1 hour ago, cjinchiangrai said:

Why are they trying to transport an unstable patient? If he dies trying to get him in the ambulance, how will he survive the trip?

 

Who designed the loading area? Where is security to move the car? Common sense says that you drop the second patient and move the car but was there somewhere to move it to?

 

Both were emergencies, she got sent home. but could have been having a stroke. Better monitoring and staffing could have solved this.

However NOT all hospitals have the same facilities.

 

When I had a blackout I was taken to the nearest hospital 15km away, who then examined me in the emergency room, then shipped me off to the state hospital another 50 km away which is where I woke up.

 

I had no idea where I was, other than in a hospital in Thailand, I also had no idea if my wife knew where I was, or even if she knew what happened to me.

 

I was, however very grateful to the ambulance crews and the hospital staff who took care of me.

1 hour ago, 300sd said:

Is the ambulance driver part of the problem? Why couldn't he move forward? If he had to turn around to get out then he should have backed in. Just wondering.

The ambulance was stopped on the flat area just outside the emergency room for easier loading and unloading of patients.

 

That azzhole stopped as close to the ambulance as he could without parking inside it, just to save an extra 2 metres of walking, and then refused to move his vehicle.

 

When you stop at a hospital the driver should AWAYS stay with the vehicle and NEVER stop within 2 metres of any emergency ambulance. Then to leave the vehicle to go into the emergency room and argue about moving his truck. It is not as if he can actually DO anything useful.

 

Only AZZholes do that.

 

Fortunately for me, I live in rural Thailand where people care.

1 minute ago, billd766 said:

The ambulance was stopped on the flat area just outside the emergency room for easier loading and unloading of patients.

 

That azzhole stopped as close to the ambulance as he could without parking inside it, just to save an extra 2 metres of walking, and then refused to move his vehicle.

 

When you stop at a hospital the driver should AWAYS stay with the vehicle and NEVER stop within 2 metres of any emergency ambulance. Then to leave the vehicle to go into the emergency room and argue about moving his truck. It is not as if he can actually DO anything useful.

 

Only AZZholes do that.

 

Fortunately for me, I live in rural Thailand where people care.

That has nothing to do with my statement. I agree with the above. 

3 hours ago, bluemoon58 said:

I see selfish (me,me,me) drivers all the time refusing to give way to ambulances driving behind them with their blues and twos on! I can't speak for other countries but in the UK we are taught to always give way to ANY emergency vehicle displaying lights and sirens, even mounting (safely) if needed. 

In the US we are very good about pulling over.

3 hours ago, fredwiggy said:

Inconsiderate lowlife. You try this in the US your car would be moved by many, and the police would fine you large. There wouldn't be begging but shoving .

They get fined for it in the UK, 

4 minutes ago, Jonathan Swift said:

In the US we are very good about pulling over.

Sure are, and if you don't, you'll pay.

From what I see in Phuket people do seem to comply with the rules on giving way, I do see quite a few ambulances flying by, 

On 10/19/2025 at 5:56 AM, novacova said:

Where’s the accountability here?

none

1 hour ago, cjinchiangrai said:

Or just borrowed the keys for a few minutes and move it for him.

Sorry cjinchiangrai, mature responses don't go over well here. 😉 

 

Obstruction. Charge them.

1 minute ago, Galong said:

Sorry cjinchiangrai, mature responses don't go over well here. 😉 

If it were my wife, I would give the keys to the wheelchair guys. Someone must know how to drive an automatic. Backing up two meters is not that hard.

3 hours ago, fredwiggy said:

Inconsiderate lowlife. You try this in the US your car would be moved by many, and the police would fine you large. There wouldn't be begging but shoving .

A police or security car on the premises plow it out of the way in a heartbeat. The driver would be criminally charged for failing to give right of way to an emergency vehicle, and possibly negligent homicide.

 

1 hour ago, terryofcrete said:

If there was a dog needing water in the car they’d smash the window so why not smash the window and release the handbrake…if it was even on…and push the vehicle out of the way..or was it boxed in too ? 

Pull the driver out, jump in the car and move it. 

2 hours ago, cjinchiangrai said:

I get it but we do not have the full story. How far was the transport? Was the ambulance equipped to handle this patient? I agree the truck driver was an ass but a ten minute delay should not kill a stable patient.

 

It sounds to me like a race against time and some lowlife held them up for 10 whole minutes.

Sad story. I taught my driver that I would rather be late than hold up an ambulance. Telling him his mother could be in the ambulance seemed to get the point across.

9 hours ago, cjinchiangrai said:

Why are they trying to transport an unstable patient?  If he dies trying to get him in the ambulance, ho w will he survive the trip?

 

Who designed the loading area? Where is security to move the car? Common sense says that you drop the second patient and move the car but was there somewhere to move it to?

 

Both were emergencies, she got sent home. but could have been having a stroke. Better monitoring and staffing could have solved this.

 

"If he dies trying to get him in thambulance, how will he survive the trip?"

WHAT? He won't survive the trip because he's already dead! Doh!

 

Why are they trying to transport an unstable patient?

If you read the post properly:- 

"The patient was being prepared to be loaded into the vehicle, for urgent transfer to Krabi Hospital, which has greater treatment capacity."

 

"....but was there somewhere to move it to?"

Out of the way would seem to be appropriate.

 

Seems like the staff did all they could to persuade the numpty to move his pick up. As some other posters have put it:- "Me,me,me"

25 minutes ago, sambum said:

 

"If he dies trying to get him in thambulance, how will he survive the trip?"

WHAT? He won't survive the trip because he's already dead! Doh!

 

Why are they trying to transport an unstable patient?

If you read the post properly:- 

"The patient was being prepared to be loaded into the vehicle, for urgent transfer to Krabi Hospital, which has greater treatment capacity."

 

"....but was there somewhere to move it to?"

Out of the way would seem to be appropriate.

 

Seems like the staff did all they could to persuade the numpty to move his pick up. As some other posters have put it:- "Me,me,me"

Thank you for your juvenile snark. The question remains, why are they transporting an unstable patient? It also remains why didn't the staff get the keys and move the car?

Off topic deflection posts and replies about Portland, Oregon have been removed. 

41 minutes ago, cjinchiangrai said:

Thank you for your juvenile snark. The question remains, why are they transporting an unstable patient? It also remains why didn't the staff get the keys and move the car?

 

The question is already answered, so why ask it again of a "juvenile snark"? 🙂 (Yes I know what it means!)

 

Possibly the staff didn't get the keys and move the car because the owner of the keys wouldn't hand them over? 

10 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

A person who blocks an ambulance and causes someone to die should be charged with manslaughter, as it's nothing but self-absorption, disrespect, and an extreme lack of awareness and consciousness, and behavior like this must be punished. 

 

Fair point - though I do think it’s worth asking how much of the account might have been embellished.

How long was the actual delay? The record notes that they tried to load the patient into the ambulance at 23:16 hrs, but there’s no mention of when the vehicle actually departed. Was it a brief 5-minute delay, or something closer to half an hour? That context matters a great deal.

 

I’ve seen similar stories where ambulances were said to be “blocked” by vehicles that supposedly refused to move out of the way - yet the footage often showed they could have easily manoeuvred / undertook and passed the vehicle in front. It’s why I sometimes take such claims with a pinch of salt; at times, frustration or outrage can cloud good judgement and make people dig in when a calmer approach would have resolved things faster.

 

That said, in at an ER the instinctive answer to “can you move your vehicle?” should always be “of course”... not even the hind of refusal or delay.

 

But I do wonder how the pickup driver was addressed, and whether it was explained clearly that his elderly passenger would also be cared for straight away. Often, it’s not malice but poor communication and lack of training that push people into handling these moments badly.

 

 

I also find myself wondering whether anything meaningful could have been done for the elderly patient in that moment. Was he sadly beyond help already, and the delay simply coincidental? Or has the tragedy been used as a convenient spark for public outrage?

 

That’s not to excuse anyone’s actions, but rather to acknowledge that situations like this often unfold in ways that aren’t as clear-cut as they appear after the fact.

 

I’d also question the hospital’s design if its emergency drop-off point can be so easily obstructed by parked or waiting vehicles. That feels like a fundamental oversight - an emergency route should never rely on everyone doing the perfect thing in a moment of stress.

 

I’ve had a taste of how chaotic that kind of scene can be. When I once had to rush my wife to the ER (infant son in tow), I stopped right outside the ER entrance - left the keys in the car, and opened the rear door so staff could see my son in his car seat (and told them he was there).

I carried my wife inside, where staff immediately brought a wheelchair, I ran back to collect my son and told the staff that the keys were still in the car and went back to explain to the ER team what was going on with my Wife.

At that point my focus was entirely on my wife and the medical staff.... Later, someone found me and handed me a valet parking ticket; they’d already moved the car to a proper space. It was clear the hospital had a system in place for exactly that type of situation, I wasn't the first time someone had pulled up in their car at ER....

 

 

 

 

When I was in Italy last year I noticed a truly remarkable thing, an ambulance was screaming along rushing to a hospital and a driver would not get out of its way. I then noticed that it had these massive bumpers on the front and the back and it used those bumpers to clear the car completely out of the way, the ambulance literally just pushed the car over to the side of the road, while destroying the body work on the car, and just fled along toward the hospital.

 

If there was ever an example of "do the right thing, or else"  that was it. It was an absolutely exquisite thing to witness. 

UPDATE
Hospital Files Complaint After Pickup Blocks Ambulance