Health Check Up

[actiondell4]

I didnt know whether to post this on this forum or the Pattaya forum,hopefully I have the right forum.This is my first post and I will be going to Pattaya again next month for my annual holidays.

I have searched the forums for a answer to my question and unable to find one so Im wondering if you all could assist me.

I am nearly 40yo and overweight,and am wanting a medical centre or Hospital in Pattaya preferably that does a colonscopy,(internal check of bowels)

Also maybe separately I wonder if I can get a complete health check up in Pattaya,and then the colonscopy to check my bowels for polyps,just a check to see if everything is ok.

I have looked on the Bangkok Pattaya hospital website but it doesnt mention anything about these subjects.I suppose I could email the hospital to ask if they do colonscopys.I have no symptoms however i just want make sure everything is ok in the bowel Dept,and also check up of health since i am overweight.

Can anyone give me a web link or anyone have any experiences?

I am of course concerned about cost and dont know whether it will be cheaper to get a colonscopy in Thailand.thanks

[Luckydog]

I didnt know whether to post this on this forum or the Pattaya forum,hopefully I have the right forum.This is my first post and I will be going to Pattaya again next month for my annual holidays.

I have searched the forums for a answer to my question and unable to find one so Im wondering if you all could assist me.

I am nearly 40yo and overweight,and am wanting a medical centre or Hospital in Pattaya preferably that does a colonscopy,(internal check of bowels)

Also maybe separately I wonder if I can get a complete health check up in Pattaya,and then the colonscopy to check my bowels for polyps,just a check to see if everything is ok.

I have looked on the Bangkok Pattaya hospital website but it doesnt mention anything about these subjects.I suppose I could email the hospital to ask if they do colonscopys.I have no symptoms however i just want make sure everything is ok in the bowel Dept,and also check up of health since i am overweight.

Can anyone give me a web link or anyone have any experiences?

I am of course concerned about cost and dont know whether it will be cheaper to get a colonscopy in Thailand.thanks

Go to the big public hospital on the left of the main rd as you enter Sri Rascha.

It's sign posted. It's cheap and good. But take a book to read as you do have to wait for ages.....good luck

Edited June 5, 2007 by Luckydog

[actiondell4]

Yes thanks LuckyDog,am I allowed to use a Thai Public Hospital not being a Thai citizen.? I thought they might be only for emergencies rather than "elective type procedures" such as a Colonoscopy or a health check up?

Has anyone used the Thai Public Hospital?

[donna]

to get a rough idea of price why not go to the websites of any of the big private hospitals and see what they charge.

samativej hospital

bumrungrad hospital

bangkok hospital

try any of them and you will have an idea of how much a private hospital charges - which is sure to be cheaper than home, wherever that may be.

[wanali]

Yes you can use a Thai Public Hospital. But you do have to realise then that you ("rich farang") are doing this while the working Thai tax payers have to pay for it (or a big part of it anyway). Some cheap Charlies of course will have no moral problems with this, pity them.

In a private hospital (Bumrungrad, Bangkok Hospital, Bangkok Pattaya, Samitivej, ...) you will get excellent service and still much cheaper as what you would pay for it 'at home'.

Contact their international sections, they all have one, to check for the prices and promo's.

[think_too_mut]

The OP is after colonoscopy...he mentioned it 4 times in his post.

Not really a full medical checkup...looks like just one thing that bothers him and he wants it on the cheap.

Sure, possible, but he could have done some googling.

[PRGUY]

Dear All,

Just for everybody to be careful...I started having abdominal pains that were sometimes really untolerable in the year 2002 and went to both BNH and also Bumrungrad Hospital to see the GI specialists there. HAs scans, colonoscopy,etc and both diagnosed that I had IBS. There put me on painkillers, colofac, etc. The pains got worst and despite further tests in 2005, they continued treating it as IBS. In March 2006 during a trip to Singapore, I went to see a specialists at the ME Hospital who insisted I do a coloscopy again and scans. A further tests revealed that i had colonic cancer that was in the latent stage and this was reconfirmed by specialists from two other hospitals in Singapore. Though I was given two to three months...I managed to fight the battle with the aid of a very good oncologists from Sydney which included chemo, surgery and also a host of other alternative therapies. Fortunately I am now cured. I never drank or smoked in the fast, was not overweight, no family history of cancer or was I reckless with my diets but yet I got it. Please my advice to all....get a good doctor and a good hospital! Do not sacrifice on money as you could lose it all. later.Anyone who needs advice based on what I have gone through...do not hesitate to contact me.

[actiondell4]

yes Thankyou guys,and to you too Donna,I am after probaly 2 things on this next long stay and that is to get a colonscopy and also a full medical check up if I can,probaly from the same hospital.

I am trying to get it a bit cheaper as I am from Australia which can be expensive for a colonscopy.

I will google the hospital websites,i thought there was only 2 private hospitals in pattaya so thanks for naming a few more.

I cant imagine going to the Thai Public Hospital , Im sure there would be a fee anyway,or you probaly would need a Doctors referral.

In Australia if you are not a perm resident you are required to pay a fee in a Public Hospital and they will only see you for emergencies,not for elective type surgery,i thought this may be the case for a Thai Public Hospital,surely there must be a fee for non Thai citizens.

[donna]

may be worth getting it done in bkk anyway - its not that far from pattaya.

[Luckydog]

Whatever you decide to do sport. If it's bad news GET A SECOND OPINION!

If I hadn't last month I would be without testicles right now!

[donna]

thus the name luckydog!

i agree. get a second opinion. i have a history of malaria. i have a pretty good 'malariameter' now and i can usually tell when its coming on. funnily enough, my fingertips go numb before the fever hits about 40, so i know its time to get to the doc.

last time it was coming on i went to bumrungrad where i have been admitted two times prior. i was admitted through a&e and then went to see my usual infectious diseases doc. 4 hourly blood tests didnt pick it up, but i just knew it was related to malaria. one week of doctors telling me:

you have sleep apnoea (spelling please)

you have a heart condition

you have the flu

you have something which requires us to do a colonoscopy

you have something which requires us to do a full body scan

youre too fat

blah blah blah.....

i discharged myself after a week and the diagnosis written on my discharge papers was 'spleenomegaly'.

as soon as i got home and looked it up and spleenomegaly comes from either trauma to the spleen, such as a serious accident, or MALARIA.

so, have your colonoscopy but by all means if it is bad news go for a second and possibly a third opinion. dont hesitate. the costs involved in doing this two or three times will still probably be cheaper than having it done in australia.

[oxymoron]

yes Thankyou guys,and to you too Donna,I am after probaly 2 things on this next long stay and that is to get a colonscopy and also a full medical check up if I can,probaly from the same hospital.

I am trying to get it a bit cheaper as I am from Australia which can be expensive for a colonscopy.

I will google the hospital websites,i thought there was only 2 private hospitals in pattaya so thanks for naming a few more.

I cant imagine going to the Thai Public Hospital , Im sure there would be a fee anyway,or you probaly would need a Doctors referral.

In Australia if you are not a perm resident you are required to pay a fee in a Public Hospital and they will only see you for emergencies,not for elective type surgery,i thought this may be the case for a Thai Public Hospital,surely there must be a fee for non Thai citizens.

How can you be from Australia, then make a point about what you can not get medicare unless you are a permanent resident????

If you are not a Temp or Perm resident then you are a TOURIST and so get no help from Medicare, and rightly so. I query this as I am and my TW are Australian Citizens and we recently came back to Australia from Thailand due to our failing health. My wife just has had a Colonscopy and Endoscopy plus Xrays Ultrasounds all for free. I have had similar at no cost but as I want the latest 64 Slice CT Angiogram I will be paying $AUD 600 which is cheaper than I could of got it in Thailand. BTW all this is after 2 years and countless trips to 3 different hospitals in Chiangmai which I paid top Baht for with no real satisfaction.

[backflip]

Bumrungrad charges $350-400 for the c'scope. Enjoy.

[Spaniel]

I was visiting a friend of mine this past weekend in the Pattaya Bangkok Hospital and I checked on the colonoscopy. They charge B20,000

[english_farang_lady]

Do yourself a favour and go straight to Samitivej. They are by far the best clinically. I would only go to a hospital in Pattaya if I thought I could not make it to Samitivej on Soi 49 in Bangkok. They are litterally simply the best. On a par with Bumrungrad, in terms of facilities, but better clinically in my experience.

Each hospital allows you to do a search on the website for the doctor who suits you best. Go for one who is Board Certified abroad, and many are. Both Bumrungrad and Samitivej have good websites.

If you have a family history of cancer of the GI tract, you should get a colonoscopy. They will give a light anaesthesia or a full GA if you want. They apparently inflate the lower colon in order to insert a tiny camera. After the procedure, you will be given a CD containing 'the trip'. The doc will then talk you through the trip and outline any problems.

Quite right to get at least two opinions. I was told by docs in both Bangkok-Pattaya Hospital (in Pattaya) and by a Ob/Gyn in Bumrungrad that I would need a hysterectomy. I delved deeper with the help of a very knowledgable lady, and after the third consult, it was all explained very clearly to me, and I did not need to drop and organ at all!

The Bangkok hospitals are no more expensive than the one mentioned above in Pattaya. Samitivej is run by doctors for doctors.

Good luck

[taxout]

Samitivej is part of the Bangkok Hospital Group, as is BNH.

And Bangkok Pattaya.

http://www.bangkokhospital.com/eng/HospitalNetwork.aspx