Free Hospital Care For Poor Thai People?

[Gerry290]

hi

Someone was telling me that Thai people from poor or low income back grounds can get free, or very low cost medical care 30 or 35 bhat. and they can get all their hospital needs cared for under this scheme.

I was curious, does anyone know any details of this scheme, for example does it cover every single medical procedure and medicines and pills a poor Thai sick person may need.

Someone told me the scheme was stopped after the coup under the military government.

someone else told me it is only for basic illness, and they provide just basic medicine like pain killers and things like that.

See my friend, his girlfriend is from a poor farm background, and apparently she asked him for 7000 bhat which has to be paid every 3 months to send her mom to BKK hospitla and her 3 month supply of pills of what ever ailment she has, the pill costs 100 bhat a day.

I told him that seems odd, since I figured these poorer people were covered on the low cost 30 bhat scheme, so I said I would ask around for him and today I got no real information. he is not a computer man, so want to see can anyone on here, give us some extra information on this, and would his girlfriends mom not be taken care of under this scheme?

Any ideas?

Thanks

G

[Jersey_UK]

Any ideas?

Thanks

G

I am not an expert on the Thai medical system, so I stand to be corrected...........my understanding is that for Thais to qualify under the 30 baht scheme they have to register before using the hospital.

What do they get?

Straightforward accident stuff like broken jaw and similar is I beleive "covered", however they are probably not going to be including cosmetic type surgery to make any repair look 110%.............I also do not beleive they are going to get that liver transplant and quadruple by-pass under the 30 baht scheme........which leaves a very large gap in the middle which is probably coverered by a multiple of medical options where cost of treatment is a factor...........but they will get treated.............whether it is treatment A that gives them another 10 days or treatment B another 10 years, I would not like to say...........as I said before I do stand to be corrected on what I admit is a very short, blunt and non expert interpretation of the Thai 30 baht scheme.

In addition whilst they will be fed and watered when in hosiptal it would be usual practice for the family to come in and bring them better food (like the English NHS?) and also to make sure that they are being attended to by the Staff and also to assist in keeping the patient Clean and tidy (Kinda like the Spanish "NHS"?). When being sick in hospital it is very useful to have a family who visits and also expresses an interest in the persons welfare to the hospital staff.

With regard to Medicines, I beleive that some of these are free from the hospital, but not all of them. I won't say that "the good stuff" costs, but I beleive that the more complex and long term stuff does.......

7,000B for 3 months at under 100B a day??. I beleive not way out of the ball park and indeed does not sound expensive, I do recall someone the wife knows as paying similar money and it wasn't considered exorbitant for what it was, but I can't remember what for or why! .........be interesting to find out what she is being treated for and is being prescribed, then others will no doubt me more helpful.

FWIW I think that whatever else Thaksin did in Thailand (good and bad and evil) that the 30B scheme is a massive step forward for the ordinary Thais and something that he should be thanked for........even with it's imperfections..........I have not heard that it was cancelled by the military and I am sure I would have heard if it was. In fact I would expect their to be riots over it's dissapearance..........but I now expect some wiser soul to point out is was cancelled last year!

[Gerry290]

Thanks for reply.

Yes sort of sounds like the old irish medical card scheme, those old ladies with nothing better to do, when to th docs every thurday when it was medical card day.

then people had to wait years for an operation, or you here of people saving up for an operation.

Yeah Taskin, he sort of reminds me of the infamoue Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Charlie Haughy and his Ministers and co horts. They had great vision for ireland, and the riches and sucess in ireland in the computer and banking funda admin sector, were visions of these men back decades before. Charlie was a good shrewd deal maker, could get to people to get people on this side, and was business minded, got the big american cos in with 1000s of jobs. Ok the boys did cream a bit off for themselves with property developers bribing the, to get land rezoned and all. but Charlie and Crew were the boys got the country up and going from the agricultural nation to the IT nation, so I guess they deserved a bit of commission! LOL!