Need advice on elder care in Hua Hin/Cha Am...

[ozgirlinbkk]

Hello,

I’m hoping I can get some recommendations about home nursing/elder care for my 80-year-old father in law. He has been living in Thailand for the past 15 years, and his health is declining. He has split with his Thai wife, who he thought would care for him in his remaining years. Recently he had a heart attack, but is now back at home (on his own).

We live on the other side of the world, with our small children, so we cannot be on hand regularly to help him out. He wants to stay in Thailand and not return to his country of birth.

My question is…can anyone recommend a reliable nursing service or person who would be able to provide home care/nursing care for him? He has talked about getting his maid to move in, but she is a young woman in her early twenties with no experience caring for an 80-year-old farang in declining health.

I know that the concept of a nursing home is not the Thai way, but there are many farang who retire to Hua Hin/Cha Am…what do people do when their health is declining and they have no family to assist nearby?

Thanks in advance for your advice on this matter

[gamini]

There are not any good nursing homes in or near Hua Hin. So I would suggest a good live in housekeeper/ nurse to look after him. You would have to pay 15-20,000 a month. But that is cheap compared to UK You could put him in a nice hotel near the hospital . Full board monthly rate would be quite cheap.

[ozgirlinbkk]

There are not any good nursing homes in or near Hua Hin. So I would suggest a good live in housekeeper/ nurse to look after him. You would have to pay 15-20,000 a month. But that is cheap compared to UK You could put him in a nice hotel near the hospital . Full board monthly rate would be quite cheap.

Thanks very much. Can you recommend any contacts that might help me locate a reputable nurse/housekeeper?

[darrendsd]

Ozgirlinbkk, there is a care home in Ratchaburi that may be what you are looking for, I have sent you a private message regarding this, the message contains someone elses contact details so I did not want to post it on here

[craigt3365]

I'm sure there are nursing homes nearby, but they are more oriented towards Thais and don't really advertise for farang. Here's a link that shows a bunch of homes here in Thailand. Unfortunately, most ads are in Thai.

http://www.eldercarethailand.com/

I ran across one because a neighbor is starting it up. Would have never found about it otherwise, and it's pretty good. 20k or so for a shared room. 35k or so for a private room. 50k or so for a big private room and 24x7 nurses:

http://www.zbreeze.net/#

I know it's not in your area, but it gives you an idea of what's out there. Here's a quick Google search which shows some options in your area:

https://www.google.co.th/search?q=nursing+home+hua+hin+thailand&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb&gws_rd=cr&ei=cYD-U8nXK4_iuQTa64DQCQ

This is a thread on Thaivisa started last year. Not sure if the OP ever started the home, but you could PM him. If he doesn't answer, let me know and I'll send him an email:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/692770-starting-a-new-care-home-retirment-home-in-hua-hin/

I know you can get a nurse from the local hospital (probably a government one, not a private one) for about 500B per day. Not sure if they'd speak a lot of English, but it's an option. And one we've looked into.

We've got a maid who helps out with my 89 year old mother. It works out OK, but she's not a professional and speaks little English. Both of these issues cause problems. Especially since my mother has severe dementia. But, the price is right and my wife and I do the best we can. I can't imagine our maid being able to take care of mom if we didn't live here. No way.

There are going to be lots of issues your father in law will have to deal with. Hospital visits are a biggie. Who will manage his care? Brush his teeth every day, etc? Finances are another. Who will deal with this? I've got a friend of a friend who makes about $6k USD per month. Has a young Thai gal taking care of him and at the end of the month, all the money is gone. HIs rent is $800 USD per month and he's an invalid. Rarely goes out. We try to talk with him about this and he doesn't want to talk about it. He doesn't care. Unfortunately, his daughter back in the US does care. But nothing she can do either. She never had a power of attorney filed.

Not an easy issue and I wish you the best of luck.

[ozgirlinbkk]

I'm sure there are nursing homes nearby, but they are more oriented towards Thais and don't really advertise for farang. Here's a link that shows a bunch of homes here in Thailand. Unfortunately, most ads are in Thai.

http://www.eldercarethailand.com/

I ran across one because a neighbor is starting it up. Would have never found about it otherwise, and it's pretty good. 20k or so for a shared room. 35k or so for a private room. 50k or so for a big private room and 24x7 nurses:

http://www.zbreeze.net/#

I know it's not in your area, but it gives you an idea of what's out there. Here's a quick Google search which shows some options in your area:

https://www.google.co.th/search?q=nursing+home+hua+hin+thailand&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb&gws_rd=cr&ei=cYD-U8nXK4_iuQTa64DQCQ

This is a thread on Thaivisa started last year. Not sure if the OP ever started the home, but you could PM him. If he doesn't answer, let me know and I'll send him an email:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/692770-starting-a-new-care-home-retirment-home-in-hua-hin/

I know you can get a nurse from the local hospital (probably a government one, not a private one) for about 500B per day. Not sure if they'd speak a lot of English, but it's an option. And one we've looked into.

We've got a maid who helps out with my 89 year old mother. It works out OK, but she's not a professional and speaks little English. Both of these issues cause problems. Especially since my mother has severe dementia. But, the price is right and my wife and I do the best we can. I can't imagine our maid being able to take care of mom if we didn't live here. No way.

There are going to be lots of issues your father in law will have to deal with. Hospital visits are a biggie. Who will manage his care? Brush his teeth every day, etc? Finances are another. Who will deal with this? I've got a friend of a friend who makes about $6k USD per month. Has a young Thai gal taking care of him and at the end of the month, all the money is gone. HIs rent is $800 USD per month and he's an invalid. Rarely goes out. We try to talk with him about this and he doesn't want to talk about it. He doesn't care. Unfortunately, his daughter back in the US does care. But nothing she can do either. She never had a power of attorney filed.

Not an easy issue and I wish you the best of luck.

Thanks very much for the links...the scenario you raise at the bottom of your message is exactly what we are worried about - trying to find someone reputable to look after him, once he cannot do it himself...without anyone to regularly check on his quality of care. It's ripe for exploitation.

We are on the other side of the world. and just don't have the means to fly to Thailand on a regular basis. He could come back here - but we don't think he will do that. He only gets a pension of about $2000 a month, which is not much back here, and the winters are horrifyingly long and cold.

The zbreeze looks like a possibilty, but again, not sure if he will move out of his house...it is in the ex-wife's name, and once he packs up sticks, she'll sell it off and he won't get a cent, although he did pay for it...

We found a couple links to home nursing services online, for Anantarak Health Training School and another person called Pi Ying (not sure if she runs a nursing care business, or is the carer herself).. I will try to contact them...but again, will be almost impossible to know if they are doing their job properly, or just collecting a paycheck.

Thanks again for your message, appreciate the input very much.

[craigt3365]

Elder abuse is very common world wide. My neighbor in Las Vegas had her mother in assisted living there. She hated it, so they moved her back home and hired a caregiver. She got a call one day from the police. I guess the caregiver had literally cleaned out the house and bank accounts and took off, in her mother's car!!

The lady who runs that place near us also provides services to people like you FIL. Including taking them to the hospital, etc. It costs money, but at least you know it's possible. I'm sure there's a place in Hua Hin. Just need to find. it....