/Featured Quiz4 October - Weekly Featured Quiz - General Knowledge

[chops]

My girlfriend is having a baby. I'm trying to find a decent hospital at an affordable cost for the delivery. I've looked at Pattaya International Hospital? and they seem to cost 10k baht for the delivery and 30k for a night stay. I'm wondering if there are better alternatives. Also, if it is even necessary to have her stay overnight as we're trying to keep the cost down. Thanks.

[wonder6281]

Hi,

I am going through Bangkok Pattaya with my lady. It is 50K for 3 nights all up without complications. I know you said you were trying to keep costs down, but I decided to go down this path for the safety of all.

She said the Government Hospital will do and there several in Patts. I looked at Pattaya International but getting there in peak hour in an emergency would set my stress levels throught the roof.

Good luck and keep me informed of how everything goes for you. Our baby due in August 2010.

[barryofthailand]

If she has friends, you can arrange a birthday party at McDonald's.

Barry

[fredob43]

Used the goverment hospital in Si Racha they have all the eqipment. And a fraction of the price. Have private room's with bed's for dad's. Food good, attention from nurses great, give it a try. Best of luck with the birth. And enjoy the baby.

[raro]

We had our baby at the Phyathai in Sri Racha. Overall a good experience. My wife had a cesarean and the scar is almost no longer visible. Two of our friends had a cesarean Bangkok Pattaya and they look like they've been stapled together after.

[JohnLeech]

Try the Banglamung Hospital in Naklua. 30 Baht if she's Thai.

Alternatively if she's Thai, has/had a job and is paying tax (or you are), its free and she's entitled to a 10,000 baht maternity allowance.

..... and no, I am not joking.

[raro]

the maternity allowance from the social security is about 35,000

[barryofthailand]

If she has friends, you can arrange a birthday party at McDonald's.

Barry

Sorry for this post, it was posted on the wrong subject. Congrats to Raro and his lovely wife. Raro is correct. Phayathai in Sriracha is the best hospital in the Pattaya area.

Barry

[Thailaw]

Hi,

I am going through Bangkok Pattaya with my lady. It is 50K for 3 nights all up without complications. I know you said you were trying to keep costs down, but I decided to go down this path for the safety of all.

She said the Government Hospital will do and there several in Patts. I looked at Pattaya International but getting there in peak hour in an emergency would set my stress levels throught the roof.

Good luck and keep me informed of how everything goes for you. Our baby due in August 2010.

My second daughter was born at Bangkok Pattaya last Friday and the "package" (delivery and 2 nights/48 hours in the hospital) was B30,000, which all considered is pretty (very) good, I think. At least one night in the hospital is necessary, I think, to ensure that there are no complications and to give the mom a chance to recover with some help. I am no fan of Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, but there does seems to be competition for baby delivery (and ample time to do some checking) so the quality of service and price at most of the area hospitals are pretty good. I checked with Siratachjev (sorry for the incorrect spelling) in Sri Ratcha, which is aparently owned by the same company that owns Bangkok Pattaya and the same package was B28,000, so for B2,000 it was worth the convenience. My first daughter, now 2, was also born at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital and the cost was the same for the same package. We used Pattaya Memorial about a year ago when my daughter cut her arm, and I felt it was old and dingy (although clean) and not much cheaper than Bangkok Pattaya, so for near equal price I would definitely opt for Bangkok Pattaya for the delivery of a child. After the delivery, forget the hospitals for routine stuff, there is a great child clinic on Naklua (about soi 20, acroos from a school) that the obgyn (who is a woman doctor and is also great (her clinic is on the first soi north of Pattaya Nua)) recommended (we have already been using the child clinic for our first child). The quality is excellent and the price less than 1/2 of what Bangkok Pattaya charges for visits. Choke dee, krap,

Edited April 5, 2010 by Thailaw

[pattaya_girl]

Try the Banglamung Hospital in Naklua. 30 Baht if she's Thai.

Alternatively if she's Thai, has/had a job and is paying tax (or you are), its free and she's entitled to a 10,000 baht maternity allowance.

..... and no, I am not joking.

My Friend's wife also had her Baby at Banglamung Hospital - no problems whatsoever.

The total bill was about 600 bt.

[Kadafi]

After checking out Banglamung (cheap), Sattahip (12,000 baht), Bangkok Pattaya (40,000 baht) i went for Pattaya Memorial (22,000 baht) in which i paid half upfront and half after. My friend had his baby there few days before and was happy. My Gf was looked after very well and when we checked out we were hit with no extra costs, even though we both eat food everyday and this wasnt added as extra.

Friend i know went to Bangkok Pattaya and agreed on 44,000 baht but when checking out was hit with an extra 44,000 and they stopped him from leaving (so ended up costing his 88,000 baht! not a surprise at Bangkok Pattaya hospital....

Edited April 5, 2010 by Kadafi

[Tokay]

Cliff Notes: Had a friend go to Bangkok-Pattaya in an emergency situation. After tests, they told him he was in advance stages of Hep B and his liver could fail at any time, so he had to stay in the hospital.

After about a week, no new news, and an OUTRAGEOUS bill, he said enough, he wanted to go home to his home country. They had security follow us to the payment area to make sure the inflated bill was paid. They HOSED him and treated him for a week for something he didn't have, and couldn't even keep the paperwork in order. The head doctor who said his liver could fail at any time and he could die, would not even speak to us on the phone.

We asked for the papers so he could give to his local hospital, so they didn't have to start from zero. They gave him papers that had him listed with symptoms and illnesses he never had.

When he got back home, the local hospital tested him and said he did not have Hep B.

I've had a few other friends go there once and have a nightmare of a story as well.

That place is a mess. Enter at your own risk.

[nakachalet]

hep b or c is very costly....

a family member thru some inconsequential accident found out by surpirse that she has had hep c for over 14 yrs....

the only possible explanation thru her medical record is.... thru blood transfusion during c section....

it costs over 80,000 baht during the initial discovery phase....

subsequently about 22,000 bath for each additional injection....

the estimated cost for first initial 6 mos is around 800,000 baht....

another medical related thing to ponder....

it appears that ob/gyn in thailand prefers c section....

YOU HAVE THE RIGHTS TO HAVE A SECOND OPINION AT ANOTHER HOSPITAL....

PLS DO INSIST ON THOSE RIGHTS OF YOURS....

but ultimately, you and yours are in the control seat.... most thai ladies do not know this.... they always follow what the doctors say.... which in this case, might not be the best alternative....

[wonder6281]

My second daughter was born at Bangkok Pattaya last Friday and the "package" (delivery and 2 nights/48 hours in the hospital) was B30,000, which all considered is pretty (very) good, I think. At least one night in the hospital is necessary, I think, to ensure that there are no complications and to give the mom a chance to recover with some help. I am no fan of Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, but there does seems to be competition for baby delivery (and ample time to do some checking) so the quality of service and price at most of the area hospitals are pretty good. I checked with Siratachjev (sorry for the incorrect spelling) in Sri Ratcha, which is aparently owned by the same company that owns Bangkok Pattaya and the same package was B28,000, so for B2,000 it was worth the convenience. My first daughter, now 2, was also born at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital and the cost was the same for the same package. We used Pattaya Memorial about a year ago when my daughter cut her arm, and I felt it was old and dingy (although clean) and not much cheaper than Bangkok Pattaya, so for near equal price I would definitely opt for Bangkok Pattaya for the delivery of a child. After the delivery, forget the hospitals for routine stuff, there is a great child clinic on Naklua (about soi 20, acroos from a school) that the obgyn (who is a woman doctor and is also great (her clinic is on the first soi north of Pattaya Nua)) recommended (we have already been using the child clinic for our first child). The quality is excellent and the price less than 1/2 of what Bangkok Pattaya charges for visits. Choke dee, krap,

Very interesting post, thank you for that. This what i got from Bangkok Pattaya in Dec 09.

Normal Delivery - estimated cost: 50,000 THB

Hospital stay: 2 nights

This price includes Doctor fee for obstetrician and pediatrician, Fee of delivery room and its staff, Room (Single) for mother including meals and nursing services, Room for newborn baby and 48-hour nursing services, Medical supplies and medicines provided for patient during the hospital stay, Necessary laboratory examination for mother and newborn baby.

So you paying 30,000 baht is a very good price. Did you negotiate this or was this quoted? I be very interested to hear about this.

Edited April 6, 2010 by raro
set the quote marks right

[wonder6281]

the maternity allowance from the social security is about 35,000

Is this for all Thai women of all social classes?

[raro]

Very interesting post, thank you for that. This what i got from Bangkok Pattaya in Dec 09.

Normal Delivery - estimated cost: 50,000 THB

Hospital stay: 2 nights

This price includes Doctor fee for obstetrician and pediatrician, Fee of delivery room and its staff, Room (Single) for mother including meals and nursing services, Room for newborn baby and 48-hour nursing services, Medical supplies and medicines provided for patient during the hospital stay, Necessary laboratory examination for mother and newborn baby.

So you paying 30,000 baht is a very good price. Did you negotiate this or was this quoted? I be very interested to hear about this.

I also remember 50,000 for the normal delivery package at the BPH. Did you get a special offer?

[torrenova]

I went into this in 2007 when my daughter was born and in the end we went for PIH with a package at 32k which we paid 50% a few months beforehand. We had most of the anti natal care from the same gynaecologist.

In the end, because of an undilated cervix and a large baby, she had an elective caesarian. I was there, all was fine, room was great and care was excellent.

Now I had done my homework. I knew that the standard difference between natural and caesarian packages was 10k and it was an auto upgrade option unless there were expected complications. This was from a number of hospitals in Bangkok, PIH, BPA, Memorial etc.

Upon check out, on day 4, I went to settle the accounts and was presented with a scrap of paper pulled from the top of a print out calculator with a figure of of perhaps 58k on it, scribbled over another printed figure for something else. To cut a very very long story short, they tried to cheat me. They had not even taken off the 16k deposit I paid, they argued that this and that had been done and that the caesarian package was not 10k more expensive but rather 20k more expensive. This was all lies as I had the emails to prove it.

I eventually got some backup documents to substantiate some of their figures but they inadvertently tried to adjust the doctors fees, say for visiting the child in the room, to make the higher figure correct. Thus I has two bills for the same service to the same child by the same doctor with two different prices.

They were trying to cheat me so much I gave them 26k and left. They then had 42k, the price for the caesarian package as per the emails. I was accused by their owner and told to get out of Thailand for not acceding to his attempt to defraud me but I stood my ground. I had a meeting with one of their staff and made an agreement and yet when I went back they denied the previous meeting ever too place, which I had taped, and which was at their request and confirmed by email and when I was driving to the second meeting, they called me to inform me that the meeting was cancelled. A year or more later they tried to again get me to pay money not owed and they at this time said that the person with whom I had the meeting had never worked for the hospital and I must be imagining it.

I have heard of other couples who had a wonderful time (as did we from a service point of view) but who had no problems with their bills. I think many just pay up and shut up.

So all in all they are open to cheating you if you are gullible.

As an aside, watch out for BPH. If you push them by email, they will concede that the package they quote you for delivery does not include either the numbing injection for normal delivery and some necessary medical attendance for a caesarian (as of 2007 and again in 2008).

I found them not to be totally honest, as if you went to buy a car and were given a price but then found out that you would have to pay more for wheels, a necessity.

Overall, I hope things have improved but I doubt it. They are out to rob you of as much as possible and will lie and cheat if they think they can get away with it.

Final but most important note

Do not let them register the birth. If you are the unmarried father, you personally are the one who has to register the birth at City Hall. If you fail to do so, you will be deprived of any rights as the father of the child without going to court and getting those rights given to you there. The hospital cannot register the birth for you.

[barryofthailand]

BKK Pattaya has hosed many people. It depends on how you register when you first get your hospital cards.

Barry

[raro]

Now I had done my homework. I knew that the standard difference between natural and caesarian packages was 10k and it was an auto upgrade option unless there were expected complications. This was from a number of hospitals in Bangkok, PIH, BPA, Memorial etc.

at the Phyathai the difference is 5,000

Upon check out...

They tried to bill us some 2,000 Baht extra for oxygenation after the operation. I asked whether they do this with all patients that had a cesarean. Answer yes, so this must be in the package. a bit back and forth and they agreed. We left paying the exact amount as advertised on their flyers - 44,000 Baht.

[torrenova]

I asked them to break down the extra cost of the caesarian and then break down the elements of the natural delivery which you could not use because you were having a caesarian. At this point the owner started emailing me in capital letters using abusive language making all manner of threats.

[raro]

I asked them to break down the extra cost of the caesarian and then break down the elements of the natural delivery which you could not use because you were having a caesarian. At this point the owner started emailing me in capital letters using abusive language making all manner of threats.

time to get a lawyer I reckon...on the other hand, nothing really they can do.

At the Phyathai they actually held the baby at ransom until we paid up. After payment we got a yellow card and with that card we could claim the baby at the baby ward.

[torrenova]

time to get a lawyer I reckon...on the other hand, nothing really they can do.

At the Phyathai they actually held the baby at ransom until we paid up. After payment we got a yellow card and with that card we could claim the baby at the baby ward.

They could hardly stop us taking the baby out. For 3 of the 4 days ours was the only new born in the hospital. I just parked up the ramp and put the family in the truck. I had another receipt for 26k and 42k in total so I wasn't worried. They did threaten her mother though and even me, though I did not see how I could actually have a bill for giving birth ?

Their ultimate sanction was that we could no longer use their hospital. I actually had a dental appointment a few months later and they came up and said I could not go into the chair ! I went downstairs, signed up with a new name and came back the next day.

I will say that all their care, from outpatient, to inpatient to dental has been first class. They have been let down by a rip off accounts department, management whose policy is to overcharge and an erratic and dishonest owner who issues threats and vulgarities to his clients. Sorry, ex clients.

[Thailaw]

Final but most important note

Do not let them register the birth. If you are the unmarried father, you personally are the one who has to register the birth at City Hall. If you fail to do so, you will be deprived of any rights as the father of the child without going to court and getting those rights given to you there. The hospital cannot register the birth for you.

I think that you are wrong on this, but I am not entirely sure. See the thread I started on this point yesterday in the Family and Children sub-forum. It is a difficult subject that needs some sorting out.

[Boo]

does the baby not stay in the room with the mother? Is this standard in all thai hospitals?

I am thinking of having another sprog & am just starting to look around for diabetic pregnancy care, the horror stories I am reading on thaivisa of hospitals all over Thailand makes me think going back to UK for the whole pregnancy & delivery might be the best choice for me. If someone held my newborn to ransom I would go postal. Totally sick practie imo.

Glad you all got it sorted out in the end.

[Thailaw]

Very interesting post, thank you for that. This what i got from Bangkok Pattaya in Dec 09.

Normal Delivery - estimated cost: 50,000 THB

Hospital stay: 2 nights

This price includes Doctor fee for obstetrician and pediatrician, Fee of delivery room and its staff, Room (Single) for mother including meals and nursing services, Room for newborn baby and 48-hour nursing services, Medical supplies and medicines provided for patient during the hospital stay, Necessary laboratory examination for mother and newborn baby.

So you paying 30,000 baht is a very good price. Did you negotiate this or was this quoted? I be very interested to hear about this.

I also remember 50,000 for the normal delivery package at the BPH. Did you get a special offer?

This was the price my Thai g/f was quoted. I was not involved. It is the same price I paid for the first child almost 2 years ago, which may explain how it was established (or maybe it is a Thai vs. Farang price thing, not sure). There was a B400 charge for a blood test of the baby at departure time, but I did not argue about it. Last time there was no such charge (and the free baby picture was omitted this time). But all in all, very reasonable and a good experience. The best part was the woman obgyn who also delivered the baby (and was paid out of the hospital's fee), as the doctor requested. Dr. Supanee is her name and she is superb (not a superlative I use frequently (except for daughter number 1)).

Edited April 6, 2010 by Thailaw

[wonder6281]

the maternity allowance from the social security is about 35,000

Is this for all Thai women of all social classes?

Can anyone confirm this payment?

[torrenova]

Final but most important note

Do not let them register the birth. If you are the unmarried father, you personally are the one who has to register the birth at City Hall. If you fail to do so, you will be deprived of any rights as the father of the child without going to court and getting those rights given to you there. The hospital cannot register the birth for you.

I think that you are wrong on this, but I am not entirely sure. See the thread I started on this point yesterday in the Family and Children sub-forum. It is a difficult subject that needs some sorting out.

I will have a look at your thread but I do not need to in order to clear this up. It is the law of Thailand, not some local bumpf. I have a report from Tilleke & Gibbins in Bangkok which was commissioned for me and which covers the ground very extensively. I also have it from the courts as I needed to go into this last year in great detail.

The hospital will try to register the birth for you. Now you can believe that they are acting in kindness as they do not charge or you can believe that they know full well and are acting to preserve the rights of a Thai and remove all rights of the father, whether named on the birth certificate or not. Let it be clear that this cannot be the first time that a hospital has been brought to book over this and yet they continue to do this and I believe, knowingly deprive the poor western guy of his rights.

You have to be the one who registers the birth. If you are not, then despite being named on the birth certificate, you are not recognised in Thai law as having parental responsibility unless you subsequently marry the mother or you go to court. And if she does not assist you, then you could be in for a very long and costly fight to prove that you are the father. All of this can be avoided if you register the birth yourself.

Even if you do not believe me, there is no downside to registering the birth yourself is there ?

[torrenova]

the maternity allowance from the social security is about 35,000

Is this for all Thai women of all social classes?

Can anyone confirm this payment?

If you google around and get the Thai government website there are some pages =on links in English which do list retirement benefits and so forth and include maternity benefit for mothers who have paid X months into the system prior to having the baby.

From recollection, though I may be wrong, it seemed as though the system could be manipulated, as I believe you only had to pay in 6 months or so prior to the birth and could thus find out you were pregnant and then start to pay, so to speak. It didn't matter to us as she was already to far gone when I found this out but that was how I read it in 2006/7.

[torrenova]

does the baby not stay in the room with the mother? Is this standard in all thai hospitals?

I am thinking of having another sprog & am just starting to look around for diabetic pregnancy care, the horror stories I am reading on thaivisa of hospitals all over Thailand makes me think going back to UK for the whole pregnancy & delivery might be the best choice for me. If someone held my newborn to ransom I would go postal. Totally sick practie imo.

Glad you all got it sorted out in the end.

As I said, ours was the only child born in the hospital for 3 of the 4 days we were there so we had all the staff's attention so to speak. I'll run through what happened in relation to your questions.

After the caesarian, the mother was taken to the ICU / recovery suite but this is standard practice and we were talked through it all beforehand. She was fully anaesthetised during the caesarian. She remained there for some hours and was then brought to the room and transferred to the bed. Various bags attached, drip, catheter etc.

Meanwhile, the baby was taken to a baby suite, which could hold up to perhaps half a dozen or more babies. There were incubator type things, hot lamps, loads of stuff to care for the baby. After some time and after the mother had come to the room, perhaps about 3 hours after giving birth, the baby was brought in by the nurses. She was in a mobile cot, like a perspex shopping trolley in many respects, and she could feed and so forth. The nurses would take the baby back to the nursery to rest and to keep warm and also to clean her and monitor her condition. I will say that the baby was tagged before leaving the theatre and remained tagged throughout. The mother was tagged also.

I cannot remember whether the baby stayed overnight in the nursery or not on any of the days. I suspect not though I may be wrong. There was a relative army of staff crying out for something to do and if I went out in the night there were always people on guard at the nursery. I slept on the couch for 3 days (great that was !).

There were a couple of things which could have gone wrong. They knew for months that I wanted to be present and yet on the day, they sought to leave me stranded so to speak and I think that if I hadn't know the hospital (dental is on the same floor as delivery suites) an I hadn't wandered up there to find out what was going on, they may well have conveniently forgotten to ask me to join them when it came down to the crunch.

Another nasty thing they did was after they gave her the sedatives before going up to theatre. She was presented with a "sign this now" sheet which basically said that she agreed to pay anything and everything which they charged if they deemed it necessary. Now I had gone to some lengths to make sure that there would be no surprises on the day and that included any forms and liability stuff but they tried to push this on her when she was sedated. That is terrible practice and totally out of order.

Again, that could put some people in a very weak position and overall, I could see how someone could have missed out on the birth of their child despite being promised they would be there for months beforehand and then be given a bill for 1m baht because she knocked over a vase in the room or for some other spurious charge.

The daftest thing was that I could not order and pay for food from the kitchen after about 8pm but the in patient could, in addition to her regular food, could order until about 11pm. Of course, the new mother was very hungry late at night during those three days !

So to summarise, do all your homework beforehand, be prepared to stick to your guns and if necessary, fight for what you agreed. You can always argue over bills later but don't ever give them your credit card details or you might just find they bill you anyway. Beware of the things which could upset you or make life difficult and don't assume that at the end of the day, the hospital is anything other than a money making business for the owners. It is a hotel which delivers babies.

My greatest worry was highlighted by someone here whose partner had a multiple birth and sadly at least one of the children died. The costs for ICU and other care were running out of control and there was no insurance in place. The last I heard was millions of baht over that which he could pay. Life in Thailand does indeed have a price.

If you have great insurance then perhaps there is a maternity option with 10 months qualifying period. However, I do not think many policies have enough cover for the worst case scenarios. My partner was young (24) healthy and the pregnancy had gone very well. Baby was in fine health and growing inside very well indeed. There was no suggestion that anything could have been wrong. Add in age (if that is relevant) and diabetes (if that is relevant) and any adverse medical history (if that is relevant) and you have to consider the financial implications of any complications as well as the standard of care you could receive. It would be hard for me to go through another pregnancy and not have an enormous war chest of cash ready or massive insurances in place were I to have another child in Thailand.

[raro]

the maternity allowance from the social security is about 35,000

Is this for all Thai women of all social classes?

Can anyone confirm this payment?

If you google around and get the Thai government website there are some pages =on links in English which do list retirement benefits and so forth and include maternity benefit for mothers who have paid X months into the system prior to having the baby.

From recollection, though I may be wrong, it seemed as though the system could be manipulated, as I believe you only had to pay in 6 months or so prior to the birth and could thus find out you were pregnant and then start to pay, so to speak. It didn't matter to us as she was already to far gone when I found this out but that was how I read it in 2006/7.

you are entitled to this amount if you are employed by a company before and after the birth. Just go with the birth certificate to the social security office, show your card and collect the cheque.