Hello
I am looking for advice for someone who is unable to fly, has no income, and is stuck in Thailand. No family help, the person is being taken care of by unqualified inexperienced Thai people whose patience is running thin. He still has his faculties but is immobile, incontinent and in general poor health having suffered a stroke.
The person has been in Thailand a a long time and only just now qualifies for a UK pension. Are there any other benefits that he might be able to claim so he can be moved to proper care within Thailand. He is in an awful situation and his family in the UK uninterested it appears.
I have been in touch with the British Embassy and they too seem uninterested or unable to help perhaps both.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
This is the sort of question that needs a specialist in benefits: most benefits are not payable abroad, though, as I understand it.
What a terrible predicament for your friend, unfortunately I don’t have any answers other than try the British Embassy and his family again.
You could try asking the DWP - Department for Work and and Pensions who award benefits but be prepared for a big NO.
If your friend is ex forces you could try the Royal British Legion.
If he isn’t you could still try asking them if they can guide you in the right direction if they know of anything .
I don’t think the Red Cross could help you, but they might have some guidance for help you could get.
Another option is to start googling expats Thailand and also searching in Facebook, Whatsapp and social media to see if there are any groups who could help out or point his family in the right direction to assist him.
We are unpaid carers looking after our loved ones in the UK and do not have any experience or knowledge of what you are asking.
Actually, if the person is ex-Forces, it may also be worth trying SSAFA https://www.ssafa.org.uk/ - they are brilliant when it comes to helping ex-servicepeople.