Bangkok Pattaya Hospital Prices

[ricwoo09]

my 25 month old had his first flu jab last friday at his kindergarden administered by BPH staff fee paid to BPH it cost B480, the next one is due next month also at B480.

[Bagwan]

Doctors in Thailand are paid very low salaries so it wouldn't be difficult to find some of the best in the country.

I have now heard so many complaints about Bangkok hospital that it's obvious it's just become

a money hungry corporation with the arrogant belief no one could effectively compete with it.

After reading this and many other similar threads I asked my lovely doctor at Bumrungrad a few questions.

Q. Is it true that all doctors working at private hospitals have to work so many hours per month at Government hospitals or they will lose their licence to practice?

A. Totally untrue.

Q. Is it true that all doctors on qualifying have to work for two years at Government hospitals as interns?

A. Certainly not. It is true for those who have availed themselves of Government financial assistance during their years of study. She was uncertain whether the period was for two years or until all loans had been repaid. The loans have to be repaid in any event.

Q. Is it true that doctors are poorly paid and rely heavily on commissions on drugs prescribed, the tests carried out to arrive at a diagnosis, referals to specialists and the number of patients admitted to the hospital?

A. A doctor is a highly respected member of the community and is paid accordingly. Most doctors can garner a monthly income of 400K baht per month without even breaking into a sweat.

Q. You did not answer the question. Is it true or not? If it is not true, then would a doctor considered to be generating insufficient income to the hospital have difficulties in having his/her contract renewed?

A. Possibly - with a smile. I didn't press her further.

Q. Given that the Thai education system is in ICU would you accept that there are doctors at large who are a positive danger to their patients?

A. You are an intelligent and well read man. I think you know the answer to that.

A doctor at a Pattaya hospital advised that my wife, who is HIV positive, should cease taking antivirals for a year to guard against viral mutation. Thank God that we sought a second opinion. Another doctor thought otherwise and directed us to a specialist in a BKK hospital. The great man on hearing our story was incandescent and in our presence threw the kitchen sink down a telephone line at the original quack.

A doctor from another private hospital in Pattaya told me that I had a yeast infection when I had severe 'nappy rash' and was staining my underwear. Since I was not incontinent it was pretty obvious that stomach acid was making its way through my digestion system. My response to him included the words 'protologist' and 'brain transplant'. Liberal application of a mixture of zinc oxide and castor oil, and laying off coffee for a week, cleared it up.

The preeminent Pattaya hospital buys in GPO-VIR, a combination of three antivirals, from the Government laboratory for 1200 baht for 28 days supply. 3 or 4 years ago the hospital charged out to patients at 2800 baht. I consider this totally disgraceful profiteering for a life saving drug. Taking lifesaving drugs out of the reach of the majority of Thai people does nothing for the HIV/AIDS problem or the Thai economy.

I complained 3 or 4 times to a doctor about a low pain inside me just behing my naughty bits. Without examination, let alone tests, he pronounced that I was having too much sex - and to stop masturbating! In Pattaya? Why do it myself when a whole host of pretty ladies would do it for me? Too much? I should be so lucky. I took myself off to a BKK hospital and was found to have BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia). The specialist admitted that the chance of having prostate cancer was extremely low but to make sure he wanted to take a biopsy. He advised that I would spend 3 days in hospital after the procedure was carried out under a general anaesthetic. He was taken aback when I told him that I had one 10 years ago in the UK and it was a walk/in walk out, totally painless procedure. I had experienced only minor discomfort the following day.

The same doctor who told me that I was having too much of the other in reviewing the results of my annual checkup said that my urine sample contained too much sugar. That'll be the beer he said although I had told him minutes before that I had been following a strict diet and had been off the sauce for 3 months in order to trim down and lose a little weight. Do they even listen?

I do not pretend that all junior doctors working in Pattaya hospitals are incompetent but I have run into too many that clearly are. I do not feel safe in their care. Ex pats from the UK have to get used to the idea that the system in LOS is entirely differnt from that of the UK and the NHS. I view hospitals as shops i.e. commercial concerns and the prime concern is to make profits rather than restore their customers to full health. One of the main hospitals in BKK publishes on the Web pen pictures of their doctors along with a list of their qualifications. I prefer to consult with those with experience in and qualifications from a first world country thinking that they at least know what they are about. I find that they are more caring and that they realise that there is more to doctoring than having the knowledge to make accurate diagnoses and applying appropriate remedies. I have yet to find a lady doctor consumed with arrogance as so many male doctors appear to be.