greenmonkey

I know many people on the forum champion the private Thai hospitals but to be honest I have been left feeling pretty short changed of late (no pun intended). I do acknowledge that they are very modern and clean with attentive staff and little waiting times but my general gripe is that the doctors generally seem disinterested in spending any amount of time with the patient. And they have zero interest in explaining the diagnosis and treatments (and possible side effects). This is how today's visit went for an underarm bacterial infection: Arrived at hospital, no waiting, straight in to see the specialist. Great start! The doc took all of 30 seconds to look at my condition, tell me it was infected and that I must take antibiotics followed by a look of 'was there anything else I can do for you'. That was it, 30 seconds!!! No explanations of how I may have got it, no advice on how to treat it (other than just take the medicine and follow the instructions). I pushed for some greater insight and asked about the antibiotic treatment and if it was necessary etc but got nowhere. So I left. Okay - now to make payment and collect medicines (the bit we all hate). I thought to myself... consultation plus pills = 2k maximum! Sat down to be greeted will a bill for just under 3k... what the $%^& could this be for!? I checked the breakdown - the usual suspects were there but what jumped out was the charge for the antibiotics - 1600 baht for standard amoxicliln. I immediately told them to remove them from the bill and told them I would buy elsewhere. The girl behind the desk happily told me I could buy them from any pharmacy for 200 Baht - she was openly telling me that the hospital was ripping me off without even realizing it. Thanks for that! One of the other other medicines they gave me was an antiseptic cream - i took it from them as it was about 100 baht. However, after looking it up on the net I decided against using it as it was advised to be used only for serious life threatening occassions due to the serious side effects it poses such as damage to the bone marrow. What the "£$% is this I thought to myself. Why are they prescribing this to me for a minor bacterial infection!??? There was no warning from anyone in the hospital about the side effects. This is what really angered me. Forget about the price gouging - i was ready for that and knew not to take it. But this... this I cannot accept. And is not the first time this has happened. Anyone else had similar experiences or am I just unlucky (or choosing a bad hospital)?

Be sure to book yourself a overnight sleeper train. You can get your own aircon cabin with 2 beds. Very comfortable and enjoyable trip and not so expensive.

about 7 mins 30 in there is a woman acting very strange, anyone know what is going on? I am assuming she is 'possessed' by a past life... I seen something similar whilst attending a Thai ceremony.

I just DON'T get this mentality that seems to be the norm here. If I knew there was even the smallest chance that someone might get hurt because I did not take certain steps - i would not be able to sleep at night. Yet these certain types of people just don't seem to give a damn.

Thailand will have a REAL problem very soon with pitbulls... at the moment so many Thai's are buying them and once the novelty wears off what then!? They get 'donated' to the local Wat where they will start breeding with the soi dogs... and then the real fun and games begins. Absolutely crazy that this is being allowed to happen.

he said it was just "one of those things". Unbelievable.

you're the best!

the driver's excuse probably went along the lines of "it wasn't my fault, it was the roads fault due to the sharp bend".

i buy normal couscous from Villa market for around 70 or 80 baht. Not sure if it is the same as 'pearl' couscous. This one: https://shop.villamarket.com/product/138421

i find it quite odd here how Thai's have much more admiration and respect for the rich Thai's that inherited all their wealth compared to those that made it all from nothing. I'll never understand this...

there was a much bigger outcry when some dumb farang diver picked up a sea cucumber and then put it back. This country never ceases to baffle me...

personally I don't have any problem with this 300 Baht tax, I don't see it putting people off and it wouldn't put me off. What I do have an issue is - is the official dual pricing at all the govt run tourist sites. Usually 10 times the price that Thai's pay. Even though I can prove I live here I must still pay 10 times the next person in line (if they are Thai). Totally unfair, unjust and just outright racist. But hey, I chose to live here!

Not sure I am reading this correctly? The driver stated he was in the right line as the truck was in the left lane... isn't this a roundabout way of saying 'I was overtaking the truck and was on the wrong side of the road'!? At no point in the article does it state that the pickup driver was overtaking on the wrong side so I must have misinterpreted... pretty confusing.... anyone shed some light?

wow... if you are stupid enough to make such a dangerous manouever, at least look to see what is coming... that is just crazy.

Shocking behaviour, you can hear the poor children crying their eyes out in the second video (they must have been very afraid).... total scumbag!

How ironic, she is the owner of a debt recovery agency!!!! ????

My word how dumb is this person to not know that these types of gambling games are always rigged. No sympathy.

Absolute nonsense! Thais know that they need to stop at red lights... they just choose not to (if it suits them) because they know that there is little to no enforcement. It would be the same all over the world... many drivers would do similar to Thai's if they knew that there would be no punishment. Until the police start policing it will continue to be like this.

Came across this link on my fb feed... can't quite believe the stupidity! https://fb.watch/aX9AdHPDe8/

Unbelievable!

I feel a trip to the local monkhood is imminent!

I never knew that alcohol breath tests were optional!

its disgraceful that the monkhood allows such blatent misuse of their services. This scumbag apparently didn't show any remorse at all... tried to cover up what he'd done and now as a last resort the monkhood.... anything except take his punishment. Disgraceful.

Oh right gotcha! I never knew that....so long ago since my first application i forgot.

I'm assuming the 400k has been in the bank for 2 months or longer? I say go back with all the required docs and insist on processing the application (record the whole conversation on your phone when in attendance). If they continue on about the 800k then you simply ask for a detailed explaination of why they need it and request a signed piece of paperwork explaining the need for the 800k requirement so you can query this elsewhere. If it is not forthcoming ask to see the supervisor and request the same from them. Let's see how confident they are to put their name to this. Don't take any of their s@@t.... once you cave in and pander tho their demands they will have you by the short and curlies and expect it everytime.