Thai Tourism: "Half of foreigners" don't pay their hospital bills; director points finger at three nationalities

[webfact]

Thai Tourism: "Half of foreigners" don't pay their hospital bills; director points finger at three nationalities 

 

File photo

 

Thai media Prachachat posted a report about the growing problem of tourists in Thailand and other parts of Asia leaving without paying their hospital bills. 

 

One major hospital director in Phuket has even said 50% of tourists leave Thailand without paying up. 

 

Efforts to recover the money through authorities like embassies have proved hopeless. And he pointed the finger at three nationalities who visit his hospital for treatment the most with many leaving their bills behind.

 

Now there are increasing calls for not just people retiring in Thailand to have insurance but tourists too. The media said many other parts of Asia are in the same boat and South Korea has already changed its rules. 

 

Prachachat said that huge increases in tourism across Asia - with governments driving growth in the sector - have brought substantial problems for hospitals. 

 

Tourists were a burden on the health system, they said, and Thailand was no different. 

 

From October 2018 to September 2019 448 million in bills went unpaid. 

 

Phuket - with an annual 14 million tourists visiting - was very badly hit in this. 

 

Vachira Hospital, the largest in Phuket, treated 9,000 foreigners over the last year. Most of them were Russian, Chinese and French, said hospital director Dr Chalermpong Sukhonthaphon.

 

And half of all patients left without paying their bills.

 

Dr Chalermpong said that the leading reasons tourists sought treatment at Vachira were after injuries during water sports, motorcycle accidents and attack by animals. 

 

He said the hospital had tried everything they could to get their money including contacting relatives living in Thailand and going to the embassies concerned. 

 

This had largely proved fruitless. 

 

The media said that Japan and South Korea in particular are getting trouble from increased tourism and cited comments made in the Nikkei Asian Review. 

 

They said that South Korea had recently brought in compulsory insurance for visitors staying more than 6 months. 

 

Regarding Thailand they said that some long term visitors, especially retirees, are now being asked to show proof of insurance but the time may well be coming when all tourists will have to have travel insurance when visiting the kingdom.

 

 

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[BritManToo]

9 minutes ago, webfact said:

but the time may well be coming when all tourists will have to have travel insurance when visiting the kingdom.

Result = almost no tourists.

 

I do wonder how the 9,000 foreigners treated over the last year causes 448 Million in bills to be unpaid.

Even if we're talking 10x the normal billing for foreigners.

 

[darksidedog]

While I agree wholeheartedly that anyone who uses a hospital should pay their bill, I think a major point is being overlooked. Tourism generates billions of dollars for the economy. Tourism is also by all accounts other than TAT in sharp decline. That number may well reduce further if every tourist has to pay out for an insurance policy, which may or may not cover problems they encounter. Maybe they should weigh the 448 million baht against the potential tens of billions they might lose.

[Samui Bodoh]

How to deal with this issue:

 

1. Add 100 Baht to each plane ticket.

 

OR

 

2. Make it difficult, bureaucratic, nonsensical, stupid and unintelligible in order to make every visitor angry.

 

Which do you think will be chosen?

 

 

[Seismic]

Seriously, Adding insurance to your exotic overseas trip is not that expensive. I doubt it will put a dent in tourist numbers, after all scams, ripoffs, unsolved crimes, and the huge numbers of sick buffalo's do not seem to have done much to those numbers.

[Isaanbiker]

8 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Result = almost no tourists.

 

I do wonder how the 9,000 foreigners treated over the last year causes 448 Million in bills to be unpaid.

Even if we're talking 10x the normal billing for foreigners.

 

That's an average of 50,000 baht for each foreigner. Land of Lies?

 

I had a chat with a Thai doctor from Sapphasit/Ubon R, but he said something totally different.

 

  The majority were from neighboring countries like Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. 

[metempsychotic]

having worked in and arounds healthcare for over 10 years in thailand, this is utter dross. run away rates are far lower than that.

these numbers have to be down to poor management and process.

 

if a customer is treated and billed efficiently, there is not time to consider running away.

if it is taking half the day to come up with a bill, people simply wont wait around.

 

something as simple as taking card information at registration stops runaways dead.

 

[Isaanbiker]

2 minutes ago, metempsychotic said:

having worked in and arounds healthcare for over 10 years in thailand, this is utter dross. run away rates are far lower than that.

these numbers have to be down to poor management and process.

 

if a customer is treated and billed efficiently, there is not time to consider running away.

if it is taking half the day to come up with a bill, people simply wont wait around.

 

something as simple as taking card information at registration stops runaways dead.

 

Plus, they usually take foreigner's passports away to make them pay for their bills.

 

I'm volunteering for an organisation that helps certain nationals in emergency situations and this statement doesn't fit with the cases I am aware of. 

[metempsychotic]

10 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Result = almost no tourists.

 

I do wonder how the 9,000 foreigners treated over the last year causes 448 Million in bills to be unpaid.

Even if we're talking 10x the normal billing for foreigners.

 

9000 people treated at a singe hospital, 448 million in unpaid bills countrywide.

[cmsally]

Quote

water sports, motorcycle accidents and attack by animals. 

Simply make it compulsory for those hiring motorbikes and doing watersports to purchase appropriate insurance when they hire the service in question. "attack by animals" ??!! don't know what to think about this one , is it by any chance stray dogs? In which case it is the municipalities job to sort out.

[Isaanbiker]

Just now, cmsally said:

Simply make it compulsory for those hiring motorbikes and doing watersports to purchase appropriate insurance when they hire the service in question. "attack by animals" ??!! don't know what to think about this one , is it by any chance stray dogs? In which case it is the municipalities job to sort out.

I was attacked by five animals when one of these animals said something very unpleasant to me. 

[Sheryl]

I think these are mostly serious emergency cases including ones who ultimately die  after long stays in ICU.  Not easy to collect from those.

 

An average of 50k per patient is more than believable. Many individual bills will have exceeded 1 million.

 

Certainly tourists should have travel insurance that includes emergency medical before coming here. The problem is the l9gistics of trying to enforce that.

 

And what sort of hare brained onerous  impractical scheme govt might concoct in the regard to the problem,  based on what we have witnessed for retirees.

[colinneil]

Well at least it is other nationalities, ie Russian/ French and Chinese not paying their bills, for once British folk not being blamed.

I think Khun Chalermpong is telling porkies about so many bills not being paid.

On my last hospital stay here, an admin worker came to my bed side requesting the bill be settled promptly. yet i am covered by insurance, my wife only has to sign the papers, still this man was adamant i paid up, maybe he was scared i did a runner.

[Misterwhisper]

24 minutes ago, webfact said:

Russian, Chinese and French

How hilarious! Two of the three named nationalities are exactly the ones the tourism authorities want to attract in ever larger numbers.

[Jessoro]

Just make it compulsory for travel insurance like other European countries 

[ivor bigun]

Every time i use the hospital the bill has to be paid upfront and i have cards for the hospital been going there for years

[FarangULong]

26 minutes ago, Seismic said:

Seriously, Adding insurance to your exotic overseas trip is not that expensive. I doubt it will put a dent in tourist numbers, after all scams, ripoffs, unsolved crimes, and the huge numbers of sick buffalo's do not seem to have done much to those numbers.

Anyone with a half decent credit card already has travel insurance. I do with both of mine (even though the insurance on my main card is more than enough, as it includes everything incl. being flown home in a medical plane, if needed). Problem solved. And if someone doesn't even qualify for a credit card, maybe they shouldn't be travelling and get their life in order instead.

 

On a side note, when I read "3 nationalities", I immediately thought: "Gee, let's see. I'll go with Chinese and probably Russian." French does, admittedly, surprise me though.

[edwinchester]

448,000,000 bht million owed. 35,000,000 tourists.

That is 12.8 bht per tourist.

Charge 25 bht each on entry and make a near half million bht profit.....simple.

[allencraig]

I'm surprised no one has questioned the validity of "half of all foreigners are not paying their hospital bills." HALF? Of all foreigners who come to Thailand and visit a hospital? Really? I find that statistic very hard to believe.

[ThomasThBKK]

Absolute irrelevant numbers, how much profit has been made at the same time in said hospitals? 

 

 

Also i call bs on the half of all foreigners dont pay bill <deleted>, hilarious lie.

[Swimfan]

???? 

[fforest1]

LIES AND MORE LIES....

 

We know they are lying they know they are lying but they just keep on LYING ....

 

They make bloody sure farangs pay.... Virtually no farang can leave a hospital with out paying....

 

But the lies are needed to institute the mandatory Thai insurance scam... 

[Swimfan]

11 minutes ago, edwinchester said:

448,000,000 bht million owed. 35,000,000 tourists.

That is 12.8 bht per tourist.

Charge 25 bht each on entry and make a near half million bht profit.....simple.

The official figures are 39 million ????

[zydeco]

55 minutes ago, webfact said:

Vachira Hospital, the largest in Phuket, treated 9,000 foreigners over the last year. Most of them were Russian, Chinese and French, said hospital director Dr Chalermpong Sukhonthaphon.

So force primarily the Americans, British, and Australians to get sham insurance policies that will never pay into the hospitals anyway.

[edwinchester]

2 minutes ago, Swimfan said:

The official figures are 39 million ????

Then only 11.5 bht per tourist so even more profit from a 25 bht levy.

[murphya33]

57 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Result = almost no tourists.

 

I do wonder how the 9,000 foreigners treated over the last year causes 448 Million in bills to be unpaid.

Even if we're talking 10x the normal billing for foreigners.

 

My understanding is that its 9000 foreigners just for one hospital in Phuket. The 448 million figure is for the whole of Thailand.

[CNXexpat]

59 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I do wonder how the 9,000 foreigners treated over the last year causes 448 Million in bills to be unpaid.

Even if we're talking 10x the normal billing for foreigners.

47 minutes ago, metempsychotic said:

9000 people treated at a singe hospital, 448 million in unpaid bills countrywide.

Yes, that´s what I think too.

 

 

[Momofarang]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Vachira Hospital, the largest in Phuket, treated 9,000 foreigners over the last year. Most of them were Russian, Chinese and French, said hospital director Dr Chalermpong Sukhonthaphon.

Funny I expected the French to be in that lot. Kind of a national sport. Don't call me French basher, it is based on 60 years of observation as I am French but of a German mum...

[ToddinChonburi]

Funny after a motorbike accident my friend had to pay 20,000 cash to be admitted then use credit card for surgery. 

[CLS]

Makes 11 baht per tourist. Get real and solve this country’s urgent problems first.