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Why British dementia patients are being sent to Thailand


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Why British dementia patients are being sent to Thailand

Gabriel Power

 

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New research reveals desperate families seeking affordable care overseas for relatives with the disease

 

A growing number of elderly sufferers of dementia are being sent to Thailand by families struggling to meet the cost of care in the UK, according to new research.

 

The Guardian reports that researchers visiting private care homes for dementia patients in Chiang Mai, a city in northern Thailand, have found “eight homes where guests from the UK are living thousands of miles away from their families”.

 

The majority of these patients have been sent to the Southeast Asian nation because “suitable care in their home country was impossible to find or afford”, says the newspaper.

 

Recent figures from the Alzheimer’s Society suggest that there are currently around 850,000 people with dementia in the UK - a number that is projected to rise to 1.6 million by 2040.

 

Full story: https://www.theweek.co.uk/105184/why-british-dementia-patients-are-being-sent-to-thailand

 

-- THE WEEK 2020-01-14

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To come and stay here they'll need an O visa. 

With an O-A visa they'd need a Thai Insurance that they'd not be able to get.

Still available in the UK?

 

I wonder whatever happened to those Norske OAP that Norway had sent/or was going to send to Hua Hin quite a few years back.

 

Edited by jayceenik
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5 minutes ago, jayceenik said:

To come and stay here they'll need an O visa. 

Still available in the UK?

 

Apparently:

 

"O"   To visit family or friends in Thailand, voluntary job, retirement, medical treatment, to attend judicial process, to work as diplomat's housekeeper

 

http://www.thaiembassy.org/london/en/services/7742/84508-Non-Immigrant-visas.html

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1 hour ago, Yinn said:

Why the family not take care each other? Nobody care?

Very sad.

You're right, difference in culture.  Thai families will generally look after their elderly parents until the end.  The west....not so much. 

This is why there are so few nursing homes in Thailand.  I'm surprised they mentioned eight in Chiang Mai.  I checked myself a few years ago and found two.  Maybe there are more now, but I'd guess they cater mostly to non-Thais. 

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59 minutes ago, Sticky Wicket said:

If they ever cure dementia the NHS costs would reduce dramatically overnight.

Probably 10-20%!

One to one care for people with Alzheimers and dementia is extremely expensive and a huge burden on the health system

What's the answer?euthanasia?

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1 hour ago, Yinn said:

Why the family not take care each other? Nobody care?

Very sad.

The majority of these patients have been sent to the Southeast Asian nation because “suitable care in their home country was impossible to find or afford”, says the newspaper.

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13 minutes ago, kingdong said:

What's the answer?euthanasia?

If only we had that choice, problem with dementing ilnnesses, by the time you that far along, often you would not be deemed to make a rational informed decision, in places where it is supported.

 

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36 minutes ago, Roy Baht said:

And after shunning their elderly parents, those same families in the West rush in after their parents' death to fight over money. Nobody wants responsibility but everybody wants reward.

There are many people who face a big struggle just looking after their kids and working as well. Plus many people are living well into their 80's, when 30 years ago it was their 70's.

My mother died at 75, but I think that by 73'ish it was looking like she wasn't fit or healthy enough to carry on living on her own, and she didn't have dementia. She stopped driving at 70, on our strong advice.

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1 hour ago, Sticky Wicket said:

If they ever cure dementia the NHS costs would reduce dramatically overnight.

Probably 10-20%!

One to one care for people with Alzheimers and dementia is extremely expensive and a huge burden on the health system

It does seem that Britain unofficially dumped its underfunded pensioners on Thailand a few decades ago and now wants to repeat the process by patient dumping. Some real villainous people in the UK. 

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1 minute ago, zydeco said:

It does seem that Britain unofficially dumped its underfunded pensioners on Thailand a few decades ago and now wants to repeat the process by patient dumping. Some real villainous people in the UK. 

I think the care is being privately funded by the families back in UK or by the funds accumulated by the client themself.

 

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1 hour ago, Yinn said:

Why the family not take care each other? Nobody care?

Very sad.

Unfortunately the economic reality of many Western countries compels and dictates that the majority must work. That has created a huge "business" in care for the elderly which also provides employment.

Dementia sufferers are often exceptionally difficult and high risk people. Family  members mostly do  care and as much as possible try to place family in the best facilities at great cost. Sadly that cost is increasing to unsustainable levels.

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