Thread: British teacher fighting for his life in Thailand after being 'savagely attacked'

"Business dispute".

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

More than 4,000 people have joined a Facebook group set up to help pay for Mr Pickles' medical treatment and bring him home.

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Between them they have pledged more than £10,000

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Mrs Pickles said: 'It is giving us so much comfort to know everyone loves him so much. He would just be overwhelmed by the response

125 baht each, and that's pledged

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

The hospital charges more than £2,000 a day

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

medical repatriation may cost at least £70,000.

God Bless

The son is 8 month's old so this happened at least that long ago....

8 * 30 * 2000 pounds a day = 480,000 pounds? Over 23 million Baht? Ouch!

Originally Posted by Simon43

I don't suppose this is the famous 'gimme-your-money-or-you-die' Bangkok Pattaya Hospital by any chance???

Probably. They wanted to charge me 12,000 Baht for something fairly minor which I refused and had done at a local private hospital near me for around 1,400 Baht instead when I returned home the next day.

I carry a disgustingly horrible tool with me at all times that looks like a broken key and broken glass stuck together with some shoe glue when the police stop me on the bike.

Originally Posted by Gerbil

The son is 8 month's old so this happened at least that long ago.... 8 * 30 * 2000 pounds a day = 480,000 pounds? Over 23 million Baht? Ouch!

The motorbike accident was that long ago, this is a new incident.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

"Business dispute".

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

He was attacked as he drove home alone from a bar in the Nong Prue district, where he plays pool

Most likely a pool league, and having played in one myself in Thailand, and the wankers they attract, it's most likely related to a sore loser.

I wonder why the police suspect it was a westerner...

^ Maybe because it was reportedly only 1 attacker and not 5 or 6.

Originally Posted by dirtydog

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Mr Pickles' insurance will not cover the full bill, and his care after the motorbike crash cost family and friends more than £15,000.

Is there any insurance that covers motorbike accidents?

My SCB insurance will cover a bike accident to the limit of the policy- I wouldn't have gone with them otherwise- I figure that's the #1 reason I would need an insurance policy in the first place.

Wife was in the hospital with kidney failure and it cost up to 150,000bt per day to keep her alive and I had to pay each day........

Originally Posted by dirtydog

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Mr Pickles' insurance will not cover the full bill, and his care after the motorbike crash cost family and friends more than £15,000.

Is there any insurance that covers motorbike accidents?

If you have health insurance they will only pay 50 % of the bill for a motorbike accident.

Originally Posted by dirtydog

The Regents is one of the top paying schools here in Pattaya, he will have a good insurance from the school.

It lost it's British international accreditation a few years back. Did it ever recover from that?

BBC News - Facebook appeal for teacher in coma after Thailand assault

29 May 2012 Last updated at 15:07 GMT

Facebook appeal for teacher in coma after Thailand assault


Adam Pickles has lived in Thailand for seven years and has a baby son

Friends of a former Leeds teacher left in a coma after an assault in Thailand are appealing for funds to pay his medical bills.

Adam Pickles, 40, was hit on the head by a metal bar in an attack last week in the city of Pattaya.

Mr Pickles has lived in Thailand for seven years where he works as an English teacher at a local college.

His friends have set-up a Facebook page to raise the £2,000 a day needed for his treatment.

Mr Pickles' parents have flown out from their home in Leeds to be by his bedside.

He remains in a critical condition and his parents said doctors were waiting for him to come out of his coma before they could fully assess his injuries.

His mother Adele Pickles said the situation was a "living nightmare".

'Really expensive'

"He's still on a ventilator," she said.

"It's just a case of living day by day and hoping and praying each day that it is good news."

His parents are helping to look after Mr Pickles' eight-month-old son Benjamin.

According to the fundraising page, the teacher's medical insurance has yet to pay out and is unlikely to cover the full cost of his treatment.

Katie Jones, one of the friends behind the campaign, said the medical costs were high because Mr Pickles was being treated in an intensive care unit.

She said: "Earlier this week the hospital asked for another £3,000 to pay for the medication which they needed to change, which will take him through another six days."

"Everything is really expensive over there."

^ If this British Government is going to tax their citizens to impose a communist health care system, they should cover British citizens while they are out of the Country. America's health care system sucks, but at least my private insurance covers me here for anything including motorcycle accidents.

Originally Posted by BobR

^ If this British Government is going to tax their citizens to impose a communist health care system, they should cover British citizens while they are out of the Country. America's health care system sucks, but at least my private insurance covers me here for anything including motorcycle accidents.

I don't think it is a communist care system. The NHS has long had a regulation that to qualify for treatment one must be ordinarily resident in the UK and to have not been absent for more than 6 months.

The Middle East states all have free health care systems for their citizens and I'm fairly certain they are not communist either.

The British level of taxation is commensurate with any liberal, western democracy. Certainly, the provision for the poor and vulnerable is a staple of any civilised society which adheres to Christian values and is a feature of the British welfare system among many others but that does not denote communism in itself.

I'm puzzled too about your reference to private insurance. British people often use this facility whilst in Thailand and those who remain for lengthy periods will often negotiate with local providers for indemnity. What is your point and how does it relate to communism?

Are you just having another of your mad moments?

We need to fly Adam home
Friday 1 June 2012


Adam Pickles

FRIENDS and family of a teacher fighting for his life in a Thai hospital have raised more than £27,000 to pay for his medical fees.

Former Cathedral Academy teacher Adam Pickles suffered head injuries after a savage hammer attack by a stranger in Thailand last week.

Within days, thousands of supporters from home and around the world have raised almost £30,000 to fly him back to England for treatment.

But those close to the 40-year-old father-of-one fear they will need almost £100,000 to bring him home and they are calling on the government to do more to help.

Close friend Neil Clappison of Leeds launched the Facebook campaign to bring Mr Pickles, who has an eight-month old son, home

Mr Clappison told the Express: “I never expected the campaign to be as big as this, but it is testament to what a great guy Adam is.

“His parents are struggling over there I am campaigning to get a meeting with foreign secretary William Hague to raise this issue, as they are not getting any help from the British government.

“It has been very frustrating and we want him home as soon as possible.

“He was well thought of as a teacher in Wakefield and we have had a lot of people saying he was their favourite teacher and sharing stories about him.

“I was devastated when I found out as he is the one friend I have the biggest connection with. He is one in a million.”

Mr Pickles is in a coma and has undergone several operations on his brain.

Mr Pickles’ parents Adele, 61, and Andrew, 62, have flown from their home in Leeds to be at his bedside while friends at home and abroad rally to raise the cost of his medical care, which stands at £2,000 a day.

Mr Pickles has medical insurance, but his family say they are having difficulty getting the company to pay up.

To support the campaign visit Adam Pickles' Fundraising Site

wakefieldexpress.co.uk

Originally Posted by Mid

Mr Pickles has medical insurance, but his family say they are having difficulty getting the company to pay up.

WTF ??