RHCP

In my experience, all the privately owned hospitals are as bad as each other.

Bangkok Pattaya seems to have been the first to start a multi layered pricing system (which to this day they still virulently deny but which is patently true) and overcharge farangs with whatever they think they can get away with it. But in recent years it seems that most, if not all, the top, non - state hospitals have jumped on the bandwagon. I have been a patient at many - certainly Bumrungrad, BNH, Samitiviej and Bangkok hospital in Bangkok as well as in Pattaya.

This business of not properly checking you medical records and medical history, even though you may be seeing a specialist at a hospital where you records are available to them on line is, in my experience, quite common. There has been more than one occasion when I have had to point out to my specialists that a suggested course of treatment or medication may be at odds with one of many other medical complaints or medications.They have then scrolled through the computer screen in front of them and have agreed with me.

I do hate to say this but I'm afraid it seems to have reached the point where Farangs are considered prime 'targets' - to have the maximum amount of cash extracted from them - and I honestly believe that the doctors have little or no conscience about doing this as they assume that we are only transient patients and in all probability they will never see us again.

I did hear that doctors at Bangkok Pattaya were on some kind of commission basis and this wouldn't surprise me in the least. If not commission, I am sure they are all judged on the amount of fee income and hospital charges they can generate.

I used to attend Bumrungrad regularly and remember a couple of years back, when asking one of my specialists how much a particular treatment would cost, he referred to a 'charge sheet' and told me that as I was an 'old' patient I would be charged at a lower rate than 'new' patients.

I have lost so much faith in all Thai hospitals that I haven't had my various medical complaints checked up by a doctor for over two years now, and as long as I appear to be in reasonably good health I will avoid them like the plague. Quite frankly I would rather have a load of blood tests run by an independent pathology lab, and make my own judgements on any 'anomalies' that may appear in the test results. God knows I have been doing it long enough, at great expense, with all these 'name' hospitals, that I reckon I can analyse the results as well as they can

To those who will tell me that I am talking rubbish and that there are good hospitals with honourable doctors; I will simply remind you that there has been overwhelming anecdotal evidence, in this forum and many others recounting story after story how farangs have been ripped off. This has been going on for years, and I am sorry but there is no smoke without fire.

Difficult to prove conclusively but there is strong suspicion on my part that with regard to doctors, some of them will charge more when it involves a Westerner or if an insurance card is presented. Today I went to my usual hospital, which is a mid-ranged one, where I am used to being charged 400-500 Baht doctor's fee. Today it was 700 Baht for 5 minutes with a general practice doctor, not a specialist. One of the biggest problems in this country is that hospitals seem to have little or no control over what doctors charge, hence the doctors basically have a free hand to charge whatever they want. One can never know how much it will cost for a consultation beforehand which I believe to be an unfair practice.

The only way to determine if us Westerners are being charged more or not is for a Thai and a Westerner to see the same doctor with the same complaint. It would be interesting then to compare the bills.

As most of you will know, many private hospitals here have in recent years introduced a way of extracting more money from us when seeing a doctor. Can one insist on not having these routine services such as measuring blood pressure, checking body weight and temperature, etc, as I don’t view them as necessary in the vast majority of visits that I make?

We previously bought a kitchen oven and washing machine of Siemens as I had (mistakenly) assumed that they are a reliable brand, both of which have suffered problems after a relatively short period of use. It has just been suggested to me that replacement parts for our washing machine will be in the region of 5,000 Baht. At that price it might make more economic sense to buy a new machine.

So can anyone recommend a brand here that is reliable and reasonably priced with a longer than usual 1 year guarantee and when things go wrong won’t cost a fortune to be repaired with expensive replacement parts?

I would like to follow up my original posting on this thread.

I have been told by a lawyer who regularly deals with visa extensions that another document which Immigration now requires is an 'affirmation of freedom to marry' which has to be certified by the authorized department. I assume and recall that this document was I think obtained from the Department of Foreign Affairs and then given to the registration office when we married some years ago. I have never been asked to present this document in every year I have applied for an extension. First of all why would this document be required and from where would it be obtained, and secondly in practice are Immigration officers routinely asking for this document?

Quick question,

This year I plan to do the visa extension myself as the agent I previously used has more than doubled their fees.

I know the usual requirements but could someone inform me of the required form(s) that need to be completed.

'The payment would be based on citizenship or residency, with British

citizens or anyone who has been living in Britain for a fixed number of

years qualifying.'

The way I read it is that the reference to British citizens is separate to the remaining part of the sentence concerning the fixed number of years which I think applies to non-British citizens that are resident in the UK, therefore any British citizens would still be entitled no matter where they lived whilst dependents for example Thai wives living in the UK may not if they don’t meet the yet to be decided number of fixed years of residency. However I stand to be corrected whenever this is properly announced by the Government since the wording is still somewhat vague and worrying, as evidenced by the concerns on this forum.

1] People, who are 'obviously' foreigners, are asked to pay greatly inflated prices compared to Thai nationals.

2] Passport checks do not seem to be carried out in order to ascertain who is a foreigner & who is not. If one doesn't look like a foreigner, they may not be subject to extra charges.

3] Since many of us 'obvious foreigners' are admitted to government run facilities for the same price as a Thai national (Work Permit, Driving License), it would appear that foreigners are not the target.

4] Where does this extra 'foreigner' money go?

Solution:

Stop this discrimination. Corruption becomes a lot more difficult when the playing field is level.

This behaviour certainly does not occur in Australia, as it is against the law.

This regularly discussed subject always guarantees a few postings.

Ignoring the rights or wrongs of dual pricing and whether or not it should apply to those who are non-Thai but pay taxes here, if this policy was applied consistently then I wouldn’t have so much of a grievance on the unfairness of it all but the fact is on many occasions the Thai official will just determine based on one’s skin colour only so many Asians that look possibly Thai will just pay the Thai rate. If this was administered properly then everyone including Thai should be required to show ID before being charged whatever rate is specified but in practice this generally does not occur.

The Government could do more such as reduce some of the high import tax duties to allow more Baht outflow and at the same time cut out the red tape for making overseas remittances.

Never 50% win, 50% loose. Use your head and think about it!!! If the Baht is more stronger the Tourists go otherwhere to a cheaper place. The export of Thailand go down because the Import-Countries buy the product in a cheaper country. And last but not least the "normal" Thaipeople never become a higher income but everything start be much more expensive. Thai thinking!!! If my income go down I must sell my products more expensive!!!

A lot of food are now 15-20% more expensive than 2-3 years ago. But the people still earn only 8.000 - 15.000 Baht.

The only who win about a higher Baht are the companys who import products. But they don't give the "cheaper" import prices to the customer, so the products are not cheaper. They have a higher income in their bankaccount.

Your point that imported products should be cheaper is a fair point and it hasn’t gone unnoticed with me that Thai consumer product importers and retailers are failing to pass on the savings as a result of a favorable exchange rate. But since the Thai government is not concerned about controlling the prices of imported consumer products, retailers here can charge whatever they like and add to their already healthy profit levels.

Somewhat related to this thread, what would the OP need to show if he/she wanted to repatriate monies upon selling a condo here since the original Tor Tor 3 would be held by the Land Department?

I too have had nothing but problems with Bangkok Hospital and will now never ever go to them.

I think their number one priority to to operate on your wallet, and do as little as possible to care for your illness or condition.

Absolutely disgusting place.  Stay away.

I agree with what you say above concerning their unethical practices and money motivation based on my own experience and of others which is why I advise anyone who asks for a recommendation to avoid the place.

I’ve just done a sample test to London. Of course the focused promotional fare on the dates chosen didn’t come up unsurprisingly and instead a fare around 6,500 baht more was quoted. The fare breakdown however is astonishing; 20,615 baht + taxes, fees and charges of 17,625 baht plus a service charge of 500 baht which seems unique to Lufthansa. So there is almost a 50/50 split between the fare and various add-ons which I find very dubious.

I have always found these add-ons by airlines to be a bit of a con since I don’t see why they can’t be incorporated into the fare, especially the fuel surcharge. No other business that I am aware of excludes the cost of fuel for example, such as retailers for transporting goods.

I have mixed feelings about Carrefour.

I do consider them superior to Tesco in terms of product selection and freshness but from my experience they seem to have questionable pricing practices (whether intentional or not) which I have rarely been aware of at Tesco such as charging at a higher price at the check-out than displayed or shrinking products (baguettes for example) but still charging the same price.

Another irritation of my local store is the excessive noise level.

I also understand that senior management of Carrefour here were at one stage aiming to go more up-market to differentiate themselves from the likes of Tesco but I guess that has now been shelved. It seems like they were never sure of a proper strategy for Thailand.

I know that you can report up to 7 days before or 7 days after the date stamped on the form in the passport but what about the situation if you fly out of the country within 7 days after the reporting date. Is that acceptable to Immigration and therefore no need to report at Chaeng Wattana?

Well I'm really disappointed by these responses so far and makes me wonder why I bothered wasting my time posting on this TV forum with the various insinuations made about me and particularly about stereotyping my wife of many years who none of you know, added to the odd factual inaccuracy.

This is a GENUINE STORY with much evidence so if you have nothing CONSTRUCTIVE to say then don't post. Perhaps I would be better off using another forum where I won't be subject to such treatment and ridicule.

One point I do accept is pursuing any compensation in this country is futile but you must understand my initial anger. Ultimately I will just have to let it go.

Please bear me out.

I unfortunately became another victim of credit card fraud last week here in Thailand.

I don't want to name the credit card company directly (but it is not part of the Visa or MasterCard network).

I live in a condo where all residents' post goes to a central office before distribution to each tower. Last Sunday, it was alleged by the credit card firm that someone purporting to be me rang on the previous Thursday to say that my card had got lost and requested the issue of a new card to the same billing address but with a request to change the mobile phone number. The credit card company stated that a new card was authorized for issue after all standard security questions were successfully answered including additional specific questions when a new card is requested. The card was duly issued and delivered by a messenger the next day and handed to a junior office staff member of my condo who signed for the package. Moving on first, subsequent CCTV evidence obtained using the data of fraudulent transactions pretty well proved that this new card was intercepted by a new Thai male Office Manager of my condo who had only been working 2 weeks. I had never seen this individual before but 2 senior managers of the condo identified him from the CCTV images. He had told his boss that he felt ill and asked to go home at lunchtime. After that the spending spree started. Strangely and suspiciously the card wasn't used during the daytime of the following day last Saturday until the early evening. My spending habit with this card is normally during the daytime on weekends which made me very suspicious about why he didn't use the card until the evening as if being tipped off that it was safe to continue using the card.

It was only on the morning of the next day that I discovered the fraud after my card was rejected at Tesco check-out. My wife and I then went to the Police Station to report the fraud. At that time I had no idea who the culprit was.

On the Monday a fraud investigator of the credit card company called me to go over the story. She commented that she found it strange how the impostor passed security as one of the questions that is required to be answered before issuing a new card are details of my last transaction and it came across as if she was suspecting it was me that called. This transaction would only have been known by me and call center staff as it would not appear until my next statement, so ruling out anyone intercepting details of it on a statement. It is assumed by me that the Office Manager had previously looked for any residents' post of the credit card firm in question and perhaps noticed my last statement that was posted in the second half of March. My theory is that he noted my name and address and then, and this is the most worrying part, possibly got in touch with a contact within the credit card company.

The fraud investigator also wanted to speak with the member of staff of my condo who signed for the card the previous Friday but she was on leave so the investigator spoke to this Office Manager. He gave some bullshit story that the post was distributed to my private post-box but the CCTV images at the time in question easily disproved this. This Office Manager also contacted my wife at home after he had spoken with the fraud investigator saying not to worry as the credit card firm always reimburses customers, thus making out that he knew the system very well and more than likely had committed the same type of crime before. I also believe that he was trying to fish for any information that might alert anyone to his involvement. My wife did mention that we had reported it to the police the previous day which may have unsettled him.

By Monday evening it was becoming apparent who stole the card with on-site CCTV evidence and armed with the obtained police report the 2 senior managers of my condo along with myself and wife got access to CCTV evidence this past Tuesday at a couple of merchants involved which confirmed to the 2 senior managers that it was the Office Manager. Unfortunately he failed to turn up for work and had already done a runner before we could get the police to make an arrest.

Anyway the good news is that the credit card firm has now cancelled all these fraudulent transactions from my account as they realized that I was totally innocent. However they want me to go to the police again along with management of my condo to report the CCTV identification, the name and ID number of this Office Manager before they themselves follow up. They claim that I am obliged to do this and without doing it they would have no authority to involve the police. This has really made my Thai wife angry since she feels that I have suffered enough with the stress, subsequent poor health, time wasted, efforts already made and expense of running around plus having already reported the fraud to the police. We also can't understand why they claim to not have sufficient powers to follow up. In addition, since I don't know this Office Manager I would be putting myself at risk if it was subsequently found that the CCTV images were someone else, unlikely as it is in the circumstances. Do you think the credit card firm are being unreasonable and lazy?

Now turning to the call center staff. Despite reassurances from the credit card company I am not totally convinced that their security system can prevent any dishonesty within the company involving their customers. I am still very suspicious about whether this Office Manager was working in liaison with a contact in the call center. The call center individual involved, as informed by another staff, had been working at the company for quite a while and who knows whether he was over time able to identify any security weaknesses in the processes. The company maintains that a credit card gang was involved but I'm not totally convinced. Any thoughts on insider involvement?

I have demanded compensation on the basis of poor security in delivering the card to me and my belief, although without any evidence, that the company has inherent security lapses within their call center but they have refused to offer me anything. I guess this being Thailand it was always going to be unlikely. I have threatened to contact the head office in the States but not sure if this will get me anywhere as the operations in Thailand will just deny any claims I make. Should I still pursue compensation?

Sorry for the lengthy report. Any comments relating to my experiences would be much appreciated.

A slightly different aspect in regard to this ruling.

The UK state pension can be deferred. If a 65 year old British man retired overseas (in a country not subject to a reciprocal agreement) was in a position to delay say for 3 years he would get an extra 10.4% per year on top of the actual state pension. My question is would the annual cost of living increase apply over those 3 years since the pension wouldn't be taken until 68?

This company is a complete rip off. I paid 500B and every time I telephoned to the English-speaking Bangkok connection number I was charged 9B. Each time it said "all lines busy" or "no such number" or "no answer". Complete sh*te. I carefully checked my dialing never got through despite numerous attempts. As a test I internet video conferenced a mate (UK) and then Dee Dialed his mobile number, I was watching his phone not ring while Dee Dial variously told me there was busy, no such number etc etc. Total lie and total rip off. I've written off the 500B to experience Beware

I can only second that from what I discovered last year. Avoid them like the plague!

What are the rules or the immigration officer’s usual interpretation of the source of these funds for the annual extension based on marriage?

I have always maintained a savings account with over 400,000 based on money previously being transferred in from overseas.

For the past few years I have been working and the money is paid automatically into a savings account of another bank. If I dipped into my account used for the annual extension that takes the balance below 400,000 baht would there be any problem topping it up using the other account that has my salary paid in prior to the next annual extension application?

This airline appears to be developing quite quickly and will possibly challenge more established Middle Eastern airlines in the future.

Has anyone used them from Bangkok and if so what were your impressions?

Quick question.

Can a re-entry permit be applied for and obtained from Immigration on Saturday morning like at Suan Plu previously? Also are there any other places in Bangkok beyond Chaeng Wattana that can issue the permit?

I don't know if there is anything in this but I was told last week of a rumor that Etihad might take over Emirates. If true then that could have a negative knock-on effect on airfares.

The buses still operate albeit under a private operator now (Metro Bus I think). We used the 551 service back from the airport on Saturday. Ticket prices are still the same from what I can work out but although new Chinese made buses are used I did find the ride uncomfortable and noisy.

I have just subscribed to True 8 Mbps Premium Pack with Wi-Fi Router.

True's technician came to set things up which didn't go smoothly. One problem is getting the wireless connection to work on a second computer but this might be a hardware problem.

However what I really need help on relates to Utorrent. I am getting a message that the router is probably limiting my network traffic and I need to open up another port so that others can connect to me. As a consequence I am getting very low download speeds.

I am a novice when it comes to computers and really don't understand about opening up ports so appreciate if anyone out there can give me any suggestions in easy to understand terms on what I can do since one of the main reasons of switching to True and a higher speed package was to get faster torrent downloads.

My Thai wife has a 5 year UK visitor visa so don’t expect any problems in obtaining a Schengen visa which we plan to apply for next year for a short visit outside the UK.

My question is I have read that we should apply to the Embassy of the country that we plan to visit or first enter but what happens if we subsequently change plans after being granted the visa and decide to visit another Schengen country instead? Would my wife be able to enter that country?

Also what length of visa would normally be granted on the first application?