charged as a tourist at Pattaya City (Buakhow) hospital despite work permit

[tgw]

34 minutes ago, BigStar said:

Though Pattaya City charged you as a tourist, were the charges still significantly less than you'd have paid at a private hsp?

 

I plan to try my pink ID there at some point. I already registered with it.

the doctor was affordable (500 baht), but the meds carried outrageous prices that would be illegal in other countries.

they wanted 9000+ baht for 30 days of zolpidem, losartan and nebivolol.

Zolpidem costs about 250 baht in Switzerland (normal list price, not a discounted price), 28 losartan are about 450 baht and 30 nebivolol about 400 baht.

so we are at 1100 baht in the most expensive country on this side of Alpha Centauri vs. over 9000 baht in Thailand. ridiculous.

 

 

[sapson]

4 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Verify with the agency if you are covered under SS (and if so, what hospital they "assigned" you to, which you may wish to change). If it turns out you are not,  then should contact SS head office and complain.

This was all in the past, all agency employees worked at government schools and were given basic medical insurance cover under the agency group policy.

 

Although paying monthly tax deductions no mention of social security cover which would have covered a major illness or bad accident unlike the agency insurance card which was however fine for all the minor routine stuff at a private hospital.

 

Maybe a loop hole but was under the impression if you were employed and paid tax you had automatic SS cover under Thai labour laws.

[tonray]

19 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

Most people working here, except those employed by private schools, will be under the SS scheme.

 

Teachers at private schools get the short end of the stick on this as most schools opt not to participate in SS and instead offer private insurance of such low level cover as to be worthless.

 

 

And many teachers at government schools actually work for an agency which is registered as a private school, thereby negating the need for insurance coverage. The government schools are well aware of this and allow it to happen year after year.

[BigStar]

11 hours ago, tgw said:

the doctor was affordable (500 baht), but the meds carried outrageous prices that would be illegal in other countries.

they wanted 9000+ baht for 30 days of zolpidem, losartan and nebivolol.

Zolpidem costs about 250 baht in Switzerland (normal list price, not a discounted price), 28 losartan are about 450 baht and 30 nebivolol about 400 baht.

so we are at 1100 baht in the most expensive country on this side of Alpha Centauri vs. over 9000 baht in Thailand. ridiculous.

 

Good to know. Sounds doable as an alternative to, say, Pattaya Memorial as the closest pvt hsp. You'd avoid buying the meds from either then. It was not very crowded when I went in to register myself.

 

Now if you have Thai SS, you can't use it for free care at Pattaya City, as it's not on the list of approved hsps from which you may select around here--only Sirikit in Sattahip and Queen Sawang Vadhana in Sriricha. Neither of those better-equipped hsps would refer you to Pattaya City. You might well get Thai prices across the board at Pattaya City, though. Maybe somebody here knows for sure . . . .

[bert bloggs]

21 hours ago, TheFreqFlyer said:

Get some kind of expat or employer provided policy and use private hospitals only. Public hospitals are horrible. Overcrowded, typically third world. Avoid like the plague. 

not all i can assure you

[Sheryl]

11 hours ago, sapson said:

This was all in the past, all agency employees worked at government schools and were given basic medical insurance cover under the agency group policy.

 

Although paying monthly tax deductions no mention of social security cover which would have covered a major illness or bad accident unlike the agency insurance card which was however fine for all the minor routine stuff at a private hospital.

 

Maybe a loop hole but was under the impression if you were employed and paid tax you had automatic SS cover under Thai labour laws.

You have to be enrolled in SS and have SS deductions taken out of your salary (not same as regular tax).

 

By law all employees other than those working at a private school must be enrolled.

 

From what @Tonray says it seems that these Agencies may have (wrongly) registered themselves as private schools.

 

Someone should challenge this legally.

[tgw]

22 hours ago, TheFreqFlyer said:

Get some kind of expat or employer provided policy and use private hospitals only. Public hospitals are horrible. Overcrowded, typically third world. Avoid like the plague. 

this is nonsense.

while I wouldn't opt for a public hospital for complicated procedures, most are perfectly adequate for standard treatments, and certainly for getting the monthly or bi-monthly fill of medicine.

[tgw]

17 hours ago, Sheryl said:

If employed by an agency that sends you to government schools you should be under the SS scheme. They can also provide private insurance if they want, but enrollment in SS is mandatory and they should be deducting from your salary accordingly. The SS exception is only for private schools.

 

Verify with the agency if you are covered under SS (and if so, what hospital they "assigned" you to, which you may wish to change). If it turns out you are not,  then should contact SS head office and complain.

the plot thickens.

 

many people I talk to say "cannot" but are unable to provide proof in form of a law, regulation or ministerial directive saying employed directors and shareholders are excluded from SS.

(this also wouldn't make much sense, because it's quite common for businesspersons to be an employee of one or more companies and hold directorships and/or shares in others)

 

the attached brochure from SS says owners of sole proprietorships are excluded, but there is no mention of limited companies and other companies by shares.

 

consider the following text:

3. A copy of the work permit and a copy of the passport, or a copy of the work
permit and a copy of the alien certificate or Non-Thai ID card (pink card) for
cases in which the insured is an alien must be submitted.
** For cases in which the business is a sole proprietorship, the business owner
who is the employer cannot register as an insured person. **

 

so my guess here is that regulations are misunderstood by SS staff.

 

I'll keep the forum posted.

 

 

45e217178d3833079890a2541305fc78.pdf e7ac89a170da1bcfe9d254ce91d4556e.pdf

Edited October 8, 2020 by tgw

[Sheryl]

55 minutes ago, tgw said:

this is nonsense.

while I wouldn't opt for a public hospital for complicated procedures, most are perfectly adequate for standard treatments, and certainly for getting the monthly or bi-monthly fill of medicine.

 

Tertiary level government hospitals are fine for complicated procedures and indeed the top ones are usually the first in Thailand to introduce new technologies.

 

Quality of care in government hospitals that are provincial level or higher is usually fine and in many respects better than that in private ones especially when it comes to unnecessary treatments/procedures.

 

However conditions are very crowded and often uncomfortable and doctors rushed with little time to talk, and English speaking is generally non existant among nursing and admin staff and can also be limited among the doctors, especially in rural hospitals.