'Passport error' keeps man's body at Thai hospital

David Donoghue had lived in Thailand for 15 years

A woman whose stepfather died in Thailand two weeks ago says the hospital there will not release his body in a mix-up over passport numbers.

David Donoghue, 75, who retired to Phuket 15 years ago, will join a mass cremation at the hospital on Wednesday if the issue cannot be rectified.

Gemma Swift said she was "pleading" with embassy staff in Thailand to resolve a "purely administrative issue"

The Foreign Office said staff were trying to obtain the correct paperwork.

Mr Donoghue, who lived in Bury in Greater Manchester before emigrating, suffered from the lung disease COPD.

He was taken to the Thai hospital by ambulance but had an expired passport with him.

Ms Swift, from Abergele, Conwy county, said Mr Donoghue died in hospital on 15 February.

Gemma Swift said the situation had been "horrendous" for the family

However, the paperwork from the British Embassy needed to secure the release of his body to the funeral director showed the number of his current passport.

Because the two did not match, his body has remained at the hospital.

Swift, 37, said it was something that could easily be corrected and the situation was "horrendous" for the family.

"The British Embassy over in Bangkok, they said that because [the number] was from his current passport, they were unable to change the letter," she told BBC Wales.

"They have said that they won't reissue a letter with the passport number that he's got in the hospital with him."

She said the plan was to arrange a funeral for him in Thailand, bring his ashes back to the UK and his the family would later go back to Thailand to scatter his ashes, as he wished.

None of the family was able to travel to Thailand to be with Mr Donoghue in his final days, and they have been unable to resolve the bureaucracy issue because of the imposed 14-day Covid quarantine period in Thailand.

'Basic human right'

Ms Swift said she and the rest of the family felt helpless trying to resolve the situation 6,000 miles away.

"I thought this was a basic human right to be able to give somebody a funeral and I accept that there is always going to be red tape...but please just issue a letter and let us bring him home."

She said before Covid-19, family members were regularly travelling to Phuket to visit Mr Donoghue, who previously worked for the Thai tourist police.

"It's been hard knowing that none of us could be at his bedside," Ms Swift said.

Members of David Donoghue's family regularly visited him in Thailand

"That on its own was heart breaking, and now to get this two weeks later, to find out we can't give him a funeral, or get his ashes back, it's just horrendous," Ms Swift said.

"It's like being on autopilot... once we know we have done everything we can, we can start the grieving process, but at the minute we can't."

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: "We are assisting the family of a British man following his death in Thailand and our thoughts are with them at this deeply difficult time.

"Our staff are in contact with the local hospital and funeral director to help his family obtain the necessary paperwork to ensure his body is treated in line with their wishes."