Please advise for destinations for heart patients

[Duke of Earl]

Interested in your thoughts on where the safer places in Thailand and beyond might be for someone with heart issues. 

Near a hospital, sure, and preferably a government hospital as any expenses would paid cash (ineligible for decent insurance as a pre-existing).

 

Hoping that people who have given this thought will suggest safer nice places with clean air and accessible competent medical facilities in an emergency.

 

Hoping to get away from big cities. Do any of the islands have decent facilities near? Beaches south of Bangkok?

 

What about other places nearby, to be looked at or avoided? (Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia). 

 

All recommendations are greatly appreciated.

[Sheryl]

No, the islands do NOT have optimal health facilities. Nor do beaches south of Bangkok.

Bangkok and Chiang Mai are the best locales for medical care but neither has clean air.

Khon Kaen town (or not too far out of town) would be a possibility, good university hospital there. But a pretty quiet place to live. Most of the expats living there are married to Thais. I am not sure someone not in that situation would like it much.

Cambodia is out of the question, medical care is abyssmal.

Viet Nam has pretty good medical care in the major cities. I don't know about outside of cities though, suspect it would be quite a step down.

Malaydia has very good health care and might be your best bet. I can't provide any details on specific locations though.

Be aware that even getting care at a government hospital can run to quite a bit of money if you have a major illness event or accident requiring specialized surgeries and long ICU stays. Such can easily cost 1 million baht or more in Thailand. Less in Viet Nam. More in Malaysia.

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[Duke of Earl]

3 hours ago, Sheryl said:

No, the islands do NOT have optimal health facilities. Nor do beaches south of Bangkok.

Bangkok and Chiang Mai are the best locales for medical care but neither has clean air.

Thank you for the thoughtful reply.

Any thoughts on Phuket / Krabi area? Just looking at its position regarding the ocean, for cleaner air... Plus they seem popular so was hoping maybe good medical facilities.

Pattaya looks like it might have good positioning by the gulf too, and has a sizable population, although a reputation not interesting.

 

Thanks for the tips

[Sheryl]

P.S. there is also a good university hospital in Songkhla, far south of the country not far from Malaysian border. It's on the water so there are beaches. I am not very familuar with the area so can't give any more specifics but it might be possible to find something still within easy distance of the hospital with clean air and nearby beaches.

This is not any area where many Westerners live so may not have much that is geared to Western tastes.

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[Sheryl]

14 hours ago, Duke of Earl said:

Thank you for the thoughtful reply.

Any thoughts on Phuket / Krabi area? Just looking at its position regarding the ocean, for cleaner air... Plus they seem popular so was hoping maybe good medical facilities.

Pattaya looks like it might have good positioning by the gulf too, and has a sizable population, although a reputation not interesting.

 

Thanks for the tips

Facilities in Phuket are quite limited, even the private hospitals (which are very expensive) have limited range of specialists, and the government hospital there (Vachira) is only a provinicial level facility and pretty mediocre at best, to be frank.  In addition it seems to have instituted 2-tier pricing, charging foreigners more.  Krabi isn't much better.

 

The problem on all the islands and other really nice clean beach areas is that for Thais, these are podunk areas (small resident Thai populations, not provincial capitals etc) so do not rate very high level government facilities, and what has cropped up to meet tourist and resident foreigner needs are private hospitals is aimed at extracting maximum profit. More in the way of "fluff" (many lobbies, valet parking etc) than substance. It is hard to attract top doctors to these areas.

 

South of Pattaya, at Sattahip, there is a military (naval) hospital that is pretty good.  In Chonburi town, north of Pattaya there is a large hospital run by the Red Cross that is likewise pretty good. Neither of these are as good as can be found at tertiary level government hospitals in Bangkok or Chiang Mai, but they are better than your average upcountry government hospital. Note that in all government facilities, red tape abounds along with very long waits (in non-emergencies) and language barriers, are care is given by interns and residents in training.

 

The main government hospital in Chonburi town is a regional level facility, and would be the best governmental option in an emergency in that general area, but it is some ways from Pattaya - which in any case is very, very congested and urban and I doubt would fit your clean air etc criteria. The water is also not that clean.

 

You could try posting on the Pattaya forum for any suggestions of areas within say 30 minutes drive of Chonburi town that have clean air and see what you get. but this whole area is not the sort of beach/unspoiled nature that it sounds like you have in mind.

 

One advantage if you do settle around Chonburi is that you'll be only around 2 hours from Bangkok and for routine consultations could avail of top notch cardiologists there. A consultrtion at a private hospital won't cost more than 2,000 baht, it is hospitalization that gets very expensive. So you could be managed by a cardiologist at a private hospital in Bangkok (buying all medications at an outside pharmacy, not the hospital) and then use government hospital if hospitalization required. Even including travel time, quicker and easier than doing it at a government hospital and you can get a  Western-trained doctor used to Western expectations.

 

You could also post in the Eastern Thaiuland forum and ask about places within 30 minutes of Rayong, which also has a regional level government hospital.

 

 

[lopburi3]

15 hours ago, Sheryl said:

This is not any area where many Westerners live so may not have much that is geared to Western tastes.

Actually Songkhla has become a stopping off place for gas field workers and is a meca (along with Hat Yai) for Malaysian and Singapore tourists so western ways and English is very common even for signage.  But it is a very small city - but then again you seem to want that.  Hat Yai is the larger city and only a short share taxi ride away and has many western standards hotels and is transportation hub for Southern Thailand and offers all the facilities of any mid size Thai city.  Hat Yai itself has flooded in the not too distant past but normally water can make its way to the lake/sea and believe much safer from flooding now.  Songkhla city itself is quite small but has a few hotels and beaches are good - most people would have homes in and around Hat Yai.  Most of year good air but area is subject to the burning season smoke days (mostly from Indonesia).

 

[Sheryl]

Sounds good for him then. The hospital I was referring to is Prince of Songkhla University Hospital. It is a major government teaching hospital and would have excellent cardiologists. Maybe post in the southern Thailand forum for details on locations in and around Songkhla that are say within 30 minute drive of that hospital and see what you get.

[lopburi3]

Prince of Songkhla University/Songklanagarind Hospital is a huge area on the East side of Hat Yai city so anywhere in Hat Yai would be within 30 minutes - maybe 50 minutes from Songkhla Beach area.  I was very impressed with urologist who operated on me and he was educated at that facility.

https://www.bumrungrad.com/doctors/Charuspong-Dissaranan