Thai Health System And Health Insurance Requirements

[cameronpsych]

Hi,

I will be moving to Chiang Mai with my family (1 male 28, 1 female 28, 1 child 18 months) and would like to get information regarding the health system in Thailand and what sort of insurance I need.

I am from Australia, so essentially if I need emergency care I can get free hospital at a Government run hospital, or pay private health insurance to attend a private hospital. Private insurance also covers things like 'extra' services - dental, physio etc. GP's appointments are subsidised by the Govt so out of pocket is usually around AUD20.

So on to our requirements - I will be working so will be covered by Thai Govt health (social security - not sure what this means). I would also like to get private cover for the whole family for inpatient, outpatient and emergency, as well as the option for maternity.

I know there are plenty of other questions regarding this but can't work out what is and isn't included in the Thai system. What about things like dental and GP appointments are they covered by private health, or an added expense?

Thanks for any help.

[ThaivisaInsurance]

It is obviously very difficult to try and answer your questions in an open forum as there will need to be several 'personal' questions asked. However there are sevearl insurance companies who will be suitable for you and the family e.g. AXA, BUPA, Thaivivat, LMG etc etc.

May we suggest as members of Thai Visa you use the Thai Visa Brokerage service which is on-line and can offer the most suitable plan from all the available plans here in Thailand ? Initially please go HERE

[cameronpsych]

No, problems.

I suppose the other thing that I wanted to know was what sort of costs are we looking at out-of-pocket for regular medical care in Thailand for a healthy family so:

Cost of GP visit

Cost of dentist check up and clean

Cost of maternity care in Private/Public hospital

Cost of hospital care after accident or illness.

I suppose what I am looking at is the average costs that these would be.

Thanks

[citizen33]

No, problems.

I suppose the other thing that I wanted to know was what sort of costs are we looking at out-of-pocket for regular medical care in Thailand for a healthy family so:

Cost of GP visit

Cost of dentist check up and clean

Cost of maternity care in Private/Public hospital

Cost of hospital care after accident or illness.

I suppose what I am looking at is the average costs that these would be.

Thanks

I notice that this one didn't get any answers in a while, which may be because costs are so variable across the country. Probably a resident of Chiang Mai would be the best person to answer, but I will have a shot. I think because of my location my prices may be an under-estimate.

1. Doctor in private evening clinic in a small NE town. Based on plenty of experience I usually pay between 100 and 200 baht. This contrasts with my one experience of calling a physician to my mother's hotel room in central Bangkok, which cost 3000 baht.

2. Check and clean at local dentist in NE town 200 baht - which has to be at the very low end.

3. Maternity - cost of delivery (C/S) and very nice suite for about five days in a small private hospital in NE city (a few years back) was about 18K (they heavily discounted one of their best suites because of lack of demand). A public ward in a community hospital, such as experienced by my neice a couple of years ago, would be very cheap but pretty uncomfortable (free for her under SSS).

4. This is the hardest question, because it will vary enormously according to condition and facility. A private room in a government provincial, military or university hospital might be the best bet (last is what I would suggest), but could still be quite pricey for a complex procedure. The only recent experience I have is my brother-in-law's admission to a Chonburi private hospital needing surgery for leg, arm and skull fractures after a 20 foot fall, where I think the cost was about 5K per day plus charges per procedure. His employer paid but had him transferred to the provincial public hospital to have two more operations after his condition stabilised. His treatment probably came to less than 100K but he is Thai and this was at the lower end of the range. If a Western patient goes to a private hospital in Bangkok or Pattaya for major ongoing treatment one could be into personal bankruptcy territory. This is why people buy insurance.