Diarrhoea-hit family get Bt40,000 hospital bill after eating at “fine-dining” restaurant

[alien365]

Travel insurance or health insurance?

[GAZZPA]

7 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Nobody forced them to use private hospitals.

Would have cost them nothing at the local government hospital.

Or they could have purchased a packet of Loperamide (Imodium) for 20bht.

i would personally want to be checked out if i got food poisoning from something like sea urchins, or perhaps pork. Most food poisoning I am told gives you nothing more then an upset stomach, however some can be very nasty and possibly even fatal such as botulism. If it were anywhere but Thailand the restaurant would be investigated for food hygiene and health and safety standards. I often wonder how much food poisoning does go on when they lay out raw meat on a wooden table in markets with zero refrigeration and just a silly makeshift fan to keep the flies off. I once sat in an open air restaraunt with rats running around the floor in Bangkok, it was so bad i left, there was no way i was going eat there,,, 

[vermin on arrival]

6 minutes ago, musicscene said:

Do you get your Epsom salts in Thailand as I have not been able to find any after using the supply I brought with me from the Uk 

Yes, they have it here. There is a place on Ratchdamneon by Democracy Monument that makes it. Unfortunately, I tossed the box. I get mine at the local Green Corner here in BKK.

[Sheryl]

7 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Nobody forced them to use private hospitals.

Would have cost them nothing at the local government hospital.

Or they could have purchased a packet of Loperamide (Imodium) for 20bht.

 

Imodium would have been a very bad idea and could have made it worse

 

As to choice of hospital it is possible they are registered upcountry and so not eligible for free care in Bangkok

 

[digger70]

6 hours ago, cardinalblue said:

Why the attack on private hospital usage? If they can afford it, why go to a low level gov hospital with the commoners, long waits and stingy farangs...

 

and yes, those hospitals wrongly treat this illness with expensive drugs for profit when all what is needed is hydration...
 

diarrhea is a natural body response mechanism to rid the bug asap...proper and correct treatment is hydration and no expensive IV antibiotics needed for simple diarrhea...

 

county PH should follow up with an investigation of the restaurant....that’s their job and responsibility..   

 

 

So you're one of them Hi So Hobnobs that Looks Down on Us Normal people. 

You wait hobnob , Karma is on it's way. ????

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Imodium would have been a very bad idea and could have made it worse

As to choice of hospital it is possible they are registered upcountry and so not eligible for free care in Bangkok

I thought life threatening emergency was free at any government hospital?

 ....... and if it isn't life threatening, no point in going to hospital.

 

Anyway, even paying at a government hospital,

bed in a ward 500bht, antibiotics, 30bht, saline bags 10bht each, 50bht fee for being not registered.

Hard to see how 20k-40k could be clocked up in a day or two.

Edited July 30, 2020 by BritManToo

[Sheryl]

6 hours ago, Berkshire said:

This story doesn't make sense.  Everyone who's lived in Thailand long enough must have been hit with the diarrhea before, or some manner of food poisoning.  I certainly have, one time so severe that I had painful stomach cramps, fatigue, and diarrhea for days.  But I never bothered to go to the hospital and recovered.  So to pay 40,000 bt for diarrhea....bizarre.

 

Food poisoning can and sometimes does kill. It is not always something you can stay home with. From photo of woman taken by ambulance I infer this was severe causing significant hypotension. May have even needed ICU care for a ady.

 

the 40,000 was nto bill for one person but for several. 20,000 baht mentioned for the person who got ill first. Not at all unusual cost for a private hospital.

 

 

[MadMuhammad]

4 minutes ago, GAZZPA said:

i would personally want to be checked out if i got food poisoning from something like sea urchins, or perhaps pork. Most food poisoning I am told gives you nothing more then an upset stomach, however some can be very nasty and possibly even fatal such as botulism. If it were anywhere but Thailand the restaurant would be investigated for food hygiene and health and safety standards. I often wonder how much food poisoning does go on when they lay out raw meat on a wooden table in markets with zero refrigeration and just a silly makeshift fan to keep the flies off. I once sat in an open air restaraunt with rats running around the floor in Bangkok, it was so bad i left, there was no way i was going eat there,,, 

My symptoms just a couple of days ago were fever, joint pain, diarrhea, headache, lethargy, nausea and dehydration. I rode it out for 12hrs before giving in and going to hospital. The only thing I had eaten in the previous 12-16 hours was chicken and boiled spinach. Number 1 & 2 on the list lol

[Sheryl]

Just now, BritManToo said:

I thought life threatening emergency was free at at government hospital?

 ....... and if it isn't life threatening, no point in going to hospital.

 

Supposed to be, but enforcing that usually entails a biot of a battle and a call to the NHSO hotline. Many Thais are not even aware if that law and hospitals do bill everyone not registered there. There is no real system in place to indicate to billing offices that something was life threatening so everyone gets a bill and unless they know their rights and are prepared to argue the cse, they pay . I would say that the majority of people in that circumstance end up paying. Most Thais do nto even know that they legally should not have to.

[Bangkok Barry]

35 minutes ago, ukrules said:

Interesting, did they ever tell you exactly which type of food poisoning it was?

No, or at least my wife didn't pass it on if they did. I'm sure I got it from a savoury pastry in the THAI lounge in Bangkok, but Stickman removed the airline name due to the Thai laws designed to protect the guilty. I first felt the effects about two hours after eating, after landing in Khon Kaen, and it couldn't have been anything else as that's all I had that day.

[izod10]

7 hours ago, pixelaoffy said:

Sea food in Thai restaurants in Bangkok.   Leathal 

More than that..lethal      The lemon served up with seafood needs to be eaten too,fact is ask for second helping    kills the bacteria ingested

[Mac98]

Ate dinner at a popular restaurant connected to a must-see Bangkok attraction. Soon was violently ill, too ill to leave the hotel room. A call came in from a Thai lady I met who was working hotel reception in Pattaya. I was supposed to fly out to USA in the morning and she wanted to wish me farewell. Told her I was dying. She said she would call back. Within 20 minutes a doctor and nurse were in my room. An antiobotic drip and saline drip were hooked up, a shot, two packets of pills, and a bill for $100 and they were gone. By 4 a.m. I could be helped to a taxi. Three hours on the floor by the gate got me aboard, a short layover in Japan, and I was up and ordering dinner on my flight to SFO. But thinking back, it could have been bottled water from a street vendor, not the restaurant's fault. But the next year I was with a couple and we dined there. They got deathly  sick and I didn't. We ate the same food. Go figure!

Edited July 30, 2020 by Mac98
Spelling error

[izod10]

Two weeks ago,in Sauna,given jug of water with ice cubes. Took all of 5 or 6 minutes to feel nausea,then all hell ,both ends in action for 3 hours,5 days to recover.  Now only bottled water

[BritManToo]

6 minutes ago, Mac98 said:

But the next year I was with a couple and we dined there. They got deathly  sick and I didn't. We ate the same food. Go figure!

Like any disease, after you've had it, you acquire immunity.

My first year in Thailand I had terrible runs once a month, took antibiotics often.

Now hardly ever, and even on the rare occasion now, just for one poop.

[Senior Player]

I've used private hospitals in LOS on a number of occasions and before they give you any treatment or drugs of any kind, they always take you to see their finance department to see how much you're willing to pay and how you're going to pay. It's at this stage that you get to haggle over the bill. Before this process there's always a consultancy appointment by a specialist, which tends to be a standard fee, depending on whether you're a farrang or a Thai national the price can vary. 

 

I think the majority of us that have had a severe case of diarrhoea in Asia have never resorted to going to hospital for treatment, despite the pain or discomfort we've had. My own worse case was on a trip to Myanmar, which was either due to the fish I'd eaten or contaminated water. Fortunately, the hotel staff there were willing to go to a pharmacy and buy the Imodium for me, which I needed badly as I had a flight back to BKK the very next day. The golden rule is to drink plenty of bottled water so as not to become dehydrated. Regardless, the diarrhoea passed within a few days (I can't remember exactly how many) and I was back to normal.

Edited July 30, 2020 by Senior Player

[CGW]

1 hour ago, musicscene said:

Do you get your Epsom salts in Thailand as I have not been able to find any after using the supply I brought with me from the Uk 

Hard for me to find "food" grade in Thailand, I just order from Iherb.

[simtemple]

Basic toilet hygiene is an anathema to the Thai. One would hope that the good hygiene practices associated with covid 19 will carry through to restaurant kitchens. Trying to get Thai school children to learn good hygiene practices was like beating your head against a brick wall. 

[ravip]

5 hours ago, fraggleRock said:

My last outing in Bangkok fine dining put me in intensive care for nearly 2 weeks and 1.7 Million Bhat to boot, I never eat what I don’t cook myself and now cant wait for me repatriation flight home after 10 years being here ... A filthy country populated by filthy people... 

I am sure, many of your 'friends' that you are leaving are paying you the same compliments.

[Cranky]

Dose of the two-bob bits in Thailand is on a par with 'Hookers found on Walking Street' or 'Pick-up crash kills 12' in news value.  Not even sure what the story is; Buddha's revenge or a hospital rip-off cautionary tale.  

[kensisaket]

8 hours ago, bluesofa said:

 

I suppose they could take the Epsom Salts to pass the time away.

 

 

[Benmart]

9 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Nobody forced them to use private hospitals.

Would have cost them nothing at the local government hospital.

Or they could have purchased a packet of Loperamide (Imodium) for 20bht.

Amazing that you have such knowledge about this family and a remedy for an incident you most probably know only from a news article. 

[kensisaket]

"Would have gotten sick in less than 6 hours" has to be true; because, that's what everyone else who got sick from their food told them.

[whaleboneman]

9 hours ago, time2093 said:

As stool sample will get to the bottom of this mystery.

Certainly it would, but very dangerous to collect.

[DaftToPutRealName]

11 hours ago, Berkshire said:

This story doesn't make sense.  Everyone who's lived in Thailand long enough must have been hit with the diarrhea before, or some manner of food poisoning.  I certainly have, one time so severe that I had painful stomach cramps, fatigue, and diarrhea for days.  But I never bothered to go to the hospital and recovered.  So to pay 40,000 bt for diarrhea....bizarre.

Inlaws freak out every time they have a cold, sniffle or huff and want to shoot out to the hospital because it's "so serious".

The lack of education around medicine is astounding and I've first hand seen the private doctors go back for more and more "tests", "check ups" and "secondary biopsies" when they find out that someone in the family is rich.

[Timebandit]

15 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Nobody forced them to use private hospitals.

Would have cost them nothing at the local government hospital.

Or they could have purchased a packet of Loperamide (Imodium) for 20bht.

Imodium doesn’t cure anything. Just temporary relief.

[hotchilli]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

Diarrhoea-hit family get Bt40,000 hospital bill after eating at “fine-dining” restaurant

I guess with no foreigners to rip-off the doctors are looking for some domestic revenue.

If the medication didn't work the size of the bill would have got the desired movement.

[Don Mega]

20k is a lot for a trip to the hospital for a bout of food poisoning, did the person spend the night in ICU ?

[Booboo101]

I’ve lived here 12 years and had food poisoning twice , both times after seafood, it’s put me off for life now, I won’t touch it.

And I’m sure it’s all down to how it’s stored, certainly in the western world all fish and seafood is kept chilled at all times, here go to any night market or outside seafood restaurant and it’s sits there all evening on display, sat on a bit of ice with a 100w bulb lighting the display.......

and then at the end of the night when it hasn’t sold , where does it go ?

back in the freezer then brought out tomorrow night !

[BritManToo]

12 hours ago, musicscene said:

Do you get your Epsom salts in Thailand as I have not been able to find any after using the supply I brought with me from the Uk 

Cheap as chips on Lazada, 140bht/Kg

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/1-kg-epsoms-salt-magnesium-sulfate-i451514193-s834250241.html

[tomauasia]

20 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Nobody forced them to use private hospitals.

Would have cost them nothing at the local government hospital.

Or they could have purchased a packet of Loperamide (Imodium) for 20bht.

Correct