Elderly Foreginers A Heavy Burden For Thai Hospitals

[Mobi]

I personally know of a well respected member here on board who had to have an urgent multiple bypass heart surgery and didn't want to risk to have that done in Thailand and flew to his homeland; everything insured and paid for.

Any idea how much such an operation costs ?

for the record: this "well respected" member wouldn't have minded to have the surgery done in Thailand but his "well feared" wife commanded "we are going home to Germany where they will cut you up and do all the remodelling your heart requires!"

surgery (quadruple coronary, single aorta bypass) and 8 days hospital was € 48,000 (at that time ~2.4 milllion Baht) and two weeks in a rehab clinic another € 7,600 (~380,000 Baht) all paid, no questions asked, by my private multinational health insurance. important is to mention that i could have gone to Houston, Shanghai or any other place on this planet to have the surgery done without prior approval from the insurance company. a small disadvantage with out-of-state health insurance is that you have to advance the cost and then get reimbursed which takes between a week and 10 days (in my case).

Interesting info Naam. I would guess roughly twice what it would cost at Bumrungrad or similar, despite the fact that some people seem to think you can get open heart surgery for under 1M Baht in Thailand. (maybe you can but not at hospitals I would care to go under the knife at...) I am seeing my heart specialist next month so I shall ask her for a price list. then we will know for sure

Sorry to keep banging on about this but surely this business of elderly retirees getting seriously sick in Thailand can be summarised as follows:

1. Those with health insurance and/or sufficient funds will either have private health care here in Thailand or fly to their home countries to be taken care of.

2. Those without health insurance and modest funds, assuming they are not on the point of death, can book a ticket back to their home country and get the treatment they need.

3. Those who are sick, broke, but not on the point of death can either borrow the money from friends/relatives or go to their embassies and be repatriated back to their home countries where they will be taken care of.

4. Those who are sick, broke and on the point of death will, without recourse to monetary assistance from friends and relatives, will die in Thailand. Most will die at at their homes but a few 'lucky ones' may be admitted to state hospitals, where they will retrieve rudimentary, very basic care before they die.

It is only in the 4th instance - relatively rare circumstances - that Thai hospitals will have to bear any costs whatsoever and such costs of this rudimentary care will be minimal as is born out by the quoted numbers.

IMHO is a cost that the state can well afford to absorb, as I am sure most countries in the world also do.

[Soutpeel]

3. Those who are sick, broke, but not on the point of death can either borrow the money from friends/relatives or go to their embassies and be repatriated back to their home countries where they will be taken care of.

4. Those who are sick, broke and on the point of death will, without recourse to monetary assistance from friends and relatives, will die in Thailand. Most will die at at their homes but a few 'lucky ones' may be admitted to state hospitals, where they will retrieve rudimentary, very basic care before they die.

It is only in the 4th instance - relatively rare circumstances - that Thai hospitals will have to bear any costs whatsoever and such costs of this rudimentary care will be minimal as is born out by the quoted numbers.

Go and look up a post relating to items 3 & 4 on the health forum on TV..Sheyl closed.... a TV member was in this predictment, approached his embassy for help/repatriation, which they agreed to and told him to be at the airport 3 days hence for a flight back home, and the person refused saying 3 days hence wasnt enough time/didnt suit his "schedule...because of the refusal, he will in all likelyhood not get the offer/assistance again by his embassy, therefore this person will most likely fall under 4.0 in your example at some stage

Should Thai goverment/medical services "sponser" this persons medical in the example given above ,if it does happen ? (which hopefully it will not)

So wouldnt quite agree that the circumstances you descibe under 4.0 are "rare"....there is an example of this on TV currently in progress

[bunnaag]

I got aquote from Siriraj hospital for a quadruple bypass.Approximately 600000 Bath

[Naam]

I personally know of a well respected member here on board who had to have an urgent multiple bypass heart surgery and didn't want to risk to have that done in Thailand and flew to his homeland; everything insured and paid for.

Any idea how much such an operation costs ?

for the record: this "well respected" member wouldn't have minded to have the surgery done in Thailand but his "well feared" wife commanded "we are going home to Germany where they will cut you up and do all the remodelling your heart requires!"

surgery (quadruple coronary, single aorta bypass) and 8 days hospital was € 48,000 (at that time ~2.4 milllion Baht) and two weeks in a rehab clinic another € 7,600 (~380,000 Baht) all paid, no questions asked, by my private multinational health insurance. important is to mention that i could have gone to Houston, Shanghai or any other place on this planet to have the surgery done without prior approval from the insurance company. a small disadvantage with out-of-state health insurance is that you have to advance the cost and then get reimbursed which takes between a week and 10 days (in my case).

Thanks Naam; didn't want to name you but appreciate your post.

BTW: € 48.000 sounds reasonable for such a complicated surgery since I thought it would be more in Europe; it probably varies a bit from country to country.

Hope you feel well!

LaoPo

the € 48,000 included a surcharge of € 895/day for the only suite in "Herzzentrum München" on which Mrs Naam insisted because most probably she likes staying in a hospital, ordering hospital food (not bad!) à la carte and apologising to nurses and medical staff after i shouted at them "get the eff outa here, i need some privacy!"

p.s. i don't feel much different but the daily heart attacks which i had for 3½ years have vanished

[Naam]

I got aquote from Siriraj hospital for a quadruple bypass.Approximately 600000 Bath

PyaThai Hospital (spelling?) in Bangkok quoted more than what i paid in Germany. when talking to the surgeon in Munich he told us

quote: "we visited PyaThai a couple of years ago and i have to admit they would have performed as excellent a job as we do in Munich. HOWEVER, if PyaThai, you could not boast that Prof. Dr. Dr. (insert his name) did the "retreading" of your coronaries

[Naam]

Interesting info Naam. I would guess roughly twice what it would cost at Bumrungrad or similar, despite the fact that some people seem to think you can get open heart surgery for under 1M Baht in Thailand. (maybe you can but not at hospitals I would care to go under the knife at...) I am seeing my heart specialist next month so I shall ask her for a price list. then we will know for sure

i am quite sure that my gardener will charge much less when performing open heart surgery in my workshop using my tools

[MJP]

Probably already been said, not read the whole thread but it's pretty obvious that a condition of 'O' and 'O-A' non-immigrant visas should include comprehensive medical insurance cover. I know this is difficult to obtain for the over seventies here, so perhaps a policy bought in their countries of origin covering worldwide travel.

Very surprised this hasn't been the case so far.

[jazzbo]

Some on this topic and the Insurance Forum presume that any monies paid for Health Insurance coverage when there have been no claims in any given year have been monies 'wasted' and would have been put to better use in other investments. There are few persons who can sock away enough funds to cover a catastrophic illness regardless of what self-preventive health measures one takes.

Any one person may only have a 1% chance of suffering a catastrophic illness ... but if you go into a into a hospital and view persons who have or have had a family member suffer such an illness, you will realize that near 100% of them never thought that it might happen to them....

... And wealthy persons who could donate enough money to have the new hospital wing named after them STILL purchase health insurance... This is written not from the view of an insurance salesman but a mathematician.

[MJP]

Some on this topic and the Insurance Forum presume that any monies paid for Health Insurance coverage when there have been no claims in any given year have been monies 'wasted' and would have been put to better use in other investments. There are few persons who can sock away enough funds to cover a catastrophic illness regardless of what self-preventive health measures one takes.

Any one person may only have a 1% chance of suffering a catastrophic illness ... but if you go into a into a hospital and view persons who have or have had a family member suffer such an illness, you will realize that near 100% of them never thought that it might happen to them....

... And wealthy persons who could donate enough money to have the new hospital wing named after them STILL purchase health insurance... This is written not from the view of an insurance salesman but a mathematician.

Yup.

The old chap in the UK and my Uncle in LA never thought about elder care for their mother, now 94, physically strong but with advanced dementia. Scramble to flog property in Blighty to pay for care, no market. Oh dear.

Back to Thailand. So many who retire here in their 60's and are fit and healthy never seem to think the next tens years is just around the corner and never wonder what it will be like here with pensions worth nothing, no security, no medical cover, failing health and worse, usually some predatory woman and her family willing them to die so they can fight over the bones.

Rule 1 of retirement here. If you can't afford/get medical cover . . . forget it.

[Spalpeen]

This thread reminds me of a bar I used to frequent in the less desirable part of Birmingham. At closing time every night the landlady's cheerful refrain was always "We've 'ad your money, now <deleted> off !"

[nong38]

Now I have been up town and read the paper, what is all this about a "GOLD CARD"? How do you get one and who can get one? Is this a possible solution?

[Mobi]

3. Those who are sick, broke, but not on the point of death can either borrow the money from friends/relatives or go to their embassies and be repatriated back to their home countries where they will be taken care of.

4. Those who are sick, broke and on the point of death will, without recourse to monetary assistance from friends and relatives, will die in Thailand. Most will die at at their homes but a few 'lucky ones' may be admitted to state hospitals, where they will retrieve rudimentary, very basic care before they die.

It is only in the 4th instance - relatively rare circumstances - that Thai hospitals will have to bear any costs whatsoever and such costs of this rudimentary care will be minimal as is born out by the quoted numbers.

Go and look up a post relating to items 3 & 4 on the health forum on TV..Sheyl closed.... a TV member was in this predictment, approached his embassy for help/repatriation, which they agreed to and told him to be at the airport 3 days hence for a flight back home, and the person refused saying 3 days hence wasnt enough time/didnt suit his "schedule...because of the refusal, he will in all likelyhood not get the offer/assistance again by his embassy, therefore this person will most likely fall under 4.0 in your example at some stage

Should Thai goverment/medical services "sponser" this persons medical in the example given above ,if it does happen ? (which hopefully it will not)

So wouldnt quite agree that the circumstances you descibe under 4.0 are "rare"....there is an example of this on TV currently in progress

I'm sorry to say it but the guy on the thread in the health forum is clearly a charlatan. I confess that he took me in for a while and I felt so sorry for him as I was convinced he was in a really bad situation. He first claimed that the embassy would do nothing for him, but when I took the trouble of looking up his embassy (Canadian) on the net and quoted to him the part where they say they will repatriate destitute citizens, he changed his story and admitted that they offered to help him and he even bought him a ticket, but he had declined as he decided 3 days notice was too short!!

I was then flooded with PMs from many members telling me that this guy was a bit of a nutter and that he had a history of trying to get financial help and this was by no means the first time that he had been touching up naive folk (me included) for help and money.

Then after Sheryl told him to go back to the embassy and see if couldn't reactivate his free flight home, she closed the thread. A few days later, this self same guy opens a new thread asking for the best machine to buy to monitor his blood sugars. Doesn't exactly sound as though he is about to flake out, or that he has run out of money, does it?

All that this incident proves is that there are charlatans and spongers everywhere and they will take your money and your help if you are foolish enough to give it to them. It really has litle or no bearing on the statements I made in my previous post, as this guy should have been long gone from Thailand under my '3rd catagory':-

"Those who are sick, broke, but not on the point of death can either borrow the money from friends/relatives or go to their embassies and be repatriated back to their home countries where they will be taken care of."

And in any event he obviously isn't broke, nor is he at the point of death...

[Mobi]

Interesting info Naam. I would guess roughly twice what it would cost at Bumrungrad or similar, despite the fact that some people seem to think you can get open heart surgery for under 1M Baht in Thailand. (maybe you can but not at hospitals I would care to go under the knife at...) I am seeing my heart specialist next month so I shall ask her for a price list. then we will know for sure

i am quite sure that my gardener will charge much less when performing open heart surgery in my workshop using my tools

:lol:

But behind the joke is the sad fact that nearly all the top specialists in Thailand divide their time between the top private hospitals and their own private clinics. The rest of the hospitals - in Bangkok and throughout the provinces largely get the dross. Of course there are exceptions and I do know that Chieng Mai has some pretty decent specialists, but for the most part, once you stray from the well worn paths to Bumrungrad, Samitivej, BNH and a few others, including Pattaya-Bangkok, you might very well be better of with the good Naam's gardener performing your surgery...... As always you pays your money and you take your choice.

Edited January 22, 2011 by Mobi

[Jingthing]

Probably already been said, not read the whole thread but it's pretty obvious that a condition of 'O' and 'O-A' non-immigrant visas should include comprehensive medical insurance cover. I know this is difficult to obtain for the over seventies here, so perhaps a policy bought in their countries of origin covering worldwide travel.

Very surprised this hasn't been the case so far.

Traveler's health insurance for full time expats that covers for more than a "trip" is a product that doesn't exist.

[473geo]

Interesting info Naam. I would guess roughly twice what it would cost at Bumrungrad or similar, despite the fact that some people seem to think you can get open heart surgery for under 1M Baht in Thailand. (maybe you can but not at hospitals I would care to go under the knife at...) I am seeing my heart specialist next month so I shall ask her for a price list. then we will know for sure

i am quite sure that my gardener will charge much less when performing open heart surgery in my workshop using my tools

Unfair comparrison, your gardner will offset his costs with the TV profits, as he can run commentary as he works..... in 3 languages

[jayjay0]

A little off topic.

But here in Chiang Mai we had a thread running yesterday about Farongs4 to be exact trying to drum up business as tour guides.

Clearly illegal.

One of them claimed he had to do it to support his Thai wife and kids. I doubt these people can afford insurance.

I point this out to show that it is not just the elderly there are younger people with no means of paying.

[Naam]

Interesting info Naam. I would guess roughly twice what it would cost at Bumrungrad or similar, despite the fact that some people seem to think you can get open heart surgery for under 1M Baht in Thailand. (maybe you can but not at hospitals I would care to go under the knife at...) I am seeing my heart specialist next month so I shall ask her for a price list. then we will know for sure

i am quite sure that my gardener will charge much less when performing open heart surgery in my workshop using my tools

Unfair comparrison, your gardner will offset his costs with the TV profits, as he can run commentary as he works..... in 3 languages

in the meantime i found out that he can converse in four languages and has rudimentary knowledge of a fifth one.

[Beetlejuice]

I would welcome a Thai government insurance offer that provides full coverage for expat retirees. Most older people have preexisting conditions that they can't cover anyway! Even if you can get covered, it excludes what you mostly need it for.

So would I.

I have myself witnessed duel pricing between the treatments of Thais and farangs within Thai hospitals, although it is unwritten and done discretely by the hospital at most times without the knowledge of the farang.

The numbers listed for the farangs that have been using medical services without being able to pay is minuscule compared to what pressures poor Thais put on the service, but as one poster quite rightly mentioned, they only want us here for our money.

Any benefits Thailand offered to it`s nationals, such as low cost subsidised health insurance would never be extended to farangs, trust me on that one. We are expected to pay through the nose and that is always going to be the situation here for farang ex pats.

This does prove that if there is one bad apple in the basket, then we are all considered bad apples, and I agree on more stricter imposed Immigration policies for this reason, because what the minority do affects us all eventually.

I do agree with the report that many Thai women are scamming their farang partners or customers out of money and leaving them destitute, but this is common knowledge and more fool the farang for being gullible is what I say.

Basically it`s welcome to Thailand if you can afford it, it`s not for the financially disadvantaged and those wanting to be here just because they are bored with they’re mundane lives at home. Without enough money I wouldn’t even consider living here.

[ginjag]

Probably already been said, not read the whole thread but it's pretty obvious that a condition of 'O' and 'O-A' non-immigrant visas should include comprehensive medical insurance cover. I know this is difficult to obtain for the over seventies here, so perhaps a policy bought in their countries of origin covering worldwide travel.

Very surprised this hasn't been the case so far.

Traveler's health insurance for full time expats that covers for more than a "trip" is a product that doesn't exist.

True, years ago I looked high and low, Found worldwide travel-short periods only, Tried individual brokers, to do a one off private to suit needs--told me too risky for them.All these years not a word, now its the farrangs fault that they are strapped for cash. In an earlier topic on a similar theme thai had mucked up their finances on health care. They admitted their own admin for the problem. Look at it another way the 30 baht scheme is not operational in our Issan area its free. You can;t tell me even the poor cannot afford 30 baht. if they charged the 30 baht, each Thai visits the hospital for a runny nose 1 time a week, how many population 50 mill x30 bht, every week. how much are they in the red ????..........one other point, I live out in the rural sticks, if I attend the local hospital on average it's 50 bht for the doctor-and pharmacy-500 bht for rhuematic pain pills. now thats pills that are given away to Thai free nomally, and the 500 bht for pills are about the same price as a u.k. perscription. We are talking about on this topic older ex pats that are draining the system--b/sh=t after spending the vast amount of money over 20+ years, visa runs ,homes ,Thai peoples , police, airport and taxi scams--and all--you can say what you want --I think its rubbish. and just deciding now--amazing.

[473geo]

i am quite sure that my gardener will charge much less when performing open heart surgery in my workshop using my tools

Unfair comparrison, your gardner will offset his costs with the TV profits, as he can run commentary as he works..... in 3 languages

in the meantime i found out that he can converse in four languages and has rudimentary knowledge of a fifth one.

A great assett in these days when plants in a garden can be from many global origins, if you speak the language to make them feel at home, thrive much better

I guess not too much of a leap from secateurs to scalpel either, might require a lighting upgrade in the workshop though

[Beetlejuice]

Some thoughts for you to keep in mind.

In Thailand if you are drowning no one is going to throw you a life line.

For the older guys, many young Thai women want to screw you. Not for your bodies but for your cash. Yes, they are lying when they call you a sexy guy or they are not concerned about age only that you are kind and generous.. As far as they`re concerned, kind and generous equals stupid.

Treat your money the same as your life blood, because without it you`re dead and ready to be thrown away with the trash.

If not sure of anything or have lack of experience, seek advice from those who have been here longer, know the ropes and listen to some of the old hands here on Thai visa.

Be wary at all times and don`t become a fool guy.

Now, would I lie to you?

[473geo]

Some thoughts for you to keep in mind.

In Thailand if you are drowning no one is going to throw you a life line.

My wife and children and close relatives certainly would

For the older guys, many young Thai women want to screw you. Not for your bodies but for your cash. Yes, they are lying when they call you a sexy guy or they are not concerned about age only that you are kind and generous.. As far as they`re concerned, kind and generous equals stupid.

I have experience of both types of Thai women, my wife is not in the habit of telling lies but then she does not call me a sexy guy.......I guess every body just knows this

Treat your money the same as your life blood, because without it you`re dead and ready to be thrown away with the trash.

My wife handles our money better than I would

If not sure of anything or have lack of experience, seek advice from those who have been here longer, know the ropes and listen to some of the old hands here on Thai visa.

There appear to be too many old hands that have been burned

Be wary at all times and don`t become a fool guy.

If you have not learnt this is the case everywhere in the world, perhaps you need to travel a bit further

Now, would I lie to you?

Don't have to lie to misrepresent

[el jefe]

"I'm even more flabbergasted that an intelligent man like yourself" still doesn't understand risk analysis despite two of us explaining it to you.

You know El Jefe: more than one documentary has been aired around the world about so many tragic cases of families who were forced to sell off their house, cars and other assets because they received huge bills from hospitals because they faced a sudden serious sickness, operation or something else, very nasty and happening to people who considered themselves healthy. I'm talking US families here who were not insured.

But, this is not an exclusivity basis invented in the US; citizens of many countries faced the same drama.

Risk health analysis....

When I was 16 I ended up in hospital for 3 weeks because of a motobike accident*; when I was in my twenties I ended up in hospital again for an urgent appendix removal operation, out of the blue with no prior signals.

In the past 2 1/2 years I ended up a nice 7 times in hospital; 6 times for the same colon problem and 1 time because of an infection caused during a test by a specialist; also very nice and on intensive care.

Risk An@lysis ? Give me a break; the last 2 1/2 years costed at least a nice 2 to 2.5 Million Baht and although I could have paid for myself I'm quite content I have full insurance

I can only hope that such circumstances will never occur to you "two of us explaining it to you"....the two of you, the masterbrains in Risk An@lysis

* speaking of a motobike accident; a week ago I had to talk to a dear Lady friend of mine who lost her son, 15 years ago at the age of 17; a brilliant and handsome young man, a James Dean look-alike, riding his motobike in Spain when suddenly a car crashed and killed him...

Risk An@lysis you say...?

Playing Russian Roulette with your own life is a better expression.

LaoPo

LaoPo, if you reread PersonChester and my previous posts you'll see that we both saved and invested much more than the 2.5 mil baht you spent on medical bills. Since I don't hang out in bars, and most of my friends are as healthy and active as i am, it turns out that a few of them are also self-insured

I can't speak for PC, but I also "invested' in my health rather than just buying insurance. I haven't used a tobacco product in over 30 years, I regularly have 1-2 drinks a day but very rarely more, and I exercise 20+ hours a week. I have a physical examination every year. The esteemed Dr Greer has determined that I'm in the 97th percentile in terms of health and that the only reason that number is not higher is because of my age. Not much I can do about that.

Most policies have a lifetime cap on the amount they will pay out. It sounds like PC has more funds available than the cap that many Thai policies offer.

I'm pretty sure PC would agree with me that you should have medical insurance. I certainly would if I was in your condition. And I do have other types of insurance where I've weighed the risk vs the cost of the policy. For example, I do have nursing home insurance and I think many people should. Most people don't realize how little coverage is provided by their medical insurance and how high the risk of spending some time in a nursing home is.

Finally, think of all the people you know. what % of them spent over 5 mil baht on medical care? All the examples you gave of those who died young in accidents don't count. They're dead and spent nothing.

I realize that most TV readers probably agree with you that I'm crazy. I'm OK with that and I'm done entertaining you. I'll let you go back to your beer and cigarettes now.

[MJP]

Probably already been said, not read the whole thread but it's pretty obvious that a condition of 'O' and 'O-A' non-immigrant visas should include comprehensive medical insurance cover. I know this is difficult to obtain for the over seventies here, so perhaps a policy bought in their countries of origin covering worldwide travel.

Very surprised this hasn't been the case so far.

Traveler's health insurance for full time expats that covers for more than a "trip" is a product that doesn't exist.

Ah. Just been speaking tonight with a British chap who is covered for 92 days a pop then has to return to Blighty for a week then comes back again for another 92 days. Apparently this is fully comprehensive medical with existing conditions.

I wouldn't want to be eighty years old mind and doing all those air miles a year. Hell, I don't even like driving to Tesco and I'm mid-thirties.

[MJP]

Probably already been said, not read the whole thread but it's pretty obvious that a condition of 'O' and 'O-A' non-immigrant visas should include comprehensive medical insurance cover. I know this is difficult to obtain for the over seventies here, so perhaps a policy bought in their countries of origin covering worldwide travel.

Very surprised this hasn't been the case so far.

Traveler's health insurance for full time expats that covers for more than a "trip" is a product that doesn't exist.

True, years ago I looked high and low, Found worldwide travel-short periods only, Tried individual brokers, to do a one off private to suit needs--told me too risky for them.All these years not a word, now its the farrangs fault that they are strapped for cash. In an earlier topic on a similar theme thai had mucked up their finances on health care. They admitted their own admin for the problem. Look at it another way the 30 baht scheme is not operational in our Issan area its free. You can;t tell me even the poor cannot afford 30 baht. if they charged the 30 baht, each Thai visits the hospital for a runny nose 1 time a week, how many population 50 mill x30 bht, every week. how much are they in the red ????..........one other point, I live out in the rural sticks, if I attend the local hospital on average it's 50 bht for the doctor-and pharmacy-500 bht for rhuematic pain pills. now thats pills that are given away to Thai free nomally, and the 500 bht for pills are about the same price as a u.k. perscription. We are talking about on this topic older ex pats that are draining the system--b/sh=t after spending the vast amount of money over 20+ years, visa runs ,homes ,Thai peoples , police, airport and taxi scams--and all--you can say what you want --I think its rubbish. and just deciding now--amazing.

Yup. I reckon the whole village visits the local GP at least once a week. Hypochondria bring the usual diagnosis.

[Camelot]

Superb and spot-on response to Beetlejuice, 473Geo. My experience has been the same as yours. Thais have always been far more compassionate and helpful than people in my home country. That's one of the reasons I've spent the greater part of my life here. I think there's far too much generalisation and prejudicial stereotyping of our Thai hosts by some (not all) forum members. The truth is there are good and bad elements in every society.

Incidentally private hospitals are not the only medical facilities here. Chulalongkorn and Siriraj, to name but two, are very good hospitals and charge far less. You'll have to wait in a queue and you can't buy pitta bread on the ground floor but medical care is excellent and affordable. That's where the professors of medicine are. Some of the private hospitals have been getting increasingly greedy over the past few years and their pricing, when compared to their costs, can be little short of extortionate.

[Englander]

Yup. I reckon the whole village visits the local GP at least once a week. Hypochondria bring the usual diagnosis.

Vitamin tablets issued by the village doctor are a well known cure for this.

[LaoPo]

LaoPo, if you reread PersonChester and my previous posts you'll see that we both saved and invested much more than the 2.5 mil baht you spent on medical bills.

who said I did?

...I never spent 2.5 Million Baht on medical bills.

I am fully insured, and NEXT to that, I too saved and invested and living of my investments but I'm quite happy I didn't have to pay for the hospital bills and I'm also happy I don't have to worry IF something unexpected happens, where ever in the world

Maybe read better?

LaoPo

Edited January 22, 2011 by LaoPo

[jayjay0]

Superb and spot-on response to Beetlejuice, 473Geo. My experience has been the same as yours. Thais have always been far more compassionate and helpful than people in my home country. That's one of the reasons I've spent the greater part of my life here. I think there's far too much generalisation and prejudicial stereotyping of our Thai hosts by some (not all) forum members. The truth is there are good and bad elements in every society.

Incidentally private hospitals are not the only medical facilities here. Chulalongkorn and Siriraj, to name but two, are very good hospitals and charge far less. You'll have to wait in a queue and you can't buy pitta bread on the ground floor but medical care is excellent and affordable. That's where the professors of medicine are. Some of the private hospitals have been getting increasingly greedy over the past few years and their pricing, when compared to their costs, can be little short of extortionate.

Thank you

[jayjay0]

LaoPo, if you reread PersonChester and my previous posts you'll see that we both saved and invested much more than the 2.5 mil baht you spent on medical bills.

who said I did?

...I never spent 2.5 Million Baht on medical bills.

I am fully insured, and NEXT to that, I too saved and invested and living of my investments but I'm quite happy I didn't have to pay for the hospital bills and I'm also happy I don't have to worry IF something unexpected happens, where ever in the world

Maybe read better?

LaoPo

Lao Po

Give it up. they are off in dreamland and don't even know it. They got lucky.

Common sense tells us that not every one can invest and have 2,500,000 baht they can pay a medical bill with. And not regret it.