30 Baht Healthcare

[plachon]

Does anyone have any recent (i.e. post-coup) experiences of the 30 baht healthcare scheme and its successor (which was supposed to be "free"), either through their Thai family or even personally maybe.

I ask because my Thai father-in-law has gone down with a serious illness which could be meningitis, and I'd like to know what rights he has to free or cheap medical care through the state system. My wife reckons that the 30 baht system hardly works these days unless you just want a few paracetamol, but I reckon it does but people just don't know their rights and how to access it properly.

Needless to say, we will end up paying the lion's share of costs as he's skint and none of the other family members seem capable of chipping in substantially when there is a family crisis like this.

But we are in UK and are unable to get more than sketchy information of what he's got and how it's being treated, even within a govt. hospital. Unless one's there on the ground, the information is always going to be sub-optimal, but if someone has a good idea about how the low cost healthcare system works these days, would be interested to hear.

[backflip]

Is your Thai father-in-law living in Thailand? If he is, why doesn't he go to the doctor? Since he is Thai, he probably speaks Thai, and he can communicate with the doctors and nurses quickly. Too, he can ascertain exactly what the treatment will be, and the expenses. I'm not sure why you are involved.

[pumpuiman]

My father in law suffered severe pain for twenty years as a result of neglect and misdiagnoses under the "poor mans system".

I recently sent him to a private hospital and insisted on full batteries of tests...paid cash.

One week later he was nearly pain free.

The cost was minimal by U.S. standards.....and he returned to the village a superstar

Unfortunately, in my limited experience, you get what you pay for.

Good luck....I pray he has a quick recovery

[Flow]

A friend of mine went to Ramatibodi government hospital with what he described as "funny" heart beats. The doctor said have an x-ray. Nothing was revealed in the x-ray. He was sent home. A few months later he was admitted as an emergency case to Bangkok Private Hospital. They discovered that he had Atrial Fibrilation. 9 months later he went under the knife. He is now cured of what could have been a potentially dangerous situation for him. What they should have done at this ogvenrment hospital is give him a heart monitor to wear under his shirt for 24 hours after h'ed told them that he he had been having these "funny" heartbeats for monhts. But they did not. At government hospital, it's usually: it's nothing or take a few pills and you're on your way out...

[plachon]

Is your Thai father-in-law living in Thailand? If he is, why doesn't he go to the doctor? Since he is Thai, he probably speaks Thai, and he can communicate with the doctors and nurses quickly. Too, he can ascertain exactly what the treatment will be, and the expenses. I'm not sure why you are involved.

Strange.............I thought that was rather obvious???..............He's in a Roi-Et hospital with a serious illness which could be meningitis and is not able to adequately look after himself under the state medical system, even when not seriously ill. He's had several bad experiences in the past and there seems to be little access to cheap or free medical treatment for the poor, unless they have some kind of "connection" to help them. We are involved because he is my wife's father and is concerned about him. I am interested if anyone can shed any light on the present system, with any anecdotes of family members trying to access it.

Your ignorance of the state system in Thailand and lack of empathy is rather puzzling, but nevermind. Don't bother to respond.

[plachon]

My father in law suffered severe pain for twenty years as a result of neglect and misdiagnoses under the "poor mans system".

I recently sent him to a private hospital and insisted on full batteries of tests...paid cash.

One week later he was nearly pain free.

The cost was minimal by U.S. standards.....and he returned to the village a superstar

Unfortunately, in my limited experience, you get what you pay for.

Good luck....I pray he has a quick recovery

Thanks for your words of sympathy Pumpuiman.

In my experience of Thai healthcare, you get what you pay for only up to a certain point. There are a lot of hospitals which seem to be experts at bleeding the patient dry and still not providing a good cure. Yet at the same time, there are v. competent doctors in the state healthcare system who provide a good service for a low fee.

What I'm principally interested in though is any personal insights or anecdotes into the much-vaunted "30 Baht Cures All Diseases" system started by Thaksin, but then co-opted into a so-called "Free system" by the junta. So presumably there must be some people out there accessing it and getting treatment. But where, what for and how? Those are the issues that I'm trying to get a handle on. Anyone?

[ProThaiExpat]

My thai mother in law who lives in Issan was diagnosed with kidney stones at here local hospital but they wanted to use laser surgery on her so she traveled 360 kilometers to the big regional hospital where the procedure was performed in a few days and she is fine now and back at home.

She paid nothing. Her bed was in a hall, as the hospital was full but the care was good.

She goes to the hospital about two or three times a year for various complaints, she is 77, and she never pays anything.

Perhaps under the 30 baht scheme she paid 30 baht.

I have a Thai friend who I play tennis with and he gets 30 baht or nothing pay treatment for any problem he has. He has made friends with the nurses so he is treated better than those who keep their heads down and don't complain.

Like any socialized medical system, it can offer good treatment but it is up to the individual to make sure they get good treatment from the often indifferent staff.

I wasn't aware that the old 30 baht scheme had been reduced to no pay, but then it must be true as mother in law didn't pay. Of course she may have payed 30 baht and I was told nothing, as that amount is negligible to the Thais I know.

I do know that your tambian ban noted place of residence controls which hospital you can go to so if you move you need to move that entry to your new ampur if you want to take advantage of the low cost hospital care available to all registered Thais.

[backflip]

"I thought that was rather obvious? He's in a Roi-Et hospital with a serious illness which could be meningitis... I am interested if anyone can shed any light on the present system, with any anecdotes of family members trying to access it."

Your intial post didn't make anything obvious. Your second post seemed to clear that up: in your opinion, the health care system is bad...but you want other opinions. Rather than asking for opinions about something you've already made your mind up about, why not solve the problem?

The health care system works for the vast majority of Thais. As in any country (US, England, or Thailand) private health care is better than socialized medicine....and I bet your wife wants you to pay for it. Hey, and that's OK with me.

[Nordlys]

Does anyone have any recent (i.e. post-coup) experiences of the 30 baht healthcare scheme and its successor (which was supposed to be "free"), either through their Thai family or even personally maybe.

I ask because my Thai father-in-law has gone down with a serious illness which could be meningitis, and I'd like to know what rights he has to free or cheap medical care through the state system. My wife reckons that the 30 baht system hardly works these days unless you just want a few paracetamol, but I reckon it does but people just don't know their rights and how to access it properly.

I don't see any difference in quality of care I receive under universal health care (formally 30 Baht medical scheme) before and after the coup, as far as Chula hospital in Bangkok is concerned. They say it's free now but they never charged me 30 Baht even before the coup.

Does your father-in-law have the gold card (Batr Thong)? If he's a working person and thus is also covered by social security he might be asked to forfeit his rights under universal health care.

Edited November 10, 2007 by Nordlys

[dr_Pat_Pong]

"I thought that was rather obvious? He's in a Roi-Et hospital with a serious illness which could be meningitis... I am interested if anyone can shed any light on the present system, with any anecdotes of family members trying to access it."

Your intial post didn't make anything obvious. Your second post seemed to clear that up: in your opinion, the health care system is bad...but you want other opinions. Rather than asking for opinions about something you've already made your mind up about, why not solve the problem?

The health care system works for the vast majority of Thais. As in any country (US, England, or Thailand) private health care is better than socialized medicine....and I bet your wife wants you to pay for it. Hey, and that's OK with me.

Wouldn't it be nice if the rest of the family tossed in proportionate to their income ?