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

[metisdead]

Some offensive troll posts and the replies have been removed. 

[Chazar]

15 hours ago, webfact said:

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

39  million tourists divide  by said  amount = 11  baht per  tourist OMG imagine  how much is  lost in CORRUPTION each year and they fret over 11  baht a tourist.................insert expletive here

[Chazar]

15 hours ago, webfact said:

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

39  million tourists divide  by said  amount = 11  baht per  tourist OMG imagine  how much is  lost in CORRUPTION each year and they fret over 11  baht a tourist.................insert expletive here

[Chazar]

15 hours ago, webfact said:

and attack by animals. 

and whose  frikking fault is that!

[Kf6vci]

13 hours ago, Is this real said:

The hospitals aren't losing money.  They've inflated all the charges made to non-Thais who can pay or have insurance that will.

The story of losing money on non-payers is told world wide.  Most is just plain bull.

I disagree. The government hospital extracting 2 teeth for what, (like 650 THB with meds and an xray included) cannot possible break even. The whole operation (buildings, staff, admin, nurses, painkillers, the dentist's salary and the equipment needs to be paid)! 

 

The true cost will be double or triple, JMHO.

 

But then, they could and should ask for an advance payment and settle up later. 

[Kf6vci]

10 hours ago, el jefe said:

I traveled through 13 European countries in the past year. Only one required travel insurance -- Belarus.
Please tell us which other European countries require tourists to have travel insurance and how do they check?

 

Germaney - (unless it's one of the undocumented Merkel Guests), they make it part of the VISA process AFAIKb

[Thian]

10 hours ago, el jefe said:

I traveled through 13 European countries in the past year. Only one required travel insurance -- Belarus.
Please tell us which other European countries require tourists to have travel insurance and how do they check?

 

My wife needs to show travelinsurance for the schengen visa or she won't get the visa.

[Prairieboy]

16 hours ago, webfact said:

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

That equates to ~7 baht per capita - hardly enough to cause panic!  (448/68=6.58 baht)

[LomSak27]

Last week two Chinese tourists died in a hospital after drowning in the Phuket surf, conveniently free of lifeguards thanks to the Phuket Province Government,.. A German was run over by para sail boat and chopped to death, again on Phuket.

 

I'm thinking they did not pay medical costs and their extended family may not either.  ????   Call me a cynic.

[alant]

This seems to say every on average each and every tourist has 10 billable hospital visits when they come to the country that is not paid. Plus one there are hospital visits from those that do pay. No wonder the hospitals are so busy.

[kaonoister]

My experience is that hospitals want do any treatment until payment is cleared. 

[RichardColeman]

I wonder how much of that debt was caused by Thai motorists or jealous thai men putting foreigners in hospitals ? If I was hit by an uninsured, drunk Thai driver or assaulted by a Thai then I'd refuse to pay and leave without paying too !

[ChipButty]

5 minutes ago, LomSak27 said:

Last week two Chinese tourists died in a hospital after drowning in the Phuket surf, conveniently free of lifeguards thanks to the Phuket Province Government,.. A German was run over by para sail boat and chopped to death, again on Phuket.

 

I'm thinking they did not pay medical costs and their extended family may not either.  ????   Call me a cynic.

I know somebody lying there in the fridge dead until the embassy get their ass into gear over what to do with the body 300 Baht a day rent

[Bangkokazy]

It's no wonder we don't pay hospitals. A patch on a screw wound 100,000 THB. which costs 750 THB local drug stores + some sympathy from the sales person.

[spidermike007]

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

 

And this is a crisis? That is $15 million. It is peanuts for these hospitals. It is a mere drop of water. My guess is that most private hospitals have a budget for unpaid bills, and after that is taken into account, hundreds of millions of dollars are being earned annually. As far as the public hospitals go, it means nothing for the feds to cover this amount. Tens of billions are being made from tourism.

 

Just more nationalistic, xenophobic, hateful ranting. No wonder ex-pats are leaving in droves, and Westerners have trickled down to a mere dribble. You get what you sow. 

[ChipButty]

6 minutes ago, alant said:

No wonder the hospitals are so busy.

Not all, I went to Phuket International yesterday it was dead and I had to go to a couple of different departments and quiet a walk between them the place was empty

[LomSak27]

Just now, ChipButty said:

I know somebody lying there in the fridge dead until the embassy get their ass into gear over what to do with the body 300 Baht a day rent

At a certain point they cremate. I'm sure there is a fee for that too.

[ChipButty]

3 minutes ago, car720 said:

When I owned travel agencies we were being paid 40% commission.  They rarely pay.

Who? rarely pay you get 40% commission from the hospital you mean?

[ChipButty]

1 minute ago, LomSak27 said:

At a certain point they cremate. I'm sure there is a fee for that too.

No doubt 

[legend49]

Another Muppet who calls himself a director ranting many unproven statements. If you cant manage your hospital then leave dont blame others for your failings.

[Nickymaster]

17 hours ago, darksidedog said:

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.

There is so much wrong with your logic.

 

So you are saying: Thailand makes a lot of money from tourism therefor they shouldn't complain when people don't pay their hospital bills. If you let them pay their bills they might not come to Thailand anymore.

 

I honestly expected more common sense from a moderator. Unbelievable.

[ChipButty]

Seems to me like he's been using TAT's calculator 

[metisdead]

A post containing language in violation of the following forum rule has been removed:

 

8.) You will not post disruptive or inflammatory messages, vulgarities, obscenities or profanities.

[melvinmelvin]

17 hours ago, Jessoro said:

Just make it compulsory for travel insurance like other European countries 

 

??? travel insurance compulsary in Europe ???

 

[faranghh]

I have lived in Thailand for 34 years and i would be quite happy to pay 100 Baht per month direct to the Hospital system or direct to my local hospital, or even add 1,200 baht per year to my visa extension cost to do this.

I feel this might help the hospitals without making a third party insurer make more profit and still refuse to pay at the end of the day.

[GalaxyMan]

1 minute ago, melvinmelvin said:

 

??? travel insurance compulsary in Europe ???

 

It is for a Thai traveling the EU. Just went through it with my wife when we made a trip to Portugal and Spain. They have to have PROOF of €30,000 worth of insurance.

[stigar]

thais who coming to norway NEED travel incurance.They have to shove it in immigration in airport.If they married to a norwegian goverment take care

[melvinmelvin]

16 minutes ago, LomSak27 said:

At a certain point they cremate. I'm sure there is a fee for that too.

 

why on earth should they cremate somebody for free?

[pookondee]

17 hours 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.

Granted, but there is the straw that broke the camels back analogy.

There now seems to be a perfect storm of multiple issues relating to people having had enough.

To thought of going through all the hoops and then the possibility of getting denied entry at the airport and sent back home is the cream on the cake.

[melvinmelvin]

1 minute ago, GalaxyMan said:

It is for a Thai traveling the EU. Just went through it with my wife when we made a trip to Portugal and Spain. They have to have PROOF of €30,000 worth of insurance.

well, the post I commented didn't say anything about Thais

 

fair enough, a Thai applying for a Schengen visa to visit the Schengen area must have insurance

don't know how it is for European countries outside Schengen, like UK for example

 

a Thai living in say Sweden, does, to my knowledge, not need insurance in order to visit Italy