Good Doctor For Chest Infection/respiratory Problem?

[DavidOxon]

Hi there . . .

can anyone recommend a good doctor for my dad

who thinks he may have a chest infection, or a bad reaction to pollution.

Quick answers gratefully received . . .

Thanks

David

[Yorkshire Lass]

Hi

I had the same problem last year and visited the Ram ... I was prescribed a concoction of pills which included antibiotics and on latter visits steriods. After four consultations with three different doctors I was still feeling very ill and not getting any better - so I went to the Bumrungrad in Bangkok. The respiritory specialist there told me to immediately stop taking the pills that the Ram had given me (wrongly prescribed!!) as they were doing more harm than good and use an inhaler. This solved the problem in a matter of days.

My advice is to avoid the Ram at all costs... hopefully someone else can recommend an alternative in Chiang Mai.

YL

[DavidOxon]

Thanks for that.

Dad already uses an inhaler but is susceptible to chest infections.

Anyone know the current status of the air quality?

David

[colinm]

The PCD website has data and graphs

http://www.pcd.go.th/AirQuality/Regional/G.../createaqi2.cfm

[ProThaiExpat]

OPs question is regarding doctors, not hospitals, so I suggest looking at the list of CMU medical faculty for their respiratory specialist and then see if he practices out of Ram or the CMU hospital, the name of which I can never remember. Many expats in CM go to the university hospital, which is a government one, so you will have long waits but the health care is top notch as long as you get a CMU professor of medicine to treat you.

I was so unimpressed with the Orthos at Ram who are on staff and work nine to five, that I considered myself lucky that I went into the emergency room at night and the evening duty doctors are all moonlighting CMU professors.

I actually asked my Ortho who was excellent whether it would be easier for him if I showed up at the CMU hospital where he spends most of his time when not teaching or stay at RAM and he said I would be more comfortable at RAM. Whitle it is a little more expensive, the convenience, short waits and TLC you get when incarcerated there is worth the small additional expense.

After four hospital stays there last year, I am now a master at controlling my bill, ie. no "extras" they in effect sell you, no medicine from their Pharmacy unless I can't get a friend to run to the local pharmacy and buy for me, no hospital food, take it with you or bring it in, etc.

[johnsjourney]

happens to me about once a year, including last week

I just pop along to Loi Kroh clinic (closes 1pm-mid afternoon though) half way along the road opposite a temple, and after waiting an hour the doctor sorts me out with whatever I have from just lack of strength from the cough (this time) to pneumonia or bronchitis (previously). Total cost 500 baht this time and the meds made a big improvement as usual within 24 hours. If you want no waiting around, then try a hospital like the one just befpre Tesco on Hang Dong Road, of many around town. They will charge about the same or more, you don't get what you pay for, except by reducing waiting times. The guy at Loi Kroh has fixed us for so many things over the last few years so well.

It's grim air pollution every year, have seen cinders in our garden for many weeks now, and don't recommend living in this part of Thailand from Feb-April ideally, until it starts raining again, and until they learn to police the burning, which I expect causes more lung conditions than smoking.

In the meantime best advice is to drink lots (and I mean many litres) of water.

Edited February 16, 2008 by johnsjourney

[chiang mai]

I used to experience the same problems every year around this time and always went to RAM for the same mix of meds. In truth, the meds were never really that effective until the outside air cleared but since I moved to Phuket I have not experienced the same problem.

[DavidOxon]

Thanks for your replies guys n Gals

We took him to the one near Hang Dong Tescos as it seemed to be the closest.

Didn't wait long, Doc gave dad a jab and put him in a bed on an oxygen mask for half an hour

2 packs of medication and sent him (amazingly recovered) on his way.

Cost 900 Bht, cheaper than just the meds would have been in the UK.

Thanks everyone for your input.

David

[PeaceBlondie]

The CMU hospital to which ProThaiExpat refers to must be Suan Dok (outside the gate of the same name), more properly Maharaj, which is part of a mammoth medical center that includes other hospitals such as the Neurological.

You need not wait in long lines. Go into the ground floor lobby of the Sripat Building, whose 14 story edifice has a blue emblem facing Suan Dok Gate. Get an appointment for the Special Clinic on the 13th floor, and you might get lucky and get one of those professors. To fix my infection, the first ortho had me go to the general ortho clinic with 9,821 Thais (okay, more like 210 just for ortho).

Sorry, I know nothing about their respiratory specialists, but I/ll bet they have some excellent ones. And if you need surgery at Sripat, their top two floors are as nice to recover in as the ones at Chiang Mai Ram, for almost the same price for a private room. But I bet the drugs are cheaper at Sripat.

End of advertisement. No, they don't pay me for these ads!

Okay, one more thing: I have never paid more than 400 baht for a visit, including nurse fees but not including special tests or drugs.

[ProThaiExpat]

PeaceBlondie is "spot on" as usual. His 400 Baht doctor visit fee is likewise very believable. At Ram, 500 is the usual fee for a doctor visit without an appointment. The doctors fee si 200 Baht but then the little "extras" take the bill up to 500. By the way, they distinguish between in-patient doctors fees and out-patient fees, the in-patient fee for a doctor is 900 Baht. I guess your paying for the bedside visit. Won't mention if the doctor has five patients in adjoining rooms.

A bit anoying at times. I was in there for ortho surgery, but before they would give me a room, I had to be "cleared" by an internist. Looked at my chart, listened to my chest and that was it for 500 Baht. I did get an admission without a medical clearance if I had been evaluated or "cleared" in the past 30 days.

I think the annoying thing about most Thai private hospitals is the lesson they learned from the west. Bill small but for everything. Thus the operating room fee may only be 2500 Baht but when they throw in the charges for the "operating room equipment" your at 10k. Room rates are reasonable but when they add all the extras including "nurses fee" the daily cost soon rises substantially.

Just general information to prepare the unwary.

[PeaceBlondie]

Actually, I have been charged as little as 250 inclusive for appointments with a specialist at Sripat. And when I stood in line with those 239 Thais, twice it was free for a top notch consult with three orthopedists! And the shoulder surgery at the two hospitals was very similar, but Sripat charged me roughly 10K less. As I said, the room at Sripat was just as big, the mood and food as good. I may go to Ram again, only because the only specialist in a certain field has moved there. Otherwise, Sripat is great, and when you are being consulted, the doctor has all your medical records on the screen, back to 2003 when I was a tourist. You don't have to see a GP before you see a specialist, either. I walked in with a facial cyst, and 45 minutes later the plastic surgeon was cutting away...

[ProThaiExpat]

PB: I am convinced. Hopefully, in the very far future, if I ever need serious medical attention, I will follow your lead.

[VitalGirl]

Hi there . . .

can anyone recommend a good doctor for my dad

who thinks he may have a chest infection, or a bad reaction to pollution.

Quick answers gratefully received . . .

Thanks

David

Hi David. I had a three year battle with lung/asthma/allergy after contracting a lung virus in Burma which was aggravated here in CM. After the 14,000 baht for a trip to Ram (didn't help) and the specialist at Lanna recommending I move closer to the hospital to be closer to the emergency room , I was a bit desperate and, at that time, slugging about 50 hits of ventolin a day to stay vertical. Our local hole-in-the-wall pharmacist in San Phi Sua recommended a Thai woman doctor who has a clinic open in the evenings from 5-8pm and who specialises in lungs, asthma and allergy (diplomas all over her wall - trained largely in Hong Kong and Singapore from what I can make out) and she speaks English. Not exactly a superb bed side technique but wow - 10 minute visit, a bag full of meds and instructions costing a total of 1,400 baht including the meds and I was better within 3 days! I had one f/u visit when I caught a cold and the thing flared again and am on a maintenance dose of only one puff a day (seretide) till the burning season is over. I feel great and would recommend her to anyone. PM me for details if you want/need.

Good luck!