British citizen stranded in Thai hospital with a 400,000 baht plea to escape

[brianthainess]

Right lets clear this up UK NHS is Not free, it is payed buy National Insurance contributions payed directly out of your wages for those that work, and other taxes paid.

The blood on the sheets IS His as can be clearly seen in the second Photo. This is normal as turning in your sleep can cause this. 

Hope the baby is ok.

 

[BigStar]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

There’s no toilet roll, you just wash with a hose.

 

Must be aimed at the ignorant unwashed back in the UK to garner sympathy. In Thailand Brits are in love with bum guns and regularly praise them with the usual scatological relish, enjoying relating details about applying the guns to their bums. The morning dump becomes a sensual event to be anticipated with pleasure, one of the highlights of the day.

 

The first use leads to an epiphany:

 

"Butt" bum guns are simply outstanding. Smearing feces  with toilet paper on my back side is  wholly repugnant to me.   I do like a decent water pressure.

      --I used a bum gun for the first time.

 

We had The Ultimate Bum Gun Thread back in 2015, but it's been lost in all the reindexing the forum's done for "improvements." But we have several yearly, such as in April. Ah, Thailand. 

 

 

Edited December 1, 2023 by BigStar

[jerrymahoney]

This foto from the GoFundMe page -- conditions don't look too bad off.

[Purdey]

To raise money for others to pay his bill he has to write the most pitiful and horrifying description of his plight to gain sympathy. The oaf probably thought no toilet paper was a nightmare.

[UWEB]

26 minutes ago, NextG said:

Have you considered that media outlets actively search through the ‘giving’ websites for stories?

Yes, for sure. And from all the stories people must know that they need a Health Insurance.

[jerrymahoney]

3 minutes ago, Purdey said:

To raise money for others to pay his bill he has to write the most pitiful and horrifying description of his plight to gain sympathy. The oaf probably thought no toilet paper was a nightmare.

I don't care much for the GoFundMe option but apparently 500+ people were willing to make a donation -- maybe people who knew him personally -- which is a lot more than would be willing to make a donation for me.

[The Fugitive]

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

No Paper... Lol.

Went to my local park for some exercise as usual.

There is a toilet block for the people at the park,

Toilets in a public park/recreation ground? Takes me back to the sixties in the U.K. Even had water drinking fountains in them too.

[damo1967]

2 hours ago, proton said:

 

There was a report earlier this year of a girl from UK there in hospital for 3 days for food poisoning. Luckily she did have insurance as the bill was almost 300k baht! 

Only a stupid 1d1ot like this m0r0n would go to Asia without INSURANCE... I shake my head at people who think they dont need it.

 

Eg:- some young aussie a few years back in Samui had his foot mostly amputated when hit by truck.. he did not have insurance because he was only going to be in Asia for 9 days and didn;t think he would need it.. he was at a local hospital with his foot hanging off by  afew strangs of tissue and the nurses were just wiping his foot with some towel hoping it would get better.. eventually got to international hospital and they would not touch his foot until the bill was pre-paid.. some horrendous amount like $120,000 USD or something.. another 'gofundme' 1d10t that I also donated the nice round sum of 0thb.  

[The Fugitive]

4 minutes ago, damo1967 said:

Only a stupid 1d1ot like this m0r0n would go to Asia without INSURANCE... I shake my head at people who think they dont need it.

 

Eg:- some young aussie a few years back in Samui had his foot mostly amputated when hit by truck.. he did not have insurance because he was only going to be in Asia for 9 days and didn;t think he would need it.. he was at a local hospital with his foot hanging off by  afew strangs of tissue and the nurses were just wiping his foot with some towel hoping it would get better.. eventually got to international hospital and they would not touch his foot until the bill was pre-paid.. some horrendous amount like $120,000 USD or something.. another 'gofundme' 1d10t that I also donated the nice round sum of 0thb.  

Agree! People have to take responsibility for themselves. Can't blame hospitals (Government or private) for refusing to provide on-going treatment without pre-payment in their bank account.

[sambum]

14 hours ago, Barnet1900 said:

Government hospitals lack many things compared to private versions but the picture he's painting is utter bs.

 

I've been in Red Cross hospitals here and the medical staff were great. 

 

Complete tosser

 

I disagree with your assumption that all Government hospitals and staff here are "great."

 

A few years back, I had a heart problem, and was rushed to a Government Hospital and spent a couple of days in ICU (which was. to be honest -  "great" However, I was then transferred to the Public Ward where conditions were far from "great". The "Head Nurse" was laughing because I didn't speak Thai, I had to go to the tolilet in my bare feet because I was rushed into hospital in only a pair of shorts and underpants. The toilet floor was swimming in urine and there were turds on the floor which had turned black, so they must have been there for a few days at least. I complained, and was told that they were short staffed and didn't have enough cleaners to do all the necessary tasks (B***s***!)  The toilet should have been the first place to be kept in a clean condition, as any trained nurse should know. I was there for 3 days, and while I was there, at least 2 people that I know of died on the ward (OK - it's a hospital - people die, but these people didn't seem to be gettinhg the attention they obviously needed) And the doctor that checked my heart functioning on a TV monitor actually sighed and said "Oh dear, doesn't look good" - not exactly a reassuring statement! Anyway, the specialist that I saw was of a different opinion, and I was discharged after 2 days, went home with a few pills (Blood thinners) and have been fine ever since - that was nearly 3 years ago, and have been to other Government hospitals, with other problems, but none as bad as that one, which I refuse point blank to return to. Some of them are better than others, but some do leave a lot to be desired.

 

[ignore it]

Geeze,

 

You just got to be careful.

 

If it ain't a drunk motorbike crash, a ladyboy rub and rob, aggressive bouncers,an overcharging taxi, a drunk speeding van driver accident, a sinking ferry, etc....

 

Now there's instant leukemia.

 

Thailand is gonna get ya.

 

[quake]

44 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Drip dry, wash hands went home disgusted with the amenities.

 

Had similar situations.

If you got to go, you got to go. 

 

[quake]

1 hour ago, neeray said:

Welcome to the ways of Thailand. When in Rome .............

 

What, Become Bisexual and gargle with your urine in the morning. 

 

[Kerryd]

I smell bull piled to the ceiling.

First off - it's a story from the MIRROR - a "media" site well known for buying and embellishing stories.

2nd - you don't "suddenly" catch leukemia. Like most cancers, it's a slow onset and you KNOW long beforehand that you've got it. You don't go on holiday and suddenly wake up one morning with full blown leukemia.
For example, my dad died from Stage 4 lung cancer - 2 years after first being diagnosed. He ended up in the (gov't) hospital a couple times for a couple days at a time towards the end but nowhere near the expense claimed in this story. And no "blood stained" sheets and other exaggerations. And yeah - GOV'T hospitals are usually "open" wards, sometimes with a curtain to separate the beds from one another. You  can pay extra for a private room - or go to a private hospital.

It is possible that he KNEW he had it before going on holiday and maybe (if the story is actually true which is debatable) that's why he didn't have travel insurance. If he was that far gone before he left, he'd have never passed a medical exam.

3rd - Note the story already had a GoFundMe set up BEFORE the story was published. The WHOLE purpose of the "story" is to generate publicity for the GoFundMe. It's literally the red flag in almost all of these kinds of stories. They need to get the story out to as many people as possible and hope enough people are conned into believing it to meet their target.

4th - the GoFundMe is set up "by a friend". It's always "a friend".

5th - It's in Phuket. 95% of these scam stories supposedly are in Phuket for some weird reason. Almost never in Pattaya, rarely in Bangkok and pretty much never in Isaan or northern Thailand.

Like the story of the Canadian woman who supposedly had a motorcycle accident - in Phuket - and her "friend" (according to the story in - the Mirror) set up a GoFundMe to fly to Thailand to help her and bring her home.
Except I checked. There was no record of any foreign woman having a motorcycle accident anywhere around that time.
And the "friend" posted ONE "generic" photo of a woman on a hospital bed with nothing in the pic that could identify where it was from. And her Facebook had NO photos of her "friend" (except the one for the story) - but she did post photos of her trip to Phuket so all her followers would know she was having a good time.
Odd that she didn't post any other photos for the friend she'd flown all the way to Thailand to help.

There have been numerous other scam GoFundMe's as well and they all have the same traits - like lack of specific dates and locations. Usually they'll say stuff like "last Summer" or "in the Fall". Or they got sick eating "at a restaurant in Phuket" and stayed "at a hotel". Rarely do they ever use specific details - because people might be able to check them.

And by the way - I've had to go to private hospitals for major operations twice.
Once, at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, to repair a torn rotator cuff and remove a bone spur in my shoulder. Total bill (total - including 3 days in the hospital) was 300,000 baht. (Insurance paid half - not sure why they didn't cover the whole amount.)

After a motorcycle accident, I was in the Phaya Thai hospital in Sri Racha. Had to have major surgery on one wrist and one foot.  270,000 baht total (including 3 days in the hospital).
My different policies covered 200,000 and I paid the remainder.

And those were private hospitals, not the much cheaper gov't ones.

But it doesn't matter. Apparently his "friend" has already exceeded the goal he set so he's home free.

 

[ArnieP]

Lots of cruel and insensitive comments in this thread :( 
Name calling of the guy isn’t just unsympathetic, but callous too.

[1happykamper]

Rubbish. Leukemia is a chronic illness. No pain.. Not an emergency situation. Certainly no need blood stained sheets. A very hyped up melodramatic article. 

 

Why did he check himself in that hospital in the first place? He should have gotten on a plane home. He really messed up. 

 

I wish him all the best on the birth of his new baby 555

[nausea]

This story smells, it smells of hyped up, hack (Daily Mirror?) hyperbole.

[Powder]

weird story this is.

another Brit without a proper insurance. Do they keep their brain at home when they go for a holiday.

And then suddenly leukemia. Sure. what a bs story. disgusting.

[dogfish180]

Rather than rushing to the nearest hospital knowing you don't have insurance doesn't seem logical to me. Wouldn't you just change your flight ticket and go home if you were feeling unwell? This all sounds very fishy!

[ChipButty]

If he was that bothered about no TP his friend could have gone across the road to 7/11 cheap charlies

[JimTripper]

53 minutes ago, damo1967 said:

Only a stupid 1d1ot like this m0r0n would go to Asia without INSURANCE... I shake my head at people who think they dont need it.

 

Eg:- some young aussie a few years back in Samui had his foot mostly amputated when hit by truck.. he did not have insurance because he was only going to be in Asia for 9 days and didn;t think he would need it. he was at a local hospital with his foot hanging off by afew strangs of tissue and the nurses were just wiping his foot with some towel hoping it would get better.. eventually got to international hospital and they would not touch his foot until the bill was pre-paid.. some horrendous amount like $120,000 USD or something.. another 'gofundme' 1d10t that I also donated the nice round sum of 0thb.  

Being kind of hard on the guy...

 

Some of it is finances, not stupidity. A lot of people can't afford the insurance so they just take the risk and figure they will never get the holiday otherwise.

 

It's like anything else, money insulates you from all kinds of problems.

 

As far as the begging, it's "up to you". The fund is there if you want to help out, it's not required. He probably should not be attacked for making the effort.

Edited December 1, 2023 by JimTripper

[Gandtee]

While having no sympathy for him although I hope he covers I would like to point out that when you reach a certain age health / travel insurance is not available.

[dallen52]

What gets me with these unfortunate cases is that it's a simple fix.

 

I've said many times before that a compulsory insurance policy cover for all arrivals at say 1000 baht. 

And it's a no brainer.

 

The government would make billions out of it 

[Jonathan Swift]

16 hours ago, bignok said:

Idiot.

Better an idiot than a heartless, compassionless empty shell of a human being

[NoshowJones]

13 hours ago, kimamey said:

 

I don't know about Tai law but in the UK and most western countries I would assume, it would possibly be illegal. Emergency treatment in the UK is free but after that you have to pay and I've seen cases where people have been taken to court. It's not complicated really. You've had a service that you haven't paid for. 

 

Of course this is Thailand and he's a foreigner so it's probably more complicated. I suspect the police would be involved early on and they'd see a chance of some money if they played things right. Even if he doesn't have enough money now they would probably guess that he raise it somehow and they'd want their share. After that iI think he would be stopped at the airport. Then it doesn't matter what you think the law is as that will be decided by officials at the airport.

 

He might get away with it but it's a big risk. He could try saying " Well Bob Smith said it would be ok"

The Thai government have only themselves to blame for farang's who live here trying to leave hospitals without paying. How many farang's have bought houses and had to put them in their wife's name because the Thai government would not let them buy property in their own names?

The farang's could not avoid paying their hospital bills if they had been able to buy property in their own name, so in that case the Thai government could then force a sale on the property to recover the hospital bills.

[Gottfrid]

15 hours ago, bob smith said:

Just walk out the hospital when you feel better and fly home to get proper treatment. Tell em to stick the 400K!
 

legally he doesn’t have to pay a penny. 
 

despite what anyone says, it is a hospitals duty to accept any and all emergency cases without question. Im not saying to walk out without paying is morally right, thats another story, but legally he doesn’t have to pay a cent. 

You are so far off the reality chart, so it makes it hard to know where to start. First, you must understand that we are in Thailand and talking about Thai hospitals. You can not, just walk out of a hospital without paying. Especially not regarding such amounts. You will either be stopped and police will be involved or you will be prohibited to leave the country. This is not American, French or Swedish laws. Here they rely on the Thai law. That one and some regulations says they are obligated to treat Thai citizens, but not uninsured foreigners.

You have confused it all with the thing that says doctors are sworn to save life. That is true, and that is why they are giving him treatment and doing what they can to save him, despite they are aware he can´t pay at the moment. That does not mean he can avoid paying. That does not mean, he will have protection from the law if he tell them to stick it and try to walk away without paying for his treatment. As he have left the security of his home country without a travel insurance, he will automatically put himself in the position as the person who must pay or raise as well as call somebody to pay his debt.
 

14 hours ago, bob smith said:

The fact is, any and all emergency cases admitted to almost any hospital worldwide are the responsibility of that hospital until discharged by a doctor. 
 

The alternative would be to have hordes of sick people dying in hospital foyers because they didn’t have the money for the emergency treatment that could have saved their lives. This is a predicament that hospitals actively try to avoid.

Responsibility in hospitals in this country is very low. Just take when a child is born. Directly the nurse comes with a book, where you have to sign you take the responsibility for the child for the next 2-3 days in hospital. Have own experience from 2 times. However, rather irrelevant, as it had to do with the payment. 

Regarding the payment, we can take American hospitals as an example. They are obligated to treat and save the life of an uninsured person. However, many will ask for payment up front, which you can refuse, and they still have to save the person. That, however will not mean they will not charge you. Due to the financial system in most countries, the hospital will also let you go but mostly that is done with their citizens and harder to do with tourists. The reason why they can let an uninsured person go home, is that they have bill sending systems, credit check systems and much more developed systems for payments and economy.

Thailand do not have good systems for this, and therefore they will keep a person in hospital or in the country until the bill has been fully paid. As there are not many foreigners that get into these problems compared to hospitals, there are no hordes of people dying in hospital foyers. The reason for that is the hospitals are full with sick people that are on the 30 baht scheme.

[ujayujay]

15 hours ago, bob smith said:

Just walk out the hospital when you feel better and fly home to get proper treatment. Tell em to stick the 400K!
 

legally he doesn’t have to pay a penny. 
 

despite what anyone says, it is a hospitals duty to accept any and all emergency cases without question. Im not saying to walk out without paying is morally right, thats another story, but legally he doesn’t have to pay a cent. 

Dreamer

[sammieuk1]

Just read the first page of comments and deduce there are no Buddhists only pagans here, by the grace of god and all that good luck and hope it all works out 🤔

[bob smith]

2 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

You can not, just walk out of a hospital without paying

You can because a friend of mine did that very thing!

Edited December 1, 2023 by bob smith

[findlay13]

5 hours ago, Ricky HKT said:

I have used the services (heart stress test, blood testing) at Vachira Hospital. Excellent service and great staff.

 

My wife had an operation there (removed a salivary gland). Excellent Doctor, surgery, results. Good and fast services.

 

I personally know some of the nurses and staff. Kind and hardworking people.

 

The facilities may look a bit dated, but it is a government facility which serves the Phuket province, other provinces, and foreigners. 

 

Sorry, but this like a hit job on the hospital. For what purpose?

 

For go fund me money?