Hospital Or Slaughter House, In Samui?

[JackDampsey]

One of my friends got a serious accident last week; Rescue took him to some Hospital closed to Lotus supermarket. It was about 4 am, middle of the night, we'd been waiting there for 2 hours, and even my friend got a very serious injured; only nurse took care of him and only gave Oxygen, no CT brain was done, no drug or any treatment.

Then doctor came to check on him at about 7am, it seemed that doctor just woke up. He told me that my friend has a serious head injury and needs an emergency brain operation which could not be done in this hospital because this hospital has no brain-doctor ! He sent my friend to hospital nearby which looked more prompt, fully equipped, nice decorated and particularly!, nurses and doctors there were ready to work.

My friend had CT brain and underwent to emergency operation, A Brain-surgeon told about his symptom was so severe, his brain was so damaged, and he could never gain conscious again. Brain-Doctor also explained if he had arrived to the right hospital sooner, my friend would get better care and could be awake again.

Do you ever know? Our brain has its golden period, if not left it damaged too long, it could be back to function as normal.

An operation took about 7 hours; my friend was transferred to ICU and has breathing-tube, which brain-doctor said he may need it for couple weeks until he gains some conscious (but never full-conscious again!) Now 4^th day after operation, my friend is still alive, cannot open his eyes, no response to arousal yet.

Why the first hospital would send my friend to second hospital as soon as possible? Why they wasted my friend's times there? Why nurse did not call doctor asap when they saw how's my friend was? Why they run this hospital business without ethics? Should we call first hospital as slaughterhouse?

Tips for you today! Better to know about hospital information in city you go, before travel, and of course; Travel insurances are needed!

[Boater]

so which hospital did you fist go to and then the second hospital you went to

or i guess you went to Thai Inter first ( opposite Tesco Lotus ) then transfered him to Bangkok Samui Hospital ????

But i am surprised you where not taken there first, but i wonder, did you have travel insurance, as via your post

and of course; Travel insurances are needed!

[lazeeboy]

same thing happened to my mate 2 years ago taken to bandon hospital serious head injury ,1 hour transfered to bangkok samui where he underwent brain surgery ,had a frontal labotomy ,we were told he had bone fragments in his eye tracks and would be blind would not survive the op and if he did would be a veggie ,well 2 months after the op went back to the uk ,he's 80% there 90% of the time can see and walks about fine ,the brain doctor in uk said the thai doc made a fantastic job ,dont worry about hes not come round yet they,ve got him in an induced coma ,took my friend 2 weeks to come round ,its a slow process but according to the uk doc the thais are very capable ,my friend is doing fine now ,by the way he was 57 when the accident happened,just keep visiting and be positive ,good luck to him

[Boater]

Just out of Interest, where both the incidents caused via a motorbike crash??? ..........

[lazeeboy]

my mate was stationary and was hit by a drunk thai ,no scratches on his body just the head wound and broken jaw and eye socket ,the thai lost an eye..

please asked if we wanted to press charges against the thai ,if we did our friend would have to stay in thailand for the outcome ,having no insurance all his money went to the hospital and the thai didnt have any money or job,so we declined

[Boater]

my mate was stationary and was hit by a drunk thai

This is why i will NEVER drive a motorbike on the Samui Ring road, as i have seen so many times when people are waiting to Turn , the cars just do not see them and them Hit Them

But did the Thai not even get arrested for Drink Driving??? or did the Thai not have insurance? as i take it he was driving a Car.. as the insurance company would have paid all for your friend???

[NHJ]

Few months ago, one of my friend had a serious accident with a car tai driver, he was left for dead at a 7/11.

he was brought to that hospital in emergency and received the care he needs aswell as the regular visit of a bangkok surgeon BUT the taxi driver came to his room with friends and threaten him to pay 25.000 for the damages on the taxi and they took his passeport.

a part of his feet was missing, just under the achille talon.

current bill : 1million bath to the hospital(stayed there for two months +) and 25k bath to the taxi driver.

he won't be able to walk as before but he avoided the amputation...

[Boater]

Few months ago, one of my friend had a serious accident with a car tai driver, he was left for dead at a 7/11.

he was brought to that hospital in emergency and received the care he needs aswell as the regular visit of a bangkok surgeon BUT the taxi driver came to his room with friends and threaten him to pay 25.000 for the damages on the taxi and they took his passeport.

a part of his feet was missing, just under the achille talon.

current bill : 1million bath to the hospital(stayed there for two months +) and 25k bath to the taxi driver.

he won't be able to walk as before but he avoided the amputation...

What hospital did this happen in, and who was to blame, the taxi driver or your friend?????

As this is very disturbing, this taxt driver should be arrested and charged for this ( as the hospital must have proof on CCTV )

But also around 3 years ago, i myself was hit by a taxi on a bike, but as there was no damage on the Taxi, he drove off, i even gave the police his Reg Number, but nothing.... but as i had no insurance at the time ( i do now ) i was taken to Naton Hospital, luckly i only had a cracked shoulder, but as there was no doctor who was trained in putting Pins into bones, it has healed in correctly, thus i need plastic surgery or another surgen to re - brake the bone and fix correctly, but in Thailand would cost to much.....

[animatic]

Only one REAL hospital here Bangkok Samui, not the cheapest but very good.

At Songkran a truck stopped short in front of my sister in law.

Smashed he face into the back, half her jaw shattered .

She was brought into Bandon very quickly and sedated,

but when they found no insurance card, out the door,

we got called said we are coming now, but before we could dress to go,

before we could arrive, they shipped her to Thai Government Hospital...

a place you should just die before going to... You might suffer less.

Before we could trail her there they did an xray and

couldn't even find bone in her NOT BROKEN chin

Such a bad, unbelievably BAD xray. I looked myself...

I immediately said she goes to Bangkok Samui no matter the cost.

She needed a plate and jaw wired it took 6+ hours of operating time

once parts were flown in, but she is doing good. The have a serious doctor

there for this stuff and scans that work. They WILL wake the doctor immediately

They even have a pure oxygen hyperbaric chamber for quicker healing of wounds.

The whole thing cost a bundle just under 400K. And I had to pay.

but I do love my sister in law, it hurts, but it's worth it. She looks OK.

and feels ok and would likely be dead or grossly disfigured otherwise.

Have travel insurance, check out WHAT HOSPITAL YOU MAY NEED

before you get on that bike. Have a document on you with hotel

and family contact back home and insurance number or card.

And ALWAYS assume Taxi's in Samui are after your money anyway they can get it.

Cut you off, nearly kill you, and then want cash for their damage.

Far, FAR from unheard of. It is one of the local mafias.

And god help you if you square off with a taxi driver with others nearby,

You will 3-4-5 -6 on one instantly. Just let them scream and suck it up.

[UmpaLumpa]

Bangkok Hospital Samui is the only hospital with a brain surgeon and brain scan equipment.

Just make sure that you have insurance, the bill can go to the million quite fast for this kind on treatment.

I hope yout friend will be fine.

[NHJ]

the hospital was thai inter, to be honest i don't know who was wrong or bad but the security at this hospital is none, a guy can be threaten by others while he's in treatment.

of course, he didn't go to the police, fear of being killed, hit or something like that....

on a side note, i went to that hospital for a urine anlysis, it was 320 bath and done in 20 minutes, i thought it would be a lot more than that and i found the staff ok but my case has nothing to do with serious things like your friend.

Edited September 4, 2008 by NHJ

[Treborz]

It's a recurring theme.

3 years ago a friend of mine who worked as a DJ in a Lamai club was turning on his scooter with a thai girl on the back when 2 drunk cambodians crashed into the side of them. He was taken to Nathon hospital with a broken jaw, his head was the size of football and the thai girl had a broken arm. After hearing the news myself and a couple of friends as well as some of the thai staff from the club he worked in headed to bangkok samui hospital to see if he had been taken there, they soon told us that he hadn't so we headed to Nathon as the next stop. When we got there it was a horrible sight, my friend and his thai friend were left on a stretcher unattended, one of my friends got dragged into surgery to help the staff with one of the cambodians, he had to hold his arm/drip (i can't remember which he said) while they operated on him. Unconfirmed reports we got stated that one of the cambodians had actually died in the accident.

Anyway we weren't leaving our friends in this place so we discharged them and put them in one of the jeeps to take them to bangkok samui, i had to hold my mates head straight from the back seat (he was in the front passenger seat) and at the same time keep the girls arm steady and you know how bumpy the ringroad can be in samui.

Things turned out ok in the end although my friend did have to get flown to bangkok to have his jaw rewired, insurance paid out I believe.

Moral of the story, wear a helmet on the ringroad (i try not to ride on the ringroad at all when im in samui - for the record i dont wear a helmet while chugging around lamai or chaweng) or hire a jeep (but dont drive while legless as you may be the one knocking people off their scooters).

P.S. I heard that the hospitals basically race eachother to accidents and the first ambulance to arrive basically has the 'job', unfortunately for my friend the bangkok samui ambulance was just a little bit slower than the nathon one otherwise it would have saved some hassle and beeen a bit more comfortable for them both.

[lazeeboy]

my mate was stationary and was hit by a drunk thai

This is why i will NEVER drive a motorbike on the Samui Ring road, as i have seen so many times when people are waiting to Turn , the cars just do not see them and them Hit Them

But did the Thai not even get arrested for Drink Driving??? or did the Thai not have insurance? as i take it he was driving a Car.. as the insurance company would have paid all for your friend???

no he was riding a bike ,went into the side of him ,head to head ,no insurance ,because he had an eye injury and was unconcious did not check for booze,he admitted he was drinking and in the wrong when he asked for for giveness ,police wre present at that time ,and comended him for being soooo honest

[jeztennis]

All this sounds very traumatic and to all of you who have had friends be the victim of a serious accident i offer my deepest sympathy's.

i never drive my motorbike anywhere without a crash helmet, i may look like a complete 'spud' and the helmets aren't very good but having learned that you can die by your head falling 2 feet onto concrete, and being on a motorbike you are 5 feet up i vowed never again to drive without a helmet on. the problem is that when drink is involved it is so sudden, unlike sober car crashes where you tend to brace yourself a split second before the impact.

my other concern would be insurance, i am aware that most travel insurance companies do not cover you if you are on a motorbike over 50c.c which all motorbikes here are? any thoughts !!

i have accident insurance from siam commercial which i may put up to 100,000 cover. bangkok samui is one of the recommended hospitals on their 'approved' list.

alternatively i can go to the local 'wat' and get my motorbike blessed and see what happens

once again my deepest sympathies

[lazeeboy]

All this sounds very traumatic and to all of you who have had friends be the victim of a serious accident i offer my deepest sympathy's.

i never drive my motorbike anywhere without a crash helmet, i may look like a complete 'spud' and the helmets aren't very good but having learned that you can die by your head falling 2 feet onto concrete, and being on a motorbike you are 5 feet up i vowed never again to drive without a helmet on. the problem is that when drink is involved it is so sudden, unlike sober car crashes where you tend to brace yourself a split second before the impact.

my other concern would be insurance, i am aware that most travel insurance companies do not cover you if you are on a motorbike over 50c.c which all motorbikes here are? any thoughts !!

i have accident insurance from siam commercial which i may put up to 100,000 cover. bangkok samui is one of the recommended hospitals on their 'approved' list.

alternatively i can go to the local 'wat' and get my motorbike blessed and see what happens

once again my deepest sympathies

agree totally with the helmet issue ,if my mate was wearing one (even the cheapo ones in tescos)he would of just got a bad headache

[taxexile]

Rescue took him to some Hospital closed to Lotus supermarket

it is my understanding that hospitals have "arrangements" with the rescue volunteer services , and they pay them for bringing in casualties. even if your friend had been conscious and asked for a specific hospital , they would have refused and taken him only to the hospital that would pay them

[Boater]

alternatively i can go to the local 'wat' and get my motorbike blessed and see what happens

or where the Chain of Goodluck............

but out of interested, does anyone have any stats on how many cars or bikes that have been blessed from the 'Wat ' for safety and car free driving have been involved in a serious accident ?

[jeztennis]

perhaps start a new thread, blessed cars no accident?

my car has been blessed and so far no accident, fingers crossed touch wood etc etc

[highdiver]

perhaps start a new thread, blessed cars no accident?

my car has been blessed and so far no accident, fingers crossed touch wood etc etc

shhhhhh..... Satan is listening..

[JackDampsey]

Thanks to all of you for replying my topic.

Some of your story are far worst than my friend.

Just want to update about my friend now.

He still got luck. Now better, start to come round, can open his eyes, response to voices.

His parents arrived samui last week, Brain-Doctor told them what was happened with him and what to do with him next, also the ICU-team are very nice on taking care him.

And because he has to be helped to breath with respirator for 2-3 weeks, so doctor did 'tracheostomy' (a hole through his neck, direct to wind-pipe) to avoid lung infection.

He also has broken face-bone, which plastic-doctor (he is also 'Maxillofacial specialist'?) can fix the broken facial-bone. But now 2 doctors are discussing when is the proper time to do second operation.