Homeless Foreigners in Chiang Mai?

[hellodolly]

There's a guy aged around 55 who for many years has walked around the Tha Pae Gate area wearing football shorts and a grubby t-shirt usually carrying a plastic bag with a toilet roll and cans of chang. I think he's Italian and according to pub talk his Thai missus cleaned him out and now he's homeless and a little mad.

I think that he is another fake homeless guy who has gone home. He bought Italian books pretty often and looked at them almost every day. He did not seem to have a problem with money. He was a little strange, but he could talk fairly normally and in English, which surprised me. He sure did look homeless though.

Yes I remember him he was around for a few years and he just looked to me like one of those guys who was living on 10,000baht a month or something..not homeless though. 17 years here on and off and I've never met any farang who was homeless, some pretty desparate cases but all had a roof over their heads.

Agreed. Have had a few expat friends in Chiangmai who are penniless for the last week before their penssion cheque arrives but they had a roof over their heads. Most pubs will let said individuals run a tab for food and booze until the money comes, nice of them but at the same time it never gives them a chance to get out of the hole each month.

Indeed it is a shame what alcoholism will do to you. Minimum income and run up a tab on getting drinks just to repeat the performance nect month like a circle.

[dru2]

It's good to learn that there have been just a few isolated cases of foreigner homelessness in Chiang Mai and those cases are well-known to consulates, police, and good-hearted people who are able to assist. I kind of thought this was the situation and was amazed to read that article about "30 homeless foreigners in Chiang Mai" I thought I had a pretty good handle on that.

Lanna Care Net has been assisting elderly foreigners for about two years and none were homeless -- yes, some were evicted from their guesthouse while they were in hospital, but none were homeless when we first started to help them. And none were left homeless after hospital discharge. (McKean Rehabilitation Centre is a blessing for our elderly expat community). Most of the problems we see could be avoided if people had done a little planning prior to finding themselves in need.

There are some simple steps people can do to lessen the chances that they'll need assistance from Lanna Care Net or their consulate/embassies:

1. register with your home countries system for tracking the location of their citizens, for example S.T.E.P for Americans, LOCATE for Brits. Registration is done on-line and the info isn't shared with other gov't agencies. This way, they'll know your next-of-kin and emergency contact details.

2. register with a local hospital -- the one where you'd prefer to go in an emergency. They'll issue a patient card you carry in your wallet, which contains their phone number and your patient number. It will make hospital admission quicker.

3. if it's been a while since you've had a physical exam, have one of the "package" physicals offered by the private hospitals. They cost just a few thousand baht and will give you an early alert to potential problems. Also, it means the hospital will have some basic medical data about you in their computer.

4. get health insurance, or at least accident insurance if you're too old or have too many pre-existing conditions to obtain health insurance. Most LCN clients are victims of accidents -- usually pedestrian accidents, or slip/falls at home. Bangkok Bank has a nice accident insurance policy for abut 5000 baht/year, you don't have to be a bank customer to buy it, it will cover you up to age 100 and it's easy to get -- just walk into any branch bank and ask for their PA Senior 1st. There are many other cheap accident insurance policies available to everyone, no matter your age.

5. Have easy access to at least 100,000 baht -- this could be in a Thai bank account or a credit card with a suitable credit limit. Unless you have health insurance, hospitals want deposits upon admission and you may not be in shape to do internet banking, Western Union, etc, to get funds here in a hurry.

6. Be sure a trusted friend knows the location of your passport, bankbooks, ATM card, PIN number, and passwords for internet banking, email, etc. For safety, split the info. For example, I know the location of the physical items for a friend and I have the email/phone number of their adult child overseas. So, if I need to get funds for that friend, all I have to do is contact the friend's child who has the PIN numbers, passwords, etc -- the missing pieces I'll need to actually get to the friend's money.

7. This last step may be time consuming, but do it now while most of your brain cells are still connected -- track down all important documents, scan them and email them to yourself. You may have to do some research to locate these items, but they should include:

birth certificate

diplomas and transcripts

marriage certificates

divorce decrees

death certificates of spouses

insurance policies

military discharge

military service record (when and where you served)

employment records, including employers, dates, locations

pension information

Ideally, have a "clean" copy, maybe even something certified by the issuing agency, as in the case of birth, marriage, divorce, death certificates. I've probably forgotten some key document.

There certainly are other steps people can undertake to prevent needing LCN or consular assistance, but the ones I've listed above are fairly easy, and don't involve changing basic behavior or spending vast sums of money. Just a little bit of time investment.

Sorry, maybe my brain isn't working too well today, but why email the Step 7 documents to oneself?

[CMSteve]

So all of your important documents are stored offsite and accessible anywhere you have internet access...

It's good to learn that there have been just a few isolated cases of foreigner homelessness in Chiang Mai and those cases are well-known to consulates, police, and good-hearted people who are able to assist. I kind of thought this was the situation and was amazed to read that article about "30 homeless foreigners in Chiang Mai" I thought I had a pretty good handle on that.

Lanna Care Net has been assisting elderly foreigners for about two years and none were homeless -- yes, some were evicted from their guesthouse while they were in hospital, but none were homeless when we first started to help them. And none were left homeless after hospital discharge. (McKean Rehabilitation Centre is a blessing for our elderly expat community). Most of the problems we see could be avoided if people had done a little planning prior to finding themselves in need.

There are some simple steps people can do to lessen the chances that they'll need assistance from Lanna Care Net or their consulate/embassies:

1. register with your home countries system for tracking the location of their citizens, for example S.T.E.P for Americans, LOCATE for Brits. Registration is done on-line and the info isn't shared with other gov't agencies. This way, they'll know your next-of-kin and emergency contact details.

2. register with a local hospital -- the one where you'd prefer to go in an emergency. They'll issue a patient card you carry in your wallet, which contains their phone number and your patient number. It will make hospital admission quicker.

3. if it's been a while since you've had a physical exam, have one of the "package" physicals offered by the private hospitals. They cost just a few thousand baht and will give you an early alert to potential problems. Also, it means the hospital will have some basic medical data about you in their computer.

4. get health insurance, or at least accident insurance if you're too old or have too many pre-existing conditions to obtain health insurance. Most LCN clients are victims of accidents -- usually pedestrian accidents, or slip/falls at home. Bangkok Bank has a nice accident insurance policy for abut 5000 baht/year, you don't have to be a bank customer to buy it, it will cover you up to age 100 and it's easy to get -- just walk into any branch bank and ask for their PA Senior 1st. There are many other cheap accident insurance policies available to everyone, no matter your age.

5. Have easy access to at least 100,000 baht -- this could be in a Thai bank account or a credit card with a suitable credit limit. Unless you have health insurance, hospitals want deposits upon admission and you may not be in shape to do internet banking, Western Union, etc, to get funds here in a hurry.

6. Be sure a trusted friend knows the location of your passport, bankbooks, ATM card, PIN number, and passwords for internet banking, email, etc. For safety, split the info. For example, I know the location of the physical items for a friend and I have the email/phone number of their adult child overseas. So, if I need to get funds for that friend, all I have to do is contact the friend's child who has the PIN numbers, passwords, etc -- the missing pieces I'll need to actually get to the friend's money.

7. This last step may be time consuming, but do it now while most of your brain cells are still connected -- track down all important documents, scan them and email them to yourself. You may have to do some research to locate these items, but they should include:
birth certificate
diplomas and transcripts
marriage certificates
divorce decrees
death certificates of spouses
insurance policies
military discharge
military service record (when and where you served)
employment records, including employers, dates, locations
pension information

Ideally, have a "clean" copy, maybe even something certified by the issuing agency, as in the case of birth, marriage, divorce, death certificates. I've probably forgotten some key document.

There certainly are other steps people can undertake to prevent needing LCN or consular assistance, but the ones I've listed above are fairly easy, and don't involve changing basic behavior or spending vast sums of money. Just a little bit of time investment.

Sorry, maybe my brain isn't working too well today, but why email the Step 7 documents to oneself?

[scottishjohn]

So all of your important documents are stored offsite and accessible anywhere you have internet access...

It's good to learn that there have been just a few isolated cases of foreigner homelessness in Chiang Mai and those cases are well-known to consulates, police, and good-hearted people who are able to assist. I kind of thought this was the situation and was amazed to read that article about "30 homeless foreigners in Chiang Mai" I thought I had a pretty good handle on that.

Lanna Care Net has been assisting elderly foreigners for about two years and none were homeless -- yes, some were evicted from their guesthouse while they were in hospital, but none were homeless when we first started to help them. And none were left homeless after hospital discharge. (McKean Rehabilitation Centre is a blessing for our elderly expat community). Most of the problems we see could be avoided if people had done a little planning prior to finding themselves in need.

There are some simple steps people can do to lessen the chances that they'll need assistance from Lanna Care Net or their consulate/embassies:

1. register with your home countries system for tracking the location of their citizens, for example S.T.E.P for Americans, LOCATE for Brits. Registration is done on-line and the info isn't shared with other gov't agencies. This way, they'll know your next-of-kin and emergency contact details.

2. register with a local hospital -- the one where you'd prefer to go in an emergency. They'll issue a patient card you carry in your wallet, which contains their phone number and your patient number. It will make hospital admission quicker.

3. if it's been a while since you've had a physical exam, have one of the "package" physicals offered by the private hospitals. They cost just a few thousand baht and will give you an early alert to potential problems. Also, it means the hospital will have some basic medical data about you in their computer.

4. get health insurance, or at least accident insurance if you're too old or have too many pre-existing conditions to obtain health insurance. Most LCN clients are victims of accidents -- usually pedestrian accidents, or slip/falls at home. Bangkok Bank has a nice accident insurance policy for abut 5000 baht/year, you don't have to be a bank customer to buy it, it will cover you up to age 100 and it's easy to get -- just walk into any branch bank and ask for their PA Senior 1st. There are many other cheap accident insurance policies available to everyone, no matter your age.

5. Have easy access to at least 100,000 baht -- this could be in a Thai bank account or a credit card with a suitable credit limit. Unless you have health insurance, hospitals want deposits upon admission and you may not be in shape to do internet banking, Western Union, etc, to get funds here in a hurry.

6. Be sure a trusted friend knows the location of your passport, bankbooks, ATM card, PIN number, and passwords for internet banking, email, etc. For safety, split the info. For example, I know the location of the physical items for a friend and I have the email/phone number of their adult child overseas. So, if I need to get funds for that friend, all I have to do is contact the friend's child who has the PIN numbers, passwords, etc -- the missing pieces I'll need to actually get to the friend's money.

7. This last step may be time consuming, but do it now while most of your brain cells are still connected -- track down all important documents, scan them and email them to yourself. You may have to do some research to locate these items, but they should include:

birth certificate

diplomas and transcripts

marriage certificates

divorce decrees

death certificates of spouses

insurance policies

military discharge

military service record (when and where you served)

employment records, including employers, dates, locations

pension information

Ideally, have a "clean" copy, maybe even something certified by the issuing agency, as in the case of birth, marriage, divorce, death certificates. I've probably forgotten some key document.

There certainly are other steps people can undertake to prevent needing LCN or consular assistance, but the ones I've listed above are fairly easy, and don't involve changing basic behavior or spending vast sums of money. Just a little bit of time investment.

Sorry, maybe my brain isn't working too well today, but why email the Step 7 documents to oneself?

I believe that all of NancyL’s advice is sound and should be followed by all expats.

Just create a ‘New Message’ to yourself with your e-mail provider and add the attachment. When you receive, it move it to a folder!

I suggest you hide the title/contents etc and make sure it is not obvious that it has all your details. There are many ways of encrypting files and attachments and make sure someone else has a method of access.