Local Government Hospital Experience

[thailand49]

16 hours ago, nontabury said:

 

 My pregnant Thai wife was scheduled to give birth in an International hospital 200kl away. However the baby decided not to waite, and so I had to rush her into the local Thai state hospital,where she gave birth and stayed for two nights in a private Vip room. They then presented her with a bill for 12,000 bht. This she was not happy with, and so went off to the administrators office,complaining that she’s a Thai person, bill reduced to 9,000bht. 

 

Welcome to Thailand at least parts of it?

 

I for years have been telling my wife and son now my daughter-in-law when you are with me, I'm not only an ATM to your country and people in general as soon as they find out you are with me you also become a link to the main ATM?

[Deerculler]

8 hours ago, uhuh said:

If you think this was cheap you have no idea how much this would cost in other countries. 

And please,  do not compare it to those ridiculously inflated US healthcare prices.

What are you talking about? I know very well how much it would cost in my own country.

Nothing to do with prices in the US.

[Deerculler]

12 hours ago, scorecard said:

That makes no difference, my point still stands.

 

Most countries have a tax threshold, earn under that amount you pay no tax or it's refunded. 

Please get your facts right.

My country does not have that system.

 

[bluesofa]

On 2/28/2019 at 6:04 AM, superal said:

BTW the senior nurse who spoke pigeon English seemed to say that they had been told to make sure that they charge the falang,

Are you expecting everyone to speak English in Thailand? Can we expect Thais ranting if they go to hospital in the UK or US and no one speaks Thai?

What about Spanish, why can't the staff speak Spanish to patients, or Portuguese for Brazilians? Perhaps they could learn Esperanto - ah no, then we'd need the patients to learn it too.
Better idea: the Klingon language, at least the staff could converse with Mr Spock.

 

Perhaps the nurse only spoke pigeon Engrish as she was sick with the flew.

btw, I've been reliably informed that a Brazilian is a hundred trillion.

 

[faraday]

Here ya go Al, I've translated your main concern into Klingon.

 

????

 

 

[yogi100]

On 2/27/2019 at 11:55 PM, colinneil said:

I find your comments about hospitals and visa tightening requirements a load of nonsense.

So what you were on a ward where people were dying, i had the same, but you expect preferential treatment because you are farang, why?

Cost of a private room, you are complaining, over 5 years ago my private room was 1300 baht per day.

You are making fun of a nurse because she does not speak good English, pathetic, this is Thailand, why should she speak your language?

I get government hospital treatment every 3 weeks, have been for 5 years, no increase in costs over that time period.

The OP is giving his account of his experience in an up country hospital in the LOS. Because you do not go along with it does not mean it is 'load of nonsense'.

 

While he did not make fun of the nurse's English as you claim he is not unique in his inability to speak Thai, very few ex pats can muster enough Thai to discuss their health problems in a medical facility.

 

Health problems should be a big worry for all visitors or those who stay long term in Thailand especially when insurance costs are often so expensive and hospital charges can easily fluctuate to such a mysterious degree.

 

I spent two days recently as an out patient with Dengue Fever in Pattaya's City Hospital and was charged 1500 baht for two short sessions with a doctor and some medication which turned out to be simple vitamin supplements.

 

Apart from the few minutes with the doctor each time and having some blood taken for testing I spent the rest of the time reading a book but I was happy with the treatment, its price and was just glad that they did not want to keep me in.

 

A couple of days later a fellow turned up out of the blue to fumigate my hotel room to kill any rogue mosquitoes that may have been lurking about. I had to make myself scarce for an hour. There was a repeat of this procedure a couple of days later and no one asked me for any money.

 

This indicated an amount of concern by the Thais about Dengue as it kills thousands of people in Asia every year. An outbreak of such a disease in a popular resort might not be too good for future business.

 

I was laid up for about three weeks, felt knackered all the time and lost about 5 kilos (11 pounds) in weight. After that I was OK but was warned that I can easily fall victim to the ailment again!

 

 

[yogi100]

On 2/28/2019 at 1:01 AM, Orton Rd said:

Relatives kid recently spent 3 nights in a private hospital, not a famous one. Nothing much wrong with her, just a heavy cold or flu, they put her on a drip as they always do for looks. Bill was 27.000 baht. Like everything else health care is not as cheap as it used to be.

That's the symptoms I experienced with my Dengue Fever. That and constant tiredness. You just have to wait it out as there is no cure for it, that's as far as I'm aware and from what I've been told.

[yogi100]

13 minutes ago, yogi100 said:

The OP is giving his account of his experience in an up country hospital in the LOS. Because you do not go along with it does not mean it is 'load of nonsense'.

 

While he did not make fun of the nurse's English as you claim he is not unique in his inability to speak Thai, very few ex pats can muster enough Thai to discuss their health problems in a medical facility.

 

Health problems should be a big worry for all visitors or those who stay long term in Thailand especially when insurance costs are often so expensive and hospital charges can easily fluctuate to such a mysterious degree.

 

I spent two days recently as an out patient with Dengue Fever in Pattaya's City Hospital and was charged 1500 baht for two short sessions with a doctor and some medication which turned out to be simple vitamin supplements.

 

Apart from the few minutes with the doctor each time and having some blood taken for testing I spent the rest of the time reading a book but I was happy with the treatment, its price and was just glad that they did not want to keep me in.

 

A couple of days later a fellow turned up out of the blue to fumigate my hotel room to kill any rogue mosquitoes that may have been lurking about. I had to make myself scarce for an hour. There was a repeat of this procedure a couple of days later and no one asked me for any money.

 

This indicated an amount of concern by the Thais about Dengue as it kills thousands of people in Asia every year. An outbreak of such a disease in a popular resort might not be too good for future business.

 

I was laid up for about three weeks, felt knackered all the time and lost about 5 kilos (11 pounds) in weight. After that I was OK but was warned that I can easily fall victim to the ailment again!

 

 

It was hardly sad Colinneill, I did not die from the malady nor did it not cost me an arm and a leg financially. To the contrary I was quite happy with the treatment and the eventual outcome.

 

What was 'sad' about it from your point of view?

[Jai Dee]

Enough of the petty bickering and personal attacks (flames) please.

 

How about growing up and having a discussion like the adults you are supposed to be?

[superal]

22 hours ago, nontabury said:

You are obviously very fortunate in having an SS card. However the overwhelming majority of Farangs do not. I think the O.P is complaining that the charges seem to have increased by a large margin over the last few years. Furthermore a senior nurse told him, the management have instructed the administrators to ensure that the farang is charged at a much higher level.

  Another point to note,is that it is the charge for the doctor that has increased not that for the hospital bed or meals. Could it be that someone what’s to be able to afford a newer Mai Noi.

 

 O.K. So this is’t an earth shattering bill, however I would strongly advise anyone contemplating major and potentially expensive medical care in Thailand, to consider, “IF” possibly the advantage of traveling to India, where if you do your homework,you can be assured of first class medical care, by professional doctors at a fraction of the cost in Thailand

At last , someone has grasped the reality of the event . I am well aware of how cheap the real treatment is in a government hospital but I wished to convey the thinking behind the billing for falangs who like me are used to much lower billing . 

[Sheryl]

I assure you, even 10 years ago -- indeed, even 20 years ago - a 5K bill in a government hospital was not unusual. I saw bills reach 1 million baht in government hospitals as far back as 20 years ago.  Costs have gone up over the years just as in all other sectors but not unusually IMO.

If you or your friends have been under the impression that treatment at govt hospitals would always be small change, that was never correct.  Cost depends entirely on the treatment given.  Unless you had the exact same treatment, in all respects, in the past you don't have a point of comparison.

 

@nontabury the quote was that the nurse was told to be sure he was charged, not "charged at a higher level". Most Thais are not charged as they would be covered by one of the govt schemes. Especially in upcountry hospitals that do nto get many farangs, it is an unusual situation to have a patient paying out of pocket and the reminder may have been no more than that. I have known it to happen that farangs going to govt hospitals in remote areas were charged nothing simply because the hospital was so unused to billing patients that they did nto get their act together to do so. 

 

In government hospitals, unless one goes in through after hours clinic etc there are no doctor fees, as the doctors are all on salary.  Main cost drivers are: lab tests, imaging (Xrays, scans etc) medications, use of medical equipment, medical supplies (inc. oxygen), surgeries, ICU care if applicable.

 

 

[colinneil]

20 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

I assure you, even 10 years ago -- indeed, even 20 years ago - a 5K bill in a government hospital was not unusual. I saw bills reach 1 million baht in government hospitals as far back as 20 years ago.  Costs have gone up over the years just as in all other sectors but not unusually IMO.

If you or your friends have been under the impression that treatment at govt hospitals would always be small change, that was never correct.  Cost depends entirely on the treatment given.  Unless you had the exact same treatment, in all respects, in the past you don't have a point of comparison.

 

@nontabury the quote was that the nurse was told to be sure he was charged, not "charged at a higher level". Most Thais are not charged as they would be covered by one of the govt schemes. Especially in upcountry hospitals that do nto get many farangs, it is an unusual situation to have a patient paying out of pocket and the reminder may have been no more than that. I have known it to happen that farangs going to govt hospitals in remote areas were charged nothing simply because the hospital was so unused to billing patients that they did nto get their act together to do so. 

 

In government hospitals, unless one goes in through after hours clinic etc there are no doctor fees, as the doctors are all on salary.  Main cost drivers are: lab tests, imaging (Xrays, scans etc) medications, use of medical equipment, medical supplies (inc. oxygen), surgeries, ICU care if applicable.

 

 

Correct Sheryl, i know from the cost of my treatment at Khonkaen hospital which was over 3 million baht, luckily for me i only had to pay 40.000 baht as the remainder was covered by insurance.

[nontabury]

27 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

I assure you, even 10 years ago -- indeed, even 20 years ago - a 5K bill in a government hospital was not unusual. I saw bills reach 1 million baht in government hospitals as far back as 20 years ago.  Costs have gone up over the years just as in all other sectors but not unusually IMO.

If you or your friends have been under the impression that treatment at govt hospitals would always be small change, that was never correct.  Cost depends entirely on the treatment given.  Unless you had the exact same treatment, in all respects, in the past you don't have a point of comparison.

 

 

 

 

 A T.V member posted Earlier that he recently had a hernia operation in a state hospital, cost 35.000 bht.

A friend of mine had the same operation 5yrs ago,again in a state hospital.

He was due for the proceedure on the day of admission, unfortunately due to the doctor having to deal with an emergency, the operation was postponed, resulting in my friend having to spend an extra night in his VIP room. Total cost 13,000 bht. The operation was very successful.

 

[NightSky]

23 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Referring to the post claiming faranfs pay 10 yimes morw than Lao, Khmer and Burmese wtc: What on earth makes you think that is the case?

 

I assure you, from first hand experience, that Lao and Khmer pay full fee unless they are covered by the migrant worker scheme (for which they must have a work permit and pay an annual fee). The wife of my one Cambodian worket had a nearly 200k baht at a government hospital about 2 years back.

 

As to the poster talking about a 400 baht payment plus 400 by employer those are annual Social Security fees and can be more depending on the person's salary. They are not fees paid at the time of care in a hospital; that is generally free if care obtained at the nominated social securitu hospital. SS only applies to people with work permits but can be maintained after retirement on a self pay basis.

 

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

 

I have a work permit for my own business although I was under the impression directors weren’t able to obtain social fund. Could anyone clarify?

[Letseng]

On 2/28/2019 at 7:13 AM, Puchaiyank said:

Thailand could attract more retirees if they would provide reasonably priced healthcare insurance that was renewable until retiree expires...

Does your home country supply reasonably priced healthcare for foreigners/retirees? Mine doesn't, not even to their own citizens who are not entitled to govt. subsidised medical due to partly living overseas. 

[nontabury]

4 hours ago, Letseng said:

Does your home country supply reasonably priced healthcare for foreigners/retirees? Mine doesn't, not even to their own citizens who are not entitled to govt. subsidised medical due to partly living overseas. 

 

Yes, the U.K. does at a price.

In order to obtain a visa, my wife had to pay a fee, an insurance policy to cover her for medical treatment in the U.K. However when she came to the U.K. she then took up employment, which entails her paying N.I.

So she is in effect paying twice. Unlike immigrants from the E.u. Who are exempt from the requirements to obtain the insurance policy.

[TerryLH]

On 3/1/2019 at 5:05 PM, Sheryl said:

In government hospitals, unless one goes in through after hours clinic etc there are no doctor fees, as the doctors are all on salary.

At Srinagarind (KKU) Hospital the doctors fee during regular hours is 50 baht.

[Letseng]

4 hours ago, nontabury said:

 

Yes, the U.K. does at a price.

In order to obtain a visa, my wife had to pay a fee, an insurance policy to cover her for medical treatment in the U.K. However when she came to the U.K. she then took up employment, which entails her paying N.I.

So she is in effect paying twice. Unlike immigrants from the E.u. Who are exempt from the requirements to obtain the insurance policy.

Go and try continental Europe.

Medical is compulsory and it is an offence not to have insurance if you live there (e.g. Austria, Germany, Belgium etc.) But you can't get it unless you worked there or via S1 as retiree if you move within the EU. Otherwise you have to buy private insurance but with in/outpatient. In Thailand I can bring down the cost by having inpatient only.

 

[Letseng]

On 2/28/2019 at 5:47 PM, NCC1701A said:

thanks for conveying your experience. the last time I was in a hospital in 2009 in the USA my bill was 346,000 baht for 3.5 hours in an emergency room with kidney stone pain. no surgery. just morphine drip. 

 

Bangkok Hospital Hua Hin runs about 2000-4000 baht for flu, infections, STD. very minor stuff. 

 

last week at Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok dermatologist bill was 11,000 for visit, exam, and biopsy for possible skin cancer.

 

no point.  just putting this out there for comparison.          

Had a quote for a skin biopsy from Bumrungrad for 15.000 Thb. 

Went to Chula, price was 1500 Thb but of course many hrs waiting.

Apart from the wait, Chula doctors suited me better. 

 

[WonnabeBiker]

Can't fault the value for money at my local government hospital. They are dreadfully swamped. Can't afford lower temperatures in big waiting rooms. 

 

Medicine seems subsidized, TBH. Paid 400 THB for 2 extractions (only 1 was necessary - but that's another story. In Vietnam, I had a moronic dentist who insisted on knocking on the wrong tooth with his metal tool. So hard that it hurt (on any healthy tooth). Was charged the same and that took 1 minute and there were about 8 dentists lazying around in the treatment room)...

 

2 nights at a Bangkok hospital cost about 200,000 THB. They left me  u n t r e a t e d  for many hours, near the intake where ambulances drop off patients. While in the ambulance, I told the young doctor that I#ve had a thrombossis followed by pulmonary emboslism. (Same as my Dad).

 

NO, some greedy or vainglorious big boss doctor is to get the farang patient. Then he used ultra sound and 210 seconds later, all was revealed.

One glove was taken, a pack of 200 billed. And the private room was uselessly nice with microwave etc. Wish, some government hospital had taken me!! 

[sandyf]

12 hours ago, Letseng said:

Had a quote for a skin biopsy from Bumrungrad for 15.000 Thb. 

Went to Chula, price was 1500 Thb but of course many hrs waiting.

Apart from the wait, Chula doctors suited me better. 

 

I had a skin biopsy at the cancer hospital in Chonburi, 1800 baht. Had to wait a week, they do an HIV test before initial procedure which was 250 baht.

[sandyf]

On 2/28/2019 at 1:10 PM, colinneil said:

Government hospitals do not operate higher charges for farangs, so please stop posting inaccurate statements.

 

Quite. I use 4 government hospitals and the prices are in the computer, if a payment has to be made it is the same for everyone.

Due to the cost of my medication I see the doctor regularly and unless there is a blood test involved the only charge over and above the medication is 100 baht for service.

Before going on Apixaban I used to get my tablets from Fascino, now I get the same tablets from the hospital at around two thirds the price, and I was using a Fascino discount card.

[colinneil]

Just now, sandyf said:

Quite. I use 4 government hospitals and the prices are in the computer, if a payment has to be made it is the same for everyone.

Due to the cost of my medication I see the doctor regularly and unless there is a blood test involved the only charge over and above the medication is 100 baht for service.

Before going on Apixaban I used to get my tablets from Fascino, now I get the same tablets from the hospital at around two thirds the price, and I was using a Fascino discount card.

Thank you for that accurate post, i was getting very tired of those few members posting nonsense.

As you correctly stated prices are in the computer, makes no difference what Nationality you are, you get charged the same.

This crazy nonsense about visa tightening regs and higher charges for farangs is just utter BS.

[superal]

On 3/1/2019 at 8:27 AM, Jaxxper said:

I guess the $64,000 question is , had you have known it was going to cost Thb 5,300 on admittance would you have said " No, too expensive send me home, I'll take my chances there ". ? Me thinks not. Easy to critisise when the emergency is over, and you're on the road to recovery. Just my opinion!

Thanks Jaxxper ,

I can understand your response and so I will try to explain my reasoning .

It was the total bill that surprised me as I have been used to much lower costs , over my 10 years in Thailand , from the same government hospital .  On admittance , would I have questioned the expense ? absolutely not as I had no clue to what treatment I was to receive . The care that I received was good and I have no complaints on that score . Indeed , out patients costs are normally very cheap in comparison . However I think that there is an assumption that farangs have medical insurance and this is what the accounts lady mentioned to me on the presentation of the bill ( with a smile I might add ) . Yesterday a friend whose wife works in the hospital said that many farangs were getting away from paying a farang type bill because of lax administration and so a directive had been issued and this is the reason for my detailed itemised bill that also included

" vital signs " on several occasions  ( medical term for checking heart beat , temperature , blood pressure etc ) taken by nurses . This it seems will be the trend and I am now prepared for it .

 

Lastly I would like to say that this TV forum is a valuable source of information as well as light hearted banter . Constructive criticism is welcome by me to my posts and I expect that as we often have differences of opinion , however unqualified nonsensical derogatory remarks without substance are disappointing to say the least . ( not pertaining to this post ???? )

[Sheryl]

MOST government hospitals have just one rate for everyone.

But a few do have two tier pricing. Notably those in Pattaya area and Phuket.

Others have a surcharge for foreigners only. Siriraj recently added a 50 baht foreigner surcharge, announced publicly on prominently posted signs.

Hence people will have different experiences depending on where they live.

You will not encounter dual pricing in upcountry areas which get few foreign patients. Wouldn't occur to them and would not be worth the effort to set up. You may well encounter it in areas with large concentrations of foreigners.

Where there is dual pricing it is still usually much less than private hospitals.



Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

[NancyL]

In Chiang Mai there is a foreigner room rate for the ward rooms at Maharaj University Hospital (Suan Dok), but not for the other services or meds.  Same at Suan Prung, the gov't psychiatric hospital. 

 

 

[uhuh]

16 hours ago, WonnabeBiker said:

One glove was taken, a pack of 200 billed. 

A foreign insurance company once picked a fight about this one. 

So the Bangkok hospital said that they have to open a new pack for every patient. Lol.

The insurance gave up because it just wasn't worth the effort. 

[fantom]

On 3/1/2019 at 9:26 AM, bluesofa said:

"Are you expecting everyone to speak English in Thailand? Can we expect Thais ranting if they go to hospital in the UK or US and no one speaks Thai?

What about Spanish, why can't the staff speak Spanish to patients, or Portuguese for Brazilians? Perhaps they could learn Esperanto - ah no, then we'd need the patients to learn it too.
Better idea: the Klingon language, at least the staff could converse with Mr Spock.

 

Perhaps the nurse only spoke pigeon Engrish as she was sick with the flew.

btw, I've been reliably informed that a Brazilian is a hundred trillion."

 

 

I am sure this is risking apoplexy among many, but a pigeon is a bird that hangs around buildings and craps on everything, usually the term 'pidgin' is the preferred term for basic English communication. (A popular false etymology for pidgin is English pigeon, a bird sometimes used for carrying brief written messages, especially in times prior to modern telecommunications, courtesy Mr Wikipedia)

 

Apoplexy is treatable at my local non profit hospital for free in exchange for an unreserved apology.

 

 

[bluesofa]

1 hour ago, fantom said:

On 3/1/2019 at 9:26 AM, bluesofa said:

"Are you expecting everyone to speak English in Thailand? Can we expect Thais ranting if they go to hospital in the UK or US and no one speaks Thai?

What about Spanish, why can't the staff speak Spanish to patients, or Portuguese for Brazilians? Perhaps they could learn Esperanto - ah no, then we'd need the patients to learn it too.
Better idea: the Klingon language, at least the staff could converse with Mr Spock.

 

Perhaps the nurse only spoke pigeon Engrish as she was sick with the flew.

btw, I've been reliably informed that a Brazilian is a hundred trillion."

 

 

I am sure this is risking apoplexy among many, but a pigeon is a bird that hangs around buildings and craps on everything, usually the term 'pidgin' is the preferred term for basic English communication. (A popular false etymology for pidgin is English pigeon, a bird sometimes used for carrying brief written messages, especially in times prior to modern telecommunications, courtesy Mr Wikipedia)

 

Apoplexy is treatable at my local non profit hospital for free in exchange for an unreserved apology.

 

You're quoting my post above, rather than the poster I quoted, who wrote: "BTW the senior nurse who spoke pigeon English seemed to say that they had been told to make sure that they charge the falang,"

That was the point of my joke, referring to it, making fun of the spelling.

 

Not so sure about apoplexy, maybe a specialist dealing with a sense of humour failure may be more appropriate?

[uhuh]

On 3/3/2019 at 11:20 AM, Sheryl said:

Where there is dual pricing it is still usually much less than private hospitals.
 

Agreed.

And government hospitals are not going to overtreat you as much as possible. 

 

Just to give you an idea how the private system works:

 

1. Dengue at Mahidol (government): 1 night admitted,  850 baht. 

Dengue at Dr Somboon's clinic in Ao Nang 3200 baht.

Dengue at a typical for-profit hospital: will admit you for "rehydration" for as many nights as possible,  often more than 1000 USD per night. It can easily  make more than 150000 baht.

 

2. Dog bite on Koh Phangan:

Wound cleaning,  active and passive vaccination for tetanus and rabies,  antibiotics, paracetamol, all done as outpatient at the government hospital,  12000 baht (foreigners' price, Thai price would have been maybe two thirds of this if not covered by 30 baht scheme).

The private hospital would admit you several nights, again hardly less than 1000 USD per night (first night 2000 USD),  for iv antibiotics, iv painkillers, lab tests... Doctors can be very creative.