Doctors’ clinics closing down

[Guderian]

When I first moved here 15 years ago I used Dr. Sawadeepong opposite the Camelot Hotel for minor problems like infections. Around 6 or 7 years ago I thought he was getting too expensive and seemed more interested in options trading on his laptop than in listening to my ailments, so I went to see Dr. Chanvit just down the road opposite Soi 18. Good doctors, reasonable prices, and not far from where I live.

So this morning I had a wax buildup in my ear after a minor infection and knew that it needed syringing. Off I went to Dr. Chanvit’s clinic only to find that it’s now a chicken noodle shop. I asked next door what happened and they said she’d finished. OK, I said I’d just pop up the road to Dr. Sawadeepong’s clinic instead, but was told that he’s closed down too.

The helpful person in the shop pointed me to another clinic just the other side of Soi 16 where I got the wax removed successfully, but I was the only patient there so they weren’t exactly busy on a Saturday morning.

Is general medicine becoming so unprofitable in Pattaya now that the doctors are all shutting up shop? Or is it because sales of Viagra and Cialis are being affected by cheap generics that they can no longer make a living?

I used the doctor opposite Food Mart in Jomtien once, but wasn't impressed, I’ve no idea if his clinic is still open.

And a final question – if you had to have the compulsory health insurance including 40K Baht for OP, would it only cover you for treatment as an OP in a hospital, or could you claim back the costs for visiting a clinic too?

[moonseeker]

Making the same experience. Several Dr. s I knew mentioned Pattaya was not what it used to be. Dealing with often rude and cheap foreigners became more and more of a nuisance and they would move upcountry or work full-time in a hospital Certainly the drop in foreigners might factor in. Who knows? Still plenty of dentists around... MS>

[lopburi3]

Doctors normally work from hospitals in Thailand (although Chiang Mai seems to have more outside clinics) as doctors tend to be specialists so large hospitals settings allows that format.  There are more dental clinics but larger ones will also be specialists.  

[Guderian]

15 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Doctors normally work from hospitals in Thailand (although Chiang Mai seems to have more outside clinics) as doctors tend to be specialists so large hospitals settings allows that format.  There are more dental clinics but larger ones will also be specialists.  

Yes, that's true for specialists, but general practitioners are what I'm referring to. These doctors own their practices and are there most hours of the day, so if they're moonlighting anywhere else it's for very short periods. Pattaya used to have many of these clinics, a lot located near Walking Street for obvious reasons, selling ED medicines and offering checks for STD's and AIDS. Many people, though, including Thais and myself, use them for diagnosing and treating minor ailments. The doctors are kosher, Dr. Chanvit had her degree from Mahidol university hanging on the wall, for example, which I gather is one of the better universities in Thailand. This is where her clinic was for those not familiar with it, the small place in the middle of the photo, to the left of the hardware store.

 

 

Maybe with the slow demise of the Western sex tourist the market for their previous core services is no longer there?

Maybe with Pattaya City hospital opening on Soi Buakhao a few years ago more people are going there now rather than to the clinics? I'm registered there and have used it a few times, but the waiting times are the killer as it always seems very busy. Usually you can just walk straight into the general clinics and you're seen to on the spot, as happened to me yesterday, no queuing. The other thing I didn't like at the hospital was that in the case of injuries, you see a doctor and are then told to see the paramedics in the emergency room. These guys are good at what they do, but they're not doctors and a different one might dress yourwound every time. It was obvious to me that they were missing something (too much detail to go into here) and the wound wasn't healing. So I went back to see Dr. Chanvit at her clinic and she dressed it properly, taking account of what I'd told her, and the next day it was healing properly. Nurses and paramedics are all well and good, but personally I prefer to be treated by a qualified doctor.

[lopburi3]

2 minutes ago, Guderian said:

selling ED medicines and offering checks for STD's and AIDS.

GP is not something most qualified doctors would want - almost unknown here.  Most such clinics with full time doctors would not be considered a place to obtain qualified medical care beyond cold pills or a bandage.  Yes there are exceptions and can not speak for places you mention - but they are definitely the exception and most such exceptions are part time after hour type clinics that have government hospital specialist doctors working.  

[Guderian]

1 hour ago, lopburi3 said:

GP is not something most qualified doctors would want - almost unknown here.  Most such clinics with full time doctors would not be considered a place to obtain qualified medical care beyond cold pills or a bandage.  Yes there are exceptions and can not speak for places you mention - but they are definitely the exception and most such exceptions are part time after hour type clinics that have government hospital specialist doctors working.  

 

It must be a part of Pattaya's unique charm, then, lol. And as it loses its 'traditional attractions' so it will lose its GP clinics, it seems.

 

It's a pity as I like this system, with hardly any waiting time, reasonable costs and decent doctors. I'll happily pay to have minor stuff sorted out in Thailand rather than queue and wait and jump through the NHS's hoops to get it done free back in the UK.

[lopburi3]

You can visit any hospital for treatment - does not have to be expensive - even use a government hospital (although registration you may want a Thai speaker) once done most doctors will speak good enough english and not be any more expensive than a roadside clinic.  

[Guderian]

1 hour ago, lopburi3 said:

You can visit any hospital for treatment - does not have to be expensive - even use a government hospital (although registration you may want a Thai speaker) once done most doctors will speak good enough english and not be any more expensive than a roadside clinic.  

I'm registered at Pattaya City hospital, as I mentioned, which is a government hospital. I think it's a flat fee of 500 Baht to see a doctor, and then extra for medication and treatment/scans/etc. So a bit more expensive than seeing a GP in a clinic, but not too much. It's the waiting times at the government hospitals that put me off. As I said, at a GP clinic in Pattaya you might have to wait for one or even two patients ahead of you, but usually I just walk straight in and get seen to, there's no queue these days. Waiting time at Pattaya City hospital on the couple of occasions I've been there has been well over an hour, and that's probably the best government hospital around these parts for 'short queues'. 

[lopburi3]

Understand not wanting to wait but in our experience anything more than providing pills (often not indicated for condition) or changing a bandage the clinics will advise to visit hospital.  Just no faith at all - and this has been confirmed by other doctors when they found what had been provided to me years ago.  But as said if you find a good doctor it can make all the difference, regardless of setting.  But clinics often have no testing ability.

[Guderian]

1 hour ago, lopburi3 said:

Understand not wanting to wait but in our experience anything more than providing pills (often not indicated for condition) or changing a bandage the clinics will advise to visit hospital.  Just no faith at all - and this has been confirmed by other doctors when they found what had been provided to me years ago.  But as said if you find a good doctor it can make all the difference, regardless of setting.  But clinics often have no testing ability.

 

The people who use these places aren't looking for a heart transplant, as long as the doctors have a medical degree from a decent university they should be up to dealing with minor infections, cuts, aches and pains, which is all that a lot of people are looking for. No testing ability isn't a huge issue as we have an excellent blood lab nearby which is cheap as chips. I've often checked things there just for fun because it's so cheap, compared with spending hundreds of pounds back in the UK to have it done privately, or else being told by an NHS doctor that you don't need it. For more elaborate testing I'd go to a hospital in the first place. I need to get a USS done, for instance, so I'll go straight to Bangkok Hospital for that.

 

My only concern with prescriptions is that they never check for interactions with medicines you're already taking, but that's also true of doctors in the best International hospitals too, at least in my experience.

 

One issue I had with the clinic in Jomtien by Food Mart was that the doctor referred me unnecessarily to a mate of his in a private hospital. He'd phoned him up to check on the price and I'm pretty sure he was looking forward to his cut from the procedure. As I said earlier on, I haven't used that clinic since and don't even know if it's still there.

 

You learn something new every day, anyway, I'd assumed that these small GP clinics were a fixture in all towns across the country, but from what you say it seems not.

[ChipButty]

I noticed in Phuket International last month had to go there about 4 days on the trot it's really quiet nobody sitting around waiting

[D M G]

Dr. Chanvit show up anywhere?

 

????

[Guderian]

13 hours ago, D M G said:

Dr. Chanvit show up anywhere?

 

????

 

Retired and gone home a long time ago I was told. I ended up going to the clinic down the road in the row of shophouses just after Soi 16 and Marine Plaza. They sorted me out but I missed Dr. Chanvit's cheery banter. The next time I needed a quack I tried a clinic close to my home, but that was useless, the doctor hardly spoke any English and made a right old cobblers of things. I've also used Pattaya City Hospital but it costs 500 Baht just to see a doctor and you might have to queue for a long time. I'd far sooner pay 400 Baht to see a doctor in a private clinic there and then. Dr. Olivier's clinic isn't far away (almost next door to my accountants, as it happens) so I might try that the next time, though I heard that he's expensive.

[steve187]

On 11/10/2019 at 10:49 AM, lopburi3 said:

GP is not something most qualified doctors would want - almost unknown here.  Most such clinics with full time doctors would not be considered a place to obtain qualified medical care beyond cold pills or a bandage.  Yes there are exceptions and can not speak for places you mention - but they are definitely the exception and most such exceptions are part time after hour type clinics that have government hospital specialist doctors working.  

i think you are wrong there, lots of good non hospital clinics, my first port of call with a complaint that could not be dealt with by a pharmacy, hospitals for emergencies and for serious complaints.

[Rimmer]

Two year old topic

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