Community Greek Man Stricken by Mysterious Illness Left Without Treatment as Funds Run Dry in Rayong

[JJ-Thailand]

On 6/29/2025 at 12:41 AM, ukrules said:

This is a warning to all who retire to Thailand....have tens of millions of Baht on hand or potentially end up like this poor guy.

Agree, far too many farangs take a short cut and retire in Thailand far too early, without sufficient funds. Work longer and save up more is my advice before you book your one-way ticket to the land of smiles. I have seen many dreamers go bust here.

[StandardIssue]

22 hours ago, save the frogs said:

 

I know the drill. There have been numerous threads about this over the years and several horror stories like this one.

Not ideal to retire into old age in a country that excludes you from national health care. 

And are the public hospitals even up to decent standards compared to back home? 

 

 

Exactly my point. Don't sell it all and move to Thailand unless you have a way to return to your home country in case of medical emergency.

 

NEVER rely completely on Thai health care because they do come up short in many areas. Just the fact that many Thai Doctors (at reputable hospitals) will prescribe antibiotics for the flu or common cold is a HUGE RED FLAG. If you don't understand why then that is part of the problem. 

 

Any of you who are considering long term living here and are doing it because you can't get by in your home country be sure and visit a Goverment Hospital in Thailand before you do. They are very substandard compared to any western hospital.

 

Far to many retirees come with enough money to get along here but not in their western homeland. Many do not give enough thought to making sure they are covered in the case of INEVITABLE illness or health issues. 

 

They wind up like this poor soul withering away in some 5000 baht a month room in Rayong. It's purely bad planning or unwillingness to look at the realities of old age.

 

This kind of suffering is really quite unnecessary if the future is planned for.

 

I really do hope some kind of crowd funding or charity from the Thai community might surface but I fear it won't. 

[Peterphuket]

51 minutes ago, Peterphuket said:

This is a good idea and would certainly contribute to it.

So, maybe AN can organise something like this?

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Not strange at all, Thai doctors aren't that good.

Thai doctor says, gall bladder out or you'll die, I didn't and still here 13 years later.

Thai doctor says, prostate out or you'll die, I didn't, 6 years later still here.

Thai doctor says, son's appendix out or he'll die, I didn't, 10 years later, he's still here.

Nice to see you're here and still posting... [unless you have one of those auto-pens] 

good health Sir

[Peterphuket]

41 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

 

The tsunami was 21 years ago..... you think the hospital is a bit cheeky increasing prices since then?

In those more than 25 years of staying here, I have now had the experience that it has all become hand-me-down prices, time after time you can and should negotiate for a lower price! And yes, that started with the tsunami
That should not be possible.
In addition, I have gained the experience that the expertise among those doctors from time to time leaves much to be desired, and judging from the reactions here, I am not alone in that.

[StandardIssue]

2 minutes ago, Peterphuket said:

In those more than 25 years of staying here, I have now had the experience that it has all become hand-me-down prices, time after time you can and should negotiate for a lower price! And yes, that started with the tsunami
That should not be possible.
In addition, I have gained the experience that the expertise among those doctors from time to time leaves much to be desired, and judging from the reactions here, I am not alone in that.

Absolutely, I've seen a few Doctors over the years at Bangkok Hospital and the like and they can be way behind in the latest advances in medicine. Many are just glorified pill salesman.

 

[StandardIssue]

On 6/28/2025 at 3:41 PM, ukrules said:

They will let him die and not bat an eyelid. Nobody cares at all.

This is a warning to all who retire to Thailand....have tens of millions of Baht on hand or potentially end up like this poor guy.

 

I would not recommend relying only on the Thai health care community simply because the quality of care, skill and knowledge is not up to western standards in many cases. 

 

Personally I have made sure I have insurance in the west and can go back for care if I deem it necessary. Say heart trouble or any kind of major surgery. I'd get it done in the west and not in Thailand

[JJ-Thailand]

Got sick last year and needed urgent surgery at a private hospital in Bangkok but had to pay 800,000 Baht in advance. I had enough funds and after paying, their team of doctors and nurses got ready immediately for a complicated 4-hour operation. No money, no operation. The final bill including hospital accommodation, medication, rehabilitation and everything else was 1,4 million Baht, the 800,000 was only for the operation. Don't even think about retiring in Thailand without sufficient funds.

[Ralf001]

52 minutes ago, Peterphuket said:

In those more than 25 years of staying here, I have now had the experience that it has all become hand-me-down prices, time after time you can and should negotiate for a lower price! And yes, that started with the tsunami
That should not be possible.
In addition, I have gained the experience that the expertise among those doctors from time to time leaves much to be desired, and judging from the reactions here, I am not alone in that.

All my doctors have been fantastic.

[Ebumbu]

I wonder if they bothered testing nutrition. 

23 hours ago, save the frogs said:

 

There are Western doctors that can provide a diagnosis via Skype in this day and age. 

I would try to find a Western doctor who does online consultations for a 2nd opinion / diagnosis. 

They may require blood tests, whatever ... get the tests done in a local hospital and send results to the Western doctor by fax. 

 

 

Skype no longer exists. It was replaced by some MS thing. But your idea is right. 

[Stiddle Mump]

We have to stand up for ourselves and take care of our own health.

 

Learn to read yer body. Sometimes it says; 'given me a drink of water'.

At other times, if you have the sniffles for instance, it is telling you that itis eliminating stuff you don't want. Trust you body. Everything it does is for its own (our) good.

 

Learn to love nature. It was the past. It is the present. It will be the future. No matter what we humans might do to it. 

 

 

[chilli42]

It would have been useful if they had included in the story how one might make a donation to help this guy.

[MeRakThai]

6 hours ago, Stiddle Mump said:

Hospitals should be there for accidents.

 

Nature can cure far more than white-coats ever can.

 

[MeRakThai]

Tell that to the millions that whooping cough vaccines saved or perhaps "white coats" who discovered penicillin and saved millions of lives. Perhaps you would like to have measels run rampant like in Samoa in late 2019 due to misinformation on vaccines? 83 deaths over 1800 hospitalized. I'd rather live in a modern 21st century than the middle ages. 

[KhunLA]

48 minutes ago, chilli42 said:

It would have been useful if they had included in the story how one might make a donation to help this guy.

Think this is the charity group mentioned in OP.  Doubt if Mrs. Kotchakorn the wife and sole caregiver of Mr. Alex, would be hard to track down, having the subdistrict, district in Muang, Rayong, if wanting.

 

 

Could always just contact Workpoint TV, where the story originated from:

 

[Stiddle Mump]

27 minutes ago, MeRakThai said:

Tell that to the millions that whooping cough vaccines saved or perhaps "white coats" who discovered penicillin and saved millions of lives. Perhaps you would like to have measels run rampant like in Samoa in late 2019 due to misinformation on vaccines? 83 deaths over 1800 hospitalized. I'd rather live in a modern 21st century than the middle ages. 

Too much Dr Fauci and CNN for you Sir.

 

Measles is not a disease. Whooping cough is a natural body function; as is measles. Caused by the body ridding itself of stuff it don't want.

 

This Greek chap had all the white-coats his money could pay for. Still sick.

[Lung Khao]

Do an MRI of spine, I used to have similar symptoms. did MRI, visited neurologist, then physiotherapist. After half a year they brought me back to normal life. In my case that was enough, no need for spinal surgery. 

[Donut21]

I was i Thailand in 2013.  In the last week of my holiday I lost the use of my left leg for no reason.  I went to hospital and nothing could be found.  In the following week the symptoms got worse with pains in my back and arms. and I lost the use of my right hand.   I went back to hospital and still was told nothing could be found to be wrong;.  I was given a pain killing injection at a cost of 3000 Baht.  It made no difference to the pain.  I managed to get a flight back home the following day to the UK.  By the time I arrived I could not walk and got assistance to the train station.  The following day I was taken to a UK hospital were various tents were made with no visible results.  After two weeks in hospital It was confirmed I had Guillain Barre Syndrome an autoimmune disease,  A very rare disease.  I would say from my own experience this man has the same complaint and needs treatment.   He may need a long treatment but is in most cases, curable although may be left with some disability.  A message to his wife tell the doctors to look at  Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS)     

[Stiddle Mump]

5 minutes ago, Donut21 said:

I was i Thailand in 2013.  In the last week of my holiday I lost the use of my left leg for no reason.  I went to hospital and nothing could be found.  In the following week the symptoms got worse with pains in my back and arms. and I lost the use of my right hand.   I went back to hospital and still was told nothing could be found to be wrong;.  I was given a pain killing injection at a cost of 3000 Baht.  It made no difference to the pain.  I managed to get a flight back home the following day to the UK.  By the time I arrived I could not walk and got assistance to the train station.  The following day I was taken to a UK hospital were various tents were made with no visible results.  After two weeks in hospital It was confirmed I had Guillain Barre Syndrome an autoimmune disease,  A very rare disease.  I would say from my own experience this man has the same complaint and needs treatment.   He may need a long treatment but is in most cases, curable although may be left with some disability.  A message to his wife tell the doctors to look at  Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS)     

I would question his medical and vaccine status first.

[Captain Flack]

27 minutes ago, Stiddle Mump said:

I would question his medical and vaccine status first.

Don’t try to deflect this topic with any vaccine conspiracies. This is the news section, not off the beaten track.

[ukrules]

A Doctor needs to evaluate him in every way, a different one who knows what he's doing.

My father could barely eat once when he came home from hospital after having a pacemaker fitted.

Turns out he was over medicated on all sorts of tablets he didn't need and they were making him ill.

The pacemaker worked just fine.

But he was being pumped full of duiretics and other stuff even though his BP was normal due to an edema. They also had him on lisinopril which is odd due to normal BP. As you might expect his BP was very low - like 65/40 and for a normal man about 76 years of age about that time that is far from normal. He could not eat anything and could barely sip a little bit of water - no idea why.

He returned to hospital after attempting a blood test and passing out in the Doctors office - in the end there was nothing wrong with him - or so they said - just medication related issues - as in - way too much of it.

Whatever is wrong with this guy could be one of a hundred different things and we know nothing about his current status, drugs he's taking and medical history - nothing at all.

 

[gearbox]

7 hours ago, Ebumbu said:

 

Right. His physical frame has the look of a parasitic infection. Big stomach, but bone thin. Needs a comprehensive stool test for starters. It's solvable, but not from Rayong. 

It is a possibility. I met a Brit in India 5 years ago just before covid. He got some infection in India which took nearly 3 months and quite a few doctors to diagnose in UK. He lost 16 kilos and was barely able to go upstairs in the end.