News Forum - Former soapy king Chuwit Kamolvisit in palliative care abroad

[Thaiger]

Nipit Intharasombat provided an update on the health condition of Chuwit Kamolvisit, who is receiving palliative care for cancer treatment abroad. The former soapy king and politician has been in the UK for treatment since late last year. A former Member of Parliament for Phatthalung, Nipit, shared this news on Facebook. He mentioned that he … …

The story Former soapy king Chuwit Kamolvisit in palliative care abroad as seen on Thaiger News.

Read the full story

[Pinetree]

And this is news why? 

[SnapDragon]

59 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

And this is news why? 

Agree.

So much more important news about. '

''Man and lady seen - doing things - in sugar field. Wife says it was not her; or her sister.''

[Vigo]

12 hours ago, Pinetree said:

And this is news why? 

Because it highlights the harsh reality for most Thais in need of advanced Cancer treatment and the absence of proper palliative care in Thailand. Most Thais cannot access state of the art treatments or palliative care.

The Thai government still considers opiates as taboo, as a drug to be restricted when the reality is that the class of drugs  provides the most effective pain relief for end stage cancer patients. Morphine pumps that a patient can use for self dosing are an accepted part of palliative care in Northern Asia and the "west". You won't see that option offered in Thailand. Thai patients needlessly suffer in their final months, weeks and days because pain management is not as advanced in Thailand as it is elsewhere. The UK has  some   wonderful palliative and hospice facilities where people can die peacefully and with their dignity intact.

[Pinetree]

11 hours ago, Vigo said:

The UK has  some   wonderful palliative and hospice facilities where people can die peacefully and with their dignity intact.

None of that is completely true.  Opioids are available, my Thai family have benefited from good cancer care here in government faculties , albeit, its patchy. 

I was not going to comment until I saw your last sentence, which is patently untrue.  7 million on NHS waiting lists, nobody with pre cancer seen in the required waiting time, 3 million awaiting assessment for cancer.   terrible problems getting a GP appointment.  Dentist, forget it. The UK NHS is no better than here.   

[MrStretch]

On 6/18/2024 at 10:08 AM, Pinetree said:

And this is news why? 

Aside from Vigo's claim about the lack of palliative care in Thailand, this guy was first a somewhat shady businessman, who was involved in some really noteworthy instances involving Bangkok real estate, but in recent years he was also a finger pointer at key figures regarding government corruption and accused some big names of nefarious crimes.

When it was announced that he had terminal cancer it seemed all of those claims and counter accusations just went dark.

[Pinetree]

20 minutes ago, MrStretch said:

Aside from Vigo's claim about the lack of palliative care in Thailand, this guy was first a somewhat shady businessman, who was involved in some really noteworthy instances involving Bangkok real estate, but in recent years he was also a finger pointer at key figures regarding government corruption and accused some big names of nefarious crimes.

When it was announced that he had terminal cancer it seemed all of those claims and counter accusations just went dark.

Okay, but is it 'news'?  An 'ex' (sic) corrupt person who fingered others doing the same thing?  Hardly a pillar of society. 

[Khunmark]

Not many expats would know who he was, so the story won’t arouse much interest on an expat chat forum.

But he has a huge profile amongst locals and anyone who watches the local news will often see him up to some political stunt. As MrStretch mentioned, he claims to have a lot of dirt on Sretha. However, he hasn’t delivered anything on that front. As far as I can tell, he’s a guy who’s full of shit that loves getting his head on the telly.

[Vigo]

3 hours ago, Pinetree said:

None of that is completely true.  Opioids are available, my Thai family have benefited from good cancer care here in government faculties , albeit, its patchy. 

I was not going to comment until I saw your last sentence, which is patently untrue.  7 million on NHS waiting lists, nobody with pre cancer seen in the required waiting time, 3 million awaiting assessment for cancer.   terrible problems getting a GP appointment.  Dentist, forget it. The UK NHS is no better than here.   

Please reread my comments. I was referring to opioids in the context of palliative care where large doses are required, and slow release formulations or self dosing pumps are most effective.   You are referring to some form of cancer treatment that is not end of life. The dosing needed for someone  who has end stage bone cancer is significantly different than someone who has undergone basic cancer intervention. Multiple reviews have concluded that the opioids that are available in Thailand are not provided in the quantity or amounts sufficient to provide the necessary pain relief for palliative patients. The two most common narcotics offered in Thailand  are tramadol and morphine.  Not much has changed since the omnibus review by Kittiphon Nagaviroj, MD and Darin Jaturapatporn, MD in their published study  Cancer Pain- Progress and Ongoing Issues. The amount of bureaucracy to access morphine that must be  navigated and satisfied discourages its use. 

Thailand has few hospices and a limited range of palliative care services. The variety of palliative care structures identified in Thailand are suitable for the context in which palliative care is provided. The problems that need solving are referral systems, patient access to opioids, inequitites in care distribution and medicine dispensing and palliative care outcome evaluation     International Journal of Palliative Nursing Vol. 27, No. 3, 26 May 2021,  Palliative care model in Thailand, Suchira Chaiviboontham, , Piyawan Pokpalagon.    Not much has changed since this study was published. 

 

In respect to palliative care in the UK, all that I wrote is that "the UK has  some  wonderful palliative and hospice facilities where people can die peacefully and with their dignity intact."  This statement is factually correct. I was not commenting about the NHS or waiting lists in the UK. The concept of Palliative care originated in the UK and the UK remains a world leader in palliative care.

Chuwit Kamolvisit went to the UK for cancer treatment. His condition obviously progressed to a point where he may not have been able to return to Thailand and he chose to enter palliative care in the UK. In the UK he  will have access to state of the art pain medications and formulations to manage the very difficult pain associated with liver cancer.