Guest travelerjim Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 Living Wills in Thailand ?? get answers this Sunday June 15 Living wills in Thailand ...Valid or not ??? The Pattaya City Expats Club will have as its guest, Dr. Iain Corness, Consultant at the Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, to discuss this topic at this Sunday's morning meeting..June 15th. PATTAYA CITY EXPATS CLUB FOUNDED IN MARCH 2001 PATTAYA'S FRIENDLIEST EXPAT CLUB MEETING EVERY SUNDAY FOR SEVEN YEARS JOIN US AT HENRY J. BEAN'S RESTAURANT, AMARI ORCHID RESORT, BEACH ROAD, PATTAYA A buffet breakfast is available from 9:30 am - the program starts at 10:30 am "What is a Living Will? A Living Will gives you, or the person you designate, the right and responsibility to tell your treating physicians to stop all treatment, and allow you to pass-on (die) as comfortably as possible. The condition which might cause you or your designate to stop all treatment is that you are terminal – due to incurable cancer, a terribly injured body that no treatment will correct, or just the effects of old age, and life sustainment means tubes from every orifice in your body. What is the problem? In Thailand we live in a Buddhist culture, and a Buddhist’s desire is to live a long as possible, almost regardless of the individual’s pain or suffering. Thai physicians learn this in their training and in their culture. For Thai hospitals it is both the culture and government regulations that promote this policy, and for Thai people in general - it is part of their culture. Can a Living Will be made effective in Thailand? Yes it can, but there are difficult limits, and it must be set up carefully. Dr. Iain Corness, Consultant at the Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, wrote an article in the June 6 issue of the Pattaya Mail in his “Modern Medicine” article discussing this problem for expats. That article left a lot of questions unanswered – so we have asked him to explain in detail, and propose some answers this Sunday." Quote
