Farang’s eye view

But what is Lanna Care Net?

It is a group of people who help ageing foreigners live safe and healthy lives in Chiang Mai and surrounding areas.  They do this by providing advice and practical assistance where necessary. All its work is undertaken with the full, informed, consent of their clients and is completely confidential.

The following case studies are typical of the work they do but do not relate to specific clients due to the confidentiality rule.


Getting Home:

Pierre had had a couple of heart attacks and wanted to return home to Europe where he was still eligible for free medical treatment, in order to have some major surgery.  He attempted to buy a ticket but could not find an airline willing to take him.  Through LCN's contacts they were able to arrange for a flight and a nurse who accompanied him to the hospital in Europe.  Left to his own devices he might never have been able to make the trip.  It is important to remember that airlines are reluctant to fly sick people and leaving it too late may mean you cannot leave Thailand by air.

I Forget:

Luanne and her husband had lived in Chiang Mai for 25 years.  They had completely lost touch with friends and relations in the USA but had had a good social life in a part of the world that they loved dearly.  Sadly Luanne's husband died and her friends realised that she was suffering from the early stages of dementia.  Her management of her finances became erratic.  Her ability to do simple things such as shop and look after herself was beyond her daily, decreasing capabilities.  Her friends turned to Lanna Care Net which, with Luanne's agreement, provided experts to help sort out her finances and organised some inexpensive assistance to help her in her everyday life.  She continues to live in Chiang Mai, has regular visits from friends and has as full a social life as possible.  A space has been found in local sheltered accommodation for when she becomes incapable of living in the wider community.

Cheers!

Jake drank far too much. Sadly there are many foreigners who come to live in Thailand who either have, or acquire, an alcohol problem.  Such people often have a series of accidents and frequently are unable to organise their financial responsibilities.  Quite often such people are brought to the attention of LCN by the police or medical institutions if they start to cause problems.  On several occasions LCN has helped such people become sober, helped them organise their financial affairs so they are more secure and less likely to be taken advantage of and helped them become fit and healthy again.  Sometimes they return to their country of origin, sometimes they change their lifestyle and live full and fruitful lives in Chiang Mai and sadly, sometimes they revert back to their old habits but at least they are normally more financially secure than before.

Where am I?

Charlie had an accident and woke up in hospital.  Accidents and medical emergencies are all too common and in this very stressful state foreigners find few people who can explain what has happened to them. They may need to contact their place of residence or their friends and family either in Thailand or in their home country.  In such cases LCN can provide medical practitioners to explain the medical situation to the patient, in their own language, provide regular hospital visits to patients who would find them useful and undertake any other activity that will help these patients recover quickly and with the minimum of stress.

At the end of the day:

Sadly LCN comes across many people who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness.  People can react to this news in different ways.  Some are positive and determined to make the best of the situation, others become angry and yet others just seem to give up.  When LCN discovers such a case they first ensure that the patient is looked after so that they may exit this world in as much comfort and with as much dignity as possible.  LCN can also provide advisers to help sort out their finances and other affairs so they do not leave behind problems for other people and they can organise visits according to the needs and wishes of the patient.

Although anyone may recommend either themselves or someone else for assistance by Lanna Care Net any support they give has to be with the permission of the client and all activity must be undertaken on confidential basis.  If you, or someone you know could benefit from their services, and are a resident in Northern Thailand, please contact Lanna Care Net.  They can be contacted by e-mail at lannacarenet@gmail.com or by telephone on 085 709 8801.

Lanna Care Net is always in need of volunteers.  The need can range from simply visiting a patient or elderly person in order to cheer them up or the use of professional skills such as medical, financial or other practical abilities in order to give advice.  There is also a continuing need for people who can provide transport, administrative support or almost anything else you can think of.

If you would like to see whether or not you would enjoy helping Lanna Care Net in its activities simply contact them through the numbers above or come to a special induction programme which will be run from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturday July 7th.  At this meeting you will learn all about the history, purpose and need for Lanna Care Net, its history and future aims and most important how you could help LCN and the skills you will need.  This meeting will be held at the Raintree Centre by the Narawat Bridge.  If you would like to attend, or simply think you might like to attend, just call or e-mail on the numbers above.


So much to do

One of the wonderful things about our city of Chiang Mai is that there is always something to do, every day, and it is usually free or exceedingly inexpensive.  Did you go to the European Film Festival as I suggested?  So many wonderful films, presented in an excellent cinema and absolutely free.  I am still convinced that there was something for just about everyone in the programme and I thank the organisers of this event and hope they repeat it again next year.

There are so many organisations who hold monthly meetings.  Recently I had the pleasure of talking to a camera club about my collection of vintage cameras.  They get together every month, discuss their photography and their art, and develop friendships that will probably last for the rest of their lives.

There are a number of Rotary clubs, each of which meets every week and also contributes greatly to its community.  Many schools and other organisations owe a great deal to the international Rotary movement and in particular, their local representatives.

There are also many business organisations and meet on a regular basis.  These can be anything from Chambers of Commerce to special interest groups such as foreign investors, those involved in the tourist industry and many others.

Most of these business organisations have a relatively small number of members and an even smaller number of people to organise events.  It is not surprising therefore that they fall back on the concept of networking evenings in order to provide a continuing programme of events for their members.  Providing sufficient numbers can be attracted to these meetings and providing there are new people at every event, networking evenings can be useful.  Peter Smith of AA Insurance used to run an excellent networking group called Networking One.  It used to meet every month and there was always someone new to meet.

Sadly, I find, that many of these meetings are much smaller than Networking One and it seems to be the same people turning up to each one.

Many years ago I had the privilege of organising a major charity fundraising event for Rotary of and Great Britain and Ireland.  This meant that I had to visit many Rotary clubs throughout the UK.  In all, I visited almost 200 clubs.  I discovered that each club had its own character and personality.  Some clubs seemed to consist solely of old men and others were full of energetic people of both genders.  Some clubs seemed to do very little and were very proud of raising a small amount of money each year to help support their favourite charity.  Others, raised literally hundreds of thousands of pounds and organised fantastic events to the benefit of their community.  Some clubs were complacent whilst others were energetically seeking new ways of being of service.

The main lesson I learnt from my visits were that if an organisation exists solely, or mainly to provide social activity then, in the end, it only attracts the socially inadequate.  Active, busy people do not want to just sit around and chat they want to use their skills to achieve something.

Whilst it is true that Chiang Mai had so many opportunities that one can be kept busy every day, attending one event or another, I would suggest that there are too many networking events to be of any real value in our city.

The best possible way to meet interesting people is to get involved with something positive such as an active Rotary club, a special interest club, such as a photographic group or, an organisation providing a real service to the community, such as Lanna Care Net.


© Colin Jarvis