Options for medical treatment for cancer (In thailand)

[villageidiotY2K]

Hello there, Im currently looking into health insurance here in thailand and ive got this offer from the broker AXA.

Im mostly concered about the cancer treatment, and as below policy states theres only chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments that are covered regards to cancer treatment.

 

Im not quite confident with these treatments as I have seen ppl whove undergone these treatments and seems to become more ill. (loss of appetite, loss of hair, depressed, and some have actually died )

I was more looking into the surgery option as to cutting out the cancer effected parts.

 

Is there those that have experienced the cancer treatment or those that uve know, do you mind sharing how did it go regards to the treatment?

 

 

[Zaphod Priest]

Surgery for cancer is covered in section 4.

 

What is probably not covered is more advanced treatments such as immunotherapy (which can be extraordinarily expensive).

[Lacessit]

It depends on the type of cancer the OP has. Surgery is most successful with solid tumors which have not metastasized.

 

Immunotherapy has an very good survival record against cancers which do respond to it, but it does not work for everyone or every cancer.

 

As another poster has noted, immunotherapy is expensive. A course of targeted inhibitor medication, which cost me $100 in Australia, would have cost $70,000 in America.

 

Radiotherapy and chemotherapy have the most side effects.

[Sheryl]

@villageidiotY2KYou are mis-reading the policy.

 

Surgery is covered under the inpatient benefits.

 

This is apparently a hospitalization only policy but, as some do, it makes an exception for outpatient chemo and radiation.

 

By the way, chemo and radiation can be fully curative for some cancers. What you seem to have in mind is when it is usedd to extend life i nthe case of cancers that have spread, a different matter altogether.

 

In any event this policy would seem to cover all standard cancer therapies up to the maximum amount of  2 million baht. However that   is way too low.  You should get at least 5 million cover if you want option of using private hospitals.

 

The room charge is also low for a private hospital and would often not cover it, especially in Bangkok.

 

Go for a higher end package.

[villageidiotY2K]

thanks for yall advices.

immunotherapy which iminterested as alteranative to chemo and radiotherapy,

does insurance policy must state immunotherapy for this to be covered?

ive skim through the policy, but says nothing about immunotherapy.

 

Does anyone got insurance policy that covers immunotherapy ?

[villageidiotY2K]

On 2/21/2025 at 8:21 PM, villageidiotY2K said:

thanks for yall advices.

immunotherapy which iminterested as alteranative to chemo and radiotherapy,

does insurance policy must state immunotherapy for this to be covered?

ive skim through the policy, but says nothing about immunotherapy.

 

Does anyone got insurance policy that covers immunotherapy ?

@sheryl hello you still there?

[Sheryl]

Yes I am here.

 

There are established immunothrapies for only a few cancers.  Insurance will only cover established therapies, not experimental ones (which in any event are limited to people who do have not responded to conventional treatments). . In addition a hospitalization only policy might not cover outpatient immunotherapy. 

 

 

Cancer is not a single disease but a large group of very different diseases.  Specifically what type of cancer are you worried about and why? 

 

Unless you have a specific indication of having a type of cancer treated by immunological agents,  the likelihood of  this exact situation arising is low. And if you do have such indication then it woukd be pre-existing and not covered by a new  insurance  policy, period.

 

By the way immunological therapy can be as difficult as regular chemotheraoy in terms of side effects. 

[villageidiotY2K]

Im concered about how cancer is being treated, being chemo and radio being the only option. 

 

do you think when some dud doctor in pattaya (especially in B@ngkok hospiyal) tells one that theyve got some sort of SERIOUS cancer, its better to take nature its course instead of being an experiamental rat posioned with all the expensive goodies which they [ossibly know that they mostly wont work, squeezed all the monies from the patients and their familes for their happy fruitful retirement wealth passed on to their next gens? 

it is hard to distinuish the doctors with their smiles, and i can see dollar signs shining in their eyes and ear to ear grins. im scared... i guess i will have some beers

 

 

 

[Sheryl]

3 minutes ago, villageidiotY2K said:

Im concered about how cancer is being treated, being chemo and radio being the only option

 Rarely is this the case unless the cancer has already metastasized, except for a few specific cancers where chemo is curative. 

 

 

 

 

[newbee2022]

On 2/20/2025 at 1:06 PM, villageidiotY2K said:

Hello there, Im currently looking into health insurance here in thailand and ive got this offer from the broker AXA.

Im mostly concered about the cancer treatment, and as below policy states theres only chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments that are covered regards to cancer treatment.

 

Im not quite confident with these treatments as I have seen ppl whove undergone these treatments and seems to become more ill. (loss of appetite, loss of hair, depressed, and some have actually died )

I was more looking into the surgery option as to cutting out the cancer effected parts.

 

Is there those that have experienced the cancer treatment or those that uve know, do you mind sharing how did it go regards to the treatment?

 

 

Well, your doctor will tell you what is necessary to do in case you got cancer. Not all kind of cancers are removable. It depends where it is, metastasizing already, or just impossible to remove. 

The doctor will tell you alternatives or possible successful treatment.

As far as I know the insurance will cover everything. But be advised to read the small prints and exclusions.

[mikeyhick]

My wife is a cancer sufferer, is insured with AXA and has had several operations and immunotherapy all of which was covered by the insurance without any issues. Cover for MRI. CT and PET scans is also an important part of any plan, as regular check-ups are necessary to monitor progress of the disease.

Suggest you look at the AXA Global Healthcare plans rather than just AXA Thailand

 

[Easterneye]

Just to give an idea of costs , last year in the uk I underwent two months of diagnostics , scans , biopsies etc followed by two months of daily radio therapy on our nhs ,and I worked out the costs in the private hospitals in our town and it came to just over £98000 .

[bradiston]

22 hours ago, villageidiotY2K said:

Im concered about how cancer is being treated, being chemo and radio being the only option. 

 

do you think when some dud doctor in pattaya (especially in B@ngkok hospiyal) tells one that theyve got some sort of SERIOUS cancer, its better to take nature its course instead of being an experiamental rat posioned with all the expensive goodies which they [ossibly know that they mostly wont work, squeezed all the monies from the patients and their familes for their happy fruitful retirement wealth passed on to their next gens? 

it is hard to distinuish the doctors with their smiles, and i can see dollar signs shining in their eyes and ear to ear grins. im scared... i guess i will have some beers

 

 

 

Any insurance company will want a lot of detail on the oncologist's diagnosis as the recommended treatment is likely to be extremely expensive. I look at this as a safeguard gainst fraudulent claims on your behalf by unscrupulous, even criminal, doctors, if such exist. So in a sense, the insurer's medical team will act as a kind of second opinion. If they give the go ahead, I think you can be sure there's nothing funny going on, and the agreed treatment is approved as appropriate.

[sgtsabai]

You have gotten some good advice. I'll add that treatments may not be the latest. My cancer was stage 4a but had not metastasized. I had a complete laryngectomy in the US last year at Minneapolis VA Hospital. It is pretty much on par with Mayo Clinic. The cancer was missed for several months and I missed the symptoms for much longer. I should have been more alert as Agent Orange has been a ticking time bomb inside for many years. I had both chemo and radio. A PET Scan upon release and another several months later here. From what I have observed I am extremely glad I flew to the states for my surgery etc. You might want to take that into consideration. 

[BB1955]

Wr Life will pay for surgery chemotherapy and immune therapy

[PokerDoggie]

A friend of mine was diagnosed with colon cancer. He was 78 years old and had dropped some of his insurance coverage due to the increasing policy cost. 
He compared costs and quality of care at various hospitals. Bangkok Pattaya hospital was quite expensive and he also felt they were trying to constantly upsell him with even more expensive options. 

He ended up going to Queen Savsng Vadhana hospital in Sri Ratcha. 

 

Excellent quality care in a very modern public teaching hospital associated with Chulalongkorn. He had surgery and chemo. I don’t know the exact cost but it was very reasonable. 
When he was in the hospital his private room was about 3000 baht per night.