Brit Just Arrived, Needs Advice From Seasoned Ex Pats

[mick50]

I am writing to make people aware of my brother'situation.

Myt brother has been working in Bangkok as an English Teacher at a university.

Working for the university Gareth has a full work permit and medical insurance and his paying tax/social.

Last Friday he took ill and was admitted to hospital with multiple organ failure. Subsequently we have discovered that the insurance provided by the university is grossly inadequate; further more the University has not been paying in to the social fund to allow free treatment/support in a government hospital.

Subsequently medical bills are accumulating at about 600 pounds 30,000 baht a day.. Have paid as much as I can but have now exhausted all my reserves. I was hoping to take him home but the doctors and airline will not let him fly unless he has doctors, heart medication and oxygen etc with him on the flight which will cost around 500,000 baht / 10,000 pounds sterling…

The doctors believe he will need to be in hospital here in Bangkok for a month before he will be able to take a normal flight, and that is if there are no other complications.

Since arriving in Thailand I have been in constant communication with the British Embassy and the university, but neither can or are willing to help.

advice requested

Edited March 9, 2012 by sbk
appeals of this nature are not allowed

[Boater]

sometimes MediVac can assit in urgent cases, alternatively, as he did have medical insurance and due to negligence on the UNI side for not paying what they should have, ask or right to Andrew Drummond and the Daily Mail to put out a small appeal in the paper? , some kind hearted citizen might donate the money to help your brother cause .. ( i would do , but i dont have those funds available )

Good Luck

[Soutpeel]

^{Companies like "International SOS" can handle cases like this as regards repatriation to other counties, but it will not be cheap, provision for this sort of service is usually contained in medical insurance polices, certainly I have this service availible to me in my policy, which hopefully will never need to use, in terms of my policy, international SOS per below would provide the logistics required for the repatriation}

^{http://www.internationalsos.com/en/}

^{Best of luck on this one}

Edited March 9, 2012 by Soutpeel

[samran]

In the meantime I suggest looking to transfer your brother o a government hospital such as Chulalongkorn. Whatever the cost, it will still be less.

[Beetlejuice]

You and your family have my sympathy if this is genuine, but this could be the scam of the year.

Your post sounds very similar to many scam emails I receive on a daily basis.

I would never send any good deed money based on a name, a couple of phone numbers and a facebook profile and would advise others to treat this plea for help with caution.

So what about your family and friends in the UK or even your bank to acquire a loan, have you approached them for assistance with this matter?

[RudieTheFoodie]

make sure your brothers ok - tell them you have the money (even if you don't). Happened to mate of mine. Broke his neck in Miami rock diving. He was a paraplegic when he came round. Had bills of 100k (Uk) from the hospital and 25k to repatriate. Just sign the papers that help him medically regardless whether you can cover them or not.

[sbk]

Actually appeals like this ARE against forum rules so all information and requests for money have been removed.

Please feel free to give the OP advice but requests for money, especially those that are not run past admin, are most certainly not allowed. I

In the future, instead of publicly complaining, use the report button, not every post is caught. Posts deleted.

[MiG16]

Samran is right - move your brother to a government hospital while you are trying to sort out funds

I would push the employer a lot more if it is true that they didn't pay his social security.

By law his employer are required to pay social security. Very few employers are exempt.

Once you have moved your brother to a Govt facility you will have a better chance of getting the uni to pay too. Otherwise they will simply tell u that even with social security the benefits wouldn't have covered private hospital bills.

All the best

[Mobi]

Two pieces of advice for the OP

1. As Samran has said, get your brother transferred to a government or other charitable hospital in Bangkok. They may not have all the frills but they have top doctors and facilities and the cost will be a fraction of what you are currently paying. I suggest you PM the Thai Visa medical expert Sheryl, who can recommend the best hospital for your brother's condition, and also how to go about it from a practical point of view.

2. Contact your MP as a matter of extreme urgency and explain your brother's plight. There is a good chance he may prevail upon the British embassy to front the cost of flying your brother home by arranging with his family to formally accept liability to pay the loan back. 10k is a lot of money but is not beyond the pockets of most families, if given reasonable time to pay. It sure beats letting him die so far from home.

Good luck.

[KimoMax]

Some Advice to Mick50 from a former MedEvac person.

The current and projected Costs of continuing your Brother's care in Thailand are higher than the extimate of a 500,000 Medevac as described in the Original Posting.

Current ongoing Medical Care costs are 30,000 baht per day anticipated for another month which equals 900,000 Baht.

It may be possible to lower the costs of a MedEvac on a Commercial Airliner if the Brother can fly in First Class in a full sleeper seat accompanied in first Class in the seat next to the Patient by a Medical Doctor, either from Thailand (Cheaper) or a Doctor from the person's home Country.

Inflight Medical Oxygen is provided by the Airline. You can not take a bottle of non-Airline Oxygen or compressed Gases in the cabin of any Commerical Airliner.

Many times most Airlines will try to insist on selling you a block of seats that has to be reconfigured ahead of time on the Aircraft for the Patient and Caregiver (s).

This may not be nexessary anymore due to adances in aircrat First Class Seat design to provide Privacy and a full sleeper seat whcih also provides adequate room for a Doctor, Nurse, or Medical caregiver access to the patient.

The First Class Seat Configuration with a Sleeper seat and Privicy must be OVERLY Emphesised and insisted on by Mick50 and the Doctor arranging the Medical Evacuation.

The argument should include the non-necessity of a full block of seats to accompish the same goal of a spacious area for the patient to lie down and be transported in an appropriate manner with a caregiver and some privacy.

But: All this must be arranged and agreed to between the Airline's Chief Medical Officer ane the Doctor arranging the Medical Evacuation.

It would be best for Mick50 to present this option to both the Airline and the current primary Doctor.

Round trip Air transportation and one days Lodging and transportation costs for the accompanying Doctor will also have to be paid for. It is not necessary to pay First Class return Airfare for the Doctor.

There are a few other ancillary costs of Ambulances to and from each Airport, as well as any medications required on the Medevac flight.

Best of Luck to tMick50 and his brother.

Edited March 10, 2012 by KimoMax