News Forum - Family pleas for help repatriating British man who died in Thailand

[dimitri]

33 minutes ago, Cathat said:

Don't recall ever seeing travel insurance for tourists that includes shipping a body back to the home country.

Air freighting a corpse is a pretty involved and expensive procedure even in normal times.

 

I have never seen travel insurance not covering repatriation of remains. My travel insurance that costs me 4 Euro a month covers this. 

 

 

[LoongFred]

There seems to be a lot more to this story. Sounds like a con job but I'll hold judgement until a death certificate is produced or confirmation from the British embassy.

[Scribble]

3 hours ago, Cathat said:

Don't recall ever seeing travel insurance for tourists that includes shipping a body back to the home country.

They do include "repatriation of remains" though.  Although sometimes I do wish insurance policies were worded by you. "Section 10, clause 3a - Shipping a body back"

[NCC1701A]

why do people feel it is necessary to do this? 

leave his body here. it is not him after all. he is long gone from the Earth plane. 

[nobusinessofurs]

4 hours ago, Bluesofa said:

Yes, I suppose shipping a dead weight isn't cheap.

Piss poor taste in you and other fools like you. The man is dead and you and other idiots making f'ing jokes.

[Easterneye]

Everyone and anyone either visiting or living countries abroad should have to have full comprehensive insurance .

It should be compulsory and thoroughly checked like passports BEFORE any travel is allowed.

If the guy had worked and saved to stay overwinter in Thailand then there will be plenty of money to do the nesassary to repatriate his body home , these family EBEGGING CROWNFUNDING NONSENCE makes me sick to bloody core .

So many wannabes these days that should be holidaying in Skegness and end up in the Far East way out their depth and affordability .

[Marc26]

5 hours ago, dimitri said:

That sounds like a typical American insurance. There are many health insurance companies  that cover everything (where I come from ALL health insurances cover everything) , including pre existing conditions. And travel insurances always cover repatriation of remains.

Yeah the Brit who looks like didn't pay for proper insurance had "typical American insurance "

 

People are so fcuking dumb on this forum

 

If you are going to whine and moan at least be intelligent about it.....

[Marc26]

1 hour ago, Easterneye said:

Everyone and anyone either visiting or living countries abroad should have to have full comprehensive insurance .

It should be compulsory and thoroughly checked like passports BEFORE any travel is allowed.

If the guy had worked and saved to stay overwinter in Thailand then there will be plenty of money to do the nesassary to repatriate his body home , these family EBEGGING CROWNFUNDING NONSENCE makes me sick to bloody core .

So many wannabes these days that should be holidaying in Skegness and end up in the Far East way out their depth and affordability .

This is high up on my list of things that pisses me off about losers in Thailand 

 

You see the hat being passed around for "Jimmy at the pub "

 

Who wanted to fcuk off to Thailand and not work and with not enough savings or bothering to get proper insurance 

 

Then people that did the proper things are supposed to help out 

 

 

[Reggie]

With all due respect I sincerely thought no one could enter Thailand without a certain amount of Medical Insurance. If he were only in hospital long enough to make a phone call then passed why burden the family with bills, should not the required medical insurance cover it.

[JamesE]

19 hours ago, Thaiger said:

"He was in the hospital after he had a heart attack... after working 60 hours a week all summer"

Thick with irony. Just thick.

[LoongFred]

14 minutes ago, JamesE said:

Thick with irony. Just thick.

I smell a con job and want to see proof of 1) the guy died, like dead not dead broke; 2) he get into Thailand without the required insurance.

[Bluesofa]

5 minutes ago, LoongFred said:

I smell a con job and want to see proof of 1) the guy died, like dead not dead broke; 2) he get into Thailand without the required insurance.

I do agree with you about it seeming rather suspicious, not so much about being dead, but regarding the insurance.
Having said that, when he was admitted to hospital with a heart attack, he perhaps didn't have any insurance documentation with him.
You would assume his family might be aware of any travel insurance, but we don't know as it hasn't stopped them asking for donations.
There is a possibility any insurance could have been overlooked and no one from the consular section has chased it up - I'm not sure that's part of their job anyway?

[Mervin]

10 hours ago, Easterneye said:

Everyone and anyone either visiting or living countries abroad should have to have full comprehensive insurance .

It should be compulsory and thoroughly checked like passports BEFORE any travel is allowed.

If the guy had worked and saved to stay overwinter in Thailand then there will be plenty of money to do the nesassary to repatriate his body home , these family EBEGGING CROWNFUNDING NONSENCE makes me sick to bloody core .

So many wannabes these days that should be holidaying in Skegness and end up in the Far East way out their depth and affordability .

He would definitely have had Insurance. Cannot enter Thailand without it. Currently to get a Thai visa/certificate of entry from UK the Thai Visa application process states you must provide proof of medical insurance that specifically mentions Thailand in the policy document and not just 'worldwide'. This means most well known insurance policies (that just state worldwide cover) could be unsuitable and lead applicants to buy a dodgy policy. (I was directed to a local Thai insurance company, but they appear ok).

Or, it could simply be he had a pre existing condition voiding the insurance

[JamesE]

1 hour ago, Mervin said:

He would definitely have had Insurance. Cannot enter Thailand without it. Currently to get a Thai visa/certificate of entry from UK the Thai Visa application process states you must provide proof of medical insurance that specifically mentions Thailand in the policy document and not just 'worldwide'.

An old insurance certificate plus a PDF editor equals a completely acceptable current certificate of "insurance". Nobody is verifying any of this, not for Thailand Pass, not for a visa, and not on entry.

[Bluesofa]

1 minute ago, JamesE said:

An old insurance certificate plus a PDF editor equals a completely acceptable current certificate of "insurance". Nobody is verifying any of this, not for Thailand Pass, not for a visa, and not on entry.

That gives the impression of a master forger speaking from experience!
How do you know they don't verify it?

[Saltire]

2 hours ago, LoongFred said:

I smell a con job and want to see proof of 1) the guy died, like dead not dead broke; 2) he get into Thailand without the required insurance.

I agree to a certain extent, but every time there is a similar story on here and other forums, it seems there are so many gaps in the reporting. Most of them sound a bit iffy!

 

[JamesE]

19 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

That gives the impression of a master forger speaking from experience!
How do you know they don't verify it?

Let's just say that someone I know was in no danger of not getting into Thailand...

They can't verify it. It would take them contacting the policy writer and getting verification of the insurance at the preliminary steps (TP or visa). Even with the limited number of people coming into Thailand during ASQ (7K/month) it would have taken more time than was available at the various embassies and consulates. With the increases since July checking each entry would have been a non-starter.

[Bluesofa]

1 hour ago, JamesE said:

Let's just say that someone I know was in no danger of not getting into Thailand...

They can't verify it. It would take them contacting the policy writer and getting verification of the insurance at the preliminary steps (TP or visa). Even with the limited number of people coming into Thailand during ASQ (7K/month) it would have taken more time than was available at the various embassies and consulates. With the increases since July checking each entry would have been a non-starter.

OK.
Although it doesn't affect me, for some reason I thought it was compulsory to use a Thai insurer, giving the opportunity to check policy details more easily? Obviously not.

[JamesE]

1 hour ago, Bluesofa said:

OK.
Although it doesn't affect me, for some reason I thought it was compulsory to use a Thai insurer, giving the opportunity to check policy details more easily? Obviously not.

Nope. I, from the US, use a Spanish agent selling EU AXA policies. Two entries, no problems.

[LoongFred]

If he cut corners on his insurance policy his family will suffer and blame him. However, I still think the story is a scam. 

[poohy]

On 12/12/2021 at 1:03 PM, Scribble said:

No mention of insurance. I thought that was a compulsory condition of entry now. Also, if he'd only just arrived and planned to stay all winter does he not have £5,000 that can be accessed somehow by family or his bank given the circumstances?

Not when you are dead

He could 1000s of thousands in his account but its going to take a long time for anyone to get it

[mark147]

5 hours ago, Bluesofa said:

That gives the impression of a master forger speaking from experience!
How do you know they don't verify it?

It could have been a valid insurance at the time of Thailand Pass acceptance and then cancelled (with full refund like SafetyWing offer) before he had the heart attack.

[dingdong]

On 12/12/2021 at 6:32 AM, LoongFred said:

That's about 200k baht. Might be OK if extended icu stay. Or, it could be a new take on the motorcycle accident case a while back.  At 44 there's likely other causes involved. 

I thought new arrivals had to have insurance. A tear jerker but the family needs to find the money or have a fund raiser at his pub.

ROP...Viagra can be a bitch...

[JohninDublin]

On 12/12/2021 at 6:03 AM, Scribble said:

No mention of insurance. I thought that was a compulsory condition of entry now. Also, if he'd only just arrived and planned to stay all winter does he not have £5,000 that can be accessed somehow by family or his bank given the circumstances?

I don't know if it would apply to a death overseas, but presuming that he has made a will, the bank will normally release funds to an appropriate person on production of a death certificate to cover funeral costs. Any other cash will be held until "letters of administration" or probate is granted.

I am sorry to read about this tragic event, but it does raise certain issues for me. Why didn't he have travel insurance? I know that insurers will have exclusions for Covid, but that would not apply in this case. In addition travel insurance normally covers repatriation of remains. For the past few trips I've made, I've always bought travel insurance which might cost about €100 or so (most carriers add a 100% loading once you are past 65) on the basis that it's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

I see that he intended to stay to until Feb. I have no idea what his budget was, but I would presume minimally 5K THB per day. Not only does it seen unlikely to me that he could not afford the insurance but he either had at least £5k in cash with him, or could access through plastic. His death is a tragedy but it seems we are expected to ignore his own shortcomings that have caused his family financial grief.

[JohninDublin]

On 12/12/2021 at 10:16 AM, Chatogaster said:

A rental fee of 1000 thb/sqm? Only over my dead body!

Yes, but you forgot to include the coolest A/c available.