Hospital checking visa

[ChipButty]

I dont know about you guys, I'm always thinking if I lost my passport or it got stolen, these days a UK passport is a nightmare to get replaced, I think the fine was about 2000 baht for not carrying your passport, a lot cheaper than losing it, 

Gone are the days when you could just rock to the embassy in Bangkok and get a new one in 3 or 4 days, 

[Ohyesuare]

4 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Sure about that. 

Earlier this year a friend from Oz was visiting Thailand. 

Had full travel insurance. 

Plus his pasport. 

 

Anyway had a minor turn. Off to hospital (Pattaya). 

Private. 

I had  to provide a 100k "security" to get him admitted. 

 

Edit: obviously he was visa exempt stamp. 

 

 

Not 100% sure, true, especially for major incidents/accidents and also will depend on the hospital of course, but I always say I don't have mine on me and they just take down my info from what I tell them. It's true that many will want a deposit before doing any intensive treatments or operations if insurance info is not provided.

[Felt 35]

2 hours ago, MarkBR said:

I assume they think Immigration is incompetent & bribable.🤣

I think they know that😉

[DrJack54]

15 minutes ago, Ohyesuare said:

......but I always say I don't have mine on me and they just take down my info from what I tell them.

And what do you achieve.... Is that some sort of win. 

 

So you're not prepared to take your pp along with you when having treatment/consultation at a hospital. 

 

Personally find threads like this ridiculous. 

If you are eg going to bank or hospital etc take pp with you and hand it over. 

Next someone will type "no probable cause" 

[Felt 35]

4 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Quite understandable, as if you are an overstay, I'd be asking for payment in advance.  If you're the type of person that would overstay, you'd be the type of person that would stick them with a bill.

 

Good on them and any vendor that asked to see your visa, within reason.   Spot checks are how criminals get caught.   You think PoPo pulled you over because you didn't have your turning signal on ... NO ... looking for criminals and you gave them probable cause.  If you're not an Ahole, you get a warning and on your way.

 

Hoping to see a lot more, as obviously, too many criminals & riff raff in country, proven by all the headliners on AN  

 

What kind of answer is that to someone hospitalized? 🤮 Not everyone living in Thailand is a criminal and if the criminals get past the brown guys in Immigration, then it is no one else's (or more likely a brown envelope let them in) fault but the Immigration itself and not a patient in a hospital.

Felt

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, Ralf001 said:

yeah I do not take my passport with me to hospital.

Just have your Credit Card handy instead.

[sandyf]

5 hours ago, Lorry said:

Last week, the hospital checked my visa. Twice. Not my passport, my visa stamp.

(I think I have heard of this before,  but I was still gobsmacked).

So now the banks , BTS, DLT, hospitals... when will 7/11 check my visa validity every time I buy a coke? 

I registered at the hospital with my pink card.

[transam]

1 hour ago, ChipButty said:

I dont know about you guys, I'm always thinking if I lost my passport or it got stolen, these days a UK passport is a nightmare to get replaced, I think the fine was about 2000 baht for not carrying your passport, a lot cheaper than losing it, 

Gone are the days when you could just rock to the embassy in Bangkok and get a new one in 3 or 4 days, 

Just keep a folded sheet of A4 with your passport info page and stamp in your wallet......🤗

[transam]

33 minutes ago, Ohyesuare said:

 

Not 100% sure, true, especially for major incidents/accidents and also will depend on the hospital of course, but I always say I don't have mine on me and they just take down my info from what I tell them. It's true that many will want a deposit before doing any intensive treatments or operations if insurance info is not provided.

"You always say", hmmm, sounds daft to me, and even dafter for you if they tell you to go home and get it, eh......🙄

[Ralf001]

14 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Just have your Credit Card handy instead.

 

I give them my private insurance card or my SS card.

If they ask for ID I give them my drivers licence.

[GreasyFingers]

12 minutes ago, sandyf said:

I registered at the hospital with my pink card.

Same here, with different hospitals. I use the pink ID wherever asked for the passport and have not had any problems so far.

[norfolkandchance]

1 hour ago, ChipButty said:

I dont know about you guys, I'm always thinking if I lost my passport or it got stolen, these days a UK passport is a nightmare to get replaced, I think the fine was about 2000 baht for not carrying your passport, a lot cheaper than losing it, 

Gone are the days when you could just rock to the embassy in Bangkok and get a new one in 3 or 4 days, 

Just got a replacement UK passport. Went thru an agent. Delivered in 6 weeks but 2 weeks delay as HMPO asked for extra docs.

[impulse]

5 minutes ago, GreasyFingers said:

Same here, with different hospitals. I use the pink ID wherever asked for the passport and have not had any problems so far.

 

Is that to get treated, or is that to spend the night?  I suspect (but don't know...) that hospitals, like hotels, have to file a TM30 on their overnight guests.

 

[Lorry]

2 hours ago, VR333 said:

they certainly checked the visa I had. The thing is, I have been going to this same hospital for over twenty years..

Same here.

[Lorry]

2 hours ago, davb said:

I took my cat to a vet for his ear mites and they required me to show my passport to get him treatment. It was ridiculous, but I agree it seems like a bad habit that many Thais have.

You are kidding, are you?

[sandyf]

3 minutes ago, GreasyFingers said:

Same here, with different hospitals. I use the pink ID wherever asked for the passport and have not had any problems so far.

Yes, I am registered with about 5 hospitals and been much easier than the passport.

One of the first I used was the cancer hospital in Chonburi, before the pink cards came out. The practice was when you arrived they took your passport and that then travelled around the hospital with your docs. One time i noticed a nurse walk past and something fell from her arms, it was my passport. Fortunately another nurse behind was quick to pick it up.

When i got the pink card I went along and re-registered.  Now, just like the Thais they take my card, slip it in a plastic sleeve and staple it to the docs.

[davb]

1 minute ago, Lorry said:

You are kidding, are you?

No. I've been to two other vets and they didn't require it, but this one did. It approached being creepy because they were collecting a lot of information. Bangkok will be requiring all pets and pet owners to be registered with the government soon, so I assume this is a precursor to that.

[Digitalbanana]

18 minutes ago, GreasyFingers said:

Same here, with different hospitals. I use the pink ID wherever asked for the passport and have not had any problems so far.

I tried that at a hospital last week in Bangkok. They said they needed the passport also as they have to enter my name in its original alphabet and my Thai ID is all in Thai.

[thesetat]

5 hours ago, ChipButty said:

The last time I was at the hospital to collect my tablets every 2 months after I have seen the Doc, I then went to make my next appointment, then I went to pay, then I collect my medicine after I have paid, she asked me for my passport and that is he first time ever, I have never had to show it before, I am already registered which I did some years ago and they gave me, like a membership card that was all I needed to show, I said to her I dont have it, only my driving license which she said it was ok, I just think it's a bad habit Thais have, asking for your passport,  It used to piss me of in the bank asking for my passport everytime I went in.

I have been asked only once to show my passport. I was already registered with the hospital and they copied my passport for my hospital card. This one time they wanted to verify my identity. So, i gave them my driving permit and told them i do not carry passport outside of the house except when going to immigration. The permit was enough for them. Never have I seen or heard of a hospital demanding your passport to make sure you were in the country legally. 

[Lorry]

This thread is about they asking for my permission of stay, not for ID.

They never asked for ID (picture page pp, pink card, DL) and I am registered here anyway. 

It was only the permission of stay they were interested in.

 

 

[sandyf]

2 minutes ago, Digitalbanana said:

I tried that at a hospital last week in Bangkok. They said they needed the passport also as they have to enter my name in its original alphabet and my Thai ID is all in Thai.

Government or Private.

I only use government hospitals and not been a problem.

[Lorry]

7 minutes ago, Digitalbanana said:

I tried that at a hospital last week in Bangkok. They said they needed the passport also as they have to enter my name in its original alphabet and my Thai ID is all in Thai.

That's unusual. 

Usually,  registering with pink card, and maybe yellow book, is easy,  and sometimes even gives you resident prices,  cheaper than tourist prices. 

[sandyf]

5 minutes ago, Lorry said:

This thread is about they asking for my permission of stay, not for ID.

They never asked for ID (picture page pp, pink card, DL) and I am registered here anyway. 

It was only the permission of stay they were interested in.

 

 

Where in the OP did it say you went to a hospital where you were already registered?

How are you registered at that hospital,  passport or ID?

[Lorry]

2 minutes ago, sandyf said:

Where in the OP did it say you went to a hospital where you were already registered?

How are you registered at that hospital,  passport or ID?

Passport, because that was decades ago, I didn't have pink card at that time. 

[GreasyFingers]

30 minutes ago, Digitalbanana said:

I tried that at a hospital last week in Bangkok. They said they needed the passport also as they have to enter my name in its original alphabet and my Thai ID is all in Thai.

It is very hard to understand the varying reasons at different places.

[ronnie50]

6 hours ago, Lorry said:

Last week, the hospital checked my visa. Twice. Not my passport, my visa stamp.

(I think I have heard of this before,  but I was still gobsmacked).

So now the banks , BTS, DLT, hospitals... when will 7/11 check my visa validity every time I buy a coke? 

Big C wants to check my passport in order to use my Big C points for cash discounts at check out 🤣 because the BOT never knows who's using supermarket loyalty points to launder money 😄 For a while they also had signs at the cashiers saying all foreigners would need to show their passports if paying more than 5,000 baht by credit card. Why only credit cards? Why 5,000 THB? Why only foreigners, and not Thais? Who knows.

 

It's endless.

[ronnie50]

Regarding hospitals, yes, I had to let them check mine for a visa but only during an admittance once. Otherwise, as I regularly go there for routine things, they already had a copy of the bio page. So I guess when admitting, they want to check the visa or stamp to ensure you are not in overstay, which might cause them some problems - maybe a fine, etc. Not really different from a hotel. You are 'staying' at the hospital. Makes sense I guess.

[ronnie50]

2 hours ago, ChipButty said:

these days a UK passport is a nightmare to get replaced

..or just to get a new one as it approaches expiry. It's almost illogical what they expect for someone living overseas. BTW, HM passport office has moved - still VfS - but is now at the Belle Tower, upstairs (behind Central Rama 9 shopping centre). I think it's also Canada and Australia, but not positive. UK visa office has moved there too now (maybe for the other two as well)..

[hotandsticky]

1 hour ago, norfolkandchance said:

Just got a replacement UK passport. Went thru an agent. Delivered in 6 weeks but 2 weeks delay as HMPO asked for extra docs.

 

 

Which suggests that the agent did not submit the correct documentation.

[hotandsticky]

2 hours ago, ChipButty said:

I dont know about you guys, I'm always thinking if I lost my passport or it got stolen, these days a UK passport is a nightmare to get replaced, I think the fine was about 2000 baht for not carrying your passport, a lot cheaper than losing it, 

Gone are the days when you could just rock to the embassy in Bangkok and get a new one in 3 or 4 days, 

 

 

Why is it a nightmare?

 

If you can rock up to an embassy in Bangkok you can rock up to VfS.

 

Using an embassy was a lifetime ago; admittedly, applying through Hong Kong was arguably easier - although that stopped 12 years ago.