Bangkok: - April 14 is the National Family Day. Yet, not everyone has a family by his or her side when this important day arrives.

On Tuesday, a 72-year-old man just sat alone in front of his room at Ban Bang Khae, a state-run home for the elderly.

“None of my family member knows I have lived here,” he said.

Identifying himself only as “Toi”, the old man told Thairath that he believed that none would know either when he finally passed away.

The father of three said the last time he saw his children was about eight to nine years ago.

“When I fell really ill a few years back, I was all alone at the hospital. A nurse thus decided to refer me social-welfare facilities,” he recounted.

How fate has brought him to this point?

Toi used to be a voice artist, breathing the lives to the many films that had been screened at various outdoor cinemas across Thailand. In his younger years, he fell in love with a vendor in Nakhon Ratchasima, married her, and had three children together.

But their love did not last forever. They finally got separated, and all three children were put under the care of the mother.

“My job required me to travel frequently. So, the best I could do was to send money to them and visit them about once or twice a month,” he said.

As outdoor cinemas had lost popularity in recent decades, Toi had gradually lost his career. With less money in his hands, it became harder and finally for him to visit his children.

“I miss them every day,” Toi said, “And I am proud to hear that they are doing well and take good care of their mother”.

Asked why he did not tell their children that he is at Ban Bang Khae, Toi said, “I don’t want them to worry about me”.

No, old man, you went wrong in your life.

There is no excuse, “I don’t want them to worry about me”.

I'm nearly your age, but I never lost contact with my children and grandchildren.

You give them love and you will take it back tenfold from them.

You ignore them and you will be ignored.

No, old man, you went wrong in your life.

There is no excuse, “I don’t want them to worry about me”.

I'm nearly your age, but I never lost contact with my children and grandchildren.

You give them love and you will take it back tenfold from them.

You ignore them and you will be ignored.

No Costas that's just a bit too trite.

No, old man, you went wrong in your life.

There is no excuse, “I don’t want them to worry about me”.

I'm nearly your age, but I never lost contact with my children and grandchildren.

You give them love and you will take it back tenfold from them.

You ignore them and you will be ignored.

That's a pretty black and white assertion there but hard to see from the OP if the old guy tried to keep in touch or was denied contact. He appears to know they are doing well and are taking care of his former partner. They are still good kids in his eyes.

If he was a total absentee father, then he did indeed make the bed he is lying in now. However, there are enough tales of farang guys that are denied access by a scorned ex-wife so it's not too much of a stretch to assume that the same happens to the locals. The law does historically favour the mother when it comes to custodial decisions. There may be more attention to visitation rights and access these days but not too sure if this was at all considered 20 or so years ago. If the parting was acrimonious, there's little to stop the mother denying the father access to the kids.

Nevertheless, this old guy sounds resigned to his loneliness and not berating or blaming anyone, not even himself.

No, old man, you went wrong in your life.

There is no excuse, “I don’t want them to worry about me”.

I'm nearly your age, but I never lost contact with my children and grandchildren.

You give them love and you will take it back tenfold from them.

You ignore them and you will be ignored.

Be happy that it is in your case so, but you can not generalize it.

According to the Russian President during his recent visit to Thailand, one does not listen to a father's lecture but rather to a brother's advice.

Have a Happy Family Day.

No, old man, you went wrong in your life.

There is no excuse, “I don’t want them to worry about me”.

I'm nearly your age, but I never lost contact with my children and grandchildren.

You give them love and you will take it back tenfold from them.

You ignore them and you will be ignored.

No Costas that's just a bit too trite.

Trite, hell, it's just [deleted] nasty.

No, old man, you went wrong in your life.

There is no excuse, “I don’t want them to worry about me”.

I'm nearly your age, but I never lost contact with my children and grandchildren.

You give them love and you will take it back tenfold from them.

You ignore them and you will be ignored.

Maybe you are wrong

If a parent is in the hospital surely the kids were told about it

yet none visited him

His kids are a disgrace

No, old man, you went wrong in your life.

There is no excuse, “I don’t want them to worry about me”.

I'm nearly your age, but I never lost contact with my children and grandchildren.

You give them love and you will take it back tenfold from them.

You ignore them and you will be ignored.

I'm 60, and have no intention of ever contacting the 4 children I had in the UK.

Who were also awarded to their mother, and prevented me seeing them, and will spend the rest of her life indoctrinating them against me..

My excuse, I no longer care about them, I cut my losses. Now, alive or dead, I don't care.

Some people do it your way, some people do it my way.

Costas 2008 Do you post ur thoughts on ever topic posted or am I dreaming give me a break really

Costas 2008 Do you post ur thoughts on ever topic posted or am I dreaming give me a break really

...do you ever communicate with people outside of the forum...phone...Skype...face-to-face......

...'family day'....???

...since I am of no more use to my wife...I pass every holiday alone...including my birthday...father's day.....

...tell me about Thai culture again......

No, old man, you went wrong in your life.

There is no excuse, “I don’t want them to worry about me”.

I'm nearly your age, but I never lost contact with my children and grandchildren.

You give them love and you will take it back tenfold from them.

You ignore them and you will be ignored.

I'm 60, and have no intention of ever contacting the 4 children I had in the UK.

Who were also awarded to their mother, and prevented me seeing them, and will spend the rest of her life indoctrinating them against me..

My excuse, I no longer care about them, I cut my losses. Now, alive or dead, I don't care.

Some people do it your way, some people do it my way.

Hello Mate, I have a similar experience as you. I had to cut this out of my life, like you, or I would go to hell. I was so angry about this brainwashing system, by the mother, caused if I did'nt had this done, then would burning 1 time a fuse, while permanent thinking about this case and getting more and more angry.

We having a phrase in germany about psychologists: The first 2 semester, they try to analyse themself. Then the rest of their study, they try cure themself, unsuccessful. Over 90% of the "professional" psychologists are like this, they giving advices to others and can not administer their own life.

In top these Amateur fools in TV.

Advice: To these super Psychologists here in TV, look at yourself. Note: Every human is different.

No, old man, you went wrong in your life.

There is no excuse, “I don’t want them to worry about me”.

I'm nearly your age, but I never lost contact with my children and grandchildren.

You give them love and you will take it back tenfold from them.

You ignore them and you will be ignored.

Normal Costas tripe. Costas to judge/condem this man without knowing the full story makes you worse than him. But then again we have become to know you as a man that judge before he knows all the facts. It is not our duty as a human to judge/condem others but to provide support by what ever way possible to those that need it. People will judge and condem you the same way you judge and condem them, it is karma and you are on the wrong side of it.

I believe in what costas has said you must keep in touch with your kith and kin I was out of touch with mine because I simply could not afford to pay the maintenance now I can afford it I send them money when they need it.

No, old man, you went wrong in your life.

There is no excuse, “I don’t want them to worry about me”.

I'm nearly your age, but I never lost contact with my children and grandchildren.

You give them love and you will take it back tenfold from them.

You ignore them and you will be ignored.

Normal Costas tripe. Costas to judge/condem this man without knowing the full story makes you worse than him. But then again we have become to know you as a man that judge before he knows all the facts. It is not our duty as a human to judge/condem others but to provide support by what ever way possible to those that need it. People will judge and condem you the same way you judge and condem them, it is karma and you are on the wrong side of it.

Good post mate: I recommend to all the hypocrites out there to read the follwing: Mattheus 7:1, Lukas 6:37, Lukas 6:41, Johannes 8:7, Korinther 4:5, Jakobus 4:11, etc., this having nothing do with religion, this is just common sence.

I believe in what costas has said you must keep in touch with your kith and kin I was out of touch with mine because I simply could not afford to pay the maintenance now I can afford it I send them money when they need it.

This is just wild theory.

Recommendation. Read all the post before and use your brain in the time, but this is almost multi tasking.

Not everybody having these abilities.

Simple solution: Read it twice or 3 times, this is no a shame, anyway much better as to blame yourself.

I believe in what costas has said you must keep in touch with your kith and kin I was out of touch with mine because I simply could not afford to pay the maintenance now I can afford it I send them money when they need it.

This is just wild theory.

Recommendation. Read all the post before and use your brain in the time, but this is almost multi tasking.

Not everybody having these abilities.

Simple solution: Read it twice or 3 times, this is no a shame, anyway much better as to blame yourself.

Absolutely no reason for you to post such an unfriendly and insulting reply!!

jackanapes just posted his opinion, which is his right as a member of a public forum. And he should be able to do that without getting attacked by posters full with their own self inflated opinion about their superiority .

Costas 2008 Do you post ur thoughts on ever topic posted or am I dreaming give me a break really

i agree it is monotonous and boring to hear this 'old junta lovin' man' give his Greek 'wisdom' about EVERY subject under the sun

give it a break 'old man'

I believe in what costas has said you must keep in touch with your kith and kin I was out of touch with mine because I simply could not afford to pay the maintenance now I can afford it I send them money when they need it.

This is just wild theory.

Recommendation. Read all the post before and use your brain in the time, but this is almost multi tasking.

Not everybody having these abilities.

Simple solution: Read it twice or 3 times, this is no a shame, anyway much better as to blame yourself.

Absolutely no reason for you to post such an unfriendly and insulting reply!!

jackanapes just posted his opinion, which is his right as a member of a public forum. And he should be able to do that without getting attacked by posters full with their own self inflated opinion about their superiority .

It may be just the German speaking.

...or possibly the Viking.

I believe in what costas has said you must keep in touch with your kith and kin I was out of touch with mine because I simply could not afford to pay the maintenance now I can afford it I send them money when they need it.

This is just wild theory.

Recommendation. Read all the post before and use your brain in the time, but this is almost multi tasking.

Not everybody having these abilities.

Simple solution: Read it twice or 3 times, this is no a shame, anyway much better as to blame yourself.

Absolutely no reason for you to post such an unfriendly and insulting reply!!

jackanapes just posted his opinion, which is his right as a member of a public forum. And he should be able to do that without getting attacked by posters full with their own self inflated opinion about their superiority .

It may be just the German speaking.

...or possibly the Viking.

Being a Viking myself, it is definitely the German speaking.

We vikings only killed,raped and and burned countries, but never used foul language.................

Costas 2008 Do you post ur thoughts on ever topic posted or am I dreaming give me a break really

i agree it is monotonous and boring to hear this 'old junta lovin' man' give his Greek 'wisdom' about EVERY subject under the sun

give it a break 'old man'

I spend a lot of time reading Thai Visa. I'm a cripple who spends a lot of his time on the net. However no way can I compete with Costas and his posts. You can go to almost any subject in this forum and be absolutely assured that Costas will have replied probably within a few minutes of the OP having posted. I honestly don't know how he does it, being logged into ThaiVisa must certainly take up a considerable portion of his waking hours.

Please dont consider this post as 'flaming' another member. it's not,I just wonder how Costas does it. Maybe he is determined to win 'poster of the year' this year which he missed out on last year.

No, old man, you went wrong in your life.

There is no excuse, “I don’t want them to worry about me”.

I'm nearly your age, but I never lost contact with my children and grandchildren.

You give them love and you will take it back tenfold from them.

You ignore them and you will be ignored.

A 72 year old mans life boiled down to several sentences and you pass judgement on him, is at the very least not a wise en devour.

According to the Russian President during his recent visit to Thailand, one does not listen to a father's lecture but rather to a brother's advice.

Have a Happy Family Day.

".....one does not listen to a father's lecture but rather to a brother's advice."

Does this depend on who "The Father" is and to whom "The Brother" is related. Some food for thought there.?

Perhaps you meant the Russian Prime Minister, Mr Medvedev? Not sure if Vladimir has putin an appearance yet?

I believe in what costas has said you must keep in touch with your kith and kin I was out of touch with mine because I simply could not afford to pay the maintenance now I can afford it I send them money when they need it.

This is just wild theory.

Recommendation. Read all the post before and use your brain in the time, but this is almost multi tasking.

Not everybody having these abilities.

Simple solution: Read it twice or 3 times, this is no a shame, anyway much better as to blame yourself.

Absolutely no reason for you to post such an unfriendly and insulting reply!!

jackanapes just posted his opinion, which is his right as a member of a public forum. And he should be able to do that without getting attacked by posters full with their own self inflated opinion about their superiority .

"Absolutely no reason for you to post such an unfriendly and insulting reply!!"

Don't worry - he's probably not after your self appointed role!

You ought to read some (many) of your own posts - the remainder of your post could apply easily.

No, old man, you went wrong in your life.

There is no excuse, “I don’t want them to worry about me”.

I'm nearly your age, but I never lost contact with my children and grandchildren.

You give them love and you will take it back tenfold from them.

You ignore them and you will be ignored.

I'm 60, and have no intention of ever contacting the 4 children I had in the UK.

Who were also awarded to their mother, and prevented me seeing them, and will spend the rest of her life indoctrinating them against me..

My excuse, I no longer care about them, I cut my losses. Now, alive or dead, I don't care.

Some people do it your way, some people do it my way.

Hello Mate, I have a similar experience as you. I had to cut this out of my life, like you, or I would go to hell. I was so angry about this brainwashing system, by the mother, caused if I did'nt had this done, then would burning 1 time a fuse, while permanent thinking about this case and getting more and more angry.

We having a phrase in germany about psychologists: The first 2 semester, they try to analyse themself. Then the rest of their study, they try cure themself, unsuccessful. Over 90% of the "professional" psychologists are like this, they giving advices to others and can not administer their own life.

In top these Amateur fools in TV.

Advice: To these super Psychologists here in TV, look at yourself. Note: Every human is different.

Same here; and it's a story I hear more and more from Europeans and Americans.

All I've done is slow that fuse right down, but alas, it will explode at some point. If I dwell on the past, it would burn like crazy.

No, old man, you went wrong in your life.

There is no excuse, I dont want them to worry about me.

I'm nearly your age, but I never lost contact with my children and grandchildren.

You give them love and you will take it back tenfold from them.

You ignore them and you will be ignored.

Good or wrong, why do you feel the need to be judgemental? Do you know this man and his story?

Costas 2008 Do you post ur thoughts on ever topic posted or am I dreaming give me a break really

i agree it is monotonous and boring to hear this 'old junta lovin' man' give his Greek 'wisdom' about EVERY subject under the sun

give it a break 'old man'

Maybe you didn't know, but this forum has a list you can put Costas on and you won't see his posts ever again. Personally, I read all posters, including the ones I disagree with, until they become monotonous.

Personally I love the posts of Costss2008...after reading his posts...everyone else's posts appears to be posted by brilliant Rhodes Scholars...