Sheryl

It is also possible to get a policy direct from April in France and thereby come under EU Insurance regulations which are much more stringent than those of Thailand. This is what I have.

Apalife is the only locally made generic equivalent at this time. Another available brand is called Arepra, it is a generic equivalent made in Israel but unlikley to be cheaper than Apalife since is is imported.

He is asking about insurance that covers all urgent care not just accidents. 440K cover per hospitalization is way, way too low....let alone with 200k deductible which means you have only 240k coverage. It meets O-A vo=isa requiremens but is otherwise worthless.

That is correct. There is no vaccine for Hep C.

The least expensive option for getting HAART is the Thai red Cross Anonymous Clinic in Bangkok, see this thread: https://aseannow.com/topic/285198-hiv-testing-and-treatment-in-los-doctors-meds-costs/ HOWEVER they do not, as of last I heard, have Bikvary. They stock locally made generic equivalents and there is none in Thailand for Bictegravir. The only form of that drug is imported Bikvary which will be extremly expensive here...as in over 30,000 baht, maybe even over 50,000 a month. I suggest if you are set on moving here that you discuss with your doctor whether it is possible to change to a different combination. Emtricitabine + tenofovir (2 of the 3 ingrediants in Bikvary) are readily availabel here at low price, but the bictegravir is not. A drug in the same class which is available, is dolutegravir. You would have to take 2 pills, one dolutegravir and one emtricitabine + tenofovir, and cost would be around 1,000 baht a month if obtained from Thai Red Cross or government hospital.

Agree with above, contact AA. At age 40 you have many, many options. You will probably not find a policy limited to "accidents and emergencies" but yo ucan easily get one limited inpatient care (care if admitted to a hospital). It will however cost more like 30k baht a year, not 20. And premiums will rise as you age. You can reduce premiums by taking a deductible ("excess"). If you also want outpatient cover for accidents you would best supplement your main policy with accident insurance as including outpatient cover with a general health policy will greatly increase premiums.

He may also just be catering to patient demand. Thai patients often believe injections are "better" and equate receiving them with better care.

Many, many of us (me included) have mobile banking without a work permit. It is not a requirement.

It is unusual to have two separate charges like this and I cannot explain it. You would need to ask what the "nurse fee" is and how it differs from the "admin fee".

I have not heard of anyone being refused entry who arrive with a valid COE and required documents. (I think I did hear of a case where a person tried to get in with forged docs and was caught). Also have not heard of anyone being asked to show the app installed recently. I certainly was not when I arrived on 9 September. In addition, the app appears to be no longer working, as has been discussed in recent threads.

Correct if at a government hospital. YMMV at a private hospital, some are rather "creative" when it comes to billing. The farang pricing news you refer to is only at government hospitals hence posters assumed that was what you meant. Private hospitals have autonomy in their price schedules. Some have the same rate for everyone, some have different rates for foreigners and Thais, some have a 3 tier thing which distinguishes between resident foreigners and tourists (though the billing office will often just assume all foreigners are tourists and charge accordingly, may take some effort to get the resident expat rate). I don't think any have a different official price schedule for Thais married to foreigners but it may affect how they "construct" the bill. You really need to specify the hospital you mean as they all vary.

At private hospital, doctor fees vary with the doctor. at Bumrungrad I see anything from 800 to 2000+ baht with the higher end being prominent specialists. Admin and "nursing" fees are hospital specific and some hospitals assess one or the other but not both, and some hospitals refer to it as "other hospital charges". Usually 200 - 300 baht so 350 + 140 (490 baht) is higher than most places.

it is quite normal for an 80 year old -- let alone one originally from a more temperate climate - to have difficulty coping with high temperatures. You need to just live with it. Make sure you stay properly hydrated at all times, and do so with a balanced electrolyte solution on days when you are sweating for any reason.You can easily buy electrolyte sachets at any 7-11. Green coconut water, and the local orange and lemon juices made in a blender with added salt and sugar, are all good choices. Do not exercise outdoors in hot weather. Exercise indoors, or else early morning/evening when it is not so hot. Stop frequently to drink - with electrolytes if you are sweating, otherwise water.

"It's unclear whether citicoline can decrease the chance of dying or improve memory, learning, and speaking in people who suffer an injury to the brain. Some early research shows that it might be helpful, while other research shows that it is not. " https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1090/citicoline The drug is not approved for use post-stroke in some countries (including the US) due to mixed evidence that it does any good. It is however approved in Thailand. Since it is approved in Thailand I suspect the local hospital would have given it to her orally, and the doctor is making money privately by giving it as an injection. No obvious advantage to giving it by IV vs orally.

There are several clinics offering accupuncture in Hua Hin, I have no idea how good they are. https://bewell.co.th/traditional-chinese-medicine/ https://acupuncturehuahin.com/service/ https://acupuncturehuahin.business.site/?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=referral Depending on what type of headache this is, Botox injections might be very useful, for that you need a neurologist specializes in headaches. I assume hypertension has been ruled out as a cause?

If arriving in Bangkok in October you have to ASQ not SHA. Duration has been dropped to 7 days for fully vaccinated people but as this is new many hotels have not yet updated their price lists. See If you can delay until November you can do SHA on Bangkok. Package prices yet to be announced. Alternately could do SHS now in Phuket but for that you need a through ticket to Phuket.

As I have ecplained plaque does not "bulge out". I am reasonably sure what he was referring to is what I described previously -- medial arteriosclerosis (which is a thickening/hardening of the artery and can predispise to aneurysm and othet cardiac problems but is not plaque) vs athersclerosis of the intima which is plaque and can obstruct. And he probably said this because of the clear stress test. Both of these processes involve calcium so would show affect CT score. While medial arteriosclerosis alone does not obstruct and would not be treated with a stent it is far from benign. It is often associated with diabetes and with smoking.

Are you referring to the province or the road in Bangkok?

Stress tests miss 15% of blockages.

Rutnin, definitely.

No, nothing "grows out" from the artery and there is no way it could without breaking the wall of the artery which would lead to immediate death. An arterial wall can however bulge; that is called an aneurysm and it is dangerous as it can rupture. Possibly when doctors have spoken of a "bulge" in an artery that is what they referred to. The type of calcifications that occur in the intima (innermost layer of the artery lining) tend to be the type of plaque you are thinking of and these can block the artery. Calcifications that occur in the media (a more outer layer of the inside of the artery, but still the inside of the artery) tend to be arteriosclerotic but not atherosclerotic i.e. they create stiffening ("hardening") of the artery but do not block the artery per se. However, this stiffening also has negative consequences for cardiac health as the stiffened arteries have difficulty meeting the heart muscle's blood supply needs especially in times when such need is increased. And it is a string risk factrp for the development of aneurysms (see above). In addition if medial calcification is present in the coronary arteries it will also often be present elsewhere in the body where it can likewise have negative consequences (e.g. compromised kidney function). It would be unusual to have medial calcification of the coronary artery without some amount of concomitant calcification/atherosclerosis of the intima. Coronary angiogram is needed in a case such as yours to determine whether there is any blockage of the arteries and if so, how much.

Specificlly, there are 2 types depending in the layer of the artery wall involved: Two recognized types of CAC are intimal or superficial and medial artery calcification. Atherosclerotic calcification mainly occurs in the intima.[9] Inflammatory mediators and elevated lipid content within atherosclerotic lesions induce osteogenic differentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC).[10] Conversely, CAC in the media is associated with advanced age, diabetes, and CKD. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4712374/ Both intimal and medial calcification occur inside the artery, but medial calcification is further from the inside (intimal is the innermost lining). It is not, however, benign.

Steroids are not used to treat ringworm and are in fact contraindicated with that or any other fungal or bacterial infection.

As I have explained there is no such thing as plaque outside the artery. I think this poster misinterpreted something just as you did. Possibly to do with which layer of the artery lining was affected.

Definitely not scabies. I think the differential is ringworm vs insect bite. For now I would just observe it. If it is ringworm, other lesions will appear somewhere on the body.