The Great Government Health system that Thailand Has. !

[Mark mark]

The Great Government Health system that Thailand Has. ! – Probably the best in the Region after Singapore I think ! ?

 

I went to Our general Government Hospital on Monday, had 3 small Skin cancers removed, by a Surgeon, they probably were my usual benign Basal Carcinomas, as I have had a LOT of them.

 

I have white skin and live in a Brown man’s country, so I am in line with the 100,000+ Australians that die of Skin Cancer every year I think.

 

But I live here now.

 

So Just for your Interest, here is how you do it for the Really good Government Hospitals, that ARE around.

 

Start off with 2 Previous Visits to our general Hospital, to queue up the Operation, one Long wait for the Out Patient Doctor, on the first visit, to give me the Referral to the Skin surgeon Doctor, on the second visit, … To see him about having then cut off. But it could have been done on the same day, but well, there was a bit of a <Deleted> up but no matter. Probably over 1,000 people there but the Thais are very efficient people and they push through more than 1,000 in a morning in our local general. ...

 

My Operation was scheduled about 3 weeks later, as the Doctor was having a couple of weeks off, ... Ditto No worries Mates !!! And Thanks. ( it Could be 6 to 12 Months wait in Australia and well closer to 12 now I hear, … and the UK ??? ) ... So I am glad to be here now.

 

 

I Had the operation on last Monday ... No Flash Nurses this time, but one older Efficient one, and a Good younger Muslim Woman doing the foot work.

 

... We have a Lot of Muslims around here, ... and we all get on, like they actually do a lot of the Hospital and Pharmacy work.

 

… So I talked to the Surgeon about operations, and his sister who married a University Professor and now Lives in Melbourne. I told him that I came from Adelaide, … “ Which is the Gas station between Melbourne and Perth” !  Right ??? …. And he got the Joke !!!  …

 

… He had a special O.R. play list with some very Good Local music on it ! … I think that he should market it !!! Like get 3 Skin Cancers Cut off, …  and a complimentary copy of the Surgeons O.R. play list !!!

 

Like this all IS all just so positive ! and it has Happened every time I have gone in to my Local Government Hospital

 

And I have always had a really REALLY Good Job Done !!! …. And well ??? Like, Act ? … Live ? … With Respect !!! (Like the majority of the Thai’s do ) And the world … AND the good Government Hospitals, might just give it back to you. Right ?.

 

... So Drugs Included, a couple more trips requited ... Like the Biopsy of the Growths he cut off, is Really going to be the Waterloo for me ! Really. ...

 

But … “By Hong Yar” (Go to the room where the Pills are), and the accounts department …. 4,000 B, all up, and Bob's you Uncle grab the pills, and go home !!!

 

Like this is how you do it for medical here, in pretty efficient Thailand, … if you have a bit of time, …

 

… And Empathy for the people also I think. Like you will be spending a bit of time sitting next to a whole load of them if you DO go to one of our very Good Government Hospitals I think ?

[JimmyJ]

It's a very good Gov. Hospital, but you don't want to name it?

[metisdead]

Moving to the Health and Medical forum. 

[VinnieK]

11 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

It's a very good Gov. Hospital, but you don't want to name it?

It will spoil the magic..????

[Negita43]

I agree

35 minutes ago, Mark mark said:

The Great Government Health system that Thailand Has. ! – Probably the best in the Region after Singapore I think ! ?

I agree - you have to pay but you don't have to wait. In the UK (Scotland) I can't even get registered with a dentist (NHS) over here just had a teeth clean - cost 330 Baht just turn up at the hospital and join the queue.

In Scotland I had 3 referals to consultants in the 6 months before I returned to Thailand - no contact for an apointment- as a matter of coutesy I let them know I was away for a few months and now I guess when I return I will be at the back of a very long queue!

 

Over here - go to the hospital and you get seen.

 

[Mavideol]

man I don't know if it's your accent but didn't understood 1 word of your post, had you named the hospital then maybe I would had got one word out it  555

[Mark mark]

39 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

It's a very good Gov. Hospital, but you don't want to name it?

I do not want to Damage the Interests of the Very VERY good staff at it ! ... Like Not with the people on this Blog site, OR their own people. ....

 

I would imagine most Government Hospitals are ??? Pretty well the Same ??? Possibly here in Central Thailand though they might differ from ? Well Thai Lao ? the East, ... or Chang Mai ? or the South, ? as there are some what different People, living in each place.

 

... I have heard some Complaints from an Upper Middle class Thai, in Close Eastern Thailand ? ... But well ? Just seems like Upper Middle class sower Apples to me ? ...

[JimmyJ]

7 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

man I don't know if it's your accent but didn't understood 1 word of your post, had you named the hospital then maybe I would had got one word out it  555

17 time wasting paragraphs raving about the hospital but doesn't want anyone to know which it is.

[liddelljohn]

Some of the government officers are really good  they are especially good with stroke surgery  and dealing with road accident injuries

[Mark mark]

11 minutes ago, Negita43 said:

I agree

I agree - you have to pay but you don't have to wait. In the UK (Scotland) I can't even get registered with a dentist (NHS) over here just had a teeth clean - cost 330 Baht just turn up at the hospital and join the queue.

In Scotland I had 3 referals to consultants in the 6 months before I returned to Thailand - no contact for an apointment- as a matter of coutesy I let them know I was away for a few months and now I guess when I return I will be at the back of a very long queue!

 

Over here - go to the hospital and you get seen.

 

Yes the Waiting time at the Hospital can be pretty Horrendous !!! ... But well 1,000 to 2,000 people seen every day !!! Varrr how could there not be a pretty long Wait, on the Day ! ? ... But well they also stream line it on the other side, ... on the Bookings and operations side !!! ... ... Wait half the day, but get a booking for next week !!! ,,, Where as you say, in some of the other western Countries maybe only half the waiting time on the day, ... but probably some months waiting time for the Operation !!! ... 

 

Thanks.

[flexomike]

52 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

It's a very good Gov. Hospital, but you don't want to name it?

from reading his last post I think it is on Soi Cowboy

[Mark mark]

1 minute ago, JimmyJ said:

17 time wasting paragraphs raving about the hospital but doesn't want anyone to know which it is.

Yes, just find your own good one ? ... Most Government Hospitals are similar, just use you own common sense and personality to work it out ... Like TIT isn't it. And it is Not Rocket Science !

[Mark mark]

53 minutes ago, metisdead said:

Moving to the Health and Medical forum. 

Thanks, I looked there, but could not see a spot for it. So Yes, Thanks.

[Mark mark]

14 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

man I don't know if it's your accent but didn't understood 1 word of your post, had you named the hospital then maybe I would had got one word out it  555

Well it is probably a cross between Auzie, and a general UK Strine ??? And sorry ! ? ... But I DO like it !!! ... But well we had better not get off topic here shouldn't we.

[Mark mark]

6 minutes ago, flexomike said:

from reading his last post I think it is on Soi Cowboy

Yes, the Old VD clinic around the Corner from Cowboy, WAS yes Really quite a ball Tearing place ? ... Well I am reminiscing back to the late 80s I guess. ... It was Run by a very Kind old Thai Doctor I think !  Who used to care for the Girls from Cowboy there, Really Cheaply ! ... Like it oozed Kindness, this place !!! ...

 

But line up as a foreigner and you would get charged 2 or 3 times more !!! Har Ha !!! ... (Probably still cheaper than any where else in town though any way ) ... But I just asked the Nurse receptionist about this one day  ! ... Even handedly ! And Kindly, ... (I was a Cheap Charlie Back packer back then ! ) ... And she just Laughed !!! and Answered ... "Well you Guys have more fun getting it" !!! ... Har Ha ! ... Right ?

[petermik]

I don`t know what medication you are on but is there any chance I might be able to get some????

[norbra]

8 months ago I showed a lesion to a surgeon who had previously cut 2 x BCC and 2 x SCC's, with lymph nodes 100.000thb

She referred.me to Oncologist in the same government hospital. Got an appointment arrived on the day only to be told the doctor is I'll so a new appointment so arrived on the day to be ushered into a Dermatologist who had a look at the lesion and said can cut,lovely. But on reading my history he made an appointment to see Oncologist,saw this doctor she gave me a referral to another hospital where they have more expertize????. So next week I will try again to see a surgeon, the lesion,which is now 8 months old is on my ear which has had 2 SCC's excised over the last 20 years,the last being 7 years ago. As the staff say this is government hospital s,,t happens.

[Mark mark]

29 minutes ago, petermik said:

I don`t know what medication you are on but is there any chance I might be able to get some????

Human Geography, God ? if you believe in him ? or Charles Darwin. ... 

[billd766]

1 hour ago, JimmyJ said:

It's a very good Gov. Hospital, but you don't want to name it?

I use the local government hospital about 13 km down the road in Klong Nam Lai, Kamphaeng Phet province, and the main one in Kamphaeng Phet City.

 

Both are excellent with good doctors, some nurses and orderlies who also speak English.

[Mark mark]

11 minutes ago, norbra said:

8 months ago I showed a lesion to a surgeon who had previously cut 2 x BCC and 2 x SCC's, with lymph nodes 100.000thb

She referred.me to Oncologist in the same government hospital. Got an appointment arrived on the day only to be told the doctor is I'll so a new appointment so arrived on the day to be ushered into a Dermatologist who had a look at the lesion and said can cut,lovely. But on reading my history he made an appointment to see Oncologist,saw this doctor she gave me a referral to another hospital where they have more expertize????. So next week I will try again to see a surgeon, the lesion,which is now 8 months old is on my ear which has had 2 SCC's excised over the last 20 years,the last being 7 years ago. As the staff say this is government hospital s,,t happens.

Sorry to hear about you delays, and well I do not know what a BCC ? or SCC is ? though well ? basial Carcinoma ? for the first one I guess ...

 

And well your story makes it pretty clear !!! That NOT all Government Hospitals are the same ! ? So sorry about that, Rose Clouded Glass on my part Mistake about that.

 

I have have now had 6 reasonable smallish, BUT well quite Obvious, basal Carcinomas cut off ! Just re growing Light coloured Lumps. and well, Innumerable smaller lumps burnt of in Australia where they often do do it that way. ... Though if it keeps coming back !!! well then it is Cut it off. ? Right ? ... And I still have my Figures crossed for these recent ones.

 

... But my Mare Bob who Lived in Southern France and Commuted back to Australia for every Summer !!! ... A very VERY Nice Man !!! ... He had a very nasty looking BLACK Lump on his neck !!! and he showed me it in 2016 .. Like he had had it for nearly 10 years before that only smaller I think,. Just slowly Growing !!! ...and I nearly fell over !!! "Why didn't you get tis Cut off" I asked him !!! ... "Too busy traveling" he answered ... ( To expensive in France and to long a waiting list in Australia more Likely )

 

... And it was Melanoma exactly as it looked, ... and he died at the end of 2018 ... about 2 Years after he showed it to me, and well just a bit less after he finally had it Diagnosed, in his other Home in East Java.

 

... (He died of an associated, huge Brain Tumor which he had taken out VERY well in Australia, but it hemorrhaged again and would not stop. ... and he died just totally out of it, on Morphine 3 days later.

 

... So yes, just keep it up AND get you Lumps looked at and removed also I think !!! ... (I just had 3 simple ones off for 4,000 B as I say. last Monday ? ...

 

And good luck with it Mate !!!

[Mark mark]

Yes, well Mark mark, goes just a Bit Manic ??? neurotic ? is that the Real professional term for it ? … I think !!!

 

Yes, … I will weaken a bit, and well we are a bit away from the original story here also so, … it was Ayutthaya General Hospital .  On U Tong Road, on the South side of the island.

 https://www.google.co.th/maps/place/Phra+Nakhon+Si+Ayutthaya+Hospital/@14.3431739,100.558148,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x30e2743ba69095bd:0xf01923824355480!8m2!3d14.3431687!4d100.5603367!16s%2Fg%2F11fnct_6rp?hl=en

 

But well, it Really is not the Place, here in Thailand, (Though well starting off at a good one, probably would be a Lot of Help I would admit ! ) …  but it is Your own attitude, and how you treat the Thai people that work there !!! That really determines the outcome I think ? … All just GOOD and Honorable people in the Government Hospitals, as far as I have seen. …  Just take your passport and make sure you have a day or two of spare time.

 

And well try the one close to you with this method first, as well I only go here as it is in the Province that I live in.

 

And you just have to consider the extremely professional, but Poorer People that work there. Like ? … Well they do NOT really have to help you, you know, … if they do not want to !!! … It is not a tourist affair !!!  … It is a government Hospital !!! … and they are all really REALLY Low Paid, and worked f of their feet !!! … But they are committed professionals also, and have a lot of pride in their work also. … In whatever that are doing there. (From the Janitors in the Restaurant to the Top Surgeons !!! …

 

So just treat them like that and you will get a Long way and well, a very VERY Pleasant surprise on how Humanity CAN work if you treat the People the right way.

 

Like just Line up with everyone, like everyone else, and well You WILL be on your way to a good outcome I am sure. ?

 

But then you could get a bit wide maybe ? if you are any good at it !!!

 

… Like I used to be the dancing White Monkey really well !!! … (Like I am here on TV / AN ….  Only the people in the Ayutthaya general Hospital waiting room, used to like me a Lot more than a lot of you here do I think.

 

Like while waiting at the front in front of the Doctors rooms …. to get you Basic Fundamentals Taken, … Just drop in a few Thai Chirps, … get their interest. … The other people behind you in the Waiting room !!! …  and then flirt with the Nurses, …  or any Good looking woman in the crowd !!! … Make a few Jokes with the Nurses on the counter if you can ? Like if you can speak a bit of Thai, like in most situations if you can understand them and not be a hassle !!! well then you ARE very well received. … Well this was back when it was not so Crowded I guess (And I was Younger) so well it might not work so well now. …

 

But well at that time !!! The crowd was always Very VERY happy to have me there !!! … and so were the Nurses, like I was keeping their Waiting Patients entertained !!! … Like 3 boring hours in the Ayutthaya hospital waiting room !!! … NO ! you had the dancing White Monkey there !!! Entertaining you !!! ….

 

So well Bad service, NO … if I was careful I got the very best of Service !!! … No Psychopath <Deleted> here !!! ….  Just Common sense and Human decency. And YOU also end up having a good day, if you did it right ! ?

 

And it worked, and well ??? … It Still Is.

 

So it is not necessarily the Hospital,…I tis how YOU approach the task Of blending in with them, … AND helping them as well. Like of being useful to them and NOT a hassle !!! … ? (Case Closed ? well to next time, and I do hope my skin Cancer is Not ? Carcinomic ? is this the term !!! )

 

Psychopathy ? …No, Life sciences .. and Human Geography. That is all.

 

BeerO' clock!!! ? ... So see you all tomorrow. ...

[Mark mark]

24 minutes ago, billd766 said:

I use the local government hospital about 13 km down the road in Klong Nam Lai, Kamphaeng Phet province, and the main one in Kamphaeng Phet City.

 

Both are excellent with good doctors, some nurses and orderlies who also speak English.

Yes, possibly the right part of the country like here, ... Ayuttahya / AngTong ... ???

[billd766]

15 minutes ago, Mark mark said:

Yes, possibly the right part of the country like here, ... Ayuttahya / AngTong ... ???

One time I went to the hospital and I was short of breath and having a breathing problem, I was registered, given a red ticket, and whipped straight into the emergency room.

 

The service was great and nobody seemed to mind me getting instant treatment. There were about 70 odd people in front of me.

 

 

[lopburi3]

Not sure doctors here can identify BCC/SCC by sight as few Thai ever have.  If surgery removal trust you did get a biopsy report?  They often remove by laser here but would normally remove top layer for biopsy first and if positive then do a wide margin surgery to remove and test again to make sure margins clear.  Others might use nitrogen freeze if unknown spot and if that not remove go the testing/surgery route.  But as others pointed out it is rather hard to make rhyme or reason from your description.   Just be aware very few doctors will expect skin issues to be cancer and actually test.

[norbra]

16 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Not sure doctors here can identify BCC/SCC by sight as few Thai ever have.  If surgery removal trust you did get a biopsy report?  They often remove by laser here but would normally remove top layer for biopsy first and if positive then do a wide margin surgery to remove and test again to make sure margins clear.  Others might use nitrogen freeze if unknown spot and if that not remove go the testing/surgery route.  But as others pointed out it is rather hard to make rhyme or reason from your description.   Just be aware very few doctors will expect skin issues to be cancer and actually test.

All biopsied now have clear margins just need one more excision. Private hospital asking 30,000thb for biopsy and report only.

Just telling my story not seeking advice thanks

Edited March 16, 2023 by norbra

[lopburi3]

42 minutes ago, norbra said:

All biopsied now have clear margins just need one more excision. Private hospital asking 30,000thb for biopsy and report only.

30k I suspect is for wide margin  surgery  by plastic surgeon and biopsy report.

 

But my reply was to OP - not to your post.  Sorry for confusion.  

Edited March 16, 2023 by lopburi3

[norbra]

27 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

30k I suspect is for wide margin  surgery  by plastic surgeon and biopsy report.

 

But my reply was to OP - not to your post.  Sorry for confusion.  

Last year same private hospital 7,000 thb wide excision and biopsy,local anesthetic 1 lesion. SCC.

Edited March 16, 2023 by norbra

[Denim]

1 hour ago, norbra said:

All biopsied now have clear margins just need one more excision. Private hospital asking 30,000thb for biopsy and report only.

Just telling my story not seeking advice thanks

I had a Squamous Cell Carcinoma removed from the side of my nose by the plastic surgeon at the Phyathai 2 hospital.

Total cost came to just over 30,000 baht. It had gone quite deep and I was in theatre for 2 hours as he had to be sure it was all removed. All in greens for the op and wife was worried outside because it took so long. My regular skin specialist at Paolo Kasetsart wouldn't do it as he thought his skills were not up to the job without leaving an ugly scar.

 

I mostly use private hospitals here to avoid the crowds but when I have used the government ones they have always been very good.

[connda]

Our local hospital pumps thought upward of 100 patients in a morning and 150 in a day.
Highly efficient. 
Detractors will say, "But it's not quality healthcare like the US and UK."
Really?  Bunk.
US - great healthcare for the wealthy.
UK - months wait-times and they are getting to the point where they don't even want to see you in person. 

Thailand has a premier healthcare system.

[Mark mark]

16 hours ago, petermik said:

I don`t know what medication you are on but is there any chance I might be able to get some????

 

16 hours ago, norbra said:

8 months ago I showed a lesion to a surgeon who had previously cut 2 x BCC and 2 x SCC's, with lymph nodes 100.000thb

She referred.me to Oncologist in the same government hospital. Got an appointment arrived on the day only to be told the doctor is I'll so a new appointment so arrived on the day to be ushered into a Dermatologist who had a look at the lesion and said can cut,lovely. But on reading my history he made an appointment to see Oncologist,saw this doctor she gave me a referral to another hospital where they have more expertize????. So next week I will try again to see a surgeon, the lesion, which is now 8 months old is on my ear which has had 2 SCC's excised over the last 20 years,the last being 7 years ago. As the staff say this is government hospital s,,t happens.

I might have to be Careful here, as I have not researched this myself, but a friend of mine had a Hernia that he just Noticed here in Thailand, (So he says ?) and he went around ALL of the Hospitals in Bangkok getting it examined, diagnosed ? Pricing the almost imperative operation for it (6 To 12 Months waiting time back in Australia )

 

 ... And he Got to a good Private one, which he said that they were Reasonable, The Military ?Hospital I think on the South West of The Victory Monument I think ? My Daughter in law went there Probably on her work Insurance, for a Kidney operation, and I know that it is good. )  

 

And they looked at my Friend, and quoted $4,500 Aud ( Like about 110,000 Bart, but this could go up to 130,000 + if there were complications ) …

 

So well as your was also I think by the sounds of it ??? ...And I guess the Removal of the Lumpy Glands might much Complicate it ? Hence make it more Expensive.

 

The other Private Hospitals were at Least double that and that is also what our Private hospital (Rajthani) told me re any Operation with them, here in Ayutthaya    … 220,000 for any Operation. ? or more.

 

... Mine was way WAY more simple I think 4,000 Thb  at a Real Government Hospital, …  Our Provincial Government Hospital. ( That Obviously do NOT have double pricing I think either ? )

 

… My Friend said that he only found one Government Hospital when he looked in Bangkok, but they had 2 Buildings, and the Foreigners were sent Next Door. !!! Where they were Charged a Lot more than the Thais were, … but well they promised fast, and assisted service also.! ?

 

… Like this good Guy here in this Blog, that was Put in front of 73 other People, well that is Possibly the new Normal, ? that they are moving towards ... Straight up Business, Honest, but Double Pricing, Foreigners get the fast Lane, and pay More ? … A discussable situation I think. … But if you cannot speak the Language, and are a Pain for the Government Hospitals, very over worked, and Low paid people to manage ??? … Well Then ??? ??? 

 

… Like in Thailand every time I walk up to any Counter in the Normal local Business Line, ( Not Tourism ) the person there nearly always visibly Sighs and Groans, ... Like I can see "Oh No !!! Another Hassle with a Foreigner who does not speak the Language" !!! Written all over their face !!! ...

 

… But I know this, so I quickly speak to them in some Thai, … and then just make it QUITE Clear that I know that a lot of Foreigners, Can be pests ! ? And Not speak the language, … But that I will cooperate, and make sure that I will, … get on with them !!! and then usually they are Great, and we often end up cracking a few Jokes. They often can speak quite a bit of English, but well they do not have the confidence to be forced in to it ! ??? … and it is a good day.

 

Well I have a Long Stay Visa, so I live here right ! ? And am not a Tourist, so well honest Technical Reasons that I may not be treated like them either ??? … I guess. And well possibly this affects my Relationship with the Hospitals, Like I know that it DOES !!! With the Banks. …

 

Yes my Friend did not seem to be able to find a base Rate Charging Government Hospital in Bangkok. ? ... And the one that said that he had to go next door to their Foreigner section, would NOT let him in on the Thai side. Still he does not speak the language, just to start off with I guess right ? … And he was only on a Tourist visa ???

 

… Just thinking about things Fellow, no need to argue about it. … This is just what I have seen. ( And how I do work arounds to overcome it. ?)

 

Well, I do not know how hard he tried tough I guess. ? To actually find a Good Government Hospital ??? Like he does not speak Thai right ???

 

...Hence for you, 100,000 for about triple the work for you ? ??? Taking a guess ???  ... and 4,000 for me lining up with everyone else, and well getting charged the same also I think. ? ... In a Hospital that has seen my Visa status, and treated me as a resident I guess ???

 

JFYI. ??? … Just for your Interest ??? Fellas ? and let’s hope that it STAYS that way. Well for now any way, … as well if I have a serious Emergency, I am sure my Government Hospital will just refuse me, and send me to a private hospital any way. I think that they HAVE done this for others who had some very Serious accidents and sicknesses. !!!

 

… I am only sailing under the Radar as I am just Normal !!! … and Can sail under it with everyone else around here who is just normal also. And speak some Thai so get just Normal service, … and a Long Wait and then speak Thai like them again … (Well try) … I guess. …

 

Like "Hong Yar" !!! the room where the Pills are !!! … OK !!! Got that one !!!  so and off we go again !!! !!! No Fuss No Problem mark mark !!!  Right ! ? … ( Only on the AN Blogs right ? Har Har ??? )

?