More than I expected to pay 

 

For some time now I have had a small rough patch of skin (less than 1 cm diameter.) on my cheek , that occasionally causes some slight irritation especially if I am sweating , it stings.

So today I decided to go to the hospital and have it checked out. I had read that cryotherapy was often successfully used as a  method of eradicating these things.

My appointment was for 1:45 at the Dermatology Dept., but got there 30min. early and was seen after about 10 min.

At first I was seen by a nurse who took my blood pressure and recorded my weight & height.

Then asked to wait for the doctor.

the doctor soon arrived and pointed out what the mark on my cheek was most likely to be.(see photo)

He then examined my back and informed me that I had a mole and recommended that I have a biopsy done on it , to which I agreed.

Back out to the waiting room and someone came over and proceeded to go over a breakdown of what the cost would be and asked me to sign various papers , which I did , the cost quoted being just under ฿22,000 , which at the time I thought that sounds a bit higher than I expected , but had no idea what the biopsy was about.

Next the doctor came back and ushered in to the surgery room.

First they did the biopsy , shaving a bit of the mole on my back , then applying nitrogen to the cheek. All in all about 20 minutes max.

Back to the waiting area and realising that that was the procedure over , I began to question (to myself) how this could possibly be ฿22,000.

The person who had given me this quote came back to ask for my e-mail address and phone number in order to convey the results when they became known , at which point I asked her if the hospital operated a 3 tier charging system that I have read about on this forum and if so was the price that she had previously quoted me was the highest tier (tourist).

She seemed a bit evasive to discuss this , but assured me that I was being charged the Foreign Expat Rate which was the same as the Thai Rate..

How she knew that I was an expat???

Finally I was called to the counter and given a pile of stuff (see photo) and directed/escorted to the Cashier Dept.

After a short wait my number came up and I went to the desk and paid ......฿18,799

Time from arrival 1:25

Time I paid the bill 2:45

Time spent waiting in waiting  area/cashier waiting area ~ 45min

 

This was my first experience using a private hospital.

The service was very good.

One has to be vigilant with regards to costs , I am completely convinced that I was being charged the tourist rate until I questioned the bill.

It is always best to be non-confrontational when querying charges eg  Oh! I was wondering if perhaps if an error has occurred ..., always gets a better result than outright accusations of bill padding or discrimination (even if true)

 

 

On 9/13/2025 at 8:59 PM, Jim Mac said:

Why can the hospital not be named. They are incompetent scammers i would rather be locked up for defamation than have to go to this hospital.  Please let it be named and shamed for the sake of other people. Otherwise you are just being weak and subjecting other people to this despicable hospital. Grow a backbone. 

Put your real name and contact details down then ...

1 hour ago, a3tsw said:

More than I expected to pay 

 

For some time now I have had a small rough patch of skin (less than 1 cm diameter.) on my cheek , that occasionally causes some slight irritation especially if I am sweating , it stings.

So today I decided to go to the hospital and have it checked out. I had read that cryotherapy was often successfully used as a  method of eradicating these things.

My appointment was for 1:45 at the Dermatology Dept., but got there 30min. early and was seen after about 10 min.

At first I was seen by a nurse who took my blood pressure and recorded my weight & height.

Then asked to wait for the doctor.

the doctor soon arrived and pointed out what the mark on my cheek was most likely to be.(see photo)

He then examined my back and informed me that I had a mole and recommended that I have a biopsy done on it , to which I agreed.

Back out to the waiting room and someone came over and proceeded to go over a breakdown of what the cost would be and asked me to sign various papers , which I did , the cost quoted being just under ฿22,000 , which at the time I thought that sounds a bit higher than I expected , but had no idea what the biopsy was about.

Next the doctor came back and ushered in to the surgery room.

First they did the biopsy , shaving a bit of the mole on my back , then applying nitrogen to the cheek. All in all about 20 minutes max.

Back to the waiting area and realising that that was the procedure over , I began to question (to myself) how this could possibly be ฿22,000.

The person who had given me this quote came back to ask for my e-mail address and phone number in order to convey the results when they became known , at which point I asked her if the hospital operated a 3 tier charging system that I have read about on this forum and if so was the price that she had previously quoted me was the highest tier (tourist).

She seemed a bit evasive to discuss this , but assured me that I was being charged the Foreign Expat Rate which was the same as the Thai Rate..

How she knew that I was an expat???

Finally I was called to the counter and given a pile of stuff (see photo) and directed/escorted to the Cashier Dept.

After a short wait my number came up and I went to the desk and paid ......฿18,799

Time from arrival 1:25

Time I paid the bill 2:45

Time spent waiting in waiting  area/cashier waiting area ~ 45min

 

This was my first experience using a private hospital.

The service was very good.

One has to be vigilant with regards to costs , I am completely convinced that I was being charged the tourist rate until I questioned the bill.

It is always best to be non-confrontational when querying charges eg  Oh! I was wondering if perhaps if an error has occurred ..., always gets a better result than outright accusations of bill padding or discrimination (even if true)

 

 

Thats around $1000 AUD Australia 

 

You could of flown to Australia and paid a GP $120  to do the same thing !

You got ripped off