Tiger Duggan's family battles costs after a tragic accident.

The family of Tiger Duggan, a 23-year-old British backpacker critically injured in a motorcycle accident in Thailand, is in a desperate financial struggle. They must raise £170,000 for his repatriation flight as medical expenses continue to mount. Tiger's mother, Lisa Duggan, has made an urgent plea for help, facing the harsh reality that funds are depleting rapidly despite generous public donations.

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Lisa, a neonatal nurse from Milton Keynes, and her husband Kieron have already spent nearly £120,000. This includes hospital bills and moving Tiger to Bangkok for more advanced care. Although they've received over £180,000 in donations, the family confronts a significant financial gap as the travel insurance company refuses to pay, citing Tiger's involvement in a "dangerous activity."

The support from the UK government has been minimal, limited to providing general online advice links. Lisa expressed her frustration at the lack of personal contact or practical assistance during such a critical time. The family feels isolated, relying heavily on public generosity and pushing for more direct aid from officials.

Tiger, who left his job in Australia to travel with a friend, is in critical condition but showed signs of life following a brain scan. This has given his family a glimmer of hope. Lisa remains cautiously optimistic, noting improved health markers, but acknowledges the long journey ahead, filled with extensive treatment and tests.

Currently, the cost of Tiger's care at Med Park Hospital in Bangkok is £2,500 a day. The need for a repatriation flight costing up to £170,000 remains urgent. Lisa, who recently hugged her son for the first time since his transfer, continues to call on the UK government to intervene, highlighting past instances where repatriation assistance was provided.

Throughout this ordeal, the Duggan family has expressed deep gratitude for the public's support, which has been vital. However, without insurance coverage, they are in a precarious financial situation. This case also highlights the importance of understanding insurance clauses, especially concerning activities abroad that may void coverage.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office acknowledged their ongoing support of Tiger's family. Meanwhile, the Duggans remain determined to secure the necessary help, continuing their fight to bring Tiger home safely.

Key Takeaways

• Family urgently needs funds for repatriation.

• Minimal assistance received from the UK government.

• Insurance denied due to policy clause on activities.

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  Adapted by ASEAN Now · Source · 11 Feb 2026

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This news item reports that the travel insurance company refuses to pay, citing Tiger's involvement in a "dangerous activity"!

Meanwhile, The Examiner (an online Thai News website for foreigners in Thailand) its reporting that according to his father, Kieron Duggan, the crash occurred during an overtaking manoeuvre. They go on to say that "... Mr Duggan was passing a car when another motorcycle crossed the road. As a result, he was thrown from his bike...".

With Thailand’s roads being among the most dangerous in the world, and motorcycles accounting for the majority of accidents, that’s a pretty compelling reason why insurers take such a hard line.

That said, this must serve as a stark reminder to tourists especially, of what can happen if they plan to ride in Thailand.

Interestingly, all I could find about motorcycles from my own country's online advisories to its citizens visiting Thailand (under the heading Safety) is:

• Road accidents are a significant cause of injury. Be alert on the roads, including wearing helmets on motorcycles and motorcycle taxis.

and hospitals have a reason to make big bills.. Foreigners are rich so they can pay, was a verdict of a judge in a Hua Hin case... And I know hospitals are expensive, but although Thailand wants to the hub of everything, especially for foreigners they are even more expensive

This tragic story appeared 6 days ago through BBC news online https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2x29mrk79o

According to the father his son had purchased travel insurance before his trip to Thailand but the there was a clause regarding motorbikes which has meant his insurance would not cover the incident.

I suspect that the clause stated something to the effect that he would only be covered if travelling (rider/passenger) on a bike of 125cc or less.  According to other local reports at the time of the accident the bike was considerably bigger than 125cc.

Also, if he didn’t hold a valid driving licence for a motorbike from his home country or was not wearing a helmet or was under the influence of alcohol/drugs or driving in a dangerous manner, these factors may well also invalidate his insurance.

Again, according to the BBC news report, his father stated that MedPark Hospital had declared his son brain dead.  Given such a declaration from the hospital, the family, if they haven’t already, should urgently seek a second opinion.  If the original declaration is confirmed (brain dead), the family needs counselling as to the long-term outcome for recovery, which is not very good, or the painful decision to switch off life support.

Before someone criticise me for suggesting that they consider switching off his life support, I have been in the same situation as this family.

14 years ago, in the UK, my son crashed his 650cc bike into the crash barrier whilst taking a bend at 120mph (according to the police report).  He was flown by air ambulance to the nearby major trauma unit.  His injuries were catastrophic. When I arrived at the hospital he was on life support and the doctors advised that although he had been wearing a very good crash helmet and leathers etc, he had sustained critical head injuries and that the prognosis was not very good.  He was transferred to ICU and 2 days later 2 doctors confirmed tests showed that he was brain dead.  They advised that there was little, if any chance of any form of recovery.  They advised me that he would need life support 24x7x365 and be in a vegetative state.  As his next of kin, I had to make that terrible decision to have the life support switched off. 

Something I will not forget and live with for the rest of my life. I hope the family get the professional support they need.

No doubt it is tough for this family. But what assistance do they expect from the embassy? We all have to pay our own hospital bills. My insurer recently turned down treatment for a heart attack. Set me back 339K for 5 days in hospital. Before I was admitted, down payment was 250K.

This family must have known what the bill was going to be from the down payment. Repatriation 170K?

1 hour ago, ThaiTraveller2016 said:

No doubt it is tough for this family. But what assistance do they expect from the embassy? We all have to pay our own hospital bills. My insurer recently turned down treatment for a heart attack. Set me back 339K for 5 days in hospital. Before I was admitted, down payment was 250K.

This family must have known what the bill was going to be from the down payment. Repatriation 170K?

Certainly the first two prices you mention are in THB whereas the 170K is in GBP?

Tragic story.

The famous saying, "No Money, No Honey" is applicable in bars, but in hospitals here, "No Money, No Live" is equally true.

Money Number One in Thailand.

So a private hospital.....

Another smart and fine UK visitor with no insurance. What do they expect at the end of the day ? It's due to such situations that all the foreigners are harassed with all the immigration red tape and suspicions. However, one does not wish ill for anybody. Hope the lad recovers fast and gets back home soon. But the UK government needs to ban it's people to board an outbound plane that do not have at least some kind of temporary travel insurance.

18 hours ago, Jim Waldron said:

This news item reports that the travel insurance company refuses to pay, citing Tiger's involvement in a "dangerous activity"!

A subsequent post states there was a clause regarding motor bikes in his policy. Perhaps something more specific than "dangerous activity." Helmet, licence, CCs, alcohol ?

Sigmund, he had insurance but wasn’t covered for the type of motorbike/ scooter, or helmet, it doesn’t state which.

This is the problem.

If you try and rent a motorbike etc in Europe or western country, you have to show licenses / international etc. No one in the west drives without a helmet.

Thailand should/ must control these crooked bike rental shops, because they are renting to anyone and everybody, because they don’t give a flying if this person dies or is badly hurt. I once saw a boy of around 15 on a scooter, in Patong, obviously learning how to drive it. He was with his father by the looks of it. Ok, maybe he looked young, but he certainly couldn’t drive a scooter.

Come on Thailand, 40 million tourists , try and protect them with valid laws that are respected !!! Thailand is already one of the most dangerous places in the world concerning roads as we all know.

To be fair , the family of this boy have managed 170 thousand £. What a terrible situation to be in.

33 minutes ago, Sigmund said:

Another smart and fine UK visitor with no insurance. What do they expect at the end of the day ? It's due to such situations that all the foreigners are harassed with all the immigration red tape and suspicions. However, one does not wish ill for anybody. Hope the lad recovers fast and gets back home soon. But the UK government needs to ban it's people to board an outbound plane that do not have at least some kind of temporary travel insurance.

He was living in AUSTRALIA, not the UK.

He may be British by birth.

So why are you blabbing on about the UK government and UK holiday insurance when he travelled from Australia, and his flight and insurance should have been covered there?

Med Park is literally the most expensive hospital in Thailand. I paid 60k for abdomen CT scan there 2 years ago.

These are two British nationals, both young, both with catastrophic injuries within the last two weeks.

One is refused medical insurance assistance due to a clause in the insurance policy, and the other, I believe, didn't even have insurance, and, as usual, it's GoFundMe begging strangers for their foolishness.

When has GoFundMe become a substitute for no insurance?

We then have parents begging for help and assistance, and telling us what great kids they are, to get people to chip in and help out for situations that could have been avoided.

15 hours ago, 007 RED said:

This tragic story appeared 6 days ago through BBC news online https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2x29mrk79o

According to the father his son had purchased travel insurance before his trip to Thailand but the there was a clause regarding motorbikes which has meant his insurance would not cover the incident.

I suspect that the clause stated something to the effect that he would only be covered if travelling (rider/passenger) on a bike of 125cc or less.  According to other local reports at the time of the accident the bike was considerably bigger than 125cc.

Also, if he didn’t hold a valid driving licence for a motorbike from his home country or was not wearing a helmet or was under the influence of alcohol/drugs or driving in a dangerous manner, these factors may well also invalidate his insurance.

Again, according to the BBC news report, his father stated that MedPark Hospital had declared his son brain dead.  Given such a declaration from the hospital, the family, if they haven’t already, should urgently seek a second opinion.  If the original declaration is confirmed (brain dead), the family needs counselling as to the long-term outcome for recovery, which is not very good, or the painful decision to switch off life support.

Before someone criticise me for suggesting that they consider switching off his life support, I have been in the same situation as this family.

14 years ago, in the UK, my son crashed his 650cc bike into the crash barrier whilst taking a bend at 120mph (according to the police report).  He was flown by air ambulance to the nearby major trauma unit.  His injuries were catastrophic. When I arrived at the hospital he was on life support and the doctors advised that although he had been wearing a very good crash helmet and leathers etc, he had sustained critical head injuries and that the prognosis was not very good.  He was transferred to ICU and 2 days later 2 doctors confirmed tests showed that he was brain dead.  They advised that there was little, if any chance of any form of recovery.  They advised me that he would need life support 24x7x365 and be in a vegetative state.  As his next of kin, I had to make that terrible decision to have the life support switched off. 

Something I will not forget and live with for the rest of my life. I hope the family get the professional support they need.

Terribly sad story.

180K GBP in donations already to date!!!!!

How far can you push the envelope on this? Generosity has its limits.

Also, no idea where the figure of 170K GBP for a repatriation flight comes from, and now the parents want the British government, AKA the taxpayer, to step in for his repatriation.

8 minutes ago, Celsius said:

Med Park is literally the most expensive hospital in Thailand. I paid 60k for abdomen CT scan there 2 years ago.

I honestly never heard of it.

I was treated at Bumrungrad many years ago for a major cancer operation, and I found that to be very expensive.

53 minutes ago, brian69 said:

So a private hospital.....

Yeah,

Beggars CAN BE choosers!

53 minutes ago, Sigmund said:

Another smart and fine UK visitor with no insurance. What do they expect at the end of the day ? It's due to such situations that all the foreigners are harassed with all the immigration red tape and suspicions. However, one does not wish ill for anybody. Hope the lad recovers fast and gets back home soon. But the UK government needs to ban it's people to board an outbound plane that do not have at least some kind of temporary travel insurance.

That's the thing.........he HAD insurance, but he apparently bought a cheap limited policy, and his activities were outside the range of coverage.

Kieron confirmed that his son had travelled to Thailand with travel insurance. However, the family later discovered that the insurance policy did not fully cover Tiger’s medical expenses.

While the family did not disclose specific policy details,....

https://thethaiger.com/news/samui/funds-raised-after-british-tourist-critically-injured-in-koh-samui-motorcycle-crash

There's usually a reason they leave out the details.

Well I think most points have been covered in this article

Hope the guy recovers and his parents get the funds to get him home

As already mentioned the British Embassy personnel are there to advise not give money out

A somewhat insensitive post has been removed, particularly as it was placed in the News section. This is a serious area of the forum, and the News team works hard to produce high-quality content for members.

@Ralf001

Please ensure your contributions are respectful and appropriate for the section. Further posts of this nature may result in additional moderation action.

Is this the guy that was determined to be brain dead last week?

49 minutes ago, Scouse123 said:

He was living in AUSTRALIA, not the UK.

He may be British by birth.

So why are you blabbing on about the UK government and UK holiday insurance when he travelled from Australia, and his flight and insurance should have been covered there?

He could have been on an extended trip, with Australia the first stop to finance his trip by working for a while. Many young people do that. In which case it would have been UK travel insurance.

If the cost of flying a seriously injured person is really 170,000 GBP as stated this sounds like a total rip-off. Unless it involves flying him to the U.K. in a private jet rather than making temporary modifications on a scheduled flight.

Individuals of adult age should have the option of choosing their insurance and adapting their activities accordingly, or having none at all. Free choice and individual responsibility. You need to be a millionaire to be fully covered for everything.

But governments of countries-of-origin, host-countries, airlines, and insurance companies should be jointly responsible for highlighting risks and consequences. To enable informed decision, especially by younger people who might otherwise give little thought to insurance to cover major accidents. Youth is by nature optimistic.

3 hours ago, Old Croc said:

A subsequent post states there was a clause regarding motor bikes in his policy. Perhaps something more specific than "dangerous activity." Helmet, licence, CCs, alcohol ?

Most insurers will identify some of the major classifications especially motorcycle riding and the specifics (you must hold a licence in your home country for the vehicle). This is no small print get out - he’ll have not bothered to read the main exclusions.

34 minutes ago, ericbj said:

But governments of countries-of-origin, host-countries, airlines, and insurance companies should be jointly responsible for highlighting risks and consequences. To enable informed decision, especially by younger people who might otherwise give little thought to insurance to cover major accidents. Youth is by nature optimistic

Ultimately it’s up to the individual to take responsibility for their own safety. Motorcycle riding is made plain in virtually every policy under "Main exclusions".

He simply bought insurance and didn’t take 5 minutes to check those - or ignored them . He is an adult

59 minutes ago, ericbj said:

If the cost of flying a seriously injured person is really 170,000 GBP as stated this sounds like a total rip-off. Unless it involves flying him to the U.K. in a private jet rather than making temporary modifications on a scheduled flight.

Clearly that cost is for a dedicated medical evacuation, complete with medical staff and whatever life support equipment is needed to maintain his current state, a bit more than a spare seat next to him and extra legroom.

3 hours ago, Sigmund said:

Another smart and fine UK visitor with no insurance. What do they expect at the end of the day ? It's due to such situations that all the foreigners are harassed with all the immigration red tape and suspicions. However, one does not wish ill for anybody. Hope the lad recovers fast and gets back home soon. But the UK government needs to ban it's people to board an outbound plane that do not have at least some kind of temporary travel insurance.

My god you are thick.

2 hours ago, stevenl said:

He could have been on an extended trip, with Australia the first stop to finance his trip by working for a while. Many young people do that. In which case it would have been UK travel insurance.

It doesn't work that way. My son had a 2-year working visa for young people IN Australia, and it stipulated the work and fields available to work in, particularly farming, etc.

You can't just go'working for a while' to fund a trip willy-nilly.

The article states that he left his job in Australia to go travelling with a friend.

If you are living and working in Australia, I imagine you would get insurance for a trip within Australia, not the UK.

1 hour ago, ericbj said:

If the cost of flying a seriously injured person is really 170,000 GBP as stated this sounds like a total rip-off. Unless it involves flying him to the U.K. in a private jet rather than making temporary modifications on a scheduled flight.

Individuals of adult age should have the option of choosing their insurance and adapting their activities accordingly, or having none at all. Free choice and individual responsibility. You need to be a millionaire to be fully covered for everything.

But governments of countries-of-origin, host-countries, airlines, and insurance companies should be jointly responsible for highlighting risks and consequences. To enable informed decision, especially by younger people who might otherwise give little thought to insurance to cover major accidents. Youth is by nature optimistic.

I was once on board a Qatar flight from BKK-MAN via DOHA, and an Arab was in economy class with a full bed linked up to life support machines and a couple of nurses travelling with him. His bed took the equivalent of a row of three seats.

I can see Qatar charging a premium for this, but nowhere near the quoted figure of an evacuation flight.