Assuming you were as happy as you could be and your doctor was particularly sensitive to your spouse's emotions, would you tip your doctor in a private hospital that charges around 40k baht for the procedure? We have heard varying opinions on the subject and are learning towards 5,000 baht.

Thx.

Dont be silly.

would you tip a doctor for putting a cast on your son/daughters arm in your home country?? I bought a package at BNH for the birth of my daughter, and when I got the bill it was almost double the original price! So no, dont tip.

<deleted>?

Perhaps a tip before the delivery would be more appropriate.

Firstly, no medical or health-care professional should request or expect a tip. Whilst it often happens, these tips are normally small donations such as a box of chocolates for the staff team or something like that. In the UK guidelines are quite strict, and any tipping or gifts over a certain value should be declared.

Having worked in health care for a number of years, I'd say no don't tip. If you want to show a bit of appreciation to the staff then a box of chocolates or something along those lines is more than adequate.

As an aside, I'd say any medic or health-care professional that accepts monetary tips, is a disgrace to the profession.

We got our ob-gyn a cake on both occasions. Something that can be easily re-gifted to their nursing team works well IMO.

I was under the impression that Thais of financial means always tip doctors for this. I could be wrong though.

Interesting subject. We recently celebrated the arrival of our first child at St Louis hospital in Bangkok. My wife made me aware of this practice well in advance of the birth and I felt the same way as some of the other posters.

As it happens, we ended up providing the doctor with a 7,000 THB "gratuity". Once I accepted the principle of the gift, the amount was based on an understanding of what was the norm and what some of our friends had given.

I was stoked that our son was a healthy arrival and wanted to show my appreciation for the doctor's efforts throughout the duration of my wife's pregnancy.

Thai indeed do tip at government run hospitals where the doctor is overworked and underpaid. Often a dress short or something in that nature. But not at a private hospital.

We got our ob-gyn a cake on both occasions. Something that can be easily re-gifted to their nursing team works well IMO.

Agreed, that is the best way to tip.

I was under the impression that Thais of financial means always tip doctors for this. I could be wrong though.

Poor Thais as well. See lopburi's post above.

Sometimes it's the only way to get continued 'preferred' service at gov't hospitals. Doesn't help the first time, but invariably, we all visit hospitals more and more over the course of a lifetime. Could mean the difference between being in a room with 50 other patients with all kinds of random health issues and a room with just one other patient.

Makes about as much sense as tipping for anything else to me!

Under no circumstances should you offer a tip. It is absolutely inappropriate. What would be far more inappropriate would be if you offered the tip and the doctor accepted it!

Give the doctor a nice little thank you gift. Nothing expensive!

Tell that to the gov't doctors who have been accepting tips for a hundred+ years.

It's not cash in hand by the way, the standard protocol is cash in envelope with envelope in a gift basket or bag, etc.

Yeah...my tip would be "don't buy lottery tickets."

Does that mean then that if I took my daughter back to BNH if she was sick, i would be further down the queue behind all the tippers? Sets a bad precedent in my eyes!

Put a mouse trap on your alarm clock and you'll never roll over and go back to sleep again

We got our ob-gyn a cake on both occasions. Something that can be easily re-gifted to their nursing team works well IMO.

Agreed, that is the best way to tip.

A quick poll in my London hospital revealed most would prefer chocolates or a friendly smile.

The choccies were a poor second as well....

As for accepting cash tips....not for personal gain...maybe a donation to the hospital is OK.

The normal tip to a government doctor, for baby delivery, in rural Isaan is 1,500 Baht. I objected to my wife paying this after the birth of our 3 children. I don't believe these doctors to be paid badly as most have private practices on top of their goverment position. The person who tipped 7,000 Baht in one of the above posts must have more money than sense.

Gave the doc a basket of goodies and a bottle of red in a gov hospital for sorting the missus. On tipping, absolutely not and certainly never in a private hospital.

Gave the doc a basket of goodies and a bottle of red in a gov hospital for sorting the missus. On tipping, absolutely not and certainly never in a private hospital.

Surely your gift/tip must have amounted to about 1,500 baht in total ? I'm not pro tipping or gift giving but giving money has to be better than giving a gift that the receiver doesn't need or like ?

Our son was born in a Govt. Hospital, and was delivered by my wife's OBGYN. We gave her a little gift in an envelope, as I had no problem with this.

Last week my wife`s cousin gave birth to twins in the Ram hospital, Chiang Mai.

They had a promotion and she only had to tip the Doctor for one of the babies.

It was, tip one, get one free.

I will tip when in the situation. When in Rome. I'm not here to lay judgment or change traditions.

Yeah...my tip would be "don't buy lottery tickets."

Don't eat the yellow snow...

A quick poll in my London hospital revealed most would prefer chocolates or a friendly smile.

The choccies were a poor second as well....

As for accepting cash tips....not for personal gain...maybe a donation to the hospital is OK.

Most people work in the Health - care professions for the right reasons, and not to make loads of money. I'm not trying to be an ideologist, but I really don't think being tipped by a patient is right. I've received various small gifts, cards and thank you letters from many of the patients or family of patients that I worked with. To me the best thing was always a genuine thank-you.

If it is cash, then a donation to the wards equipment or something like that is the way to go IMO. I wont change my mind on that, whatever might be seen as right or wrong in terms of cultural differences.

I think what might be emotionally charging this discussion is the misunderstanding of the term "tip" and confusing it with "gift". While the difference is subtle there is a difference.

A tip began as, and has traditionally been an additional monetary amount given to a person of modest means working in a lower end job who has provided you with particularly good service. In the past it was only waiters/waitresses, taxi drivers, maids and bell boys and the like who received tips. These tips were given to show gratitude and supplement the low salaries of those workers.

A doctor however, certainly doesn't fit in this category.

In my opinion there would be nothing wrong with giving a OB-GYN a gift, money or otherwise, who was particularly helpful to a patient, but it would only be appropriate to (as Heng suggested) put the money in a nice envelope with a thank you note or if giving a non monetary gift, to wrap it up elaborately like a present and then hand it directly to the doctor in public if possible and say something to the effect of " Thank you very much for doing such a good job helping my wife (gf) through labor. Please accept this gift as a token of our appreciation." This way it is known that you are giving the gift because you want to and not because of some mysterious unspoken cultural obligation.

Of course if the doctor did a poor or even only minimally satisfactory job no gift would be appropriate.

I think it's the term "tip" that gets so many people worked up on this subject. We have all seen how the concept of tipping has been become twisted here in Thailand with vendors who do nothing but hand you an item and take your money expecting and sometimes even asking for one. The resentment that this has caused many foreigners gets carried over into other aspects of Thai culture that are unrelated.

"would you tip your doctor in a private hospital that charges around 40k baht for the procedure?"

Only if the child looks like you.

Hmm, My son was born 10 years in the States with my X wife. They did all the C-section stuff the epidural, all that and the bill was around $10,000USD . Fortunately, the insurance I had covered all accept $40 or so. But I don't remember the doctors or nurses treating us in any other way than just another day at the office. Ya know, like nothing special...then to make matters worse the incision became infected a week later and had to be reopened and drained. YUCK.

I think if the doctors here are good, like my new wife's OBGYN (she likes her allot) then I can see some kind of gratuity, be it a lil dough or a nice gift. Something to show appreciation for a little bit of extra care. I don't think that's out of line at all.