Is this price out of line?

[TuanLindsay]

Udon Thani. I have my eyes checked every three months by the Government Hospital Doctor who has in addition a private practice which I attend. Eighteen months ago he carried out, at his clinic, a cataract operation on my right eye . Cost 25,000 baht. He has been looking after my eyes for a number of years, controlling glaucoma and ensuring consistently good eye pressure and 20/20 distance viewing. I am 84 by the way.  Please contact me if you would like to discuss this further.

[TuanLindsay]

Apologies, the lens price was somewhere between three and eight thousand baht. Sorry cannot remember off hand but I have a note somewher.

[Red Forever]

You're being ripped off. 18 months ago I went to Doctor Sima in Ubon who diagnosed a cataract. He said come back next week and gave me eye drops to be applied for at least 8 hrs before op. Operation took 15 minutes. Returned week later for check up, all in order.

Price: 25,500 baht.

So call it 50k for 2 eyes. However, eye surgeons will never operate on both eyes of a patient on the same day so it looks like 2 separate procedures.

Whichever way you look at it, it's a rip off.

[Bundooman]

I live in Chiang Mai. About 9 years ago, I had my left cataract operated on at Suang Doc hospital on the Suthep Road. 

Two years later, the right eye was done.

Both operations were highly successful, painless and at 70 years old my eyesight was almost as good as it had been when I was a younger man.

Both operations were carried out by the same lady and I was , (and still am), immensely grateful and my eyes are still good at 79. Each operation only took about an hour or so,                                                        and the recovery process included an eye patch for a while and eyedrops - sunglasses recommended.

 

Each operation cost me 40,000 Baht. 9 years ago. I'm sure the cost has increased, but nothing like the costs the Op has quoted from his source. 

Even if you increase the cost to double - it is still inexpensive.

 

The General Practitioner, (GP), in the Loi Kroh Road surgery, my doctor for the past 30 years, recommended this lady. He told me she had operated on his own mother.

 

It is worth checking out

 

[Mike Lister]

7 minutes ago, Bundooman said:

I live in Chiang Mai. About 9 years ago, I had my left cataract operated on at Suang Doc hospital on the Suthep Road. 

Two years later, the right eye was done.

Both operations were highly successful, painless and at 70 years old my eyesight was almost as good as it had been when I was a younger man.

Both operations were carried out by the same lady and I was , (and still am), immensely grateful and my eyes are still good at 79. Each operation only took about an hour or so,                                                        and the recovery process included an eye patch for a while and eyedrops - sunglasses recommended.

 

Each operation cost me 40,000 Baht. 9 years ago. I'm sure the cost has increased, but nothing like the costs the Op has quoted from his source. 

Even if you increase the cost to double - it is still inexpensive.

 

The General Practitioner, (GP), in the Loi Kroh Road surgery, my doctor for the past 30 years, recommended this lady. He told me she had operated on his own mother.

 

It is worth checking out

 

There are three levels of cost in Chiang Mai, the government hospital is the cheapest, Nakorn Ping. Next, Suan Doc, the CMU hospital, is cheaper. Then comes  Sriphat, the private wing of Suan Doc which is also CMU owned/operated and finally, the private hospitals such as Bangkok Hospital and RAM. 

 

Cataract surgery at Bangkok Hospital is circa 120k per eye, at Sriphat it's around 80k, at Suan Doc it's around 40k and at a government hospital it's around 12k per eye but involves a long wait and no control over the opthamologist.

[lavender19]

That's well over the top. I've just had eye surgery at Rama hospital. Excellent specialist. Well under that price and Rutins quote

[Sheryl]

Moved to the Health Forum.

 

1. The fact that she has detectable cataracts does not necessarily mean she needs cataract surgery now. Cataracts should be removed only when they have begin to seriously affect day to day activities. This can be many, many years - even decades -- after they first develop. Although it is very much not good medical practice, I have come across some doctors in Thailand pushing for cataract surgery well before it was necessary. So we cannot assume that she needs cataract surgery at this time let alone in both eyes (often one eye needs it before the other).

 

2. What you were told re "correct her vision" is at best questionable.  Cataract surgery will remove the cloudiness in vision that cataracts can cause. The lens that is then implanted usually ensures 20/20 distance vision but most people still need glasses for reading/near vision. There are special lens types that are supposed to avoid this but they do not work well for a lot of people....and they cost a great deal more. Other than when to have cataracts removed, the type of lens that will be implanted is the biggest decision and warrants some thought and research on your part.  From the cost estimate the doctor may have been proposing the so-called multifocal lenses. If so, this should have been clearly explained along with the risks/downsides which include haloes/glares, difficulty with night vision, 2-3 month  adjustment period (and some people apparently never do adjust well),less precise visual correction (such that some people still end up needing glasses) etc etc.  See  https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD003169.pub4/full

 

An alternative to multifocal lens is monovision whereby one eye is intentionally left (or made) a little myopic (near-sighted).  This avoids the cost and other disadvantages of "multifocal" lens and works well for some people but not for all, so if thinking of doing this it is a good idea to first try out monovision  using contact lenses or glasses designed to create same effect.

 

If there is any astigmatism, then that has to be factored into the selection of the artifical lens as well.

 

3. If in fact both eyes need immediate cataract removed  (a definite "if", as per #1) it would be usual to do one eye at a time, and this is essential if opting to go for monovision. Normally the second eye would be done after vision in the first eye has stabilized which may take a month or more.

 

in terms of cost,  with standard lens implants a Bangkok private hospital would nowadays run about 65-85k per eye all in.

 

What I suggest you do is consult this US trained and very good doctor at Rutnin eye Hospital for (1) second opinion as to whether cataract surgery is needed now in both eyes and (2) in depth discussion of lens options.  https://www.rutnin.com/en/doctor/resume.36.1_Medical_history_0_0.html

 

 

 

 

[Mike Lister]

An excellent point from Seryl. An opthamologist in Phuket told me I needed to have my cataracts removed fifteen years ago but I declined. Today, they are still only Stage 2, approaching stage 3.

[natway09]

Checked both Rutnin & Bangkok Hospital (I was happy with both).

Chose Dr Taranee at BH.

I wear glasses anyway & happy to still wear, 80,000 Bht.

Excellent from start to go.

Ensure you understand the cell count problems that make the procedure & follow up costs more expensive & results

less if you leave too long or other diminishing returns when over 70 years old.

 

[DiDiChok]

I'd say that a total price including outpatient checkups of ฿315,000 to ฿335,000 is around ฿100,000 over the top but it does depend on the treatment being provided.  I paid ฿233,020 for both eyes in Chiang Mai and I can now read again without reading glasses and see in the distance better than I have ever done before.  All my astigmatism was corrected and that required more to be done that just inserting the new intra-ocular lenses.  They called it "SuperSight surgery" and they weren't wrong.  I have never been so pleased with anything medical before, and this was all done in the middle of the pandemic.

 

I'd suggest that the OP goes with whoever is recommended by lots of people.  I asked around in my local village and it was soon clear from what I call the "Grandma mafia" who run everything, that I should go to the same place as all the Grandmas and Grandpas had done.  So I did.  You could say that I have never looked back . . .

[GroveHillWanderer]

On 12/8/2023 at 5:26 PM, oobar said:

 

My wife of 53 years thought she perhaps needed new prescription glasses but first went to arguably the best (and most expensive) hospital in Thailand for a detailed examination.  Although she hadn’t noticed it, the examination revealed that she has cataracts in both eyes.  However, she was told  that in less than an hour procedure, both lenses can be replaced and her vision corrected as well.  Because of our ages, we self insure, so are prepared for sudden medical expenses, but we were surprised by the estimated cost, which seems stiff.  The doctor’s fee of 80,000 baht is high enough, but the hospital charge – this for an outpatient procedure – runs as high as a cool 139,000 baht.  I guess they have to recoup the cost of their high-tech equipment.  And then there is the price of the lenses themselves – 116, 000 baht -- for a grand total of 335,000 baht. 

Does anyone have any experience with an alternative hospital that can give comparable quality service at a more reasonable price?  Once again, Sheryl?

 

 

 

 

 

 

That does sound a bit pricey considering the alternatives. Just for comparison, at the other end of the scale there was this post earlier in the year.

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1282268-low-cost-cataract-surgery/

 

Quote

People interested in low cost cataract surgery may want to look into the package offered by Princ Hospital in Lamphun.

 

I was at a Chiang Mai fair recently and came across their booth. They are charging 16500 baht per eye for cataract surgery