Brit orders final drink - then jumps from seventh floor of Bangkok hotel restaurant

[mommysboy]

Serious illness, with the associated pain, is a compelling reason why someone might end their life.  It need not mean that someone is mentally ill.  Of course, they are not thinking straight, because that's what pain and fear can do to you.  It's all very well sitting at the keyboard wondering, but none of us were in his shoes.

Edited June 6, 2017 by mommysboy
typo

[DogNo1]

Well, in Japan, suicide is considered an honorable way out.  How many Japanese are Christians?  Less than 1% so they are not going to hell

[nasanews]

5 hours ago, giddyup said:

Who says? You?

Common sense says so.

[nasanews]

5 hours ago, giddyup said:

Who says? You?

If modern medicine can not silence the pain of the patient, there is no good in it.

Edited June 6, 2017 by nasanews

[sujoop]

1 hour ago, SpeakeasyThai said:

Wonder if he paid for the drink? 

For the sake of the deceased gent's daughter and family, could the typical TV posters please refrain from thoughtless/crass comments?

 

1 hour ago, sujoop said:

Have just read another news report stating Mr Browning was visiting his daughter who lives and works in Bkk. Thus, please be aware the departed gent's  grieving daughter may be reading.... Also read another news article (in a Thai news site) which unfeelingly included a scan of the note. As the note was very personal in nature will not go into it, suffice to say the deceased had apparently been contemplating an exit for some time and had also left instructions for money to be allocated to his loved ones. To his daughter (who must be absolutely devastated -and herself far from home) goes my heartfelt thoughts.

 

 

[Lokie]

16 hours ago, Jip99 said:

Very sad.

 

 

There must be a less dramatic, and messy,  way of ending one's life when health is a major factor.

Old banger of a car, five meters garden hose, quiet discreet location, fav tipple (and personally a whacking great big Doobie) shove some tunes on and get stuck in... If ever I wanted to do myself in...

 

Done 30 years on railway (part of my job had to check some trains under running gear post fatalities  on arrival at depot prior to servicing, washing etc, you sort of look but don't really want to find anything...) Nope would not  want to throw myself into/under a vehicle of any type, so think hose pipe and car it would be for me

 

RIP to the bloke and sorry to those who had to deal with the aftermath and the family he leaves behind

[seancbk]

4 hours ago, car720 said:

17 hours ago, Jip99 said:

Very sad.

 

 

There must be a less dramatic, and messy,  way of ending one's life when health is a major factor.

If there is then perhaps you can tell me.  I am the same age and certainly would not like my final moments to be spent in agony and a loss of all dignity.

 

Google is your friend.

 

[kalidescopemind]

My doctor tells me not to take my alprazolam (Xanax) when I drink, because "I might not wake up".   So there you have it.  10-15 of those and 4 5ths of my favorite wine about as fast as I could drink it in a nice easy chair with some nice music.    I have a 3yo son, so that will at least 20 years, my health willing.  Making people clean up your mess of a body is not nice.

[Pigdog747]

16 hours ago, claffey said:

I am not a fanatical Christian but I find your comments disturbing. Suicide or Euthanasia or whatever you want to call it is a cowards way out. If you have no family or responsibility then OK. But if you are leaving behind wives, children and other family then you are a coward. I also believe euthanasia should be illegal as life is precious as is the life of your family. By doing this you are destroying their lives too... As for jumping from a high building. Wouldn't it be easier and less gruesome to take an overdose of something...A cowards way out...

I'm not a fanatical Christian either but Euthanasia is not a cowards way out. I've seen family members in so much pain and asking to die. Can you give me one good reason why someone with water on the heart or terminal Cancer where they are in sever pain must live like this? sometimes for hours, days, weeks or months. I watched as the nurses repeatedly pumped fluid out of my dads lungs every few hours for 2 days and keep him full of morphine to help reduce the level of pain as family watched and hoped he die so the pain will go away  or watched as my mother-in-law begged to die after she got water on the heart.  This lasted for nearly 2 weeks before she passed away. Life is no -longer precious when you are in total pain.  Why are we humane to animals, put them to sleep when they are in severe pain and dying  but sit back and watch fellow humans suffer, can we not also be humane to our fellow man. Maybe someday should you or a close family member end up with a terminal illness and severe pain, you will understand  

[balo]

The mods should really have a close look at this thread,   

 

This is not a thread to discuss different ways of how to kill yourself , but to think about the relatives of the deceased and then we can all move on with our lives. Yes our lives.

 

 R.I.P. 

 

 

Edited June 6, 2017 by balo

[Get Real]

6 hours ago, anto said:

Don't think too much lovey .As everything is obviously perfect in your World .He He .

Not at all, my friend, and I assume I live in exactly same world like you. This, though, is far from perfect.

[wakeupplease]

RIP Mate no pain now but those left behind will have as they ask themselves could we have done more?

 

I hope he was not an expat who went for a better life and ended up not being able to afford moving back home where there is a care service to look after the old and the ill.

[steven100]

6 hours ago, moe666 said:

O shut up

that's not very nice ... lol

[Odysseus123]

8 hours ago, gazza4 said:

May I say, when I was young, I could never understand why, every now and again, my Mother would lock herself in the spare bedroom for a few days, when some bad news came in , e.g. my 18 year old sister was "up the duff" to some  Aussie soldier.

About 10 years later, when my doctor prescribed my first dose of Setraline  an d sent me to a Phsyco,,,, ,I started to understand why I wanted to kill myself.

Fortunately, some forty plus years later, still popping my Setraline saviors , and managing, successfully , to convince my darling daughter that, what she was feeling, was a weakness in our "makeup" I convinced her that she should take every opportunity to tell her peer group about her, and the family's  need for medication.

I have tried, on 3 occasions , to wean myself away from medication. On each occasion I lasted a couple of weeks only

My mother has since died (old age) but my darling daughter, living in Oz, and me, live on, quite happily  

You have done well,very well indeed and so has your daughter.

 

One of the major problems in treating Depression is that people try to come off medication because they feel that they are perceived as "weak", lacking in "strength of character" or that they are,somehow a "failure"-none of which is the case-and it can be a very dangerous thing to do unless properly medically supervised.

 

All the best to you.

Edited June 6, 2017 by Odysseus123
clarity.

[Ulysses G.]

19 hours ago, claffey said:

I am not a fanatical Christian but I find your comments disturbing. Suicide or Euthanasia or whatever you want to call it is a cowards way out. If you have no family or responsibility then OK. But if you are leaving behind wives, children and other family then you are a coward. I also believe euthanasia should be illegal as life is precious as is the life of your family. By doing this you are destroying their lives too... As for jumping from a high building. Wouldn't it be easier and less gruesome to take an overdose of something...A cowards way out...

If someone made it to 67 and wants to die because of very bad health, they are hardly cowards. There should be a way out for them. Legal and painless Euthanasia should be legal everywhere, so no one is forced into jumping from a building.

[bbi1]

8 hours ago, cyberfarang said:

There are many elderly westerners that come to Thailand ill equipped financially and can also find themselves isolated and completely alone. Then when their situations begin to go into decline, could be many reasons, lack of funds, health issues kick in or just total loneliness, then they can be caught between a rock and a hard place with no easy solutions to their problems and suddenly for them paradise turns into hell.

Maybe the Thai government should do a crackdown on all these elderly Westerners who don't have much money, just like they did a crackdown on the Ed-visa & tourist visas recently. Those type of Westerners would be better in their home countries where they get free healthcare instead of coming to Thailand poor and then a huge bunch of themselves jumping off balconies and creating negative images of Thailand and scaring young kids who sees them spattered on the ground.

Edited June 7, 2017 by bbi1

[cyberfarang]

15 minutes ago, bbi1 said:

Maybe the Thai government should do a crackdown on all these elderly Westerners who don't have much money, just like they did a crackdown on the Ed-visa & tourist visas recently. Those type of Westerners would be better in their home countries where they get free healthcare instead of coming to Thailand poor and then a huge bunch of themselves jumping off balconies and creating negative images of Thailand and scaring young kids who sees them spattered on the ground.

A few points to mention here.

 

When elderly westerners decide to spend their last years in Thailand, I think they should first need to pass a thorough medical examination before being allowed retirement extensions (at least on the first application) and the Thai government should create some kind of compulsory realistically priced medical insurance schemes for expat retirees rather than leave them at the tender mercies of the private medical sectors and private medical insurance companies that are either unaffordable or non-applicable for the over 60s. There are absolutely no support schemes in Thailand for expat retirees. I also believe that retirees should require at least 3 million bahts to obtain annual retirement extensions that today, is a much more realistic figure then the present 800000 baht, which has remained stagnant for years. Otherwise if unable to cope because of failing health or inadequate funds to support themselves, they are going to be in limbo with no support.

[giddyup]

10 minutes ago, cyberfarang said:

A few points to mention here.

 

When elderly westerners decide to spend their last years in Thailand, I think they should first need to pass a thorough medical examination before being allowed retirement extensions (at least on the first application) and the Thai government should create some kind of compulsory realistically priced medical insurance schemes for expat retirees rather than leave them at the tender mercies of the private medical sectors and private medical insurance companies that are either unaffordable or non-applicable for the over 60s. There are absolutely no support schemes in Thailand for expat retirees. I also believe that retirees should require at least 3 million bahts to obtain annual retirement extensions that today, is a much more realistic figure then the present 800000 baht, which has remained stagnant for years. Otherwise if unable to cope because of failing health or inadequate funds to support themselves, they are going to be in limbo with no support.

You are trying to create the very same nanny state that most retirees came here to get away from.Do you know how many retirees are unable to support themselves or pay for medical care? I don't either, and the numbers may be quite small, not enough to make the radical changes you suggest.

[bbi1]

6 minutes ago, cyberfarang said:

A few points to mention here.

 

When elderly westerners decide to spend their last years in Thailand, I think they should first need to pass a thorough medical examination before being allowed retirement extensions (at least on the first application) and the Thai government should create some kind of compulsory realistically priced medical insurance schemes for expat retirees rather than leave them at the tender mercies of the private medical sectors and private medical insurance companies that are either unaffordable or non-applicable for the over 60s. There are absolutely no support schemes in Thailand for expat retirees. I also believe that retirees should require at least 3 million bahts to obtain annual retirement extensions that today, is a much more realistic figure then the present 800000 baht, which has remained stagnant for years. Otherwise if unable to cope because of failing health or inadequate funds to support themselves, they are going to be in limbo with no support.

Agree with you on the 1st point, passing a thorough med exam before retirement extensions. If they don't pass it then they need to show they have adequate health insurance coverage (same as what the Thai Gov are proposing to do with all tourists) and/or enough funds available (either in cash, stocks, real estate equity or other assets) to cover potential health issues. Something like an absolute minimum of US$200,000. If they don't pass the med exam and don't have health insurance or enough funds then they have 7 days to leave the country (same as if you get rejected for any other extension at immigration) and have to buy a ticket out of the country (to make sure they will actually leave & don't overstay) or get health insurance coverage during those 7 days.

[bbi1]

7 minutes ago, giddyup said:

You are trying to create the very same nanny state that most retirees came here to get away from.Do you know how many retirees are unable to support themselves or pay for medical care? I don't either, and the numbers may be quite small, not enough to make the radical changes you suggest.

You could say exactly the same for all your points raised about the Thai Gov requiring all tourists to have health insurance in order to enter Thailand: 

 

Edited June 7, 2017 by bbi1

[newatthis]

13 hours ago, nasanews said:

 

If one has no control of his existence when he/she was born then no body has the right to end their lives but only who gave them that life.

But after we have been given that life, the choice is ours as to how we live it [and thus end it].

[GarryP]

38 minutes ago, cyberfarang said:

A few points to mention here.

 

When elderly westerners decide to spend their last years in Thailand, I think they should first need to pass a thorough medical examination before being allowed retirement extensions (at least on the first application) and the Thai government should create some kind of compulsory realistically priced medical insurance schemes for expat retirees rather than leave them at the tender mercies of the private medical sectors and private medical insurance companies that are either unaffordable or non-applicable for the over 60s. There are absolutely no support schemes in Thailand for expat retirees. I also believe that retirees should require at least 3 million bahts to obtain annual retirement extensions that today, is a much more realistic figure then the present 800000 baht, which has remained stagnant for years. Otherwise if unable to cope because of failing health or inadequate funds to support themselves, they are going to be in limbo with no support.

Your average westerner is not pulling in that amount of money in their home country. Let alone when retired. Proper insurance coverage should be sufficient.

[giddyup]

30 minutes ago, bbi1 said:

You could say exactly the same for all your points raised about the Thai Gov requiring all tourists to have health insurance in order to enter Thailand: 

 

What they propose and what will happen may be two different things.

[vogie]

13 hours ago, nasanews said:

 

If one has no control of his existence when he/she was born then no body has the right to end their lives but only who gave them that life.

My mother gave me life, and now she is gone, I reckon I now control my life. FYI, not everyone believes in fairy tales!

[giddyup]

36 minutes ago, bbi1 said:

Agree with you on the 1st point, passing a thorough med exam before retirement extensions. If they don't pass it then they need to show they have adequate health insurance coverage (same as what the Thai Gov are proposing to do with all tourists) and/or enough funds available (either in cash, stocks, real estate equity or other assets) to cover potential health issues. Something like an absolute minimum of US$200,000. If they don't pass the med exam and don't have health insurance or enough funds then they have 7 days to leave the country (same as if you get rejected for any other extension at immigration) and have to buy a ticket out of the country (to make sure they will actually leave & don't overstay) or get health insurance coverage during those 7 days.

You just stop short of saying if they are old, give them a needle and put them out of their misery. If Thailand introduced those Draconian measures it would be the only country in the world to do so, and it would just mean elderly retirees would just find alternatives like Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines etc.

[steven100]

17 hours ago, Mickmouse1 said:

Did he pay the Bill ?

Was he alone? 

What was he doing in Thailand? 

Any TGF ?

Was he financially sound?

What really prompted him to jump from that particular place where he could have committed suicide peacefully at home?

RIP

I guess he did because normally you pay and walk away

I would suspect no friend with him otherwise the friend would have bought another drink

He probably is a retired expat living here

Maybe he had many Thai gf's

Not sure, that would depend on his bank account

Maybe he likes that bar

[bbi1]

28 minutes ago, giddyup said:

You just stop short of saying if they are old, give them a needle and put them out of their misery. If Thailand introduced those Draconian measures it would be the only country in the world to do so, and it would just mean elderly retirees would just find alternatives like Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines etc.

Why would it be Draconian to hold health insurance or have adequate funds to cover hospital bills? $200k really isn't that much for an elderly person to have. They've had 30 or 40+ years of working time to accumulate this amount, and also use those decades for investing. Just one investment property in the Western world could double in 10 years.

Edited June 7, 2017 by bbi1

[giddyup]

Just now, bbi1 said:

Why would it be Draconian to hold health insurance or have adequate funds to cover hospital bills? $200k really isn't that much for an elderly person to have. They've had 30 or 40+ years of working time to accumulate this amount.

Like I said, retirees would find somewhere else to go. There are already plenty that are finding Cambodia and Vietnam more to their liking.

[Jip99]

1 minute ago, bbi1 said:

Why would it be Draconian to hold health insurance or have adequate funds to cover hospital bills? $200k really isn't that much for an elderly person to have. They've had 30 or 40+ years of working time to accumulate this amount.

 

Not sure if you are trolling or just naive.

 

Exactly what proportion of elderly resident expats d you expect to have $200k+ in the bank ?

[bbi1]

1 minute ago, giddyup said:

Like I said, retirees would find somewhere else to go. There are already plenty that are finding Cambodia and Vietnam more to their liking.

That would mean Thailand would have less peeps deciding to jump of balconies to their death and less unpaid hospital bills, which the Thai Gov are seeming they want to crack down on, which apparently they will be doing with tourists.