Hospital charging more for foreigners

[mogandave]

3 minutes ago, actonion said:

Although my Mrs works at one of Pattaya's Ladyboy shows, (Management) , she is /was  a Woman, last time  I  checked  !!..What hospital are you both using?

Bumrungrad

 

I think they check more stuff with women 

 

 

[actonion]

On 1/21/2025 at 3:46 PM, Hellfire said:

In Thailand, it seems that robbing foreigners has become an officially sanctioned activity. Unfortunately, there’s little any of us can do to change this reality. On the bright side, there’s a certain equality in their approach—foreigners are robbed indiscriminately, regardless of nationality, race, or any other factor.

 

 

On top of this foreigners are now being told to pay Tax

[Dazinoz]

Took an ex to a popular cosmetic surgery hospital (production line) in Bangkok to have eyelid surgery.

 

Now don't ask why but she is from Myanmar and has an old ID plus in the process of getting a Thai ID.

 

On enquiry she showed her Thai (partially) ID and was quoted a price. We booked the op and went to Pattaya for a few days. Now when she was checking into the hospital she showed her Myanmar ID, why I don't know. The lady checking her in said not Thai so 30% more charge than quoted. I said why it's the same eyes. She then said if it was me (farang) it be 50% extra.

 

So I just told my ex we will do in Chiang Mai and left.

[actonion]

On 1/23/2025 at 11:03 AM, jaideedave said:

I have a regular Dr I see at Queen Sirikit Navy Hospital,Sattahip.

Posted on the wall in the main waiting room is a notice stating various levels of fees.

Foreign workers- free  assuming Myanmar,Cambodians

Foreigners resident-fee x 1.5

Foreigners non resident tourists- fee x 2

I have another appointment next month and will take a pic to confirm.

I'd like them to post the reasons why foreigners have to pay more, i know we know why, I'd just like to ask them  why, with Thai logic  be interesting to see their answer

[ChipButty]

We have a good friend who is an Agent for many insurance companies, they have a list of all the hospitals here in Phuket and their prices, Thai price Farang price, Insurance price, none insurance price, 

[actonion]

9 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

We have a good friend who is an Agent for many insurance companies, they have a list of all the hospitals here in Phuket and their prices, Thai price Farang price, Insurance price, none insurance price, 

A Surgeon asked a Farang friend of mine, if he was paying himself, or was it an  insurance company paying, he replied he was paying himself, the doctor said ....."ok we'll have you out of here A.S.A.P"...... presumably an insurance job  takes a more leisurely pace..

[Sheryl]

5 hours ago, chmeatloaf said:

You were lucky. I was quoted 38K all because of a high CEA positive test result. After 2 years another CEA test showed almost zero positive result.

That estimate might have included removal and biopsy of X number of polyps.

 

Important to always verify with colonoscopy price if it includes polyp excision & biopsy  or not. Promotion/package prices usually do not, it is is extra which makes some sense since will not always be needed and they have no way of knowing this in advance.  But some hospitals try to always estimate on the high side when giving verbal estimates since people get upset of total comes to more.

 

Note that CEA is not suitable for screening purposes and should not be so used. Same goes for most other "cancer markers" that private hospital checkup packages often include.

[jingjai9]

I had this happen to me, that is, getting charged more at a hospital because I was a foreigner. I was told the government hospitals charge by the type of visa you hold. For example someone with a work visa will pay less than someone with a retirement visa.

I think the logic is if you work in Thailand you are contributing to society so your medical fees are less at government hospitals.

 

I had surgery at a government hospital in 2016 and they had me put down a deposit when I checked into the hospital. I believe they base the amount of the deposit on the usual and customary fee for the surgery you are going to receive. I ended up getting a rebate because the amount of my deposit exceeded the costs of my hospital stay.

[TheFishman1]

Everybody knows that foreigners get charged here more than people who live here come on TIT

[Tomtomtom69]

10 hours ago, Dazinoz said:

Took an ex to a popular cosmetic surgery hospital (production line) in Bangkok to have eyelid surgery.

 

Now don't ask why but she is from Myanmar and has an old ID plus in the process of getting a Thai ID.

 

On enquiry she showed her Thai (partially) ID and was quoted a price. We booked the op and went to Pattaya for a few days. Now when she was checking into the hospital she showed her Myanmar ID, why I don't know. The lady checking her in said not Thai so 30% more charge than quoted. I said why it's the same eyes. She then said if it was me (farang) it be 50% extra.

 

So I just told my ex we will do in Chiang Mai and left.

 

If she's not a Thai citizen, she can't get a Thai ID card. 

[Tomtomtom69]

On 1/23/2025 at 5:05 PM, Sheryl said:

 

The MoPH sanctions it, yes. But government hospitals have considerable autonomy in how they implement this and many - indeed, most if one counts all the community level hospitals nationwide - do not have different pricing tiers as it is simply not worth the administrative hassle for hospitals that very seldom ever treat a non-Thai.  In practice only hospitals in locations which regularly see foreigners bother to do this. And when they do it is usually just 2 tiers, Thai and foreign. I don''t know of any government hosputal applying the multiple tiers.

 

Many, many things in that directive are not applied in practice.. Including the specific charge rates.

 

Dual pricing at government hospitals is probably more widespread than you are implying. Also, given that Thailand is home to millions of migrant workers from neighboring countries (including illegals), with estimates suggesting there could be in excess of 10 million foreigners from neighboring countries here, I think most hospitals throughout the country would have treated Lao, Burmese, Cambodian, Vietnamese etc. citizens at one point or another, and many do so on a regular basis. Hospitals out in the sticks are less likely to have treated farang, of course. 

 

Also, being Thailand, greed sets in, so I'm sure a hospital that receives a farang patient would more than likely find an excuse to charge them more than locals...especially if it's a more involved case. For a simple wound cleaning or the sniffles, probably not. 

[Dazinoz]

9 hours ago, Tomtomtom69 said:

 

If she's not a Thai citizen, she can't get a Thai ID card. 

There are ways of doing almost anything in Thailand.

[The Fugitive]

On 1/22/2025 at 2:16 PM, actonion said:

My Mrs  went for an Annual  smear test with the Gynie doctor while i was having the  prostate  procedure, they found stage 2 cancer  which is why they said she needed a full hysterectomy, she is now on  hormone replacement,  they have now suggested  she has a  follow up Scan, these annual checks  apparently go on for 5 years following her operation..she is gaining weight very fast,despite her dieting

Thanks for that. My Mrs had a thin prep (smear test) included with the mamogram and ultrasound breast screening package. I guess we've both found out the value of screening! My wife has also gained considerable weight since the menopause. She did like her whisky and soda but is now tea total due to the chemotherapy and the whole cocktail of tablets she takes.

[pchansmorn]

On 1/21/2025 at 4:51 PM, Purdey said:

Thanks, this is interesting. I recently requested a colonoscopy in May. The doc said about 10,000 baht. Seems reasonable but now I am not so sure.

That’s a great price. Average price in a private hospital is 20,000 to 50,000 baht. 

[actonion]

On 1/24/2025 at 6:49 PM, TheFishman1 said:

Everybody knows that foreigners get charged here more than people who live here come on TIT

These hospital should get asked  Why do they charge foreigners extra, I ask everytime &  just get a smile, especially now foreigners are being told u to pay tax when millions of their own workers pay no  income tax

[The Fugitive]

9 hours ago, actonion said:

millions of their own workers pay no  income tax

My Thai wife runs her deceased mother's Buddhist religious goods shop. She keeps all receipts for the stock she buys. She takes these, plus bank statements of payments received, rent paid to shop owners, water and electricity bills etc. each year to the local Income Tax office. Every year they send her away, telling her 'nothing to pay'. I'm guessing it's to do with the thresholds for Income Tax liability?