I am posting this for a friend

Can anyone advise me on a problem i have with an extension for a tourist visa please.

My friend came to Thailand with a 60 day tourist visa.Within a week he had a stroke and

was taken to Bangkok Pattaya hospital,where he was in a coma for most of the visa time.

The hospital although receiving no money (because no insurance), gave me a form stating

he was unable to breathe unassisted or walk, a visa extension was required,for which the immigration

office gave 30 days.I had to pay 1900 baht and he has now been moved to a care home in Prachin

Buri. The care home has asked me to look after his passport as they are afraid they'll lose it. My friend

has no money to speak of and i believe the hospital is paying the care home. His visa is due for renewal

again, so what will be the procedeure now and will 1900 baht have to be paid every time.I have just been

up to see him and there is very little improvement and so he'll not be going anywhere for the foreseeable

future,Maybe never in the condition he is now

Thank you

bish

You have posted in the wrong place

Your question(s) will be best answered in the "Thai visas, residency and work permits" forum .

Maybe a Moderator will move your post or you could try re-posting yourself

Edited February 21, 201511 yr by nzexpat

Moved to the Visas forum.

if not able to travel he can get extensions of stay based on medical reasons for up to 90 days a time. Immigration will decide, but it also depends on the information from the doctor. That is the same as before, but now make sure the doctor declares he will not be able to travel for at least 3 months.

Check if h has travel insurance, otherwise contact his embassy. They will try to locate family members so that they can help him.

Another extension for medical care is possible. It will take documents from the doctor. An extension of up to 90 days can be done if the documents make it clear that his condition is not expected to improve within 90 days. The fee will be 1900 baht.

The 30 day extension he received was the standard extension for a tourist visa -- it wasn't related to his medical condition although the documents the hospital gave you did allow you to do the extension for him

In order to obtain a medical extension, it's important that the doctor writes a letter, on hospital letterhead, describing his condition and stating that he cannot travel for XX days. Often doctors don't understand the need to state the inability to travel for so many days in the future and will just report what they've done in the past and the patient's current condition.

The maximum length of time granted for a medical extension is 90 days and it costs 1900 baht each time.

Having assisted several people in obtaining medical extensions, I'm very surprised that a private hospital would be so willing to continue to care for a patient with an inability to pay. Often, they will simply stabilize the patient and arrange transfer to a government hospital. Also, I'm surprised that the patient's Embassy hasn't become involved yet in an effort to contact relatives. Often a private hospital will contact a comatose patient's Embassy for this assistance in an effort to secure payment.

Sometimes there can be a "hidden" source of travel insurance. For example, many credit cards have automatic travel insurance if someone charges their airline tickets using their credit card. Or there can be travel insurance is someone is a member of a club, trade association or credit union.

Is the patient a veteran? Several nationalities have veteran organizations in Thailand.

Bish, your friend is fortunate to have you helping him, but I hope others are, too. Please send me a PM, if you'd like, because I've assisted others like your friend.

It's good to see so much good and accurate advice in the thread.

I'm very sorry to hear of your friend's situation. Make sure the hospital gives you/he the forms for extension for medical care before his next reporting date or the date his visa is up. If you provide the documents to immigration after that date, he will be in overstay and need to pay the fine, up to 20K baht. I don't know if there are any other fees to pay when submitting the extension for medical care.

You/he may need to do this more than once, based on his condition. The hospital would need to give you a new letter/form before the old forms are no longer valid. On my papers, the hospital stated I couldn't travel for 3 months. At the end of this time, I was still unfit and received a new form that gave me another 6 weeks.

I hope this helps you.

--Pitts

YES I AGREE. WELL DONE

I have had some positive feedback today concerning my friends problem. I would just like to thank everyone for your valued advice on this matter. Once again thank you all for your help.

u believe the hosp. is paying for home care!!!!!!!! u better make sure. u might be on the hook, nothing is free. what country is he from . I would contact that countries embassy staff here for advise. not thai visa. com. we are not well suited for life threatening situations. I would be more worried about his health than a visa. im sure the thais are compassionate, but that guy cant sit here for ever, especially if the thais are paying for his care..........that aint gonna go on indefinitely..........I feel your question is better asked to the home country embassy not thai visa. com

u believe the hosp. is paying for home care!!!!!!!! u better make sure. u might be on the hook, nothing is free. what country is he from . I would contact that countries embassy staff here for advise. not thai visa. com. we are not well suited for life threatening situations. I would be more worried about his health than a visa. im sure the thais are compassionate, but that guy cant sit here for ever, especially if the thais are paying for his care..........that aint gonna go on indefinitely..........I feel your question is better asked to the home country embassy not thai visa. com

I'm not sure what is the rage against the OP posting for advice here. You may have missed few facts in your hurried written posting:

- Nobody has said that medical care was to to be free.

- Nowhere is stated that the consulate/embassy has not been notified

- Normally the embassy will not act about sick citizens, beside a cursory attempt to locate next of kin.

- The OP is, quite naturally, thankful about the advice received.

So... just chill, do not assume the rest of the world is stupid.

A hateful post and understandable replies to it. Exercise empathy and refrain from posting hateful views on thai visa

I wonder about the free part. Someone I know had to go to ICU at the government hospital. After he was moved to a standard "room", he was not allowed to check out until his bill was paid, which was over 200,000 and growing daily.

What ever else ,please make sure his visa situation is kept upto date.

Thai immigration can be absolute ba....ds when they want , no compassion what so ever .

In my case i was in a coma . When i was able to coverse with my wife (in writing) as i had tubes in my mouth.

I told her my visa was expired, she went to immigration was treated disgustingly by officers, over stay 35 days they demanded she pay 20.000 baht or i would be deported. These points i make are 100% correct( before any smart a..e says otherwise). I have the receipt to prove it.

Even with certificate from the hospital they would not change what was said/done.

What ever else ,please make sure his visa situation is kept upto date.

Thai immigration can be absolute ba....ds when they want , no compassion what so ever .

In my case i was in a coma . When i was able to coverse with my wife (in writing) as i had tubes in my mouth.

I told her my visa was expired, she went to immigration was treated disgustingly by officers, over stay 35 days they demanded she pay 20.000 baht or i would be deported. These points i make are 100% correct( before any smart a..e says otherwise). I have the receipt to prove it.

Even with certificate from the hospital they would not change what was said/done.

Which office was it?

Immigration is never expected to act on compassion but on documentation.

I wonder about the free part. Someone I know had to go to ICU at the government hospital. After he was moved to a standard "room", he was not allowed to check out until his bill was paid, which was over 200,000 and growing daily.

I think that someone was OK with stay. A debt toward an hospital in Thailand is like any other - has to be paid but it cannot be coerced. All what one has to to is to get up and walk. A human person is not like a car left for repairs to a garage - no "mechanic's lien" right apply.

I'm never leaving my country without the right insurance ever again.

What ever else ,please make sure his visa situation is kept upto date.

Thai immigration can be absolute ba....ds when they want , no compassion what so ever .

In my case i was in a coma . When i was able to coverse with my wife (in writing) as i had tubes in my mouth.

I told her my visa was expired, she went to immigration was treated disgustingly by officers, over stay 35 days they demanded she pay 20.000 baht or i would be deported. These points i make are 100% correct( before any smart a..e says otherwise). I have the receipt to prove it.

Even with certificate from the hospital they would not change what was said/done.

That's exactly what happened to me. I went to immigration when I was able to do so and despite the forms and papers from the hospital, all they cared for was that the overstay fee be paid.

--Pitts

What ever else ,please make sure his visa situation is kept upto date.

Thai immigration can be absolute ba....ds when they want , no compassion what so ever .

In my case i was in a coma . When i was able to coverse with my wife (in writing) as i had tubes in my mouth.

I told her my visa was expired, she went to immigration was treated disgustingly by officers, over stay 35 days they demanded she pay 20.000 baht or i would be deported. These points i make are 100% correct( before any smart a..e says otherwise). I have the receipt to prove it.

Even with certificate from the hospital they would not change what was said/done.

That's exactly what happened to me. I went to immigration when I was able to do so and despite the forms and papers from the hospital, all they cared for was that the overstay fee be paid.

--Pitts

The problem is that once on overstay immigration have no authority to cancel it or waive the fine. It is not a case of an individual officer or an office not caring or not understanding they just cannot do anything about it.

The problem is that once on overstay immigration have no authority to cancel it or waive the fine. It is not a case of an individual officer or an office not caring or not understanding they just cannot do anything about it.

Good point Ubonjoe. I didn't think of the possibility that they cannot waive the fee as if they had a choice. I can see making arbitrary decisions could reek more havoc at these offices when making exceptions.

--Pitts

This very good to know, have friend who is old and it may happen to him.

What ever else ,please make sure his visa situation is kept upto date.

Thai immigration can be absolute ba....ds when they want , no compassion what so ever .

In my case i was in a coma . When i was able to coverse with my wife (in writing) as i had tubes in my mouth.

I told her my visa was expired, she went to immigration was treated disgustingly by officers, over stay 35 days they demanded she pay 20.000 baht or i would be deported. These points i make are 100% correct( before any smart a..e says otherwise). I have the receipt to prove it.

Even with certificate from the hospital they would not change what was said/done.

That's exactly what happened to me. I went to immigration when I was able to do so and despite the forms and papers from the hospital, all they cared for was that the overstay fee be paid.

--Pitts

The problem is that once on overstay immigration have no authority to cancel it or waive the fine. It is not a case of an individual officer or an office not caring or not understanding they just cannot do anything about it.

Also, once you're on overstay you can't get an extension. I know of one case where Immigration (in Rayong) took the pragmatic view that it was best if they knew nothing about the chap who was severely incapacitated by a stroke and was several months overdue for his annual extension. They took one look at the photos of his pitiful bedridden state and told his wife she need not come back again. His hospital fees were covered by insurance, but this did not extend to homecare.

Also, once you're on overstay you can't get an extension.

That is not correct. Immigration can do extensions when a person is on overstay and do it on a regular basis. But a person has to have a reason for the extension.

Their have been cases where a person was given 7 days to leave after paying the overstay fine and the 1900 baht for an extension application.

In the case of medical care they would certainly do an extension after the overstay fine was paid.