Is hospital free for Thai people?

[OneMoreFarang]

13 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

One cannot register a vehicle without at least the minimum cover required by law.

But once registered people can and do drive vehicles for years and never renew any tax or insurance. And most of the time nobody cares. TiT! 

[lopburi3]

19 hours ago, organicman said:

My girlfriend's sister just had a car accident

 

11 hours ago, organicman said:

He fell asleep driving back to Bangkok and drove off the road. He didn't hit any other vehicles where the car flipped twice. He doesn't have car insurance. 

And she became he?  

[Heng]

21 hours ago, Sheryl said:

The Thai government system does not allow for a regular GP. You are treated by whomever is on duty at the hospital (or health center) in question at the time. There is no GP system such as is found in many countries.

GP as to whoever you regularly go to for checkups or care.   It's this doctor (and yes, it'll depend on his/her status as well as you have mentioned) who can 'send' you into the gov't system.  

[Sheryl]

1 hour ago, Heng said:

GP as to whoever you regularly go to for checkups or care.   It's this doctor (and yes, it'll depend on his/her status as well as you have mentioned) who can 'send' you into the gov't system.  

This is not how it works in the Thai public health system.

 

There is no assigned GP and a patient  does not need to be :"sent" into the government system. They go directly to a  doctor at a government facility to start with. It  will not necessarily be the same doctor each time, in fact usually not.

 

 

[Heng]

4 hours ago, Sheryl said:

This is not how it works in the Thai public health system.

 

There is no assigned GP and a patient  does not need to be :"sent" into the government system. They go directly to a  doctor at a government facility to start with. It  will not necessarily be the same doctor each time, in fact usually not.

 

 

No assigned GP.    GP simply as in the same/regular doctor you go to.   I should clarify that the 'send' route I've typically seen is private to government (as often they are the same doctors working in both systems).   If you go direct to the government system, the wait can be longer than is acceptable depending on what issue one is dealing with.   

Edited April 20, 2022 by Heng

[Sheryl]

3 hours ago, Heng said:

No assigned GP.    GP simply as in the same/regular doctor you go to.   I should clarify that the 'send' route I've typically seen is private to government (as often they are the same doctors working in both systems).   If you go direct to the government system, the wait can be longer than is acceptable depending on what issue one is dealing with.   

For Thai people under the government system, there is no "same/regular" doctor that they go to. They go directly to the government hospital or health center and see whomever they are directed to.

 

Most Thais would nto go first to a private hospital since they have to pay for that whereas government sector is free.

 

And within private hospitals, there are very, very few GPs and they are not called as such nor do they function as such, not in the way they do in the West (where they coordinate all aspects of patient care,, make specialist referrals etc). . At a private hospital you would have to first select the type of specialist you need for the problem at hand, and you'd see different doctors for different problems. This lack of real primary care is a definite weakness in the Thai health system.

[Heng]

14 hours ago, Sheryl said:

For Thai people under the government system, there is no "same/regular" doctor that they go to. They go directly to the government hospital or health center and see whomever they are directed to.

 

Most Thais would nto go first to a private hospital since they have to pay for that whereas government sector is free.

 

And within private hospitals, there are very, very few GPs and they are not called as such nor do they function as such, not in the way they do in the West (where they coordinate all aspects of patient care,, make specialist referrals etc). . At a private hospital you would have to first select the type of specialist you need for the problem at hand, and you'd see different doctors for different problems. This lack of real primary care is a definite weakness in the Thai health system.

Yes, I cannot speak for most Thais, I can only speak from my own experience and those of folks I know and how we access the local healthcare system... which I would say is the norm for the average person in the Thai middle class.  Being somewhat insured.  Diagnosis at private hospitals with transfers (being sent) by familiar doctors (and yes, even for specialists, we tend to see/request the same doctors) for treatment (generally just for the more costly treatments).   A 90k appendectomy becomes a 30k Baht procedure for example, not exactly 'free' overall, but in relative terms 'free' in time/cost savings.    

 

Whether they are called GPs really is just semantics, the doctors you get your checkups with are essentially GPs (they're typically not specialists or are still working their way towards something), and if you choose the same doctors each time, they are your 'regular' doctor.

 

Generally speaking, I think I'd much rather be seriously ill here than in America, but of course would prefer to have access to what Danes or Swedes have, it's all relative.      

[PPMMUU]

Legality aside, it is very possible that someone in Thailand will own and drive an unregistered car (or that the registration has expired)

 

It is not what it should be but it would not surprise me and many people.