A Very Sad Story,

[Lickey]

Sitting outside this afternoon, my Swiss mates wife came along and shew me a letter DHL delivered, the letter was offering a local man a 3 year contract to do painted pictures and send them to germany www.vdmfk.com I read the 6/7 pages and asked Tom some questions, eg, what happened to this man? she told me he was an electrician and something went wrong when he worked on a power station, he was so badly injured the doctor amputated his arms above the elbows and legs above the knees, after he came out of hospital his wife run off with there 2 children never to be seen again [loss of breadwinner i suppose} he now lives with his aged mum and relies on her to feed and clean him ect, he gets a small disabillity allowance, but hardly enough to live on.He paints pictures with a brush in his mouth and sells them on the local market, somebody sent one to the above site with his postal details.

The letter states that they will pay him x amount of money every month but only if he can prove the X amount of money they send is spent on Tuition/art schooling/accesories,brushes paint easel ect, and not day to day living, and all corrospondence with the sponsors must be in a european lanuage, Mrs and me can help with this, but as for an Art School or tuition, ive no idea, Has anybody any ideas how to get round this problem, TIA Lickey & Pan.

PS, if this does develop and he gets artwork sold in Europe, he will get the money paid for it less admin charges, Thanks,

[yorkman]

Hmm, I thought I had heard about this somewhere

A quick Google : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_o...ts_of_the_World

Wikipedia is not gospel, anybody can add to it until it is changed/challenged, but......

Combined with the strange restrictions on what they can use the money for (bypassing charity regulations, who knows?) and yet the statement "Only those who are themselves physically handicapped can appreciate how much it means to be largely independent of public welfare and state assistance"

Lots of questions then starting with, how did they find him, what does the contract say etc etc.

You asked the question "How would you help if you could?". I would start with checking this out as thoroughly as I could.

[PhilHarries]

I know there is an organisation the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists in the UK, and I think it is an international concern.

UK details are :-

Phone: 020-7229-4491

Fax: 020-7229-7052

Address: MFPA Publishing Limited

9 Inverness Place

London

W2 3JG

Internet: www.amfpa.com

I don't know if it is a charitable organisation as the website I visited said "Cost : Membership available" although my mother used to get a bundle of Chrstmas cards through her letter box every year with a request to send them money if you wanted them.

[cm-happy]

Sounds very suspicious to me!

Don't know for sure, but isn't Switzerland very socialistic, providing liberal, generous welfare benefits, almost cradle to grave care. Reason for high,high taxes.

Any Swiss nationals out there who can confirm or refute?

If the guy in question is Swiss, and in need of help, why doesn't he qualify for national benefits or other aid?

DHL is not cheap to use! If the guy is in such dire straights financially, why is he using expensive DHL to solicit?

[Gary A]

I know a Swiss guy, maybe 30 years old and living in Jomtien. His hobbies are playing tennis and cycling. He is a fit young man. He is on permanent disability and gets money from the Swiss government every month. It IS enough to live on.

[kash]

well, the guy here ain't swiss. it's his swiss mate's wife who showed him the leter/contract, it doesn't involve her husband : -)

[Lickey]

Kash is right, the letter was taken to Tom but her swiss husband is back home making money for his next visit, so she brought it to me, we are talking about a disabled Thai man who does paintings with a brush in his mouth, I had time today to look closely at the website today www.vdmfk.com today and the letter is genuine, the man who signed the letter is the boss, also the post philharries mentioned is on there list of publishers, and 1 in Thailand to, at Nota Buri,

Another twist in the tale is that the mans sister works for the missus in the beauty salon as a massuer,[she lives at the other end of the village and doesnt see her brother that often ] she is going to call the shop at Nota Buri and ask how they can help her brother with artist teaching or schooling ect,

The letter also includes a statement that if he sends all the details [bank, disabilty card, ID card ect] they will start paying him in March 2008, the sum is 11,600 bht a month, but he has to prove he has a teacher or schooling for his art, this contract stands for 3 years, if they think he is good, he will get more plus sales commission,

As i understand it, a falang bought a picture off him early this year, asked him for his details ect, and must of got in touch with the agency, now im gonna try and translate the web page into Thai and print it off for him, as we all know, there a lot goes missing in word of mouth translations, will keep you posted, Cheers Lickey & Pan.

[yorkman]

Kash is right, the letter was taken to Tom but her swiss husband is back home making money for his next visit, so she brought it to me, we are talking about a disabled Thai man who does paintings with a brush in his mouth, I had time today to look closely at the website today www.vdmfk.com today and the letter is genuine, the man who signed the letter is the boss, also the post philharries mentioned is on there list of publishers, and 1 in Thailand to, at Nota Buri,

Another twist in the tale is that the mans sister works for the missus in the beauty salon as a massuer,[she lives at the other end of the village and doesnt see her brother that often ] she is going to call the shop at Nota Buri and ask how they can help her brother with artist teaching or schooling ect,

The letter also includes a statement that if he sends all the details [bank, disabilty card, ID card ect] they will start paying him in March 2008, the sum is 11,600 bht a month, but he has to prove he has a teacher or schooling for his art, this contract stands for 3 years, if they think he is good, he will get more plus sales commission,

As i understand it, a falang bought a picture off him early this year, asked him for his details ect, and must of got in touch with the agency, now im gonna try and translate the web page into Thai and print it off for him, as we all know, there a lot goes missing in word of mouth translations, will keep you posted, Cheers Lickey & Pan.

Slow down... check this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_o...ts_of_the_World .including the links from there.

Maybe ok but scroll down on that link

"previously accused of money laundering for Columbian drug barons"

"No claims have been made suggesting any illegal activity by AMFPA. The criticism has been centered on what is perceived as bad ethics"

And more importantly

"That only a fraction of the surplus is paid out to the handicapped artists"

Maybe true, I don't know, form your own judgement, is only Wikipidia and anybody may have added that

[legag]

Not sad but dodgy

NEXT!

[Lickey]

Yorkman, i read all of the wiki thread, and if this man gets a fraction of whats promised to him then thats a bonus! meanwhile, we will try to help him by way of internet and translation, Personally i dont want to get to involved, but i would like this armless,legless man get a better life with a little help,

[Jandajoy]

Yorkman, i read all of the wiki thread, and if this man gets a fraction of whats promised to him then thats a bonus! meanwhile, we will try to help him by way of internet and translation, Personally i dont want to get to involved, but i would like this armless,legless man get a better life with a little help,

Hi,

Your concern for the individual is admirable. Well done.

Have you considered taking some digita photos of his work and sticking them in the classies? Could be worth a shot. This way if he/you can sell any he gets the lot and no restrictions.

Cheers - keep caring

[Lickey]

Jandajoy, thankyou for your post, im pleased to report this handless footless young man is now contracted to the mouth painting artists shop in Notachanburi, and hopefully they will help him with the mail from Switzerland, his mother is elderly and its a full time job for her to look after him, so perhaps soon he will make some money and afford a carer, I wish him all the luck in the world with his new future, Thanks again, Lickey..