Bangkok Barry

I did, and they said I need to.

I don't. The bed is rock hard, based on previous experience there. I slept on the couch instead. And bearing in mind that the surgery would probably be in the afternoon it leaves many hours to be bored in my room. I'd rather be bored at home (assuming limited ability at first to watch tv or use a computer). A couple of minutes with Google says that it is. Not one item I found said anything different.

I got bad vibes from him too. He was rushing everyone through and spent less than a minute with me, and a further minute when I asked to be checked for glaucoma in one eye. The private hospital said I had it (which I'll deal with after the cataract surgery by going to Khon Kaen as recommended by the Kalasin private doctor) and he said I didn't. I felt I was wasting his time by being there.

That does make sense, but neither the government nor the private hospital are making it an option. Not that they could force me to stay, of course. It would be a 100km round-trip the next day which is no big deal with my wife driving, but to keep them happy and for the reason you say I'll probably decide to stay the night. My whole point, and the reason for this thread, is that absolutely nowhere have I found any mention that it is anything other than an out-patient procedure, and no-one I know who has had the same op has needed to spend more than three hours from arriving to departing.

I'm sure it was. And I'm sure mine would show 20,000, with his 'tip' not on show. See my post above.

Now that's a bizarre scenario, which you made up entirely out of nowhere. Complete fantasy. There was no offer to do it on my back porch. The official government hospital charge is 20,000, but he said he adds a further 5,000 "for himself". That is exactly the words he used to my wife who was with me.

Good post. But surely 6 suggests that whether it is safe to leave the hospital or not depends on how much the room costs, not the risk involved. Expensive room = safe to leave. Cheap room = not safe to leave.

Ah, now that is tosh, and you know it Did you read in the thread too of the government hospital doctor who blatantly told me it was 20,000 plus 5,000 for him to do the surgery at his hospital? It's always about the money. And I got that observation from a Thai.

Okay. But if you read through these posts, and even if you don't, many have said that no overnight stay is needed either in Thailand or anywhere else people have had the job done and posted about it. Google it, and not one item in the first couple of pages says anything other than no stay is needed. I personally have friends in Scotland and NZ who have had it done and gone home pretty much straight away. I guess those doctors who treat you as an out-patient, who are not blokes on TVF, are professionals too, but not motivated by money. What do you think? Something like 50 links or comments saying no stay needed against, from memory, none saying it is. It might be seen as a precaution, but if countless other people have been out-patients without problems, I wonder what makes the procedure so different in Thailand.

I wonder what that will throw up. Reminds me of a very large company in Thailand that had a problem with an employee who tried to establish a workers union. He ended up dead too. It was linked to the head of the company employing someone to do the dirty dead, but of course it got swept under the carpet.

The minister's job is done. He, you, I and everyone else knows that what he says will be ignored, but he has done his job while actually doing nothing at all. Perfectly normal here and we read similar on at least a weekly basis.

It isn't only foreigners. When I was there for a test about a dozen Thais arrived with overnight bags. It was a private hospital so I doubt they were on the 30 baht scheme. As I wrote earlier, they probably accepted what they were told without question as the doctor was higher on the social ladder and therefore knew better and had to be obeyed.

Yes. It seems that in Thailand some places, not all it seems from the comments, demand an overnight stay as a money-making scheme. Or, as some suggest, a precaution. I've had friends who have not needed an overnight stay in the UK and NZ, and Google shows not one link that I've found that says a stay is necessary. In Thailand, as so often, different rules apply. I'm resigned to having to play the game by their rules.

Aren't we going off-topic here? Funny from a moderator :)

Thanks but, as I wrote, I'm in Kalasin.

More excellent reporting from The Thaiger, from the usual culprit.

Why do you want to see the video?

I'm not sure. There are two private hospitals in Kalasin, and the older one is the one I went to. The new one is probably more expensive. The government hospital as well as the private one I went to quoted 25,000.

There's little point in arguing with them. It's just a money-making scam but I would have to return to be checked anyway. Whether that is usually the next day or in two weeks isn't clear as people's experience has varied. It's only 1700 for a private room, but I expect to be bored senseless.

Why? The Phuket Express has decided not to share this footage however as it depicts animal sexual abuse and may upset many readers Not you, obviously.

There's actually a big quite new private hospital in Kalasin which my doctor might have 'forgotten' to mention as it's a rival to her place. I'll check it.

Thanks for this. The private doctor at Kalasin did say I'd need to go to KK and as that would be a 250km round trip I was hoping to avoid that. Seems not. But I'll get the cataracts done first as the glaucoma is something of a 'slow burner'.

Sounds like good advice, but finding anyone to do that in Thailand might be a challenge, especially in the NE region.

Your post is interesting. The first diagnosis (that I have glaucoma) was after the people gathered for the doctor were given an eye drop first while they waited. That didn't happen with the second doctor (who said I don't have glaucoma) and who certainly gave the impression that speed was of the utmost importance and accuracy a distant second. So I'll go with I have it.

It appears to be the policy in the UK to go very gently with asylum seekers (read illegal immigrants). Only recently there was a case of someone granted asylum despite committing sexual assault while under consideration. WHY! Then he attacked his former partner and her daughter with a corrosive liquid which severely injured her - and him too because he was an idiot - and he saved everyone a lot of trouble by jumping into the Thames and drowning himself.