Bulk buying medicines

[clarky cat]

A found a pharmacy selling 2 separate medicines I take daily for nearly half the price I normally pay

 

Do pharmacies allow you to buy boxes at a time? Also, can these same OTC drugs be bought online cheaply (domestically)?

[connda]

Yes.  They allow you to buy boxes of medicine. Since the Covid panic I try to keep 3 to 4 months of medications that I take on hand. 
I started doing that after Chiang Mai province locked it's borders down against all dirty farangs who were assumed to all be nasty Covid-carriers.  Things have returned to a somewhat saner normalcy, but Thais do tend to target foreigners when the Covid fear-mongering cranks back up.
If the pharmacy doesn't have stock on hand then the ones I deal with with will order whatever amount you want.  And when you buy bulk you may be able to negotiate a discount.

You can contact @Sheryl about online sales.  I looked at links she provided once but I get better prices from the brick and mortar pharmacies I routinely use (if I'm not locked out of the province by paranoid governors that it).  Best of luck.

[Crossy]

My local pharmacy will happily sell me as much of the OTC stuff as they have in stock. You'll need to ask yours how much they will sell at once.

 

Never tried online pharmaceuticals.

 

[dddave]

I've had no issue buying full boxes of tablets packed in strips of 10.  Just don't expect a quantity discount. Most pharmacies will charge the per strip price X however many you are buying. 

ALWAYS open the box and count the strips inside.  Several times I've bought supposedly full boxes only to find it one or two strips short.  Sales clerks in busy shops might take a few out to sell to a customer, then put the box back on the shelf. 

 

I've found most online prices for pharmaceuticals in Thailand to be significantly higher than retail.  

Edited January 23, 2021 by dddave

[connda]

2 minutes ago, dddave said:

I've had no issue buying full boxes of tablets packed in strips of 10.  Just don't expect a quantity discount. Most pharmacies will charge the per strip price X however many you are buying.

 

I've found most online prices for pharmaceuticals in Thailand to be significantly higher than retail.  

I've found a lot of success in getting discounts by going around a obtaining prices for meds at a number of different pharmacies, then returning to the pharmacies with the quotes I obtain and ask them if they can give me a better discount.  So yeah, it really is worthwhile shopping around and then ask for competitive prices.  The smaller independent shops (as opposed to chains) will negotiate with you.  A lot of these pharmacies in Chiang Mai have been affected by the nose-dive in tourism so are happy to discount to obtain regular customers who would otherwise go to their competitors.

[Sheryl]

27 minutes ago, connda said:

Yes.  They allow you to buy boxes of medicine. Since the Covid panic I try to keep 3 to 4 months of medications that I take on hand. 
I started doing that after Chiang Mai province locked it's borders down against all dirty farangs who were assumed to all be nasty Covid-carriers.  Things have returned to a somewhat saner normalcy, but Thais do tend to target foreigners when the Covid fear-mongering cranks back up.
If the pharmacy doesn't have stock on hand then the ones I deal with with will order whatever amount you want.  And when you buy bulk you may be able to negotiate a discount.

You can contact @Sheryl about online sales.  I looked at links she provided once but I get better prices from the brick and mortar pharmacies I routinely use (if I'm not locked out of the province by paranoid governors that it).  Best of luck.

 

online prices (from pharmacies within Thailand) will not be cheaper than going to a pharmacy.

 

Buying direct fro ma distributor or manufacturer will be cheaper as no retail mark up, but only some are willing to sell direct to individuals (and then only if buying in bulk)

 

As others have said, no issue with buying large quantity from pharmacies. Back in the pre-COVID days (oh, nostalgia!) I commonly bought large number of boxes of Thai made meds to bring to friends and family in Cambodia. If the pharmacy does not have as much in stock as you want, just ask them to order it, they obviously already have an established supply chain.  You can also ask about possibility of a small discount for bulk purchase.

 

Buying in bulk, be aware of expiration dates and also be sure you can store in the right conditions (dry area that never goes above 30C but also never goes below say 15C and is protected from sunlight). Direct sunlight, exposure to excess humidity, and temperatures outside the 15-30 C range can adversely affect potency of medications especially during prolonged storage.

[ukrules]

2 hours ago, clarky cat said:

Do pharmacies allow you to buy boxes at a time?

Yes, I always buy a box, or a box of boxes.

 

You need to be careful about long term storage regarding temperatures.

 

Stocking up with a full years worth of anything is a good idea, then rotate it in and out of cold storage as needed.

 

Some things I keep in the fridge, I would prefer a fridge where I can set the temperature at around 17 / 18C - a 'wine fridge'.

 

Once day I'll get around to buying a 'wine fridge' which operates in that temperature range, they're not cheap but I have a feeling there might be a few second hand models available this year.

 

[KhunBENQ]

Try to beat the boxes of 500 Paracetamol tablets at MAKRO starting around 300 Baht or so.

(could not resist)

I always buy a box of 100 Amlopine pills (5mg , blood pressure) for wife.

250 Baht if I remember right.

Edited January 23, 2021 by KhunBENQ

[cyril sneer]

15 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Try to beat the boxes of 500 Paracetamol tablets at MAKRO starting around 300 Baht or so.

(could not resist)

I always buy a box of 100 Amlopine pills (5mg , blood pressure) for wife.

250 Baht if I remember right.

Most pharmacies sell 100 paracetamol for 30 baht, brand name Cemol

[cooked]

There are many small pharmacies around here that seem to have sprung up overnight. Most of these won't sell large quantities, more profit in selling headache tabs one at a time. However there are a few that will sell by the box, these seem to be Chinese owned, you have to seek them out.