Ohphuket

You did well. My first consultation at a (nice) private hospital was 8,000 including meds, and 3,000 a month for the meds after that. The actual cost of the meds was more like 300 baht a month. Not that expensive compared to the West, plus the decor in the hospital was spectacularly nice ????

No, the forum know-it-all says that going to a doctor is a waste of time. He can only go to a mental institute - not a government one!!! - and speak to the most expensive psychiatrist in all of Thailand, who will solemnly listen to him for 5 minutes before handing over a bottle of Xanax and charging 100,000 baht.

A stalker and a comedian ???? You must have missed the part where I said "Are you saying that no Thai pharmacies sell valium? You must be very naive if you believe that." I wasn't questioning the legality of said transaction. Lovely talking to you Mr know-it-all see you next Tuesday.

Well yes, that's what you'd expect. Most of the doctors I've seen at the government hospital were relatively young, no doubt seniority is a factor when applying for private hospital jobs. I stand by my statement that any doctor can prescribe Xanax (as an example), though, and the low cost and convenience of government hospitals mean that in the worst case scenario, you've wasted 1000 baht and a couple of hours of your time. For somebody suffering from acute anxiety, he may be more likely to go through with a cheap and straightforward course of action (government hospital) than a more expensive and complicated course of action (tens of thousands of baht, appointments with psychiatrists etc). If he has plenty of money, absolutely an expensive private hospital would be my recommendation. I was just presenting an alternative.

Illegal for drug stores to hand out valium? Are you saying that no Thai pharmacies sell valium? You must be very naive if you believe that. Perhaps you're volunteering to pay for transport to his nearest "mental hospital", and pay all the associated costs. He said in his initial post that he'd already seen a variety of psychiatrists, none of whom helped him. What makes you think that Dr Somchai of Buriram Mental Hospital is going to succeed where many others have failed? What he actually asked for was a drug to alleviate "general anxiety". I refer you back to the first (and best) reply in this thread: Any GP can prescribe Xanax. I notice you didn't respond angrily to that post, perhaps because he used the magic words "private hospital" (he didn't mention mental hospitals or psychiatrists).

I disagree. Sure, I could point out that it's easy to walk into a local pharmacy and get some valium/xanax, but if you don't do it while being monitored by a doctor, it's straight up dangerous. "Local mental hospital" .... "medication that general doctors can't prescribe" .... you may think you're one of the forum members "who know more than doctors", but that's lousy advice. His "local mental hospital" might be hundreds of miles away. He wants something that will alleviate anxiety, what do you think the "mental hospital" would give him, morphine? Your advice that he can't trust GPs in certain types of hospitals is dangerous and wrong. Well done for trying to put him off getting treatment at anywhere other than "his local mental hospital". Some help you are.

There's some excellent advice here. One thing I would say is that I've had nothing but good experiences with my local Thai government hospital. It's so cheap that insurance etc doesn't really come into it, you can just pay cash. Any drugs prescribed are sold at cost price, which definitely isn't true at private hospitals from my own experience. All the doctors I've met there have been intelligent and highly professional. Without making an appointment, I'm usually in and out of there in a hour. On my last visit, I was in the (excellent) specialists office 10 minutes after walking into the hospital. All they need for ID is my driving license. Just something to consider, given that private hospitals can represent a larger financial commitment.

I'd say firstly, this is far too important an issue to entrust to a bunch of strangers posting on a forum. I assume you're in Thailand - in your shoes I would head off to your local government hospital and wait an hour to see a GP. Explain that you are suffering from general anxiety. He will probably prescribe you something, and most importantly should arrange a follow-up appointment. If he doesn't, ask him to. If whatever he gave you isn't working out, he'll change it to something else. Doing it under a doctor's supervision is just the safest way to go. Thai doctors are a lot less reluctant to prescribe effective medication than Western doctors, in my experience. If it's anything like my local government hospital, you'll be charged 500 baht for the doctor's time, and a few hundred baht for your medication. Getting medicine from the hospital ensures that you are getting the genuine article. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

I'm here on a 60 day SETV which expires in about 2 weeks. I would like to get a 30 day extension from my local immigration office. Can I go to the Immigration office early to get my 30 day extension, perhaps 1 week before it expires? Also, I'm assuming that the 30 days is added to the expiry date. So if the expiry date was 01/01/2022, and I visited the immigration office on 24/12/2021, my new stamp would be until 31/01/2022?

I’ve spent the last 2 hours looking for an internet cafe in Kamala and Patong, but I couldn’t find one. Does anybody know of one that is open, preferably near(ish) Kamala or Patong? Thanks.