[insert MP’s name & address]
[insert date]
Re: Adam Pickles – English teacher in
coma in Thailand
Dear [insert MP’s name],
It may well have come to your attention by
now via BBC News, Look North, Calendar, the Yorkshire Post, The Daily Mail, The
Telegraph & Argus or the Wakefield Express, that my friend Adam Pickles and
his family are in desperate need of Government assistance in Thailand.
Adam was the victim of an attempted murder
in a hammer attacker by another Westerner on the 18th May 2012 in Pattaya,
Thailand, where Adam has lived & worked for 7 years as the Head of English
at the renowned Regents International School.
At present Adam remains in a coma in the
Bangkok Pattaya Hospital after operations to remove bone & blood clots from
his brain, and to perform a tracheotomy to aid his breathing. His is expected to remain in a coma for
another 2 weeks.
His medical bills are £2000 per day, plus
£3000 for every 6 day change of medication, plus the cost of the operations and
medical repatriation as so far been quoted at £70,000
His parents are now at his bedside in
Thailand after dropping everything in the lives in Thorner, Leeds to fly to
Thailand. They are constantly battling
with Thai authorities, the hospital, the insurance company, the school &
worst of all the British Consulate who have so far offered NO ASSISTANCE, NO
ADVICE & NO HELP.
We
are pushing for a meeting between Neil Clappison (the founder of the Facebook
group) and William Hague, however we are having difficulty in getting a response. Andrew & Adele Pickles
(Adam’s parents) are happily letting Neil speak & work on their behalf.
These are quotes from Andrew on Thursday 30th
May:
“Behind the scenes we feel as if we are battling on
many fronts and getting no help or response in Thailand from official bodies.
These fall into a number of groupings and I will
set them out as best I can.
British consul
Your efforts with the foreign office are starting
to come through. We had another meeting with the British consul here in
Pattaya. She is a young girl doing the best she can but admits that she is a
bit out of her depth. However she told us that she has been contacted by the FO
to find out what is going on. At the first meeting all she could offer were
translation services. We are asking the consul to deal with three issues:
A visa extension for Adele - she has another two
weeks before she has to leave the country (me too but I might have to come back
for a few days at the end of June). Apparently this is a big problem.
The renewal of Adam's passport - it has gone
missing and can take 6 to 8 weeks to be renewed. We need it available for as soon s Adam can
fly home.
British passport for Ben - similar problem to Adam
Visa for Pafan - the normal procedure is to
consider issuing a Visa when flights are booked - we can't book flights until
we know Adam can fly -
we need Ben and Pafan on the same flight back home
- do they really think we can separate Adam and Ben and his mother.
We saw the T&A report about the help the FO is
giving - this is not true
- we are having to make all the running and getting
a luke-warm response(at best)
So if you are talking to the FO or MPs this is one
way they can help to get things moving.
We are hoping to have a meeting with the FO in
Bangkok on Friday.
Insurance Company
We have had and are still having a running battle
with the insurance company. There have been so many phone calls with the
School, insurance company and hospital blaming each other. Today the insurance
co said to the hospital that when Adam is discharged they would decide if they
were prepared to pay anything. When this was challenged they then said they
needed to get a statement from Adam!!!! The next response was they need the
final police report on the incident (at this stage I don’t intend to even go
into this). They are trying to avoid liability using a clause that says they
are not liable if there has been a brawl. I think the time has now come to have
a go at this company, make people aware that they are not really covered and maybe
ask questions of the school as to why they continue to use this company and
provide such poor cover.
The company is:
Bangkok Life Assurance Ltd
www.bla.co.th
Their strap line is "Security and Sincerity
for your confidence"!!!
Police and Investigation
This is getting nowhere. I have sent Rick some
notes that a police inspector sent us from England and we are tackling this as
best we can, with the help of Tracy. As and when I can I will keep you
informed.
But the good news is that Adam continues to improve.
We wish we had only one battle to fight, but we do have lots of support here
and of course we really value everything you are doing for us.”
“After our meeting with the British Consul, we
believed that we were
going to have a meeting with the Consul in Bangkok,
believe he is
called Michael
Hancock. He has refused to see us. They have said that
even if we go we will only be only to see a junior.
Just thought you might like to know before you see
anyone.
Are we sure FO stands for
Foreign Office. They appear to think it means
go away.”
“Re the FO. Adele had a real go at the consul on
the phone and asked them
what they were there for. They replied "To help and Assist",
to which
she replied "Can
you tell me one way that you have given us any help or
assistance" -
silence. She continued
to put pressure on them and we have
had some response. If this comes to anything I will
let you know later
today. Adam
would of been proud of her, I know I was.
Just a little bit more information.
We asked if they could help with the insurance company,
and they said
no, which did not really surprise me.
We then made what we thought was a reasonable
request. Bearing in mind
that one of the prime functions is to help with
translations, we asked
if they would come with us to the police station so
could find out how
the investigation is going as we have had virtually
no news. We asked
them to translate and be an independent witness. They said no. The reply
was "we have to remain impartial and we cannot
get involved". I pointed
to the office door which
said "British Consul" and said - I am British,
Adam is British , I
thought you were meant to be on our side.
It is really unbelievable - we think our government
looks after us in
times of emergency - not so.”
So hopefully you can see the urgency of
this matter.
Friends of Adam have started a Facebook
Fundraising & Support Group, which in 2 weeks has raised over £30,000 &
so far has over 6300 members.
The full story can be read on the About tab
of this page, as well as stories of Adam’s popularity, his work, his charity
work & photographs.
News agencies are now picking up the story.
We
need your help!
We urgently need government
assistance. Anything you can help us
with would be of great value.
We are pushing for a meeting between Neil
Clappison (the founder of the Facebook group) and William Hague, however we are
having difficulty in getting a response.
Please email Neil at donatetoadam@hotmail.com
with any news of how you can help. We
urgently need your help.
Yours sincerely,
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