Alarm bells ring in overloaded Thai public health system as exhausted doctors quit in droves

[loong]

3 hours ago, KhonKaenLive said:

In a provincial hospital, a GP will make anywhere from 50-70 thousand baht per month. If they are young doctors, older nurses and admin treat them like children in best cases. 

That doesn't seem particularly low paid for Thailand.

[mommysboy]

41 minutes ago, loong said:

That doesn't seem particularly low paid for Thailand.

No, but they have to put in extremely long hours, including particularly tiring night shifts. And they don't just walk into those kind of jobs. Young doctors start at a much lower salary. It's tough.

[jerrymahoney]

8 hours ago, neeray said:

What does this mean?

It means the days of expats getting to come on here to let others know how little they paid for a procedure at a public hospital may not long last.

[hotchilli]

11 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

and measures will be put in place to reduce the number of medical personnel leaving to join private hospitals.

Which are what?

[AhFarangJa]

17 hours ago, Bim Smith said:

Maybe if thais didn't have the need to visit the hospital with the slightest sniffle. If I get a cold my wife says must go hospital.

Yes, then they come out with about eight plastic bags filled with pretty coloured pills that they have absolutely no idea what they contain.

[jacko45k]

43 minutes ago, zzaa09 said:

Reducing the military substantially might help this cause. 

Yes, although with them in most positions of power and decision making, quite a barrier.

[thailand49]

The leaders in this country talk a lot of smoke they don't generally care about their own people.

They care more about tourist building roads and unnecessary projects that fund their own personal wealth.

[billd766]

4 hours ago, AhFarangJa said:

Yes, then they come out with about eight plastic bags filled with pretty coloured pills that they have absolutely no idea what they contain.

And you know this how, with your extensive medical degree?

 

You are a qualified doctor I suppose.

 

Most Thai doctors explain to the patients what the meds are for, at least the ones in the state hospital that I use do.

 

I have a small advantage over many Thais in that I can go to medical websites on the internet and read up on the meds I have been given.

[chalawaan]

Don't worry! There are 250 retired Generals sucking up public funds, and who knows what else besides, as they deny Thailand any hope of light at the end of the tunnel.

 

They will arrive on their white steeds to save the day! More subs, or maybe another useless military park, will be just what the doctor ordered!

 

They will still have the best private health care money can buy of course.

[h90]

18 minutes ago, chalawaan said:

Don't worry! There are 250 retired Generals sucking up public funds, and who knows what else besides, as they deny Thailand any hope of light at the end of the tunnel.

 

They will arrive on their white steeds to save the day! More subs, or maybe another useless military park, will be just what the doctor ordered!

 

They will still have the best private health care money can buy of course.

250 Generals...no matter how much they earn aren't significant...

[zzaa09]

5 hours ago, chalawaan said:

Don't worry! There are 250 retired Generals sucking up public funds, and who knows what else besides, as they deny Thailand any hope of light at the end of the tunnel.

 

They will arrive on their white steeds to save the day! More subs, or maybe another useless military park, will be just what the doctor ordered!

 

They will still have the best private health care money can buy of course.

Well.....you know how that is. 

Priorities of the state - pork barrel and grotesque expenditures/profits before policies and projects that might benefit the commons. 

 

This practice appears to be practiced universally the world over. 

 

[Kalasin Jo]

Very bad news. It's the junior doctors that draw the short straw in working hours and pay. ( Just as in the UK). Their seniors ( consultants in western parlance) supplement their government salaries with small, pay to use, private clinics in the cities. This cuts out the inevitable 4 to 5 hour outpatient queueing, which with fewer doctors will surely get longer. That is, if you can afford to use these clinics, which are not too expensive as distinct from the private hospitals groups which charge a fortune, even though cheaper than in the West, which  most thais cannot afford.

For patients there is also the possibility of going private in government hospitals for better off patients with a much better level and speed of service, but it's the same staff, presumably on the same pay, so with less junior doctors I expect reductions even though a good income stream for government hospitals..

[mogandave]

Doctors and first responders have saved my life a few times, and I have nothing but great things to say about them, but the idea that they are working under “slave like conditions” is ridiculous. 

 

The headline is also a lie.

[Bim Smith]

On 6/24/2023 at 7:26 AM, AhFarangJa said:

Yes, then they come out with about eight plastic bags filled with pretty coloured pills that they have absolutely no idea what they contain.

And the entire family in a pick up for one patient. Sometimes even the dog comes along.

[Kwaibill]

On 6/23/2023 at 9:17 AM, jerrymahoney said:

As in the OP they are leaving the public sector. They maybe just will not much longer tell an expat:

 

Don't do your operation at my private hospital -- come see me at the public hospital.

I was referred from a private to the old government Cholera hospital for diagnosis and ultimate removal of my gall bladder because they had the expertise and imaging equipment for the job. They in turn sent me to another public hospital, after getting the infection controlled, closer to home and with a quicker availability for the laparoscopic surgery.

 Lots of waiting, but they did the job and at remarkably low cost!

[jerrymahoney]

1 hour ago, Kwaibill said:

 Lots of waiting, but they did the job and at remarkably low cost!

Great. As Tom Petty sang: The wai-ai-ting is the hardest part.

[3NUMBAS]

theyre all headed to Oz i heard

[Hanuman2547]

There are a lot of Thai doctors in the USA spread out all over the country.  Most graduated from medical in Thailand and then later went to the USA for advanced training and specialization.  What happens is the best ones get snapped up by a US hospital and are supported by their employer to get permanent residency, aka Green Card.  They end up staying in the USA and only go back to Thailand for holidays after that.  

[metisdead]

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