Perth father left bankrupt, homeless after 6-month-long battle to rescue son from Thailand orphanage

A Perth father has detailed a horror international custody dispute which triggered a six-month long battle to rescue his son from a Thailand orphanage and left him bankrupt and homeless. Andrew and his seven-year-old son Leo, both pseudonyms, spent the past summer living in a car in Perth’s northern suburbs after the traumatic ordeal that up-ended their lives. In late 2018, the 56-year-old had been running a small business repairing musical instruments, looking after his elderly father, and providing for his then-wife Sarah and son. Sarah, also a pseudonym, who was a British-Thai citizen had planned a trip back to visit her Thai family with Leo. A few weeks after arriving in Thailand, however, Leo was abandoned in an orphanage. And Sarah had fled the country without even telling her extended family she had left Leo behind. “Only later I think she must have felt guilty and asked her sister to go and check on him,” Andrew said. When Sarah’s sister posted a photo of Leo online, Andrew sensed something was wrong. With his brother’s help, Andrew geolocated the photo to the orphanage — 47 kilometres from his extended family’s home. Within 48 hours, Andrew had flown to Thailand to track down where Leo had been left. The father then wrestled through the Thai legal process for six months, flying between Perth and Thailand several times, and describing the experience as “gruelling”. By the time he had paid bribes, fines, lawyers, interpreters, transport and accommodation, Andrew was more than $100,000 in the red and deep in financial turmoil. And the joy of being back in Perth with Leo was short-lived, with the boy facing several hurdles as he readjusted to normality. Leo’s months in the orphanage had left him speaking Thai. “When I got him, all he could understand was Thai,” Andrew said. “Here he was asking for milk in Thai. But he picked up English very quickly, within six months.” But just as the pair tried to get back on their feet, Andrew’s landlord sold their rental which left him struggling to find an affordable property. Andrew said he felt demoralised standing in long inspection queues for rental properties which he couldn’t afford. “We just packed everything up and put all our stuff in storage. We ended up in the car, we couldn’t find anywhere to rent,” he said. “I went in there to put in the application (for an outer suburbs rental) and there were 219 applications on that day. Unbelievable.” Andrew said he felt he had failed his son. He then worried that the Department of Child Protection would take Leo from him. Because of this fear he didn’t reach out to support services immediately. “I thought, I’d lose him if I said I’m sleeping in the car,” Andrew said. “That was my greatest fear. I actually rang Child Protection and I said, ‘If I’m homeless and living in a car with my son, will I lose my son?’ That was my greatest fear in seeking help. And they said ‘no’. “Living in a car just sent my mental health spiralling.” During their stint in the car from November 2022 to March 2023, the pair found the summer heat almost unbearable. Andrew spent Christmas Day having fast food at the local park — just trying to forget it was Christmas. This year, however, Andrew’s Christmas will look very different to the last one — and it all comes down to some observant teachers. After Leo started school this year, his teachers noticed how tired and withdrawn he was and eventually discovered he was homeless. The school reached out to Andrew to connect him to a Uniting WA outreach team. Andrew said two male Uniting WA outreach workers gave him a safe space to open up about his challenges and connect with support. He said Uniting WA helped him turn his circumstances around, and a lucky break through an acquaintance, allowed him to move into an apartment with his son. Andrew has urged any parent in a similar situation to him to reach out to support as soon as possible. “I’ve had to swallow my pride,” he said. “It can happen to anyone. I would think, ‘My parents never did this, why am I in this situation?’ But there are more and more people presenting who haven’t been in poverty in their lives.” Uniting WA, a not-for-profit agency, said their outreach workers are engaging with more and more families experiencing homelessness and sleeping in cars or tents. A Uniting WA spokesperson said a range of factors can lead families into homelessness, including job loss, family breakups, family violence, cost-of-living increases and the rental shortage. Authorities say that international parental child abduction is a growing crisis in Australia, a traumatic experience that pushes parents like Andrew to breaking point. In Australia, there is no specific, stand-alone offence relating to international parental child abduction and when cases arise, families often have to grapple with international laws. The WA Family Court can make orders restraining a parent from taking a child, and if concerns are raised prior to the child leaving the country, they can be placed on a Family Law Watchlist.