Homeless Farang In Thailand (Time Magazine)

[pdogg]

 

Hangover from Hell: Hundreds of Westerners Living on the Streets of Thailand

Left penniless by Thai girlfriends, or wrestling with drinking or substance abuse problems, many have nowhere else to go

 

A Thai charity has revealed that a growing number of Westerners — around 200 at present — are sleeping rough on the streets of the Southeast Asian nation, in areas from Chiang Mai to Phuket, many doing so as a result of alcoholism, drug use or having spent all their money on local women.

“We are starting to see more and more homeless foreigners, many of whom have separated from their Thai wives and now have no money,” said Natee Saravari, secretary-general of the Issarachon Foundation. “They walk or sit in shopping malls during the daytime and scavenge through garbage for food at night.”

The disclosure has to be put in the context of homelessness in Thailand in general. An estimated 30,000 homeless Thai nationals share the same streets, as well as an indeterminate number of Lao, Burmese and Cambodians. However, the conspicuousness of homeless Westerners — an extraordinary sight to Thais who generally presume that Western residents are relatively affluent — makes them an eye-catching subject for local media.

One man who is unsurprised by these developments is Paul Garrigan. The 44-year-old Irishman spent five years “drinking himself to death” in Thailand before quitting in 2006 and has since written a book about his experiences. “Some people come to Thailand and they already have a drink or drug problem but they have it under control in their own country,” he tells TIME, “but then the restrictions have gone and that addiction can blossom.”

In addition, romantic complications, typically with “bar girls,” can prove wretchedly pivotal. On Aug. 25, the Bangkok Post published an interview with a 61-year-old American living on the streets of Pattaya, a seaside town with an infamous sex industry just south of Bangkok. Originally from North Carolina, Sylvester fell for a local bar girl in 2009 and spent all his savings buying a car and a truck in her name. Two years later, she left him penniless. “On the beach, I have friends who are homeless Thais,” he said. “We share food, cigarettes and some alcoholic drinks.”

A wealth of books has been written about the folly of tangling with bar girls but pitiful stories abound. “It’s the inability of the foreign guy to separate the truth from what they are being told,” says Rhys Bonney, a legal advisor based in the northern city of Chiang Mai, who is currently dealing with several clients in a similar situation to Sylvester.

Foreigners seeking a little companionship become easy prey, Bonney says. Unfamiliar with Thai bureaucracy, they get pressured into buying cars in their girlfriend’s name. “The reality is that there’s no difficulty to do it in their own [name],” he explains. Next they buy a house in her name with the proviso that they will share everything equally, but no legal documents are signed to that effect. “And when they’ve paid the money the girlfriend can just kick them out,” Bonney adds.

Once that happens, the absence of any social safety net means escaping the streets can be very problematic. “If I was homeless in Thailand, I would probably still be on the streets,” adds Garrigan.

Some help is available, however. The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok “is definitely one of the busier posts out there” says spokesman Walter Braunohler, who, while unable to provide precise figures, tells TIME repatriation requests from destitute Americans is “more than a trickle.” Sending somebody home costs around $2,000, the majority spent on airfare but also on temporary lodging, meals, medical treatment and immigration fines. Friends and family back home are sounded out for a loan, but should none be forthcoming the government will stump up the cost to be repaid upon return. Other embassies work on a similar basis.

Ultimately though, while the sight of homeless Westerners is saddening, it must be remembered that far greater ills exist on Thailand’s mean streets. Alezandra Russell runs the charity Urban Light, which helps young male sex workers in Northern Thailand, many of them illegal immigrants fleeing Burma’s bloody civil conflicts.

“You will not find in any report the teen boy who sleeps in the flower market and is approached by a pimp every night,” she says, “or the boy who works in the red light district from a hill-tribe village and speaks only his native language.”

One person living without a home is a travesty, but at least Westerners in Thailand can be counted. For many of Thailand’s most vulnerable, says Russell, “There are no numbers.”

 http://world.time.com/2013/09/13/hangover-from-hell-hundreds-of-westerners-living-on-the-streets-of-thailand/

[jeffs]

to many farrang come to Thailand and think land of plenty ,

not happening , if they do homework will realise this , if not

they can end up in gutter fast .

[deepthroat]

One man who is unsurprised by these developments is Paul Garrigan. The 44-year-old Irishman spent five years “drinking himself to death” in Thailand before quitting in 2006 and has since written a book about his experiences. “Some people come to Thailand and they already have a drink or drug problem but they have it under control in their own country,” he tells TIME, “but then the restrictions have gone and that addiction can blossom.”

 

 

Hmmmm...... doesn't this sound like a former board member that we know? 

 

Paul

Irish

5 years "drinking" in LOS

Wrote a book about his experiences

 

Hmmmmm.......

[JaiDee]

I saw that article on ThaiVisa and the first thing I though was; "Where do these guys get their visa stamp"??  555

 

I used to see a homeless guy around Koh Phangan.....rumor was he was a Canadian, but no one had the courage to actually go up to the guy and start a conversation.  Long hair and a full beard, always completely tanked and smelled something fierce; one day he showed up and had a bunch of blue star tattoos all over his face.

 

Always wondered the same thing with that guy too, as in; ''we all have a hard time staying in country with a legal stamp, how the hell does this screwball do it"?  Short answer; they don't.  There's no way that guy was ever getting on the 10-hour bus to Malaysia and there's no way the Bangkok homeless have a way to get to Cambodia and back.  Hell, they prolly lost their passports years ago and are just as illegal as the Burmese and Cambodians who sneak across the borders to work.

[Quietguy]

This is the article about homeless westerners referred to in the op:

Bangkok Post

Are homeless expats living on Easy Street?

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investigation/366265/growing-numbers-of-westerners-homeless-by-choice

[randiuno]

Yikes...

[pdogg]

 

PHUKET: A distraught Greek was found lying in the middle of the road in front of a property that he claimed his girlfriend had cheated him out of, along with about two million baht.

When Konstantinos Vardas's mid-road protest caused a traffic jam in the vicinity of Tha Reua Temple, Thalang Police and Kusoldham rescue workers were called to the scene.

“We found Mr Vardas, 56, in a distressed state. He was shouting something about wanting his property back,” said Capt Narong Muangduang of the Thalang Police.

“We used a translator to communicate with Mr Vardas for about one hour, and learned that he was certain that his girlfriend had cheated him out of both the property and about two million baht,” Capt Narong said.

After Mr Vardas regained his composure, police brought him to Thalang Police station to try to establish the facts of the case.

“My partner's name is Kanwee Wanwijit. She is 50 years old, and we had lived together for three or four years. We bought a house at Phuket's Baan Charoen Sook Estate to live together in,” Mr Vardas told the police.

“When I came back from my trip to the USA, I learned that the document of property ownership had been transferred. Moreover, about two million baht had gone missing from my bank account.

“Now I have no money to buy any food," he said.

Mr Vardas was unable to find his partner to sort out the situation.

“I'm in a desperate state, and would like my embassy to help me,” he said.

The Tourist Police have been contacted with regards to the case, Capt Narong explained.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2013/Greek-claims-Thai-girlfriend-swindled-him-out-of-Phuket-property-two-million-baht-22250.html

[randiuno]

Double Yikes!!!

[Quietguy]

Yikes...

A yahoo video report based on the Bangkok Post story about Sylvester:

 

Western homeless population up in Thailand

http://news.yahoo.com/video/western-homeless-population-Thailand-07275537.html

[Quietguy]

A yahoo video report based on the Bangkok Post story about Sylvester:

 

Western homeless population up in Thailand

http://news.yahoo.com/video/western-homeless-population-Thailand-07275537.html

The guy shown in the yahoo video being picked up on Jomtien Beach and put in police van is 'English Steve' who is featured in this article in the Independent: 

 

The Independent

Why are so many Westerners homeless in Thailand?

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/why-are-so-many-westerners-homeless-in-thailand-8830302.html

 

btw deepthroat, the Paul Garrigan referred to in op, is also mentioned in this article, and from the description, doesn't seem to be the guy you thought he is.

[Quietguy]

Bangkok CCTV News report:

 

Homeless foreigners on the rise in Thailand

http://youtu.be/J4dcii_fnp4

[Quietguy]

NTD.TV report:

 

Homeless Westerners on the Rise in Thailand

http://youtu.be/MPgaO4jQNQs

[randiuno]

Actually, met a couple of "desparados" during my brief stays in Cebu...American's who had partied their money up, but too ashamed to return home to face reality....

 

And reality is a bitch...

[Quietguy]

Interview with 'English Steve' in Jomtien:

Photo Essay: Homeless foreigners living down and out in Pattaya
http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2013/11/06/photo-essay-homeless-foreigners-living-and-out-pattaya

 

Edit: Apologies, link doesn't seem to work.