Palliative Care in Bangkok

[John_Betong]

A Thai-Chinese friend of mine is currently staying in a Bangkok Hospital with his Thai sleep-in helper.

 

His family live abroad and not familiar with Bangkok palliative care and opted for a rather expensive private ward.

 

As you can well imagine this will rapidly drain finances and curious to know of any less expensive alternatives.

 

I have searched and only found proposals, seems as though it is left up to families.

 

[RJRS1301]

Ihope Sheryl * the guru of things medical) reads your quation

[lopburi3]

Stay is in a private or government hospital currently?  Is helper a family member or paid off duty nurse?  If paying for a private room in a government hospital helper would be required and costs will indeed add up even with the relatively low price of room itself (about hotel cost).  That said do not believe there is any hospice type facilities here although there are several nursing homes that might fit but may not be any cheaper.  If able to use a general ward it might help.  Most such care is done by family here unless medical condition requires hospital stay.  As said Sheryl should be able to advise better.

[Sheryl]

As there is no such thing as a private ward I assume you mean private room?

 

In what hospital?

 

What is his diagnosis/ what type of palliative care does he need?

 

There are no proper  hospices in Thailand. Palliative care such as it is, is  delivered in genetal hospitals. It helps to be under the primary care of a palluative specialist but there are only a few of them in the country.

 

Is it all possible to get him back to his own country? Even with medical escort may cost less then a prolonged hospitalization here and  he may stand a better chance of gwtying proper palluation.

[John_Betong]

My friend is 74, Thai, emigrated to USA when he was about 20. Returned and retired here about 12 years ago. About five years ago Parkinsons Disease worsened and he became wheelchair bound. 

 

For a long time he had a Thai girlfriend who took care of him, she left about three months ago and was replaced with a live-in Thai lady. 

 

His condition has deteriorated and now requires feeding, etc. A sibling has arranged for the private room in St Louis Hospital, Sathorn along with another paid Thai helper.

 

Most of his family permanently live abroad and none are familiar with appropriate Bangkok's medical and care facilities.

 

I was hoping Bangkok has similar facilities to UK for catering for old and infirm people. 

[lopburi3]

1 hour ago, John_Betong said:

I was hoping Bangkok has similar facilities to UK for catering for old and infirm people. 

Nothing like in the West - here it is almost always family provided at home until hospital stay required and then government hospitals are often used.  A few private facilities have started to develop in recent years but most have been designed for foreigners at high prices at tourist locations.  Know there are one or two Thai nursing homes on Chok Chai 4 now and believe reasonable cost if you Google and know there is a large facility closer to central Bangkok.  

If requirements can be met by paid nursing care perhaps an inexpensive rental would be cost effective as room for him/helper could likely be found for about 5,000 baht per month (and expect that would be much less than hospital room).  

[lopburi3]

1 hour ago, John_Betong said:

My friend is 74, Thai, emigrated to USA when he was about 20. Returned and retired here about 12 years ago. About five years ago Parkinsons Disease worsened and he became wheelchair bound. 

Do you know if he currently has Thai citizenship?  Expect he may have given it up at some point but if he has now should help with future bills and allow free use of government facilities.

[Sheryl]

7 hours ago, John_Betong said:

My friend is 74, Thai, emigrated to USA when he was about 20. Returned and retired here about 12 years ago. About five years ago Parkinsons Disease worsened and he became wheelchair bound. 

 

For a long time he had a Thai girlfriend who took care of him, she left about three months ago and was replaced with a live-in Thai lady. 

 

His condition has deteriorated and now requires feeding, etc. A sibling has arranged for the private room in St Louis Hospital, Sathorn along with another paid Thai helper.

 

Most of his family permanently live abroad and none are familiar with appropriate Bangkok's medical and care facilities.

 

I was hoping Bangkok has similar facilities to UK for catering for old and infirm people. 

 

While Thai citizenship would qualify him for free care, government services frankly do nto offer much OK UNLESS he is still at apoibnt where things like EBS implant or medication tweaking can help...in which case by far the best place is the Movement Clinic at Siriraj Hospital.

 

I had though what you meant by palliative care was severe pain management (as in end stage cancer) and terminal care, now sounds more like he needs a nursing home type of arrangement which is easier to come by here though nto from the government.

 

There are nursing homes here, some of the pretty good and certainly less expensive than care in a private hospital (which St Louis is, albeit a non-profit one)

 

By far the best is McKean up in Chiang Mai and while that is far, he would not be the first person transferred by ambulance there from Bangkok

 

https://mckean.or.th/

 

They offer everything from skilled nursing to assisted living. Residents are a mixture of farang and Thai

 

There is a Christian background though they accept all faiths (and none) without prosletizing.  So not in it solely (or even primarily) for the money though they obviously have to meet their costs. I am n uotp to date on their rates, I know it varies by level of care required and type of room but even at the highest end it will compare favorably to what St Louis is going to cost. And as you realize there is no end in site for the care in St Louis i.e. he'll be there indefinitely unless/until  an alternative is identified.

 

in the Bangkok area this place has a good rep

 

http://www.goldenyears.co.th/en/

 

 

 

 

[Blossom1000]

Yes, I visited my friends' parents at http://www.goldenyears.co.th/en/ several times.  The location is in the heart of BKK.  I was impressed that they have good staff, clean facility, and wonderful services.  The old American guy was very weak in the beginning but he kept going stronger with routine PT on a daily basis.  The staff was top notched and the price was unbelievably cheap.  I pay more for copay here in USA than my friend paying for his father full price.  I cannot agree more with you on your recommendation.