Farangs Getting Stuck.

[Forethat]

When I first came to Bangkok I noticed a farang on the corner of Suk Soi 7. Every day after 7pm he showed up from nowhere and sat on the right hand side outside the tailor. He was often squatting. Day after day for years I saw this guy and eventually I had to walk up to the guy just to talk to him a bit. I asked him if he was ok, and so on. I even told him that I've seen him for ages sitting there. He answered "no, I don't need help, I'm just waiting for someone". I got the impression this was a lie.

A couple of months later I saw him chatting with a Thai person and as far as I could hear he was more or less fluent in Thai. My first thought was "he must have been here for a LOOONG time".

How many farangs like this are there in Thailand, and how do they survive? How do they make a living? Do they get any help from their home countries? Are they completely illegal immigrants or do these people still make visa runs? Do they want to make it back but can't or have nothing to return to?

And, if anyone knows what happened to the farang squatting outside the Tailor on the corner of Suk Soi 7 every day for years and years, please let me know because about eight months ago he disappeared and I haven't seen him since. Maybe the person he waited for finally showed up?

Edited September 1, 2010 by Forethat

[gotlost]

You would be surprised how many like him are in South East Asia.

[okmijnasd]

I lived on Soi 7 for 7 years up until last year and never saw anyone repeatedly sitting there. Maybe he is thinking the same about you.

[Forethat]

I lived on Soi 7 for 7 years up until last year and never saw anyone repeatedly sitting there. Maybe he is thinking the same about you.

I have talked to several people about the guy and they all knew about this farang. Nobody seems to know what happened to him. I talked to the girl working in the store that sells Camel clothes and she had no clue where he went.

lol, maybe you are right, he probably wondered why he saw me there every time...I never thought about that!

[dumball]

There must be hundreds of these lost souls hanging on by the skin of their teeth , burned bridges , unwanted at home for various reasons and nowhere to go but down . I have helped several over the years to get back on the straight and narrow , but they dissapear and are never heard from again , do not bother any more .

[Forethat]

There must be hundreds of these lost souls hanging on by the skin of their teeth , burned bridges , unwanted at home for various reasons and nowhere to go but down . I have helped several over the years to get back on the straight and narrow , but they dissapear and are never heard from again , do not bother any more .

dam_n. Scary stuff.

[My Friend Same]

I lived on Soi 7 for 7 years up until last year and never saw anyone repeatedly sitting there. Maybe he is thinking the same about you.

I know excactly who the OP is talking about. Who knows where he went though. He was a Wackjob. Hope the OP didnt get to close to him cause there was a stench coming off him that would kill a skunk. He did about a year at the Subway sandwich dump on 7/1 b4 moving to the soi 7 location.

Edited September 1, 2010 by My Friend Same

[Peterbigeyes]

dam_n. Scary stuff.

Same here.

[My Friend Same]

I lived on Soi 7 for 7 years up until last year and never saw anyone repeatedly sitting there. Maybe he is thinking the same about you.

I have talked to several people about the guy and they all knew about this farang. Nobody seems to know what happened to him. I talked to the girl working in the store that sells Camel clothes and she had no clue where he went.

lol, maybe you are right, he probably wondered why he saw me there every time...I never thought about that!

In addition, if you lived on Soi 7 for years, it must have been 3 or more years ago, or you're blind

[moe666]

You get all sort travelling around and you have to wonder how they survive even at home.

In 1994 made my first trip to India and there was a French woman there with 2 kids one in a stroller and it was like what in the <deleted>-k are you thinking. it turns out she had been travelling for 6 months and had most of her money stolen by (of course another Frenchman) and she was getting by on a bit sent from home. After I left my friend, who stayed for a few more weeks, chatted her up and noticed she had a bad infection in her toe and the red line was going up her calf. He advised her to see a Dr. she went off to hospital not to be seen again by my friend. Can you imagine what would have happened to the children if she had died in India neither child was old enough to have a clue about family in France.

Some people just donot think or are incapable of thinking and making informed decisions.

[Forethat]

I know excactly who the OP is talking about. Who knows where he went though. He was a Wackjob. Hope the OP didnt get to close to him cause there was a stench coming off him that would kill a skunk. He did about a year at the Subway sandwich dump on 7/1 b4 moving to the soi 7 location.

Dang. This place is full of weird stuff.

Takes a couple of years before you notice just HOW weird...

[IanForbes]

I lived on Soi 7 for 7 years up until last year and never saw anyone repeatedly sitting there. Maybe he is thinking the same about you.

I have talked to several people about the guy and they all knew about this farang. Nobody seems to know what happened to him. I talked to the girl working in the store that sells Camel clothes and she had no clue where he went.

lol, maybe you are right, he probably wondered why he saw me there every time...I never thought about that!

In addition, if you lived on Soi 7 for years, it must have been 3 or more years ago, or you're blind

H'e's not blind; he's just not observant. I've taken many walks with people who just don't see what is around them. Because I'm a hunter and a photographer I watch and see everything. It takes training to do so..

There are so many of these lost souls in S E Asia that eventually you get hardened by all the poverty around you.

[Chunky1]

waiting for jesus imo

[Shotime]

I know who you're talking about. I never talked to him, but he didn't appear crazy. My TGF says he seemed to be stuck, and in Thailand with no money. He was just quiet. Situations change, and, hopefully, he got some help from home. He hasn't been around for awhile.

I always wondered why the police didn't take these people off the street as it's apparent they are vagrants. I think they just don't want to be bothered as long as they don't create a problem.

[Maccheroncini]

How many farangs like this are there in Thailand, and how do they survive? How do they make a living? Do they get any help from their home countries? Are they completely illegal immigrants or do these people still make visa runs? Do they want to make it back but can't or have nothing to return to?

May be he disappear because people won't leave him alone! 

[Jimbo]

I have also met some farangs that got stuck here. One American I know lives in one of those metal shacks and he goes to the local temple every morning to get free food which he takes back home. I think he is 10 years overstay and his mom send him 200 USD a month with which he buys smokes and a bit of booze.

Another Canadian I know has been here for ages and he is also overstay. He is in his 60's, has no pension plan whatsoever, no family left back home and he lives in a dirty little room and scrapes by on maybe 5000 Thai Baht a month which he gets as he teaches a bit of English to private students. He wants to go back home to Canada but he is somehow scared to go back. He has no money to begin with but also no family there to offer him shelter until he can get himself sorted out with a job, apartment etc.

A German guy I know recently got into a big accident and he will have to spend many months in the hospital if he survives. He has no family, no insurance, no money and he is completely screwed. His Thai GF robbed everything out of his house whilst he was in intensive care.

I am currently living in Isaan and unfortunately there are a lot of "lost souls" here including a small group of US veterans who never went back home after the war.

Edited September 2, 2010 by Jimbo

[PattayaParent]

Waiting for Godot?

[Forethat]

I'm stunned to hear some if this. Gobsmacked.

It actually resembles the large number Irish who migrated to England in search of work but ended up sleeping rough without any money to send home to their families. Many started drinking. The stigma of being completely unsuccessful in providing for their families back home in Ireland meant many of them ended up never returning back home. Families shattered. What an absolute nightmare it must be to end up like this.

[Farma]

I remember a young English woman in Malaysia pre internet and mobile phone era many years ago. We found her living in a monsoon drain all covered in mud and filth.

Her story started as a backpacker who ran out of money. She ate less and less until her judgment became impaired. She went downhill from there.

Through contacts in the military hospital we managed to get her some treatment, her embassy involved and her sent back to the UK.

[damian5000]

This kind of thing shocks or surprises you? You must have lived very sheltered, privileged lives.

[Willeyeam]

I know who you're talking about. I never talked to him, but he didn't appear crazy. My TGF says he seemed to be stuck, and in Thailand with no money. He was just quiet. Situations change, and, hopefully, he got some help from home. He hasn't been around for awhile.

I always wondered why the police didn't take these people off the street as it's apparent they are vagrants. I think they just don't want to be bothered as long as they don't create a problem.

Why on earth would the Thai police take him off the street if he was penniless? What on earth would they stand to gain from that apart from some paperwork.

[Willeyeam]

This kind of thing shocks or surprises you? You must have lived very sheltered, privileged lives.

It is frankly amazing how many of the expats here spend their lives behind rose tinted spectacles, where we are, you cannot let the children out of your sight as so many have been taken away in those vans with blacked out windows, some have allegedly had limbs amputated and been put out to beg.

[lazygourmet]

Waiting for Godot?

... but I doubt that they ever heard about Samuel Beckett!

[Shotime]

I know who you're talking about. I never talked to him, but he didn't appear crazy. My TGF says he seemed to be stuck, and in Thailand with no money. He was just quiet. Situations change, and, hopefully, he got some help from home. He hasn't been around for awhile.

I always wondered why the police didn't take these people off the street as it's apparent they are vagrants. I think they just don't want to be bothered as long as they don't create a problem.

Why on earth would the Thai police take him off the street if he was penniless? What on earth would they stand to gain from that apart from some paperwork.

That's why I said they couldn't be bothered.

I have no idea how they get by day-by-day, or how they ever got in such a situation. Maybe it has something to do with either being crazy or making the wrong choices.

[Travel2003]

When reading sad stories about how people back in the west ended up on the streets.

How fast it goes for some people, after they lose job, family, then house, etc.

Im not surprised (but saddened) it can happen when one is in another country as well.

Probably easier when one is in another country, and especially if one left nothing behind back home.

Still, if one have kept the passport ( a Canadian in this case?), all is not lost.

Especially if one is lucky enough coming from a country with a good welfare system.

Of course, one needs someone to push him in the right direction. This seems to be in many cases the most difficult part.

[dumball]

In regards to the Canadian , he does stand a chance to be repatriated by the Canadian embassy , but he must get an interview with a Canadian national , the Thai people there will more or less tell him to fuc-k off . They can buy him a one way first class ticket which he is obliged to repay the cost of at a later date , he could enquire about refugee status as if he stays in Thailand his life could be in jeopardy . The welfare state could be called in to assist him to re-establish himself , you as a friend could check all of this out on the government site and other locations .

[Lumumba]

Some of them are CIA undercover agents. So I was told. LMAO.

[chops]

I have also met some farangs that got stuck here. One American I know lives in one of those metal shacks and he goes to the local temple every morning to get free food which he takes back home. I think he is 10 years overstay and his mom send him 200 USD a month with which he buys smokes and a bit of booze.

Another Canadian I know has been here for ages and he is also overstay. He is in his 60's, has no pension plan whatsoever, no family left back home and he lives in a dirty little room and scrapes by on maybe 5000 Thai Baht a month which he gets as he teaches a bit of English to private students. He wants to go back home to Canada but he is somehow scared to go back. He has no money to begin with but also no family there to offer him shelter until he can get himself sorted out with a job, apartment etc.

A German guy I know recently got into a big accident and he will have to spend many months in the hospital if he survives. He has no family, no insurance, no money and he is completely screwed. His Thai GF robbed everything out of his house whilst he was in intensive care.

I am currently living in Isaan and unfortunately there are a lot of "lost souls" here including a small group of US veterans who never went back home after the war.

unbelievable...

[seanocasey]

there go we for the grace of god.

sad but true.

[mistitikimikis]

I lived on Soi 7 for 7 years up until last year and never saw anyone repeatedly sitting there. Maybe he is thinking the same about you.

I have talked to several people about the guy and they all knew about this farang. Nobody seems to know what happened to him. I talked to the girl working in the store that sells Camel clothes and she had no clue where he went.

lol, maybe you are right, he probably wondered why he saw me there every time...I never thought about that!

In addition, if you lived on Soi 7 for years, it must have been 3 or more years ago, or you're blind

I think you both are speaking about different people! The young man at the corner of soi 7 was there quit a time around July 2009: http://www.flickr.co...57601981409481/

Another was for years sitting at the stairs to Nana Square and moved some time ago to the opposite mall after getting troubles with a guard for some reason.