What Do You Do When The Poo Hits The Fan?

[thenervoussurgeon]

I had never really had to think to much about this ,but i have just heard that someone i know has lost their buisness and is literaly broke and has been borrowing money for some time but now they can borrow no more ,and it set me thinking as he is married with a child and neither of them has visas to Britain ,how will he and indeed how would we manage in his shoes? scary thaught.

[Pseudolus]

Aside from the flippent and useless comments of prevention is better than the cure which no doubt will come, from a personal level for yourself, use the story as a message to get your own shit sorted out. What can you do? Well, you struggle on, pick yourself up, do what ever you can to survive. It's a major concern when there are kids involved though. no simple answers except to prevent it happening in the first place. Oh, and sell everything you own.

[arthurwait]

Do you mean one of them is British ?

[thenervoussurgeon]

Do you mean one of them is British ?

Yes the guy is a brit ,but his wife and child are Thai ,i never really gave it a lot of thought before as by most standards we are comfortable also my wife and son have british passports ,but its a sobering thought .

[submaniac]

Yeah this "he is married with a child and neither of them has visas to Britain ,how will he and indeed how would we manage in his shoes?" thing confuses me. So one of them is Falang, living in Thailand? Or is it a local Thai? If Falang (and British) why would he need a visa to his own country?

[mjj]

When I got married and went back to the uk with wife in tow, my first thoughts were to get her a British passport. For me, or us, it was just for peace of mind that we can return at any point should the poo hit the fan as you say. Also, it comes in very useful for trips to other countries.

Personally, I've always liked to cover all bases as it were, so if anything happened to me my wife would never be Thai broke - I say Thai broke, as being poor in England and jobless you can still survive and have an ok existence, but here is a whole new ball game - and she could venture back to the uk and start from there.

In some ways I envy those that I might that do not have they 'what if' worry reflex that I have, but when I hear about these kind of things I'm rather glad I have. Sympathies to the guy in the op.

[TwoDogz]

Geez, must have been a lot of heavy nights last night.

Not hard to understand, he is a Pom, wife is Thai and child either does not as yet have Pommy citizenship, or the child is from the wifes earlier relationship and is fully thai etc.

Anyway, best thing is to always have a backup plan and a backup for the backup.

[Cypress Hill]

Get a job in a boiler room

[travelmann]

More fool them for not planning ahead , would these be the same people that keep no money saved away for emergences etc

Its taken me and the wife 6 years to be at the point where we can now think of having a baby not just humping blindly away with no thought to stopping conception.

The first thing everyone blurted out after we got married is "when's the baby coming"

Probably the same people who will spend a fortune on a wedding or even borrow it to have the wedding.............my wedding cost about 5-600 baht sheeeeeeesh I sure lost face there eh.

[yermanee]

Many helpful replies here.

I would say he has to contact his embassy, that is if he wants to go to the UK.

Yermanee

[mjj]

Get a job teaching!

[Ulysses G.]

I have been in this position several times, but luckily did not have to worry about a wife and child. You can not prepare for everything and as someone else said, you just do what you have to do at the time to survive.

[F1fanatic]

As always, it depends on the circumstances.

If you do not have an income, then you need to 'go back home' ( never thought I'd say those words!) to get an income.

Unless you have enough money saved and/or the wife will go out to earn enough money to get you over the 'bad patch'.

[jacktrip]

well, you never move without a cushion.

if you start eating into the cushion, you move back 'home' while you can.

you never want to be broke in a foreign country.

(next please)

[lovelomsak]

Money is quite easy to make in Thailand if people want to work. To borrow to survive is ludicrous. When his business went under,he should have known he would need money to survive and take care of his family.If he is British. all of us who live here know he could teach english and still provide. Maybe not at the level he was accustom too, but be able to be a responsible adult and take care of his family. There are also numerous jobs for thai women. They maynot pay well but it is money earnered not borrowed.

What baffles me is who would lend money to a guy who isnot willing to work? I would point him the direction of employment.

[norrona]

Money is quite easy to make in Thailand if people want to work. To borrow to survive is ludicrous. When his business went under,he should have known he would need money to survive and take care of his family.If he is British. all of us who live here know he could teach english and still provide. Maybe not at the level he was accustom too, but be able to be a responsible adult and take care of his family. There are also numerous jobs for thai women. They maynot pay well but it is money earnered not borrowed.

What baffles me is who would lend money to a guy who isnot willing to work? I would point him the direction of employment.

Money lenders at extortinate rates?

[msg362]

Yeah this "he is married with a child and neither of them has visas to Britain ,how will he and indeed how would we manage in his shoes?" thing confuses me. So one of them is Falang, living in Thailand? Or is it a local Thai? If Falang (and British) why would he need a visa to his own country?

I think he means the wife and child do not have visas, fairly simple to work out

[TommoPhysicist]

Do you mean one of them is British ?

Yes the guy is a brit ,but his wife and child are Thai ,i never really gave it a lot of thought before as by most standards we are comfortable also my wife and son have british passports ,but its a sobering thought .

If he is British and it's his child, then the child is British ...... no Visa needed.

Move back home as a single parent family (made single by immigration) and you get every benefit in the book and instant housing, jumping over everyone in the housing queue.

The Thai wife is stuffed for a while, but not for long, once husband and child are setup in the UK (in social housing), social services will get her a VISA pretty quickly. (6 months to one year). The guy won't even need a job.

Edited September 4, 2012 by TommoPhysicist

[Ulysses G.]

well, you never move without a cushion.

if you start eating into the cushion, you move back 'home' while you can.

you never want to be broke in a foreign country.

(next please)

It does not always work that way with a business. Someone can be doing fine and then a flood or a tsunami comes along and there is no business. They use their "cushion" to keep things going till things pick up and suddenly they are completely broke. There are no guarantees in life. you just do the best you can.

[mania]

well, you never move without a cushion.

This is what I always thought the visa money was good for.

A trigger of sorts.

I know this person may not have had a marriage visa but

what I mean is the visa money 400k/800k that most long term stayers have

to show could hopefully be kept as a trigger point- emergency exit fund.

I know in this case it would not help the wife & child get to the UK but

it would buy the UK citizen a ticket & leave a small cushion for the wife & child

to live on while the UK person got hopefully reset-recapitalized

All after the fact I know & condolences to these folks. Hope it works out for them.

Terrible spot to be in with a child.

Edited September 4, 2012 by mania

[TommoPhysicist]

I know in this case it would not help the wife & child get to the UK but

it would buy the UK citizen a ticket & leave a small cushion for the wife & child

to live on while the UK person got hopefully reset-recapitalized

The child has no problem going to the UK.

Do you read other peoples posts?

[mania]

I know in this case it would not help the wife & child get to the UK but

it would buy the UK citizen a ticket & leave a small cushion for the wife & child

to live on while the UK person got hopefully reset-recapitalized

The child has no problem going to the UK.

Do you read other peoples posts?

No I did not notice that I only saw this...

he is married with a child and neither of them has visas to Britain

I imagine if true he meant the wife & child.

I understand he can get the child a passport but that would take time & $$ yes?

Also if a small child it would probably be better off

here with Mom while Dad got reset in the UK.

Or not.

In either case sorry to hear of their struggle & hope it gets sorted

The comment about the visa money which was the main context of my post stands.

Edited September 4, 2012 by mania

[Scully]

I know in this case it would not help the wife & child get to the UK but

it would buy the UK citizen a ticket & leave a small cushion for the wife & child

to live on while the UK person got hopefully reset-recapitalized

The child has no problem going to the UK.

Do you read other peoples posts?

Yes take the child to the UK while he looks for work, fantastic idea.

Edited September 4, 2012 by Scully

[TommoPhysicist]

Also if a small child it would probably be better off

here with Mom while Dad got reset in the UK.

Depends if dad wants everything free in the UK or not.

The kid would be worth a free two bed council house and about 10k a year in the UK.

Dad can also remain unemployed, as social services would expect him to care for the kid.

(and once dad and kid in UK, mum can get a six month VISA to visit child)

[arthurwait]

Do you mean one of them is British ?

Yes the guy is a brit ,but his wife and child are Thai ,i never really gave it a lot of thought before as by most standards we are comfortable also my wife and son have british passports ,but its a sobering thought .

If he is British and it's his child, then the child is British ...... no Visa needed.

Move back home as a single parent family (made single by immigration) and you get every benefit in the book and instant housing, jumping over everyone in the housing queue.

The Thai wife is stuffed for a while, but not for long, once husband and child are setup in the UK (in social housing), social services will get her a VISA pretty quickly. (6 months to one year). The guy won't even need a job.

Is this true ?

Someone else who needed to go back home was saying he couldn't due to not paying taxes while out the country, not entitled to housing. He didn't have money to prove he could support his wife and kid so they couldn't go either.

He went back home got a job and stayed at someones house. He was a bit odd.

[F1fanatic]

I suspect (but don't know) it wouldn't be quite that simple.

I gather they would be put in a 'dossers' B&B for quite a long time, before a council house became available.

[nidieunimaitre]

Money is quite easy to make in Thailand if people want to work. To borrow to survive is ludicrous. When his business went under,he should have known he would need money to survive and take care of his family.If he is British. all of us who live here know he could teach english and still provide. Maybe not at the level he was accustom too, but be able to be a responsible adult and take care of his family. There are also numerous jobs for thai women. They maynot pay well but it is money earnered not borrowed.

What baffles me is who would lend money to a guy who isnot willing to work? I would point him the direction of employment.

Off topic, but i am insulted by your disdain for the profession of teacher.

[TommoPhysicist]

Someone else who needed to go back home was saying he couldn't due to not paying taxes while out the country, not entitled to housing. He didn't have money to prove he could support his wife and kid so they couldn't go either.

The child is entitled to housing, no matter what his parent has done or not done.

The parent will be housed with the child, as the easy option for social services.

Once one parent and the child have social housing, they can then apply for the mother as they already fulfill the housing requirement.

Friend of mine did this last year, Thai mum is leaving for a 6 month visit this week.

(The guy is still unemployed)

@F1

Dossers B&B is not considered suitable for parent and child but they may have to 'endure' it for a week or two.

Yep, single guy, dossers B&B indefinitely, that's why you make sure you take the kid with you.

Edited September 4, 2012 by TommoPhysicist

[thenervoussurgeon]

Yeah this "he is married with a child and neither of them has visas to Britain ,how will he and indeed how would we manage in his shoes?" thing confuses me. So one of them is Falang, living in Thailand? Or is it a local Thai? If Falang (and British) why would he need a visa to his own country?

If you read the post above ,you would see he was British , simple isnt it?

[blackdug]

Also if a small child it would probably be better off

here with Mom while Dad got reset in the UK.

Depends if dad wants everything free in the UK or not.

The kid would be worth a free two bed council house and about 10k a year in the UK.

Dad can also remain unemployed, as social services would expect him to care for the kid.

(and once dad and kid in UK, mum can get a six month VISA to visit child)

"..............and then he would fully qualify as a total sponge bag,,,just what we need in the uk!!! As I see it the guy is a toss for becoming skint in a foreign country and not having any plan for the wife and kid ,,,,total ignorance is no excuse