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COVID-19: Where to go for a test


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3 minutes ago, Tops said:

I was @ Ramathibodi Hospital 3 weeks ago as immigration wanted a health certificate that I didn't have Corona. I only could do it in some hospitals. Ramathibodi was one of them. The price you see here is only for the blood test. They also make a X-ray of your chest / lungs. Price for that is 9,000 THB. All together I spend almost 20,000 THB overthere. Many hidden costs !!!

 

I would expect that this will become a requirement for any sort of extension, sooner rather than later.

 

I'd also expect that we'll be required to subsidize health care costs. What form this takes remains to be seen.

 

 

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3 hours ago, Tops said:

I was @ Ramathibodi Hospital 3 weeks ago as immigration wanted a health certificate that I didn't have Corona. I only could do it in some hospitals. Ramathibodi was one of them. The price you see here is only for the blood test. They also make a X-ray of your chest / lungs. Price for that is 9,000 THB. All together I spend almost 20,000 THB overthere. Many hidden costs !!!

Greed knows no boundaries in Buddhist Thailand! Buddha would be disgusted!

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Assumedly, the hospital price list shown in the article was for Thai nationals, who of course contribute to the state health service via taxation.

 

Remember this?

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1121702-dual-pricing-retirees-and-expats-may-be-charged-more-at-thai-govt-hospitals/

 

The new dual price structure was due to start operating last Semptember. No idea, having not been to a hospital since, whether it's actually been implemented.

 

Hope none of us have to find out the hard way!

 

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It's an ill wind. . .

 

The real bonanza for Big Pharma and the health industry is just around the corner. Once the virus is officially declared a global pandemic, expect widespread compulsory screening, testing and mandatory vaccination with one of the new vaccines now in the pipeline.

 

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18 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

It's an ill wind. . .

 

The real bonanza for Big Pharma and the health industry is just around the corner. Once the virus is officially declared a global pandemic, expect widespread compulsory screening, testing and mandatory vaccination with one of the new vaccines now in the pipeline.

 

WHO's idea is this?Or if I alter the order of these words?

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1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Huh?  How/why would the CV issue come up in an Immigration context?

 

And AFAIK, there's no health related requirements related to applying for extensions of stay from Thai Immigration...

Schools are starting to require this.

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10 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

Not much point getting tested then knowing you have got it with no cure and getting fleeced for the privilege ????

I’m just going to hang out at immigration all day if I catch it, making sure to cough all over the inch thick pile of paperwork they need. ????

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5 hours ago, Tops said:

I was @ Ramathibodi Hospital 3 weeks ago as immigration wanted a health certificate that I didn't have Corona. I only could do it in some hospitals. Ramathibodi was one of them. The price you see here is only for the blood test. They also make a X-ray of your chest / lungs. Price for that is 9,000 THB. All together I spend almost 20,000 THB overthere. Many hidden costs !!!

I’m somewhat confused, if not alarmed, by your post above and by your previous post which you made on the 4th February  (Post # 11) in the thread regarding “Coronavirus: Concern for tourists as Immigration wear masks and gloves.”

 

Firstly, since when has Immigration required that anyone get a medical certificate saying “they are clean and have been tested for all kinds of diseases, including Corona, HIV, TBC etc.” for an extension of permission to stay?

 

Secondly, regarding the costs of the tests that you had at Ramathibodi hospital, they seem excessively high.  You state in your post (4 Feb) that you had to pay “7,800 THB for the blood tests plus 3,750 THB for the medical certificate”.  In the above post you mention that you had to pay 9,000 THB for a chest x-ray.  Total cost = 20,550 THB.  Really?

 

FYI…. I have an annual ‘head-to-toe’ medical checkup at Ramathibodi hospital through their premium service which includes the following: Initial check of temperature, pulse, BP, Blood/Oxygen saturation, height and weight; Initial consultation with consultant which includes a thorough head-to-toe physical check; Chest x-ray; Ultrasound scan of abdomen and pelvis; 12 point ECG; Complete blood analysis and chemistry covering some 39 factors (including HIV, various STDs, PSA, blood group etc.); Urine Analysis; Fecal examination; Feedback consultation with consultant; Copy of medical report sent in post a few days later.... All for the grand sum of 6,500 THB (price as at 15/10/19).

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2 hours ago, PatOngo said:

Greed knows no boundaries in Buddhist Thailand! Buddha would be disgusted!

Yes, entering Ramithibodi I was fully aware that being married to a Thai national means I didn't need to pay for the Premium service (I need PCI - heart surgery, and it'll cost 150,000 at Thai prices, but for foreigners the official price would be over 300k).

 

Every single desk I visited, and every doctor I saw repeatedly warned me I'd need to be paying double and should be up on the third floor for VIP customers.

 

It took 9 hours the first day to get through red tape and come out with a purple card, yet STILL they keep defaulting (when we got home the paperwork had errors that needed fixing). They're not actually being greedy - they just don't understand why a foreigner would want to pay less and go through the 'normal' hospital system (even though it's the SAME proceedure by the same doctors).

 

The other benefit - my medication bill went down from 7000 for a month's medication at retail prices (not through a private hospital - that'd come to about 9000) to 7200 for 3 months supply.

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6 hours ago, Tops said:

I was @ Ramathibodi Hospital 3 weeks ago as immigration wanted a health certificate that I didn't have Corona. I only could do it in some hospitals. Ramathibodi was one of them. The price you see here is only for the blood test. They also make a X-ray of your chest / lungs. Price for that is 9,000 THB. All together I spend almost 20,000 THB overthere. Many hidden costs !!!

Sure, if you're not registering as a Thai National (or married) then it's not cheaper than a premium private hospital. For a lot of stuff it'd work out cheaper to fly to India or Malaysia...

Edited by ben2talk
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