Medical Check Ups And Blood Tests

[boaterjack]

where is the best place to go on a regular basis for blood tests and medical check ups and for medicine and tablets prices - thanks

[katabeachbum]

english speaking quality nurses and doctors, Bangkok Hospital Hua Hin

but very expensive on meds, so Pharmacy if you know what you need. Phetckasem/soi 55 towards clock tower left side

[cheshiremusicman]

The 'Polyclinic' will perform all kinds of blood tests for you and you can get the results in about 1 hour. Very reasonable prices as well. They will do 'Health checks ' as well. Located in the centre of HH near the 'bus terminal'

If you know what you want then the local Pharmacies are the cheapest; the hospitals always overcharge for medications.

[hhfarang]

As for medications, if you are taking any expensive ones Hua Hin pharmacies are not cheap for those either and I was prescribed one by an American doctor that can't even be found in Hua Hin. My prescribed meds bill was around 2500 per month in Hua Hin at the cheapest place I could find that had most of them but I have reduced that bill to around 1500 by buying at a wholesale pharmacy in Bangkok.

I just go up about every four months and get a four month supply and it saves me a lot. The best pharmacy there is South East Pharmacy. They sell over the counter at wholesale prices and supply most of the other pharmacies. They are located on Sukhumvit road at the corner of Soi 15. They speak excellent English and carry even hard to find medications at the lowest prices available here.

And yes, as the previous poster stated, the Hua Hin Polyclinic is good for blood testing and other health checkup type of tests. They are a branch of Petcharat Hospital in Petchaburi which was widely considered the best hospital from Hua Hin to Bangkok before Bangkok Hospital opened it's Hua Hin branch. They are a private hospital but much cheaper than the big named ones.

Another suggestion for an annual checkup if you go to Bangkok at least yearly is St Louis Hospital on Sathorn Road there. They are a private hospital subsidized by the Catholic church, and provide very good service at about half the price of private hospitals like Bumrungrad. My wife had surgery there and the cost was much, much less than it would have been at the other big private hospitals for the same level of physicians and service.

[alina]

Thats a contridiction - Quality and Price.

Quality would be the Bangkok Hospital.

Price would be the Hua Hin Communial Hospital.

You sound like a cheap charlie so go to the Poly-Clinic opposite the small Tesco Lotus WHERE they speak English.

[hhfarang]

Thats a contridiction - Quality and Price.

I agree that in a perfect world that should be the case, but not necessarily true in Thailand. Very often you will pay a high price for very dubious quality (in any area of business here) if you are not careful. The perfect example for the topic of this thread is San Paulo private hospital... prices like Bangkok Hospital, quality (imo) worse than Hua Hin Government hospital.

And all of us aren't rich like you Alina so calling someone a "cheap charlie" just because they are looking for advice so as to get good service without getting ripped off is uncalled for IMO.

Careful you don't end up in the bin next to your old adversary sam666...

[alina]

Thats a contridiction - Quality and Price.

I agree that in a perfect world that should be the case, but not necessarily true in Thailand. Very often you will pay a high price for very dubious quality (in any area of business here) if you are not careful. The perfect example for the topic of this thread is San Paulo private hospital... prices like Bangkok Hospital, quality (imo) worse than Hua Hin Government hospital.

And all of us aren't rich like you Alina so calling someone a "cheap charlie" just because they are looking for advice so as to get good service without getting ripped off is uncalled for IMO.

Careful you don't end up in the bin next to your old adversary sam666...

Quite right hhfarang, I agree with the above but when its your health pay the extra.

As to sam666 it was only a matter of time till he over reacted, was so easy, unfortunately I missed some of the last reply's as they were deleted and he was banned. Bet he had sleepless nights when he realised all was lost, he he he.

[roly]

Hello. Just been reading the forum and thought I'd share my opinions on the hospitals and healthcare.

Have had some experiences with all the local hospitals, a few clinics and pharmacies etc.

Recently used the Hua Hin hospital near Soi 10 as I had a motorbike accident in March. Nothing broken but had to have stitches and go back every day to clean wounds etc. The service was pretty good - nobody spoke much English and I had a Thai friend turn up and help with communication (even though I speak some Thai, but still). I was lying on a table in the emergency ward - no curtains around for privacy and other people arrived in much worse condition. They treated me pretty promptly - not sure whether that's because I was farang or not....had to go back every day for a month and paid about 150 baht each time to clean wounds. Actually it took much longer to heal than expected, as I didn't follow their advice ("don't drink alcohol and don't walk on your injured food")..went to the bars every day, drank and walked around!! doh!! :-)

Anyway another friend recently had appendicitis and went to the HH hospital for treatment, as he didn't have enough cash to pay for the other hospitals in the area - Bangkok and San Paolo. He came out alive, and so overall I think the main HH hospital is decent enough for standard operations and emergency treatment.

San Paolo hospital - have been there several times blood checks and treatment, actually I could have got the same treatment elsewhere much cheaper since it was only basic in and out service and some medication that I had (don't worry, it's all cleared up now!).

Bangkok hospital - all the staff speak great English and the treatment I had for tonsillitis was superb - seemed like overkill as they put me on a drip for an hour at a time and had to go back for about 3 days in a row, ended up paying every time about 2000 baht. I'd already been to a local clinic and had antibiotics but they hadn't worked which is why I just bit the bullet and went to the Bangkok hospital. I should have gone to the Polyclinic instead really considering all the good reports I've read about that. The other thing is, everybody says that the service is great at the Bangkok hospital, however, they didn't seem very well organised and got a few things mixed up when I went there, I had to speak to the nurse that had treated me as she knew exactly what medication etc I was supposed to be having. I think the third day I went there for the medication, they pointed me at the emergency room even though they'd already pulled up my records, I had to tell them I was only there for the drip antibiotics. So I was a little surprised overall about the disorganisation but I got treated OK, which is the main thing. Perhaps just teething problems.

For simple medication only I'd recommend just going to the pharmacy as they can often sort out a problem very quickly which will save you the consultation fees at a clinic (perhaps 800 baht). The trouble is that medication in the pharmacies also seems to vary in price a lot for the same items - recently had to pay 300 baht at the pharmacy near the crossroads at soi 56, and the same medicine was 500 or 600 baht in other pharmacies closer to the town. So, just be aware that you might be able to shop around and find the same stuff cheaper - perhaps the pharmacies where mainly Thais go have the same items at a lower price...?

Just my 2 cents worth.

Cheers.