this kid.

Great news!

 

He's back home in blighty and they were able to avoid paying a lot of the hospital bills... at least for now. In the meantime, he's in an NHS hospital now, so the UK taxpayer will surely help fund things going forward.

 

But thanks to your generosity, three of his family had a lovely no-expenses-spared trip to Thailand which included elephant rides; great fun was had by all! Another post has the photos!

[Skallywag]

On 5/24/2023 at 12:21 PM, webfact said:

English tourist who crashed his motorbike into a shopfront in Phuket on May 1

Say it was brake failure and sue the guy who rented the bike, am sure he has insurance 555

Sad the young buck crashed. Family should thank Thai and Thai doctors and pay the bill.

20K Euros or Dollars does not seem like a lot ,

Gofundme is for those who cannot pay

 

[Sheryl]

5 hours ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

So what happens next? He can't pay so how does the hospital make him pay? Is he being made to pay bed and board while being confined to the hospital once he's fit to travel?

 "fit to travel" = he is still in a complete coma and bed ridden, not ambulatory.

 

A lot more care than bed & board involved.

 

He will be transported straight from a Thai hospital to a UK hospital or long term care facility, he isn't being discharged to home.

 

And yes, hospital costs will continue to mount everyday that he is still in the Thai hospital. This happens a  lot to people  unable to pay private private hospital bills.  Theh ospital will, of course, refrain from any expensive procedures or treatments going forward now that they know there is a problem getting paid and that in itself may become a problem.

 

Hospital will not release the patient until the matter is resolved. With a Thai or long-term resident expat this can sometimes be done through a payment plan but for someone being transferred to a facility in another country, hospital will require full payment upfront before releasing for transfer. And no possible way to effect this complex transfer of a comatose patient without the current hospital's full involvement.

[sqwakvfr]

3 hours ago, chalawaan said:

Even if they get him out of hospital, which is not looking good as the bill never stops mounting, wait until they get the Medevac Bill!

And even in the UK, there will be ongoing care and rehab costs.

 

On the one hand I would not wish ill on the family, I couldn't imagine such a horrible financial predicament, but on the other, there's that strange "victim" angle, no gratitude for the donations already supplied, plus the inference that it is everyone's fault but his own. 

 

Don't leave home if you don't have insurance AND understand its terms and limitations!

One more thing:  Don’t expect anything from your embassy anywhere in the world.  The only real service any embassy offers to its citizens is one two things:  1) Renew an expiring passport 2) Replace a missing or stolen passport.  Everything else is just handshakes and photo opportunities. 

[stevenl]

54 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

 "fit to travel" = he is still in a complete coma and bed ridden, not ambulatory.

 

A lot more care than bed & board involved.

 

He will be transported straight from a Thai hospital to a UK hospital or long term care facility, he isn't being discharged to home.

 

And yes, hospital costs will continue to mount everyday that he is still in the Thai hospital. This happens a  lot to people  unable to pay private private hospital bills.  Theh ospital will, of course, refrain from any expensive procedures or treatments going forward now that they know there is a problem getting paid and that in itself may become a problem.

 

Hospital will not release the patient until the matter is resolved. With a Thai or long-term resident expat this can sometimes be done through a payment plan but for someone being transferred to a facility in another country, hospital will require full payment upfront before releasing for transfer. And no possible way to effect this complex transfer of a comatose patient without the current hospital's full involvement.

He has been transferred to a UK hospital without full payment to the Thai hospital.

[Ralf001]

5 hours ago, stevenl said:

I think it would depend on his condition. When he can be dismissed he will be, but the hospital will take his passport, report him to immigration, etc. He could still leave the country but it would be much harder.

Why does the hospital have possession of his passport ?

Have had numerous stays in private hospitals here in Thailand over the years, none have ever kept my passport.

Always handed back to me after copies were made.

Edited May 28, 2023 by Ralf001

[stevenl]

12 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Why does the hospital have possession of his passport ?

Have had numerous stays in private hospitals here in Thailand over the years, none have ever kept my passport.

Always handed back to me after copies were made.

Were you a foreign tourist without insurance who can not pay his bills?

[Ralf001]

2 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Were you a foreign tourist without insurance who can not pay his bills?

Do private hospitals have a policy that foreign tourist admissions will have their passports confiscated ?

[stevenl]

1 minute ago, Ralf001 said:

Do private hospitals have a policy that foreign tourist admissions will have their passports confiscated ?

From you not answering the question I presume your situation is different from the one under discussion here.

[IvorBiggun2]

2 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Do private hospitals have a policy that foreign tourist admissions will have their passports confiscated ?

Never had mine taken when I was admitted into Bangkok Hospital in Korat. They accepted my pink ID card. Mind you that was about 6-7 years ago so thing could have changed. But I doubt it.

[Ralf001]

12 minutes ago, stevenl said:

From you not answering the question I presume your situation is different from the one under discussion here.

Iam non Thai citizen - same as this fella.

I went to a private hospital - same as this fella.

Hospital did not keep my passport - not same as this fella allegedly.

I paid my own bill via means of not begging like a grub - not same as this fella.

 

You are 100% correct, my situation is not the same - as this fella.

Edited May 28, 2023 by Ralf001

[stevenl]

4 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Iam non Thai citizen - same as this fella.

I went to a private hospital - same as this fella.

Hospital did not keep my passport - not same as this fella allegedly.

I paid my own bill via means of not begging like a grub - not same as this fella.

 

You are 100% correct, my situation is not the same - as this fella.

So there was no doubt about you paying, so not the same.

Vachira hospital where he stayed is not private btw .

[roo860]

3 hours ago, Celsius said:

Keep donating suckers.

 

If something like this happened to me, my family would find the money themselves. The last thing on their mind would be an elephant tour in Thailand while I was lying half dead in the hospital bed. 

 

Then continue asking for money while trashing Thailand. Didgusting. How come no one posted this?

 

 

3 elephants?

[Ralf001]

1 minute ago, stevenl said:

So there was no doubt about you paying, so not the same.

Vachira hospital where he stayed is not private btw .

Last visit to a private hospital they did stop treatment when insurance company went "underlying pre-existing conditions" and refused cover.

I was in a medically induced coma when this happened... 

 

So yes payment was a concern and there was doubts about paying the ever growing bill but I still had (well the missus did) possession of my passport.

 

This passport confiscation for tourists.... its a non private hospital thing ?

[Liverpool Lou]

7 hours ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

Is he being made to pay bed and board while being confined to the hospital once he's fit to travel?

Absolutely, he would be, private hospitals aren't dosshouses.  My guess, though, is that if it came down to the hospital wanting him out and the family sticking to their no more money claim, the hospital would allow him to leave with a promise to pay the outstanding if only for for humanitarian and PR reasons.   If the family ever did the right thing and coughed-up it's be a bonus for the hospital.

[Liverpool Lou]

6 hours ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

6 hours ago, stevenl said:

but the hospital will take his passport,

The hospital has no legal right to take your passport.

It'd be irrelevant as the British embassy would provide an emergency travel document if he "lost" his passport.

[Liverpool Lou]

5 hours ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

5 hours ago, stevenl said:

Firstly, I want to bet they already have it. Secondly, no legal right will prevent them from taking it?

I'd bet they haven't got it as he was more than likely not carrying it when arriving at the hospital.

It would have to have been produced at some stage, probably by his friends, to register his admittance at the hospital.

[Bday Prang]

On 5/24/2023 at 3:07 PM, Goat said:

Well that wouldnt really be fair would it.

 

Not many Thais visit England because unlike the visa exempt on arrival that thailand gives you guys, for a Thai who isnt married to an Englishman, the visa is very difficult to obtain and most are rejected even they have paid expensive application fees.

It is a racist policy. Us Aussies are welcomed with open arms to both countries.

The Thais that do visit the UK don't generally thrash round on hired motorcycles with no helmets on whilst drunk.so a reciprocal agreement would never be "fair"

[JonnyF]

8 hours ago, ChaiyaTH said:

Was that after the por lor bor insurance paid 30K baht? Or you only needed to pay 25K yourself? Or did you not know this?

I didn’t pay anything.
 

Total bill was 55k paid for by the private health insurance that my company provides for me as part of my expat package.

 

Private First Class insurance took care of the bike repairs.

[it is what it is]

32 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

The Thais that do visit the UK don't generally thrash round on hired motorcycles with no helmets on whilst drunk.so a reciprocal agreement would never be "fair"

yea, only quality tourists need apply to visit the uk. thank you.

[Andrew65]

3 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Why does the hospital have possession of his passport ?

Have had numerous stays in private hospitals here in Thailand over the years, none have ever kept my passport.

Always handed back to me after copies were made.

Here's a thought. I believe that when we stay overnight at a hotel in Thailand, the hotel is obliged by law to take our passport details, that will, or can be, handed to the immigration Dept or is it the Land Dept? The same thing would apply at a hospital, but that probably doesn't explain the hanging on to the passport.

[Sheryl]

3 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Do private hospitals have a policy that foreign tourist admissions will have their passports confiscated ?

There is n policy of :"confisctaion" but when someone is extremely ill or comatose and unattended by family it is common for all their valuables to be checked. Security measure for the patient to avoid theft/loss.

 

Even if in posession of all your valuables,and ambulatory,  you will not succeed - really do not want to try (it gets ugly fast) - to walk out without paying.

 

Since he was not in condition to be discharged home, just transferred to a hospital in UK, full involvement/cooperation of the hospital he was in any case was essential.

 

In any event