---

A GROWING NUMBER of foreign tourists and retirees are becoming homeless in Thailand, and the country should change its mindset to help them - at least with initial assistance - especially with the Asean Economic Community fast approaching, the head of a non-government group working with homeless and displaced people has said.

There are believed to be up to 30 homeless foreigners in Chiang Mai, and there have been reported sightings in popular tourist areas like Phuket and Chon Buri, Natee Saravari, secretary-general of the Issarachon Foundation, said.

"They walk or sit in shopping malls during the daytime and scavenge through garbage for food at night," he said.

In some cases, these foreigners - mostly male Westerners - arrived as tourists or retirees and fell into poverty or neglect after settling down in Thailand, often having being duped or robbed by Thai former wives or partners, Natee explained.

They receive meagre amounts of money from sympathetic foreigners who are aware of their plight, but there was no Thai government agency or even a policy in place to help them.

Due to what Natee dubbed the "Thai-state mentality", there is no law or mechanism to help out foreigners in such cases. When arrested or found by the police, they are mostly deported.

Natee suggested an amendment to the laws and government policy was needed in the long run, and an ad-hoc mechanism put in place in the meantime to deal with such cases, in order to provide immediate assistance. "As the AEC 2015 is nearing, there should be assistance given immediately for such people," he said.

He suggested the Social Develop-ment and Human Security Ministry launch an initiative with officials from other countries in the region to welcome retirees for long stays and to discuss putting a mechanism in place to take care of foreigners who fall into destitution and become homeless.

The head of a government-run asylum in Nonthaburi, Supranee Kaewphet, said there were a few homeless Chinese nationals staying at the facility in addition to some Cambodians.

A senior ministry official, Panya Kangphorn, said a bill on providing assistance to foreigners was awaiting parliamentary scrutiny.

http://www.nation...12916.html

---

---

Bangkok Post found homeless Danish man on the beach


The 40 years old Alex from Denmark is living on the beach of Pattaya, along with many other expats who somehow ended up being homeless, the Bangkok Post reports.

Alex is 40 years old and from Denmark. He lives on the streets of Pattaya, and he feels lucky whenever he does not have to sleep at the beach, because his friends give him money to rent a small room for the night.

Whether his name really is Alex or not, ScandAsia can not tell, but the story of the Danish guy who is living his life in the streets of Pattaya is told in the Bangkok Post’s Spectrum section on August 25.

Alex shares destiny with several other Westerners who somehow ended up being homeless. Each of them they have their individual story, but in the big picture it is too often the same story told over and over again.

The Tourist Police in Pattaya confirms that the homeless and “out of control” foreigners also called farang bah are a real problem because it damages Thailand’s tourist image.
“Most cases we can’t really do anything about because they haven’t broken any law,” The head of the Tourist Police in Pattaya Pol Lt Col Aroon Promphan said in the article.

Alex’ story is no exception. Before he ended where he is today, he worked in Bangkok at a language institution and software company. But after his Thai girlfriend stole his personal possessions and company property, he lost his job. Later he went to Pattaya with his friend, who after a while went back home. Alex also decided to do that and his mother sent him money for the air fare.
“At that time, I did not realize that I had to pay a high fine for overstaying. I did not have enough money. I came back to Pattaya,” he told Bangkok Post.

Every day he is living in fear of getting caught by the police and detained for years because he is not able to pay the overstay fine of 500 baht per day. Now he is just waiting to receive enough money from back home to pay the overstay fine so he can leave the country.

Without the option to return to their home countries the farang bah can very well end up as a victim for a crime, Lt Col Aroon said. And that will affect the image of Thailand, because it might get future tourists to look at Thailand as a dangerous place to go, he added.

Alex’ daily routines are marked by the fact that he is homeless. Every morning he meets another homeless guy, the African-American Sylvester, and together they move to shopping malls where they have the chance to use the toilets because their hygiene standard is high enough to not getting recognized as homeless men.

Read the full article by following this link.

---

hvad med at den danske Alex rejste til danmark, fandt sig noget arbejde, nå nej det er ikke sjovt:o

---

Så vidt jeg er orienteret (fra en anden web-site), så har "Alex" én gang fået sendt penge fra familie til flybillet hjem. Men så fandt han ud af at der også skulle betales for "overstay", - hvilket ikke burde komme bag på ham. Derfor opgav han at købe flybillet og tog tilbage til Pattaya.
- Nu var der jo "penge på lommen" igen((7))

---

:TUP

---

Hvis det er sådan at Alex vil leve sit liv så lad ham dog gøre det.)tid)

---

lad dog barnet er det hvad vi skal sige til/om Alex. mens han levet som han har lyst til, hvem tror der kommer til at betale regningen i den sidste ende, det gør du og jeg og alle de andre skatteydere

Alex går i hundene på vores regning, han burde samles op af thaipolisen en tur i brummen bagefter skulle han en tur i arbejds lejr så han fik lært at betale selv