Thai Restaurant Owner in Sweden Gets Partial Refund from Hospital After High Medical Bill

[cowellandrew]

Wonder if you have to declare your foreign earnings!

😁

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, mfd101 said:

So she's a Thai woman, Thai nationality, speaking (I assume) fluent Thai (which almost no non-Thais ever manage) ... and they thought she was a foreigner?

 

Doesn't make sense.

It does make sense if you don't deliberately omit the fact that she also registered with a Swedish passport and, presumably, indicated that her bill would be covered using a foreign credit card that she did use.

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, Guderian said:

As of 1st January next year, when we evil foreigners all have to start paying Thai income tax on our pensions

Really, is that a fact?  Said who?

[Liverpool Lou]

2 hours ago, nickmondo said:

Oh come on.

the whole story is ridiculous

i know Thais are whimps regarding health issues, ie, go to hospital if they cough twice in a day...........but into hospital for a fever? 

What choice do they have?  Do Thais have the benefit of local GPs that the west has?

 

She did not go to hospital just for a fever, she's an older woman and was diagnosed with Influenza B, not "a fever".

Edited December 7, 2023 by Liverpool Lou

[ikke1959]

And than wondering why tourists don't come to Thailand .....

[rbkk]

8 minutes ago, RobU said:

My friend brought her father back to England. He had been living as an expatriate in the US for 30 years. He registered with a local GP and immediately received full NHS benefits for his complex heart conditions.

Correct. Returning to be a resident again and returning for a visit are not the same thing. Visiting/visitors should pay be it the UK or Thailand.

[Thingamabob]

Hospital charges in Thailand for non-Thais are outrageously high.

[Liverpool Lou]

3 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

And than wondering why tourists don't come to Thailand .....

What makes you falsely claim that "tourists don't come to Thailand"?

[ukrules]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The hospital later returned 100,000 baht, acknowledging it had mistaken her for a foreigner.

 

These people want to tax our worldwide income, they're a laughing stock.

[rbkk]

7 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

Hospital charges in Thailand for non-Thais are outrageously high.

I disagree (British). Thai government hospital charges using my Yellow Book to register/admit have been fair. Covid vaccines were also free.

[Goat]

3 hours ago, 2baht said:

Let's not beat about the bush, Xenophobic racists!

 

 

So why are you here?

[Liverpool Lou]

18 minutes ago, rbkk said:

Just because I'm British does not give me the right to the UK(Free) price if I use the NHS. It's based on residency. I live in Thailand, same as most of us on here. I think she is not a Thai resident at this time. Her foreign passport and business are now in Sweden and prior to that she was in the US. She was not admitted as a Thai ID card holder. Thai TikTok says she used her foreign passport to register/admit to the hospital as well as paid using a foreign credit card.

I'm not sure what point you're attempting to make.

 

"Just because I'm British does not give me the right to the UK(Free) price if I use the NHS".

I know, and I did not say that you do have that right!

 

"I think she is not a Thai resident at this time. Her foreign passport and business are now in Sweden and prior to that she was in the US. She was not admitted as a Thai ID card holder".

I know, and I did not post anything to dispute that!   She paid her bill in full as invoiced and, by the way, all Thai citizens are entitled to the free (or B30?) treatment offered to all Thai citizens.

 

"...she used her foreign passport to register/admit to the hospital as well as paid using a foreign credit card".

I know, that's what I have posted.

[AdamTheFarang]

3 hours ago, rbkk said:

So, visiting her country of birth and using that countries health service? I know that's a no-no for the UK's NHS. (Have to wait 3 years for returning residents.)

Rubbish - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-the-nhs-when-you-return-to-live-in-the-uk

[bbi1]

I thought the hospital was in Sweden when I read the title "Thai Restaurant Owner in Sweden "

 

I'm really not sure what that has to do with a hospital she went to when she was in Thailand. Weird headline.

[Spock]

1 hour ago, rbkk said:

There are 5 different pricing tiers at Thai govt. hospitals. Which tier your billed at depends on your visa status.

Doesn't make it right and stories about tourists getting fleeced certainly turn me off leaving free Medicare in Australia behind and risking my income at 70 in Thailand.

[Spock]

1 hour ago, soalbundy said:

I had an operation for a hernia at a private hospital, 1 night stay, 28K Baht, I thought that was reasonable.

Reasonable. I paid $450 in Cambodia for a femoral hernia operation. All done without an overnight stay.

[Surasak]

3 hours ago, steven100 said:

Lets call a spade a spade ..... 

 

they tried to rip her off because they thought she was a foreigner 

I can guess, but I bet you wouldn't call a spade a spade if you fell over it in the dark!

[malibukid]

what a joke.  i was at Ram Hospital in Chiang Mai and was quoted 100K for a hernia repair.  they told me no 2 tier pricing.

now the truth comes out.  squeeze the farang.  

[JohnAllan]

I wonder how the Thais would react, were we to charge THEM more, in the West?

 

Or refuse to treat them as British NHS patients ... which we certainly should, as the taxpayer-funded NHS ISN'T free!

2 hours ago, prakhonchai nick said:

Some years ago, my dual nationality daughter spent a night in a well known Pattaya hospital following a minor motorbike accident. No surgery, no x rays, just overnight monitoring. When I received the ridiculously high bill  the following morning, i took it up with the hospital management.  Same story  farang price!  When I produced her ID card , the bill was cut down to 30% of the original price

 

Edited December 7, 2023 by JohnAllan

[twizzian]

Ive spent four days in ICU in a private hospital here with a more serious problem than hers.

My bill was less than half of this ladies treatment.

Seems to me a combination of touristy locations with no standard treatment prices across the field of private care especially applies to all foreigners 

[rbkk]

28 minutes ago, AdamTheFarang said:

4 hours ago, rbkk said:

So, visiting her country of birth and using that countries health service? I know that's a no-no for the UK's NHS. (Have to wait 3 years for returning residents.)

Rubbish - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-the-nhs-when-you-return-to-live-in-the-uk

My foggy brain. I think it might be 3 years before you can get the dole/other handouts? I know it is/used to be 3 years wait for something. The no-no I reference above is for previous UK residents who have left and return back to the UK for a visit and access the free NHS when they should should be declaring their residence status and paying. If you normaly live here in Thailand you should pay ( +150% NHS bill).

[malibukid]

2 hours ago, soalbundy said:

I had an operation for a hernia at a private hospital, 1 night stay, 28K Baht, I thought that was reasonable.

where?

[thailand49]

I hope Thais see this story so they csn see how racist and stupid their leaders
 are towards foreigner and their supreme court endorses this type of racism.

True the land of stupidity, 3rd world mentality.

 

 

[firemans35]

2 hours ago, Lopburikid said:

6 days in hospital, dengue fever, private room, doctor every day, treatment every day 24-hour attention. After 6 days B38,300 paid for by health insurance, 1 hour after sending bill. My annul Health Insurnace is B58,000. so got most of my money back after one visit.

What Insurance do you have?

[rbkk]

15 minutes ago, Spock said:

1 hour ago, rbkk said:

There are 5 different pricing tiers at Thai govt. hospitals. Which tier your billed at depends on your visa status.

Doesn't make it right and stories about tourists getting fleeced certainly turn me off leaving free Medicare in Australia behind and risking my income at 70 in Thailand.

Blame Anutin. He's the one that won in the Thai court against a Dutch (?) engineer sueing against the racist pricing. 

[rbkk]

7 minutes ago, malibukid said:

they told me no 2 tier pricing.

Correct. It's 5 tier pricing!

[rbkk]

8 minutes ago, JohnAllan said:

I wonder how the Thais would react, were we to charge them more, in the West?

 

Or refuse to treat them as British NHS patients ... which we certainly should, as the taxpayer-funded NHS ISN'T free!

They are charged NHS fee @ 150%. It's clearly laid out here...https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-the-nhs-charges-overseas-visitors-for-nhs-hospital-care/how-the-nhs-charges-overseas-visitors-for-nhs-hospital-care

 

[sandyf]

2 hours ago, rbkk said:

There are 5 different pricing tiers at Thai govt. hospitals. Which tier your billed at depends on your visa status.

Can't possibly be right, there is no such thing as visa status, been talking to the wrong Dr.

[rbkk]

1 minute ago, sandyf said:

2 hours ago, rbkk said:

There are 5 different pricing tiers at Thai govt. hospitals. Which tier your billed at depends on your visa status.

Can't possibly be right, there is no such thing as visa status, been talking to the wrong Dr.

It all came to light in last years (?) legal case where Anutin sadly won against the foreign engineer. There was a thread here about it. I know I pay my bills @ a lower rate than a tourist because I registered with my Yellow Book. I don't know which level of the 5 tiers I'm on but I do know it's not the top tier and it is reasonable.  

[koolkarl]

Its long overdue for a foreigner to sue a hospital all the way up for over billing.