Just curious about how the Thailand health care works and how much does it cost if you need to go to a hospital? I remember about a year ago when I was in Thailand I went to Koh Chang with this woman. While I was there she became ill and had to go to the hospital. So her girlfriend, girlfriend's  boyfriend and I drove her to this hospital in Koh Chang. Some time later her girlfriend told me that she wanted to see me in the hospital. I went inside and soon after that it was time for her to be released. Then to my dismay she asked me if I could help her pay for the hospital bill. I figured maybe I could do if it wasn't  that much, however the bill turned out to be quite large.  Many farang that I see living in Bangkok I wonder how they maintain their health there. In the United States you see your primary doctor for a physical and it cost you maybe $20.00 after the insurance pays the rest. However in Thailand I never see anyone talking about seeing their regular doctor. Also most of the older farang I see living in Thailand do not look that healthy to me compared to older people living in my country. Is this just a misconception on my part or am I correct in my assumptions?  I have often thought about one day maybe living in Thailand however this is the one topic that I think about from time to time. What if you have a heart attack and need immediate attention? Can you get to a hospital in the proper amount of time , get the care you need and not have to spend your life savings for that care?

There is a private health insurance company that we can buy.

Otherwise, we go to state's hospital which do not cost much.

I think that ur friend went to a private hospital.

Health care in Thailand is generally excellent, and affordable. Far, far less than in the West. Just about every hospital has an ambulance or two, but how quickly they can get you there depends on traffic.

Duanja is correct. Private hospitals cost more. But there are plenty of publlic hospitals too and they do accept foreign patients.

The one I use is private, but nonetheless affordable. A room in the hospital overnight will cost about the same as an overnight at a Motel 7.

Well I highly doubt that because the girl that I took to a private hospital was only there for about an hour or so and they wanted almost 100.00 US dollars. So I can't imagine what it would of been for an over night stay. I dont' know of any Motel 7's that charge over a hundred dollars a night!

So far, my experience is that, for the money, healthcare is much better here in Bangkok than in the USA. I cannot afford the Mayo Clinic in America. But I can easily afford the equivalent in Bangkok. The only thing is that one has to be a little bit more persistent in requesting the kinds of tests and treatment that one feels make sense. But that is the case in the USA, too.

Dental care is an even bigger delta: The dental services are MUCH better in Bangkok and the cost is so much less than in the USA. I went for a series of visits at Silom Dental near Chong Nonsi and it was just fabulous (and I really hate going to a dentist!!). Lots of personalized/attentive/kind service, a well decorated office, three persons attending me, one of them an extremely PATIENT dentist who worked until his arm practically dropped off, a nice soft leather lounge chair, and a 32 inch plasma screen (although I got a little bored of Shrek 2 and Coach Carter by the fourth day!!). As part of that work, on December 25th, i was there for 4 hours, and for that day, when I went downstairs to pay, the bililng clerk said, "Oh, no, today free -- it's Christmas!". Braces are also a really good deal in BKK.

For health insurance, check in with Jandevil -- that's what she does for a living.

To be honest I have also looked into the dental care prices in Thailand and I really didn't see that much of a savings compared to the United States. Many Americans have dental insurance that is paid for by their employer. So realistically they are only paying a small portion of the total price. Maybe its been awhile since you have been to a dentist in the USA. My dentist has a tv with cable in every room and its not uncommon for their to be numerous people in the room when he is working on you. Here are some price comparisons if you don't believe me.

Teeth whitening in Bangkok = 9,000 baht with coupon or 12,000 baht with out coupon

USA teeth whitening = 8750 baht after 35 to dollar exchange rate

I think a lot of people will give their point of view but won't give any data to support their answer. If you want to prove a point to me then come with some facts and figures and not just talk. Then maybe I will agree with your postion on the subject!

Also many employers in the USA provide partial or all the costs for health care. So if you think that Thailand has lower health care then how do you come up with that answer? For my insurance it cost me about 1200 a year US dollars and then just 20.00 for any hospital stay. How much does Thai health insurance cost a year?

Bring some data if you are going to make statements. Just some advice in the future.

Well,just know when i got sick in little town called Lam plai mat.Had to be there for 4 days and night.And got much medecin,even to take whith me when they send me home.

I had privete room that cost little more.Nice room whith tv and everything.The food maybe wasent to good,but had friends famely take care of me and give me food.

I remember when i xhoud check out i was really scared about the cost.Thought that i had to borrow money.

So i got a real chock when they give me the bill.2500 bath whith medecin and everything.

But i guess,in a town whith lots o farang it had cost more

Hey thanks a lot for your story. Thats the kind of information that I like to hear about. I am sure there is good stories and bad stories about health care. Any how 2500 baht for 4 days stay is great!

Be careful of the 'bodysnatchers'. You got it..if you have an accident in Bangkok then you may fall foul of what on face value may be a paramedic. They may well be, but in pain and suffering you must still ask who they are and where they are taking you..before you go..!

Its not uncommon for these people to usher victims into 'ambulances' and then onto expensive hospital beds also.

Vindy.

Good tips and answers, thanks.........good reading the info........

don't you love it when they call you just so you can be stuck with the bill. happend to me once at a resteraunt. i was so pissed. my gf at the time calls me and asks me to come to mk for lunch. i get there and sit down and am handed the bill for the 5 people that she just fed, and i didn't even get to eat.

oh there is a cheap medical plan in tl i think its 20 bht a month

nyfarang4u, all your comparison prices are after your work insurance pays their 80%. If you have good insurance, then they will also pay their share of work you have done in Thailand. To give you an example, last year I had major dental work done. My dentist in the states quoted me $5000+. Insurance would pay $2000 of that, (you'll be hard pressed to find a better dental plan). She, my dentist suggested I have the work done in Thailand so I did. The total bill was $550, my insurance payed all of it, and I still had $1450 left in what they pay a year.

Another example, one of my employees broke his heal rock climbing out of Krabi. He was in the hospital for 4 days, had an operation putting 2 pins in his heal to rebuild it. Total cost was $1500, and work insurance payed 80%.

What comes out of your pocket, and what the procedures actually cost are 2 different things. My insurance at work costs me $153 a month out of my pocket. The actual cost of the insurance is $769 a month if I had to pay the full premium.

As far as your situation with the woman, I can't understand why they took her to a private hospital instead of the state hospital, paying $100US instead of the bt40 it would have cost to go to the state hospital at that time, now it's free for a Thai. Sounds pretty fishy to me.

probably states already. But for the most part there are no primary care doctors (i too am from the States)... everyone seems to go to a hospital if they have something wrong with them. I can only speak from a Krabi perspective, but here the State hospital is referred to as the "chop shop" and you never go there unless you absolutely must because by western standards it is not even close (dogs in the hallways, bugs in the rooms... etc)

But yes! It is dirt cheap.

Intl hospitals are up to Intl standards, but have a much higher price (still much much less than the rediculous health care costs in the US)

health insurance from a company like AIA is about 15,000 / year, and covers you without a deductable at the international hospitals for just about anything. I know you can't get insurance coverage like that in the US for even a month at that cost..

This is too long... END

-RILINjuH!

my 15,000 baht per year has caps of like 500,000 baht, which you would have to really get smacked around to spend that much in even an INTL hospital.

...i could get specific data, as you asked for about premiums and coverage levels... but the book is in a file and i am certain it is quite boring. PM me if you really want that.

If you go to BKK Hospital or the one with the huge name on Suk Soi 1(opposite Soi 4) the equipment is at least if not more advanced as most US hospitals. The cost without insurance is about equal to the copay/deductable you pay in the US. The cost is so small because of the difference in employee costs (salaries).

I have heard the nurses always around (do you agree Khun Lung?)

it s good but i miss the french system that is to my point of view the best one... 100% of pop covered by state depending on incomes+quality...

She called you and then asked you to help pay for her hospital bills? I'm shocked. Well i guess seeing as you were with the girl at the time, you were partly responsible for her temporary demise.

Moo Noy: If i had a girlfriend that did what yours did i would be furious and would have walked away never to return. Not only did she lie by inviting you to lunch, but she had 5 of her friends with her aswell. Fair enough if for some reason she couldn't pay cos she forgot to bring money or her credit cards. But if the only reason she rang you was because she wanted you to pay then that's awful. So rude, cheeky and completely disrespectful. (No wonder Thai people use the term 'farang')

For some of you guys the alarm bells must be ringing very loudly all day long. Why you chose to ingore them i will never know.

Health care premiums:

My company, 12 employees covered, pays precisely US$79,360 for annual health insurance premiums. I'm reading it straight from the income statement. That's US$6,613 per employee. The median age of our employees is on the order of 40. We are a generous employer, paying 100% of the premiums. The plan is one of the best offered in the USA (our people are investment professionals, about a third are Ivy League, nearly all CFAs, even the guys who run the trading and back office).

I'm now looking at the Bangkok health care premium PLUS (to make it apples-to-apples) the annual optional outpatient benefit package premium (premier or top level) for a person aged 41-45 in the plan offered by LMG Pacific Healthcare (where Jandevil works). The total premium is 22,228 baht per year. That is about US$704 per year. In other words the Bangkok premium is but 10.6 PERCENT of our USA premiums. Now, I know the plans are clearly not the same, but I am comparing a top tier plan in the USA with a top tier plan in Bangkok.

Imagine that, if we moved the entire operation to Bangkok we would save $70,908 per year!

Now, why such a big difference? It's not entirely the diffference in pay of healthcare professionals. It's the lawyers!

Just thinking about that makes me sick . . . I'm going to VOMIT!

In terms of direct cost comparisons, it is difficult to make a comparison unless one happens to have the misfortune of needing the exact same procedure/treatment twice, once in the home coiuntry and once in Thailand.

I have, howver, just paid for braces in Bangkok, and the cost was precisely, I mean precisely, one-seventh what it was in 1999 in Glendale, California, and although in neither case was I the patient, it does seem to me that the quality of the work is significantly better, more fliexible schedule-wise, and more personalized in Bangkok. I recognize that the cost savings are not as great for all procedures/treatments. I also recognize I am compariing a relatively high-cost part of the USA to Bangkok. Glendale is decidedly pricier than Rochester, New York, as the latter is down to two rapidly shrinking Fortune 500 employers. Seriously, who would want to live in Rochester? Hell, I wouldn't even live in Glendale if they paid me, but that's where the dentist in question has her practice. It does seem to me that the greater the labor (the less the materials/equipment), the greater the savings in Bangkok. Braces are time intensive because of the series of visits required to complete the work.

Look at it another way. An aquaintance of mine is a periodontist on the big island of Hawaii, established practice, doing it 21 years. Annual gross to himself is $330,000. How many periodontists in Bangkok make that kind of money?