JESSVANPELT

higher cost then Bupa and difficult to get them to pay the hospitals, everyone i know who had Pacific has dropped it for poor service.

Belmore is quite good for the price, its a lot like J.W. Black Label

Typically we don't get rain in January but the El Nino weather pattern over the pacific has changed things from the norm and will do so for the next 2 years, Southeast Asia for the most part will get less rain and a bit warmer, as more of the precipitation will go toward the States and Western Canada

your far from anything, best buy a vehicle now. or your all alone there

NO

I agree with KHUN BENQ

Medical care should be viewed upon at the quality and not the price. Government hospitals will never get the best Physicians.

As pointed out numerous times n the health forum, the quality of care should be based on the name of the doctor you see or who sees you. Perhaps you are correct, the better doctors might want more money and tend to the more expensive private hospitals and patients. But as a blanket statement there will be exceptions and I was lucky enough to experience that. Finding the better and best doctors and them seeing them might be a job in itself, they may float in and out of different hospitals and clinics. I find the majority of doctors in the west and the east fall far short, and I would be better off with no treatment or self treatment, I think because they are in the business to make money. (And so many of therm play god) If i ever get seriously or acutely ill, my plan is to find the best ancient Chinese medical doctor I can find, they tend to the whole patient and the whole body system, not just focus on the symptoms. Their medicines are completely natural, no side effects, and address the (immune) imbalances in the person. One simply must be willing to suffer the tastes. For all we know, many doctors patients and treatments (unconsciously) rely on the placebo effect. I believe the placebo rate is around 33%, nothing to shake a stick at. What scares the s*** out of me are the mistakes doctors make and the patients who end up worse due to seeing a doctor, and those that contract other illnesses exposed to in hospital. My diatribe is over for now. May it lead to an interesting discussion and helpful advice.

Having said all of that, who are the best GP's and specialists at this hospital, in Pattaya, and beyond, how did you come to that conclusion, and how does one find out about them and see them?

My comments are based on personal experience and of those I know very well both Thai and expat. Personally over the past 12 years I have had experiences at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital including three surgeries including hospital stays and all have been wonderful experiences, my only bad experience was the dental clinic and she was trying to sale something i did not need or want.

Pattaya International Hospital I have had good experiences there with the GP on call, a former Military Doctor, he was excellent, and the Dermatologist was also very good.

I have known people go to the new Pattaya City Hospital, and been turned away, I know of one young lady who they could not diagnose and turned her away after 18 hours, she died 24 hours later (sepsis).

My friend lives behind this hospital and his mate had a stroke they called the hospital and they refused to come to pick him up, while 4 ambulances sat out front not being used.

Memorial hospital treated my friend for a appendicitis, when they close d him up they twisted his lower intestine so nothing would pass , , then when he wanted to go to another hospital they refused to let him go until a lawyer got involved (nothing to do with the bill), he was moved to another hospital and had to endure a second surgery to repair there twisted intestine.

I have also been at numerous Thai government hospitals in various parts of Thailand and they quality of care is very questionable. I will always remember going in to the Korat government hospital with my wife father and sitting close by I could see the 6 doctors ( all looking liked kids), there were 5 people in the triage unit and the doctors had 2 computers in front of them, as i watched the circus occur i watched two different doctors go to the computers and pull up Google search...A true story.

In this country, Most good physicians will be working at a good hospital, it enhances there income, ability to work in professional environments with professional staff and equipment.

The better Physicians will work shift work from hospital to hospital to also enhance there income but to also gain a reputation in that area's hospital

Medical care should be viewed upon at the quality and not the price. Government hospitals will never get the best Physicians.

Yes, you can walk it from Soi BuaKhao, but the amount of decent restaurants that open on 3rd Road but do not last a year says it all.

I agree--but this guy seems in it for the long haul. Starting slow and building up based on quality. I'm usually skeptical of new businesses in Patters, but I'm cautiously optimistic about this one.

I hope Jingthing decides to give it a go. I'm guessing he'll like it.

Edit: by the way, New York Pizza house opposite this guy has had a nice run so far.

I live near the area and have seen many places last a year and leave, not enough foot traffic , poor location, no bug hotels near bye. as for New Yor Pizza its business has dropped since Dominoes and Pizza Pizza opened and rather deliver which is a plus..I wish the guy the best.

But, I live in a complex with 45 retired Expats and none of them would pay those price3s when they can walk down Soi Lengkee or Soi Chaiyaphum and find a meal for 159 to199 baht

Cherrys seems to get by.

Cherrys has an international al buffet and it chaos daily it also is a full sized restaurant, not a single wide little shop house, and you would never spend 550 baht for a meal at cherries

Yes, you can walk it from Soi BuaKhao, but the amount of decent restaurants that open on 3rd Road but do not last a year says it all.

I agree--but this guy seems in it for the long haul. Starting slow and building up based on quality. I'm usually skeptical of new businesses in Patters, but I'm cautiously optimistic about this one.

I hope Jingthing decides to give it a go. I'm guessing he'll like it.

Edit: by the way, New York Pizza house opposite this guy has had a nice run so far.

I live near the area and have seen many places last a year and leave, not enough foot traffic , poor location, no bug hotels near bye. as for New Yor Pizza its business has dropped since Dominoes and Pizza Pizza opened and rather deliver which is a plus..I wish the guy the best.

But, I live in a complex with 45 retired Expats and none of them would pay those price3s when they can walk down Soi Lengkee or Soi Chaiyaphum and find a meal for 159 to199 baht

Well its has increased in the past 12 years I have been here.

All vehicle fuels are higher.

Minimum wages for Thai workers went tip 3 years ago. All alcohol has been taxed higher twice in that periods of time.

Most imported foods are a lot higher then they were in the past. local meats and vegetables are more expensive do to fuel increases alone.

I have no idea what your mate is talking about, all of the above mentioned items are at a higher rate then Thailand inflation

Increases cannot be denied but you have to put things in perspective.

Vehicle fuel is related to the price of oil, hardly a valid point. 15 years ago petrol was about 13/14 a litre, been up to over 40 and back down to 20 odd. Come down in price in the last 2 years.

Imports are also subject to external influence. If a tin of beans has doubled in price in the UK over the last 10 years it can hardly be expected to remain the same here. More likely to be double plus a bit.

The most significant increases are in the hotels and businesses that are required to meet the minimum wage. There are quite a few family run places on Soi Bukhow where the prices haven't changed since they opened several years ago.

Food on the street and Thai kitchens is up some but nothing to complain about. I suppose that up from 40 to 50 baht being 25% may seem exhorbitant to some. Last week I bought a tray of No1 eggs(30) for 81 baht, six months ago they were high nineties, could be taken as a negative increase.

When I first came to Pattaya in 1999 beer was 60 baht in most places. These days there are many bars around Pattaya where small bottles go for 45/50 and large bottles can be had for 65/75. I used to pop into Paddy's bar on Pattaya Klang before getting the bus home, during the day you could get a Chang for 30 baht until quite recently. Went a couple of weeks ago and seems to have changed hands and the prices had gone up, that's inflation for you.

THANKS for supporting my point.....Prices have changed!

Near Gonys gym on 3rd road is a supplement shop, been there for many years

If it's still open, Tequila Reef Cantina just off Beach Road Pattaya, possibly about Soi 6? Tex-Mex food that I thought was authentic and very good. I think it's been in biz for a long time?

Cheers.

unfortunately it is stillmopend and the food is the worst try air mexican food i have ever encountered, god awful

Before i bought a ;policy i did a lot of research and went the expat meetings and talked to a lot of expats with insurance here and by far without question the one that always came to the top was Bupa. I have had it now for 4 years and its been great. Also I did reach a age increase but it was only 2400 baht

hundreds of rooms then, from 400 baht a night up, but with a bathtub your looking around 1000, but still many around

One other question...do you know anything about Bupa?

Just spent 2 nites in Bangkok Hospital Chiang Mai. There is a guy from France who acts as a go-between for foreigners navigating the Thai health care system. He told me that Bupa will wait until the hospital stay is over, and the final bill is presented, to decide if all - or which part - they will cover. My own travel insurance ws dragging their feet before admission, so I paid 30K upfront. Something to keep in mind.

I'm not surprised. I doubt there is an insurance company in Thailand that would agree to foot the bill at Bangkok Hospital no matter what, their charges are far above normal.

My employer provides us with a fairly basic Bupa package, similar to Ruby. A colleague spent 5 nights in Chiang Mai Ram, at the time Chiang Mai's premier hospital, with dengue fever, all paid no questions.

Another friend, on the same package, had a serious accident, went to Rajavej - mid range of prices in Chiang Mai - broken ribs, pelvis, knee damage that required two rounds of surgery, 3 days in intensive care, two weeks in hospital, all covered (this may have been because Rajavej is the named primary hospital on the group policy, I'm not sure if that helped keep the fees within the policy cover limits).

My own experience, I had a minor motorbike accident on Samui, needed stitches and would dressing, all initial costs were covered though I had to pay up front as I was carrying an expired card. the follow up cleaning of wound, redressing and removal of stitches was only covered if signed off by a doctor as I have no OPD cover. I chose to pay 30B a time to the local Anumai (government primary care clinic) where the nurses did an excellent job of cleaning the wound and dressing it, and there were no queues. I make this point as these Anumai clinics (don't know the Thai, each Tambol has one) provide an excellent service for anything that does not require a doctor and people really should use them. Not sure of the Thai spelling of Anumai, but looking at my local one on Google Maps, the official name seems to be สถานบริการด้านสุขภาพ.

In y recent stay at Bangkok Pattaya hospital a phone call was made to Bupa and 5 minutes later I was admitted, no pre payment, upon check out they covered all but 132 baht, great service

I have had the same plan for 4 years and have not had to use it until this year out of a 49,500 inpatient bill they covered all but 132 baht. I have 4 mates who use Bupa and they all have glowing reports. The best in Thailand by far!!!!!

Well its has increased in the past 12 years I have been here.

All vehicle fuels are higher.

Minimum wages for Thai workers went tip 3 years ago. All alcohol has been taxed higher twice in that periods of time.

Most imported foods are a lot higher then they were in the past. local meats and vegetables are more expensive do to fuel increases alone.

I have no idea what your mate is talking about, all of the above mentioned items are at a higher rate then Thailand inflation

If you have decent internet and bandwidth, I'd recommend going to buy a smart box from Tukcom. Heaps of channels..

who makes the smart box? prices?

I went through the same situation, True's customer service is the absolute worst.

I now have Sophon, and the customer service has been great if there is a problem they come out the same day (except weekends). The internet has been brilliant, the TV, some times has some issues, butI'am much more happy with Sophon.TMn is another option but i don't know much about it

central department store and get a t least a thread count of 400

well after 6pm most people go out and they don't go the beach, every bar from second road back to 3rd road is busy, Ne plaza is busy

Soi Buakhao is busy, Lk metro is busy

its HIGH season and as busy as it has been in the past 12 years

most hotels are booked up

go to the Thailand immigration website

busy everyplace from second roadblock to third road, beach road well not much there after dark, still as busy as any high season in the past 12 years