29 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

Actually not, if you've been out of the UK for a considerable time you can't resource the NHS or any benefits until you have shown that your repatriation is permanent which can take a long time and requires proof. The UK is basically broke and the NHS is on it's knees, He'll have to go private in the UK and they want the money up front. The UK is no longer as 'social' as it once was.

But has billions to fund neo nazis in Ukraine 

21 minutes ago, Iron Tongue said:

Really sorry to read about this one.  So he is a Royal Navy veteran with experience in multiple wars but retired without a pot to piss in.  Sad state of affairs for a Brit to have to teach English in the LoS just to get by.  

And I can understand why he didn't want to live with family in the UK.  Not everybody wants to feel like leaching off of family, especially an old Tar like this gent.

His situation is EXACTLY what gofundme is for.  To pay for an old sailor's dignity when his country has forgotten about him.

He is not a Royal Navy veteran. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is a civilian organisation that provides logistical support for the Royal Navy. He should have a civil service pension but how much it pays will depend on his length of employment and his position when he left.

40 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

Actually not, if you've been out of the UK for a considerable time you can't resource the NHS or any benefits until you have shown that your repatriation is permanent

 

If his condition is considered an emergency when arriving back in the UK he will be treated  free and straight away. That applys to where ever the national is from.

I'm 80 yo and going well, I walk for 90 minutes early each morning. I've repeatedly told my wife if I get seriously ill tell the doctors to pill me up with pain killers and let me die at home. I've done everything I ever wanted to do as I had a good job and I never got married till I was 59 yo. I always drove a modern car, i travelled  the World 4 times and I owned racehorses and greyhounds until I settled in Thailand. So I've done it all.

31 minutes ago, alanrchase said:

He is not a Royal Navy veteran. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is a civilian organisation that provides logistical support for the Royal Navy. He should have a civil service pension but how much it pays will depend on his length of employment and his position when he left.

Maybe he was a Foreskin Fusilleer, they were well known for <deleted> rather than fighting.

1 minute ago, brian69 said:

How does the UK NHS know you have been out of the country? unless your stupid enough to tell them. 

 

The National insurance numbers have changed, as an expat you will have the old one, you presumably wont be paying  NI anymore, your registered doctor wont have any recent records (in my case he's been dead for years), you wont have your own address. An acquaintance returned from Cambodia to get treatment in the UK, several weeks into the treatment he was informed he would have to pay the NHS as a private patient, 3 times the normal cost. In his case he lied and said he had returned permanently so he was given a credit for the treatment, once a board investigating his case was convinced this was the case he didn't have to pay but it took a year of renting a small flat and showing them a rent contract and utility bills before he was off the hook, he then returned to Cambodia.

24 minutes ago, newbee2022 said:

His health issues didn't rise within a few days or weeks.

So, he knew about it.

To arrive in Thailand without a proper insurance is stupid in this case.

But hey, no problem, just go around begging. As usual.

Seems to be common in his home country. 

your either very young with no health concerns, or more than well off, People are two dimensional are just look a the bigger picture. You know nothing about this gentleman life other then the final chapter. clearly he has been here in Thailand for long time. WHICH make this his home. Having proper insurance is easy when young and healthy, but as time marches on and it will for you too, you will learn that Insurance companies are in business to make money, and they have more fine print then a Thai marriage visa.  you develop a problem and the the following year that's a underlying problem and either it is omitted or your premiums  go up, and by the time you are 70 they just omit your insurance.  Yes he likely knew about it and simply said as I would I would rather die here than go back to a country that he no longer recognizes.

6 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

The National insurance numbers have changed, as an expat you will have the old one, you presumably wont be paying  NI anymore, your registered doctor wont have any recent records (in my case he's been dead for years), you wont have your own address. An acquaintance returned from Cambodia to get treatment in the UK, several weeks into the treatment he was informed he would have to pay the NHS as a private patient, 3 times the normal cost. In his case he lied and said he had returned permanently so he was given a credit for the treatment, once a board investigating his case was convinced this was the case he didn't have to pay but it took a year of renting a small flat and showing them a rent contract and utility bills before he was off the hook, he then returned to Cambodia.

 

Total tosh to the above post.

Yes, you can get emergency treatment free of charge at an NHS Accident and Emergency (A&E) department in the UK, regardless of your residency status or nationality.

Yes really a strange case retired veteran working at 73 years old in Thailand 

If no Thai family ties 

Should be back in the UK

plus as mentioned what difference mentioning he is a ex Royal Navy  Fleet veteran going to make 

I can image quite a few retired Brits here are ex Military 🪖 🤔 

48 minutes ago, Alpha84 said:

 

Wouldn't a Royal Feet Auxiliary officer who served in 4 countries have some sort o decent military pension plus a state pension from the UK? Hard to understand how his financial situation could be that dire. 

If he had served in all those theatres ( at least 18 years) then he would have a pretty decent pension.

7 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

 

If his condition is considered an emergency when arriving back in the UK he will be treated  free and straight away. That applys to where ever the national is from.

That's true, you will be stabilized but anything beyond that (an OP etc) you will pay for. It's difficult enough to get an appointment for an OP for people living in the UK, even cancer patients can wait years sometimes, an expat is at the bottom of the list. an expat pays 3 times the normal cost or gets referred to a private clinic, its all on the NHS website.

1 hour ago, Woke to Sounds said:

Not everyone wants to buy health insurance, because many see insurance as a kind of sham.

 

Better to set aside a pile of $$ for emergencies.

 

If you catch a long disease with a death sentence like cancer, just live through it and die, like a real man, and fnck the insurance co's.

If you have sufficient wealth then certainly self  insurance can work well. All the insurance companies do is play the odds and with the amount that will be paid out capped, why not self insure if you can pay that amount yourself without impacting your overall financial situation.

 

Sadly, lack of insurance is all too often due to not wanting to, or being able to, pay the premiums. In which case it is risky game where you are rolling the dice.

1 hour ago, Alpha84 said:

73 years old and was still teaching English in Thailand to try and cover living expenses. Doesn't sound like the guy was very prepared for any eventualities at all. One has to wonder why he didn't go back and live with family in the UK 10 years ago given his financial situation. Had he been there at least there would have been some form of safety net. Now it looks like a very slippery slope. 

 

What was his financial situation ten years ago?

1 hour ago, jfeigel said:

...same 'ole story..."uninsured"... 

 

"Stupid is as stupid does..."... - Forrest Gump

At time like this better put a sock in it rather than showing how cruel and inhuman you're just to get some 'likes' from

similar minded like you, shame on you.

42 minutes ago, Iron Tongue said:

Really sorry to read about this one.  So he is a Royal Navy veteran with experience in multiple wars but retired without a pot to piss in.  Sad state of affairs for a Brit to have to teach English in the LoS just to get by.  

And I can understand why he didn't want to live with family in the UK.  Not everybody wants to feel like leaching off of family, especially an old Tar like this gent.

His situation is EXACTLY what gofundme is for.  To pay for an old sailor's dignity when his country has forgotten about him.

His country didn't forget about him. He forgot about himself.

5 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

 

Total tosh to the above post.

Yes, you can get emergency treatment free of charge at an NHS Accident and Emergency (A&E) department in the UK, regardless of your residency status or nationality.

read the NHS website on expat treatment.

3 minutes ago, Spock said:

His country didn't forget about him. He forgot about himself.

Go on mock and blame a person on his deathbed, how low can you go? no feelings. no compassion at all there?

dead inside are you all? no hope for some good words? only hurtful words coming out of your mouths?

Just now, ezzra said:

Go on mock and blame a person on his deathbed, how low can you go? no feelings. no compassion at all there?

dead inside are you all? no hope for some good words? only hurtful words coming out of your mouths?

 

 

Schadenfreude is alive and kicking on ASEAN NOW!

1 hour ago, jfeigel said:

...same 'ole story..."uninsured"... 

 

"Stupid is as stupid does..."... - Forrest Gump

 

I've got a couple of Canuk buddies with family in Thailand and they're paying $1400 USD a month for their insurance that still excludes pre-existing conditions.  Not everyone can afford that. When the company we worked for picked up sticks and shut down Thai operations, they had to switch coverage, so pre-existing conditions aren't covered.

 

Insurance is great to have if you can afford it and you don't have pre-existing conditions.  

 

1 hour ago, soalbundy said:

What role does being a veteran play? It's the same as 'dad of 3....' or 'granddad...' why not 'ex greengrocer has heart attack' who cares, you've bought the wrong lottery ticket mate.

 

It suggests he deserves better having served.

 

I was the stand-in village baker for a year in Negritos, Peru. The bakery I inherited was the hub of the community, the center of their universe and a provider of a key dietary staple. I was an indispensable part of the fabric of their lives.

 

When I eventually handed over the business, in lieu of the honour of the promised statue of me in the village square, I accepted their heartfelt thanks, resisted their tearful requests to stay and moved on.

 

Before I die, I will return there. I hope someone remembers me.

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Tend to agree with that, 70+ and still working with no real health care plan in place...

 

Where does it say he was still working?

1 hour ago, soalbundy said:

Actually not, if you've been out of the UK for a considerable time you can't resource the NHS or any benefits until you have shown that your repatriation is permanent which can take a long time and requires proof. The UK is basically broke and the NHS is on it's knees, He'll have to go private in the UK and they want the money up front. The UK is no longer as 'social' as it once was.

That's a good point  bundy but if a critically ill patient lands at a U.K. airport and is put into a waitng Ambulance what do you reckon they would do with him ??? dump him out onto the carpark  no I don't think so .I would suggest that they get him to the nearest Hospital and he would be attended to immediately.

1 hour ago, tonypattaya said:

The GoFundMe begging bowl deters people from taking care of their OWN future.

 

There but for the grace of god...etc.

 

I hope nobody pisses in your begging bowl.

2 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

 

 

I hope nobody pisses in your begging bowl.

 

 

 

Too late (metaphorically).

1 hour ago, Alpha84 said:

A few things don't quite add up here. It sounds like he's in a government hospital. And based on the photo, it doesn't even look like he's in an air-conditioned area of the hospital. Could he really be paying that much per day to lie in that simple bed with a fan and a machine that monitors heart rate? It also doesn't look like he's on much life-support for someone supposedly in critical condition. Just oxygen it appears.
 

Wouldn't a Royal Feet Auxiliary officer who served in 4 countries have some sort of decent military pension plus a state pension from the UK? Hard to understand how his financial situation could be that dire. 

 

A friend of mine visiting here, in his mid sixties, recently had a medical emergency and spent 8 of his 11 days in a government hospital in a medically induced coma. Final cost about 320,000 baht. Probably over half-a-million if he'd done private.

 

Anyway, he has insurance and before he went home, collected as much paperwork as possible to support a claim.

 

Six weeks later, no settlement and they're still fobbing him off and asking for more paperwork.

 

GoFundMe next time.

7 minutes ago, wavodavo said:

That's a good point  bundy but if a critically ill patient lands at a U.K. airport and is put into a waitng Ambulance what do you reckon they would do with him ??? dump him out onto the carpark  no I don't think so .I would suggest that they get him to the nearest Hospital and he would be attended to immediately.

Yes, he would be stabilized, afterwards there would be a conversation about how further treatment is to be paid for, but don't believe me, go to the NHS site regarding expats.

1 hour ago, soalbundy said:

Actually not, if you've been out of the UK for a considerable time you can't resource the NHS or any benefits until you have shown that your repatriation is permanent which can take a long time and requires proof. The UK is basically broke and the NHS is on it's knees, He'll have to go private in the UK and they want the money up front. The UK is no longer as 'social' as it once was.

But, but, but Starmer is letting in thousands of third world migrants into the UK so the good citizens must have allot of money to support them. 

1 hour ago, Alpha84 said:

Wouldn't a Royal Feet Auxiliary officer who served in 4 countries have some sort of decent military pension plus a state pension from the UK? Hard to understand how his financial situation could be that dire. 

I am an ex Merchant Navy officer (same as him) and it were compulsory when I went off to sea in 1977 to belong too the Merchant Navy Officers Pension fund.  (MNOPF)

 

Retired in 2015 with 38 yrs in the fund, taking the lump sum and monthly pension.  In the RFA he would have been paying 'Class 1 National Insurance' so have the full (Contracted out), UK, Old Age Pension albeit frozen so should not be short.

 

Something does not add up??  Would like to see the cuff of his uniform photo wearing medals.  

 

2 minutes ago, Screaming said:

But, but, but Starmer is letting in thousands of third world migrants into the UK so the good citizens must have allot of money to support them. 

There's probably a fund for that. I remember while living in Germany some years ago that people from the Balkons were being tested for TB on arrival, it was becoming a problem, due to war people were breaking off their treatment and fleeing the country, their TB had then become almost untreatable, they were told they would be treated for free in German hospital paid by a social services fund.

I hope he gets better soon. 

 

But I thought if you had a legal job in thailand you covered for medical insurance. 

 

My friend went into a diabetic coma and he was covered.  (he was a manager of a local. Restaurant) without that coverage it would have cost him 100s K baht.