500 Baht Fee For Pregnant To Fly

[atwr]

Just thought I'd post for the record. Last visa run a few months ago my wife came with me. She was 7 months pregnant and we had papers from our doctor that it was ok to travel by plane. It was only an hour flight. At the airport the airline still made us go get a check from the airport doctor. We waited a half hour while they did paperwork (someone elses), then the doctor put his hands on my wife's stomach for 4 seconds and then we were charged 500 baht. The doctor at the airport might have been born around the time our doctor started practicing.

[toptuan]

Let's see, at 500 baht for 4 seconds...that works out to about a 7500 Baht hourly wage. I'm in the wrong business! What airline was it anyway, which wouldn't accept your doctor's documentation?

[sbk]

the airline still made us go get a check from the airport doctor.

Sounds like airline policy to me emperor tud, not the airport.

[Sophon]

Let's see, at 500 baht for 4 seconds...that works out to about a 7500 Baht hourly wage. I'm in the wrong business! What airline was it anyway, which wouldn't accept your doctor's documentation?

I think you need to redo your calculations and you will arrive at a much higher amount.

Sophon

[mr_hippo]

As a former airport paramedic supervisor, I was called upon on numerous occasions to examine passengers and then issue a 'fit to fly' or 'not fit to fly' certificate. Not all airlines use the same criteria and any member of ground staff can call medical staff if they are worried. Are your doctor's papers taken into account? Yes but he is not the expert!

[ercorn]

As a former airport paramedic supervisor, I was called upon on numerous occasions to examine passengers and then issue a 'fit to fly' or 'not fit to fly' certificate. Not all airlines use the same criteria and any member of ground staff can call medical staff if they are worried. Are your doctor's papers taken into account? Yes but he is not the expert!

Yeah fine....... but did you get paid 500 baht for it???

[think_too_mut]

As a former airport paramedic supervisor, I was called upon on numerous occasions to examine passengers and then issue a 'fit to fly' or 'not fit to fly' certificate. Not all airlines use the same criteria and any member of ground staff can call medical staff if they are worried. Are your doctor's papers taken into account? Yes but he is not the expert!

That could be it. The doctor who issued the certificate could be someone from the provinces who has never been on a plane him/herself.

Nothing wrong that I can see here. Except the charge. It should not exist.

[sumrit]

Let's see, at 500 baht for 4 seconds...that works out to about a 7500 Baht hourly wage. I'm in the wrong business! What airline was it anyway, which wouldn't accept your doctor's documentation?

I think it works out at 7500 baht per minute, not per hour

[solo siam]

Let's see, at 500 baht for 4 seconds...that works out to about a 7500 Baht hourly wage. I'm in the wrong business! What airline was it anyway, which wouldn't accept your doctor's documentation?

I think it works out at 7500 baht per minute, not per hour

Thought there was half hour paperwork involved.

More than likeluy the OP's original doctor didnt fill in the rght forms

[toptuan]

Let's see, at 500 baht for 4 seconds...that works out to about a 7500 Baht hourly wage. I'm in the wrong business! What airline was it anyway, which wouldn't accept your doctor's documentation?

I think you need to redo your calculations and you will arrive at a much higher amount.

Sophon

Now you know why he is in his current business?

OK, OK, OK!!! I'm NOT a math teacher! Sheeez!

[dieter1]

450000 baht per hour !

[marc288888]

i would have told them where to go another way to rip off farang white skin pay bet if both were thai no doctor would have been called ...........i remeber when i broke my leg and going back to england guy pushing the wheel chair said i had to pay 300 baht for the service .......thai,s

Edited October 14, 2007 by marc288888

[rchapstick]

Everyone here is on the wrong track. The MD was CLEARLY ascertaining how far along the the child was to calculate the departure tax. As the woman was carrying 5/7ths of a child, the child was appropriately charged 500 baht departure tax.

Edited October 14, 2007 by rchapstick

[ercorn]

Everyone here is on the wrong track. The MD was CLEARLY ascertaining how far along the the child was to calculate the departure tax. As the woman was carrying 5/7ths of a child, the child was appropriately charged 500 baht departure tax.

classic...

[geriatrickid]

What a fickle crowd. I have seen many posts in TV about people saying how they can get some doctor to sign off on medical papers, no problem if they just wave some baht. Keeping that in mind, can you blame an airline for being prudent? No I am not saying the OP didn't have a proper medical exam 1st time around, but how is the airline agent to know that this was the case? An airline is well within in its rights to require such an exam, particularly if a passenger looks very pregnant. Some thin people at 6 months can look like they are going to deliver any day, while others at 9 months can pass for 6 or 7. Again, when in doubt, the guidelines state that the ticket agent is to obtain a qualified opinion.

The delay or dversion of a flight due to a passenger medical condition is both expensive and inconvenient to other passengers. Considering how many grouchy people are always complaining about flight disruptions, one can't blame an airline for trying to respond to those complaints.

As for the 500B, I'm sorry, but that's nothing. It's about 12 Euros/ 8 quid/ 16USD/18AUD Big deal.

[brahmburgers]

submitted twice by mistake

Edited October 16, 2007 by brahmburgers

[brahmburgers]

There are times when it might be incumbent to challenge authority - in this case the young doctor.

Of course it's easy for me to say, sitting here at my computer, but I know myself well enough to know that, even though there was a plane to catch, I would have protested. At first I would have said 'no' to the payment. If the doc didn't wave me on, I might have said it louder and/or looked around for a higher authority to complain to - perhaps a floor supervisor. If all reasonable attempts failed (I would have given it about 6 to 8 minutes), then I probably would have paid the money, but added a strong rebuke to the doc and the airline personnel who, but that time, would have been standing around.

If authorities see how quickly and easily it is to rip-off farang, then they will do it ever more readily. Maybe the next victim will be 5 months pregnant and the charge will be 1,500 baht. This is a country filled with people who will take as much money as the can get away with - especially in a tight situation like you mentioned - or at a traffic stop.

I once got pulled over in Chiang Mai for my passenger not having a seat belt on (I had mine on). It cost 400 baht. Imagine if drivers with a passengers in Thailand got pulled over and ticketed if their passenger was not wearing a seat belt?! ....regardless of how important or how late-model the car they were driving ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE in Thailand. I couldn't argue with the cop because my passenger was a hill tribe lady without proper documentation.

Many times I have protested about exorberent fines, entry fees, custom fees, over-costs, and it often happens they're reduced or waived. Try it, and show Thais that farang won't automatically pay everything that's asked.

[torrenova]

This is truly a below the belt scam from this airport fraught with scams.

[mr_hippo]

This is truly a below the belt scam from this airport fraught with scams.

It is an airline requirement and it is world-wide. Do you think that your doctor will give you a fitness to fly certificate free of charge?

British Medical Association -

24. An insurance company has asked me to provide a fitness to travel certificate for one of my patients – what is the fee for this?

There is no agreed fee for this work and you should set your own. However, the BMA discourages doctors from signing certificates which indicate that the patient will be fit for the duration of the holiday. If the patient is subsequently taken ill whilst under such a guarantee there may be medico-legal consequences for the doctor.

http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/FeesFAQs#24

Fees in the UK seem to range from £13 to £30 (845 to 1950 Baht)

Check out what Virgin Atlantic says "After 28 weeks a doctor's certificate is required . From 35 weeks, it will carry a pregnant woman only for compassionate or urgent reasons if accompanied by a doctor or nurse." - http://www.aircourier.co.uk/health3.htm

So before you start bleating "Scam, scam, scam!", please get your facts right.

[samran]

Great, so I can compain now about a the LA airport hospital doctor who charged me US$150 back in 1999 for a check up cause a sore throat that I had at the start of my 2 leg trip 20 hours before had turned into full blown chest infection by the time I landed in LA.

And that was for a 10 minute visit.

[torrenova]

This is truly a below the belt scam from this airport fraught with scams.

It is an airline requirement and it is world-wide. Do you think that your doctor will give you a fitness to fly certificate free of charge?

British Medical Association -

24. An insurance company has asked me to provide a fitness to travel certificate for one of my patients – what is the fee for this?

There is no agreed fee for this work and you should set your own. However, the BMA discourages doctors from signing certificates which indicate that the patient will be fit for the duration of the holiday. If the patient is subsequently taken ill whilst under such a guarantee there may be medico-legal consequences for the doctor.

http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/FeesFAQs#24

Fees in the UK seem to range from £13 to £30 (845 to 1950 Baht)

Check out what Virgin Atlantic says "After 28 weeks a doctor's certificate is required . From 35 weeks, it will carry a pregnant woman only for compassionate or urgent reasons if accompanied by a doctor or nurse." - http://www.aircourier.co.uk/health3.htm

So before you start bleating "Scam, scam, scam!", please get your facts right.

My doctor would give me one free of charge though I admit many in certain parts of the world would charge some people.

But there are rules, say 28 weeks. At 25 weeks, you are within the airline's rules.

We are not talking about the UK so please, don't quote meaningless facts.

If the passenger already had a medical certificate, then that should be accepted - no ?

Some doctor at Swampypoom charging Bt500 for a 5 second tummy touch can be nothing other than a scam. Don't be so quick to find an excuse to everything and a meaningless comparison to the UK at that.

Did you have a good holiday in Thailand Susan (her friend asks upon her return)

Yes thanks, great beaches, nice food, good weather, but some cheating scamming <deleted> at the airport - like <deleted> am I going back.

Great image for Thailand !

[lomatopo]

There are times when it might be incumbent to challenge authority - in this case the young doctor.

I believe the authority to be challenged, if you so chose, would be the airline.

For the OP help others out by telling us which airline you flew.

Each airline has its own requirements for assuring that it is acceptable for a pregnant woman to fly. It is best to check with the airline directly to understand their requirements. Some airlines even require examination by the airline's own medical team. Given airlines' desire to be profitable it is not surprising that they might be charging for this examination. The general cut-offs, requiring documentation, seem to be 32 ~ 35 weeks. If the OP has any issues then he should follow up with the airline. This requirement is not related to to Thailand, AoT or Suvarnabhumi.

My guess is that the OP did not have the appropriate paperwork; perhaps it was out of date or otherwise unacceptable. The OP probably could have checked with the airline to determine the exact process and perhaps obtained the required paperwork in advance, then had it completed by his wife's physician.

Some travel is unavoidable but taking one's seven-month pregnant wife on a visa run seems a bit strange. But then a bumpy airline trip is probably better than a bumpy seven hour bus ride.

As it happens a woman did give birth two months prematurely on a TG flight in 1995. The baby girl was given the same name as the aircraft, Dararasami, and was (at the time) considered a "daughter of Thai Airways", to be given sepcial flying privileges and even a scholarship.