Australian found dead in Chiang Mai hotel

[Spock]

wow... He must have had some seriously bad stuff going on. I'm the same age and in the last 12 months we lost our business due to the anti-government protests and left Thailand after 14 years. got given the big 'C' diagnosis from the doctor, I'm now speaking to my wife on the phone daily rather than after work.... Nothing has made me even contemplate what this bloke has done, he must really have had some demons in his head. RIP fella

I hope your own circumstances improve. How did the anti-government protests cause you to lose your business?

We all have different capacities for handling what life throws at us. Our bodies also fall apart in different ways and in different places. Experience builds resilience in some but erodes the will of others. And some of us have more support than others when life is tough. Be understanding and compassionate.

[TuskegeeBen]

rich you are what is known as a tool in our country. you know what i am talking about. .. but for the grace of god you have what you do. good luck with it. tool :-)

Obviously that Udon bloke is a lifetime member of the (well-known among Thai bargirls) Richard Forbrain Society,

[Spock]

Seriously someone would hang themselves over loosing a job??

Another sad Thai ending.

Got to be more to it than just losing a job.

My money is on his lovely teeruk left him also in the process. No money, no honey, however regardless, neither losing a job or/and a GF is worth losing your life over, not even close.

RIP

At age 60 in Thailand, you are finished as a teacher.

What was he gonna do?

Just wait til ASEAN kicks in next year. Most of the current western NES school teachers, in SE Asia (especially, in last placed Thailand), will become immediately un-employed. Start saving your money NOW! You're gonna be needing it, in the (not very distant) future. A word to the wise, should be sufficient.

Can you explain this in more detail. Why will ASEAN cause teachers unemployment?

[Alwyn]

wow... He must have had some seriously bad stuff going on. I'm the same age and in the last 12 months we lost our business due to the anti-government protests and left Thailand after 14 years. got given the big 'C' diagnosis from the doctor, I'm now speaking to my wife on the phone daily rather than after work.... Nothing has made me even contemplate what this bloke has done, he must really have had some demons in his head. RIP fella

I hope your own circumstances improve. How did the anti-government protests cause you to lose your business?

We all have different capacities for handling what life throws at us. Our bodies also fall apart in different ways and in different places. Experience builds resilience in some but erodes the will of others. And some of us have more support than others when life is tough. Be understanding and compassionate.

We had a real estate company, established for 11 years. People just stopped buying property, end of story unfortunately. It was a very traumatic time we had 8 Thai staff who had mostly been with us since day one, plus another Canadian, one of the toughest things I ever had to do was break that bit of news.. It obviously hasn't improved since the coup and martial law etc - nobody in their right mind is going to invest their hard earned savings under those conditions but life goes on as do I!

Edited October 5, 2014 by Alwyn

[Tokay]

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So sad. Reminds me of the one the other year. He was a retired army guy who moved here and was swindled out of his life savings by one of those fake call centers. Ended up taking his life when he should have been taking a different bar girl every night and enjoying his retirement.

"taking a different bar girl every night and enjoying his retirement."

A teenager's view of the perfect retirement life.

Or a man's view.

If my life consisted of taking a different bar girl every night, I'd probably want to kill myself. For that matter, if I found myself in a bar every night I'd probably want to kill myself.

Hell, who has time for that sort of life, especially when retired?

It depends on your testosterone levels and physical condition.

If you have low test levels and are overweight, the thought of hunting birds every day probably do not appeal to you. However, if you are in shape, take care of yourself, and have decent (probably chemically altered) test levels, you can still have a great time so long as you have the game OR funds to make it happen.

[enufsaid]

What makes people think government bodies in foreign countries will help you. Embassy's are there to only notify your family if you're not capable of doing so & giving them the address of hospital or institution you're in. We found this out the hard way. Really huge embassy buildings are a waste of tax payers money, a telephone booth with the country's name on it would be suffice.

[kingalfred]

Seriously someone would hang themselves over loosing a job??

Another sad Thai ending.

Got to be more to it than just losing a job.

My money is on his lovely teeruk left him also in the process. No money, no honey, however regardless, neither losing a job or/and a GF is worth losing your life over, not even close.

RIP

At age 60 in Thailand, you are finished as a teacher.

What was he gonna do?

Just wait til ASEAN kicks in next year. Most of the current western NES school teachers, in SE Asia (especially, in last placed Thailand), will become immediately un-employed. Start saving your money NOW! You're gonna be needing it, in the (not very distant) future. A word to the wise, should be sufficient.

Can you explain this in more detail. Why will ASEAN cause teachers unemployment?

it wont. Just some poster hoping it will.Any loss of jobs in fee-paying and language schools is due to temporary economic downturn. Edited October 5, 2014 by kingalfred

[JulieM]

No idea if this is true but I have heard that ASEAN will make it far easier for the schools here to hire young teachers from the Philippines at half the salary. Again, have no idea if this is true. It does make sense to me but it also a wonder that this town is not full english speaking people/teachers from the Philippines.

Perhaps there are many of them here, but if so I haven't run across many.

[HansBlinkers]

Here we go again, suicide....so case closed. It's so routine affair these day for farang/s.

People do commit suicide you know?

Police all over the world quickly judge if they suspect foul play or not.

[lahgon29]

I think 59 years in this world is long enough. I'll be there in a couple years....why go through all the BS.....

Pretty negative thinking, don't you think? I'm 59, retired in Udon, got a wonderful [pregnant] missus. I'm fit, healthy, eat great, no illnesses, Not overweight, and have enough money in Super to live a very comfortable life. I'm looking forward to 69 and then 79.

Maybe you should end It all now, thus taking some of the negative vibes out of the atmosphere.

I really hope you are better person than your post would indicate, why would you use a thread on anothers depression and death to crow about your wonderful life? Odd.

I really think that you should be smart enough to work out that I was responding to the statement quoted. 57yo guy who thinks we should top ourselves at 59, as he is feeling depressed today. If your intention was to make me feel guilty or feel remorse, as you judge all from your lofted moral perch...Forget It.

What a wonderful life!

[ableguy]

Did he misbehave in any manner to lose his job ? Just a thought.

RIP

[geordiel]

I really wish these people could talk to someone before taking this option. I find each and every case very sad.

why?

when I decide I want to check out for what ever reason, I don't want someone appointing themselves to be my rescuer because they feel sad for me.

that being said, I will require a bit more than just losing a low paying (from what I read) job... and, I have had some pretty seriously shitty things happen and suicide was never an option... tomorrow's another day.

anyway, it was his decision to make

Then I hope that if you do decide to "check out" that your wishes are met and that no one offers you any help and advice and just allows you to get on with it. However, many people have been and indeed will be saved by timely intervention from friend, doctor or charity (Samaritans etc) from what is a permanent solution to an often temporary problem.

[northernjohn]

59 years old in a foreign country with no job, probably no money and no prospects of getting either one. It might seem like the most sensible thing to do.

RIP

I was thinking about that yesterday. Thailand attracts a lot of people most of them good people. But it does attract a lot of desperate people looking for some thing in a bottle and a women also drugs which Thailand is well known to have an ample supply of all three.

After a while they realize they are still looking and just decide to end the search for what ever. There seems to be a lot of deaths in Thailand by falls off of balconies. I just wonder if in some of those cases it is a deliberate fall with no assistance.

Just a thought

[northernjohn]

I am going to guess if he is working at a famous school - international? I am not going to assume he at the same level of back-packers or retirees picking up a local english lang job...

In theory, private or international schools should do a much better job of attracting better and qualified teachers and if that is the case, they do not live hand to mouth...

many of these teachers are recruited from overseas some with excellent credentials. Don't know anything about this part chap but it is unfair to group all english teachers or teachers at an international school in the same boat..

Fly by night eng teachers in LOS have given the foreign teachers a bad name...

CB

Can't really swear to it. But I have heard that the pay in Chiang Mai is not as good as other parts of Thailand.

Regardless we don't know all the details. For all we know he could have had a bipolar disorder or some other similar problem.

[Loles]

Rest in Peace Amigo.

[sletraveler]

Seen it happened twice in our building where foreigners are so destitute and desperate

to off them selves over paltry money problems specially in the days where you can get help

from government bodies and NGO groups, salvation army, help lines and support groups..

I can't understand it....

If by that age one is still living paycheck to paycheck it could lead one to despair and maybe the bottle.

The Salvation Army is in SEA?

[tingtongtourist]

Seen it happened twice in our building where foreigners are so destitute and desperate

to off them selves over paltry money problems specially in the days where you can get help

from government bodies and NGO groups, salvation army, help lines and support groups..

I can't understand it....

how is the guy to access the services you mention while in thailand?

First have to pay for a flight home to do these things and even then he will probably have nowhere to live and be put on a long waiting list for help.

we like to think the destitute have help but in reality governments and countries owned and operated by rich will give away nothing.

look at the case of homeless farangs on streets of bamgkok..no-one to help them, even embassy wipes their hands of it if u have no way of repaying a loan.

sad case but it will happen a lot more since greed rules this world.

Suicides in Australia are many if you know ambulance officers, but are not allowed to be reported since it reflects how the supposed leaders and lawmakers are to blame from repressive rules and laws that help out them in power

[simple1]

Seen it happened twice in our building where foreigners are so destitute and desperate

to off them selves over paltry money problems specially in the days where you can get help

from government bodies and NGO groups, salvation army, help lines and support groups..

I can't understand it....

how is the guy to access the services you mention while in thailand?

First have to pay for a flight home to do these things and even then he will probably have nowhere to live and be put on a long waiting list for help.

we like to think the destitute have help but in reality governments and countries owned and operated by rich will give away nothing.

look at the case of homeless farangs on streets of bamgkok..no-one to help them, even embassy wipes their hands of it if u have no way of repaying a loan.

sad case but it will happen a lot more since greed rules this world.

Suicides in Australia are many if you know ambulance officers, but are not allowed to be reported since it reflects how the supposed leaders and lawmakers are to blame from repressive rules and laws that help out them in power

Got any proof of your claims? Suicide is covered extensively by the Australian media, relevant government agencies, together with many support organisations. Just one example of media reporting below:

Australia's suicide rate climbs as experts declare a 'national tragedy'

Seventy-five per cent of people who took their own lives in 2012 were male, with the highest rate among men over 85.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/mar/26/australias-suicide-rate-climbs-as-experts-declare-a-national-tragedy

[ChiangMaiFalung]

Always very sad to hear of such cases. Some people get angry about suicides but depression can be like cancer - once it gets a hold it develops a life of its own. Like cancer depression should not be ignored in its early stages.

I have been told by a teacher from 'the' best known international school that pupil numbers are on a decline and they have been laying off. He is one of the ones to go and he said they were cutting from the top, those most highly paid.

Saan,

My son attended 'the' best known international school. It was a terrible school. He now attends another school. Not the best known, but well known. It is turning students away. It is fully booked in many classes beyond next year.

[thesetat2013]

Seen it happened twice in our building where foreigners are so destitute and desperate

to off them selves over paltry money problems specially in the days where you can get help

from government bodies and NGO groups, salvation army, help lines and support groups..

I can't understand it....

If you can't understand it you have never been there. Leave it at that.

I have been there and still can not understand it...

This guy was 1 year away from forced retirement in Thailand.....He knew what was coming....

[KonKorat]

i've been down and out,lost everything and i can see why some people take the easy way out,i was nearly one of these people back in 2009.Believe it or not,i managed to pick myself up and turn things around and i'm in a better position now than i was before i went downhill.life has never been better.R.I.P Fella

[AnotherOneAmerican]

i've been down and out,lost everything and i can see why some people take the easy way out,i was nearly one of these people back in 2009.Believe it or not,i managed to pick myself up and turn things around and i'm in a better position now than i was before i went downhill.life has never been better.R.I.P Fella:wai2:

How old are you?

Broke at 40 and broke at 60 are entirely different situations.

Edited October 6, 2014 by AnotherOneAmerican

[OOLEEBER]

"taking a different bar girl every night and enjoying his retirement."

A teenager's view of the perfect retirement life.

I'm a lot closer to retirement age than my teens. In fact I retired once already.

[Ulysses G.]

Broke at 40 and broke at 60 are entirely different situations.

Hear, hear.

Edited October 6, 2014 by Ulysses G.

[TheyCallmeScooter]

It cracks me up how everyone mixed up in the logical abortion that is "positive thinking" ** automatically assumes mental illness. Unemotional logic dictates it's the other way around.

** So-called "positive thinking" isn't going to be positive when it's inaccurate, as it's guaranteed to be when you're blocking out unpleasant realities. This world has "positive thinking" conflated with Delusion / Fantasy / Denial / Psychosis. True positive thinking has to be accurate thinking, which includes all pleasant and unpleasant realities.

Shakespeare had something to say on the matter.

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all.

Maybe "positive thinkers" are cowards who can't handle reality?

[OOLEEBER]

So sad. Reminds me of the one the other year. He was a retired army guy who moved here and was swindled out of his life savings by one of those fake call centers. Ended up taking his life when he should have been taking a different bar girl every night and enjoying his retirement.

That's a doozie. I failed to hear about this one.

Swindlers are scum sent here to destroy lives and seems they succeeded in this case but I m sure not their only victim. Is this call centre still operating do you know ?

Sorry I don't know. Never saw any follow up on that just that this was how he lost everything. Seems like they're always popping up though.

[ataloss]

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I think 59 years in this world is long enough. I'll be there in a couple years....why go through all the BS.....

Why wait a couple of more years...with that attitude...?

I will be 70 my next birthday...and am still discovering things that excite me and make life worth living...

I am ready to go...when the time comes...until then...I am living life as if I will never die...everyday is a new adventure...

Agreed ^

Consider every moment wasted, as one less 'Livin' la Vida Loca’. 70 is definitely the new 50.

[Lizard2010]

RIP mate

It is hard to deal with this in Thailand

At least you are in a better place now

[mamborobert]

Can people please ease up a bit....one day his family or friends may search his name and this thread will turn up. Posters should be mindful of this when dealing with any passing. Some of the speculation/judgement is not that nice.

I had come across David quite a while back.....a gifted and schooled musician. At the time he was doing voluntary teaching having completed quals in Chiang Mai. He had quite a few excellent guitars that probably cost more than a condo.

A little self restraint by posters or policing by Mods on ALL news of similar circumstances would not go astray.

Think of the family please folks.....

[steven100]

just get on the piss every day until your drunk and shag all ya can ......

that's gotta be a dream retirement !!