Ram Hospital

[Gladiator]

A few days ago I had this procedure performed to remove the cateract and replace an artificial lens in one of my eyes. Still have to get he other sorted - but in time.

For those of you who may be in the same situation the following is the cost that I incurred but subject your own situaion it may differ according to your own circumstances.

I acknowledge that there are other hospitals where this procedure may be performed at a cheaper price but I am a long time user of RAM and have confidence in the surgeons and the facilities.

Both my age and possession of a VIP card attracted a discount but the overall cost was 43,000 baht for the procedure to be performed on one eye. This included a full physical examination before the surgery. The operation lasted approximately 30 minutes and although uncomfortable, I experienced no pain.

The following morning I returned to the Eye Specialist and was able to read the eye chart with my right eye from top to bottom without difficulty.

Gladiator

[uptheos]

Which surgeon performed your operation?

If it's who I think it is, that was roughly the price I was quoted.

[Maejo Man]

What type of lens did they use? Were you given the option, or did they tell you "this" lens is best? Also did they give the prices for the different lenses, as this effects the overall price. many thanks.

[SausageKing]

What type of lens did they use? Were you given the option, or did they tell you "this" lens is best? Also did they give the prices for the different lenses, as this effects the overall price. many thanks.

Doctor Seree is the head surgeon at the Ram and is worth knowing that.Number 2 surgeon Doctor Lee but they also work in other hospitals also.I guess there are not to many good surgeons around and other hospitals share them like Lanna hospital on superhighway. The above are 2 very good doctors/surgeons

[Thailand]

Had the same surgery at St Peters about 5 years ago,similar price if I remember.

And yes, the day after results were spectacular.From being unable to barely see the chart before the operation I was also able to read it within 24 hours!

[Gladiator]

Which surgeon performed your operation?

If it's who I think it is, that was roughly the price I was quoted.

The surgeon was Dr. Rachada, assisted by another surgeon in the theatre, possible her husband as indicated by another PM

[Gladiator]

What type of lens did they use? Were you given the option, or did they tell you "this" lens is best? Also did they give the prices for the different lenses, as this effects the overall price. many thanks.

I believe that the 'Lens' was flexible silicone. Yes, I was given the option of having 'prescribed Lenses made up for me. I only wear specs occasionally so no big deal for me. Sorry I did not ask the price of the prescribed Lens but for sure it would have been a lot higher

[Gladiator]

Had the same surgery at St Peters about 5 years ago,similar price if I remember.

And yes, the day after results were spectacular.From being unable to barely see the chart before the operation I was also able to read it within 24 hours!

I was advised that this would be he case and was delighted find that the result was just that - spectacular!

[Gladiator]

What type of lens did they use? Were you given the option, or did they tell you "this" lens is best? Also did they give the prices for the different lenses, as this effects the overall price. many thanks.

Doctor Seree is the head surgeon at the Ram and is worth knowing that.Number 2 surgeon Doctor Lee but they also work in other hospitals also.I guess there are not to many good surgeons around and other hospitals share them like Lanna hospital on superhighway. The above are 2 very good doctors/surgeons

Dr. Surgeon Saree has operated on a number of occasions and I am led to believe tha he is one of the best in Thailand. I agree

[uptheos]

Which surgeon performed your operation?

If it's who I think it is, that was roughly the price I was quoted.

The surgeon was Dr. Rachada, assisted by another surgeon in the theatre, possible her husband as indicated by another PM

Yep same person. The prescribed lens is about 70,000 Baht.

[bangkok blue]

Avoid Ram like the plague! Money making place! Sure procedures are carried out well for eye problems, but from my experience any other issues should well be avoided by this place. Lanna is by far cheaper and far more competent!

[Gladiator]

Avoid Ram like the plague! Money making place! Sure procedures are carried out well for eye problems, but from my experience any other issues should well be avoided by this place. Lanna is by far cheaper and far more competent!

Well BB

I guess that we all have to take as we find and fortunately have the independance of choice.

I won't bore you with my catalogue of various conditions that RAM has come through for. It just suits me. I do note that many folk claim that they 'load' the price with various unrequired Lab procedures. In my own case I have not experienced this.

I have never used Lanna, so cannot comment, But in the early days when I paid Thai National Social Security I was assigned to Rajavej Hospital and at that time they let me down badly. RAM then did the biz. However I later came to use Rajavej on a private occasion (Bronchiial Asthma), at the same time as my wife was in the hospital, and they were splendid.

Whichever hospital that you use - Stay well.

Gladiator

[orang37]

... snip ... I won't bore you with my catalogue of various conditions that RAM has come through for. It just suits me. I do note that many folk claim that they 'load' the price with various unrequired Lab procedures. In my own case I have not experienced this.

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Gladiator,

First, may I congratulate you on what seems to be a great result from your procedure ! And, I'm glad you had a positive experience with Ram.

My own experience, as others, with Ram was a "kiting the bill into the stratosphere" debacle, and I would never go there again, but I will say that the doctor, Dr. Paiboon, who patched up my multiply, spirally, broken right leg (thanks to some drunken or yaa-baa'd hit-and-run motorcyclist who ran me down on my bicycle crossing over to the "wrong" side of the road to do so) was excellent, and the outcome was excellent.

May you see clearly, forever !

best, ~o:37;

[Gladiator]

... snip ... I won't bore you with my catalogue of various conditions that RAM has come through for. It just suits me. I do note that many folk claim that they 'load' the price with various unrequired Lab procedures. In my own case I have not experienced this.

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Gladiator,

First, may I congratulate you on what seems to be a great result from your procedure ! And, I'm glad you had a positive experience with Ram.

My own experience, as others, with Ram was a "kiting the bill into the stratosphere" debacle, and I would never go there again, but I will say that the doctor, Dr. Paiboon, who patched up my multiply, spirally, broken right leg (thanks to some drunken or yaa-baa'd hit-and-run motorcyclist who ran me down on my bicycle crossing over to the "wrong" side of the road to do so) was excellent, and the outcome was excellent.

May you see clearly, forever !

best, ~o:37;

o-37

Thank you for your good wishes.

Life is short, precious and fragle.

Wherever we go may choose to go to promate our well being and to remain intact -

May we all stay healthy

[isanbirder]

You actually have very little choice. Sripat Clinic, where I would go for preference for most problems, has a large eye centre... but there are so many people using it that getting anything checked, let alone done, is a test of your patience. I have nothing against the doctors, just that they have far too much to do.

[purushanti]

Friend reports to me that she forego surgery and used cataract eyedrops, brand name "Similisan, and her symptoms. went away.

On the other hand, i would expect that most doctors trained in traditional medicine by big pharma would discount the above.

So, it is an individual choice. A whole world of alternatives out there to everything we have been taught. Up to you.

[uptheos]

Lanna is by far cheaper and far more competent!

I wouldn't even park in Lanna, unless I really had too!

I know of too many cock up's..

[Mapguy]

From both personal experience and knowledge of the experience of others, Dr. Rachada is top notch. By the way, the fellow in the OR most likely is her husband (I asked!), and he teaches ophthalmology at CMU. He was there once, in my case.

At the time, I shopped around a bit. i went to St Peter's, of course. The diagnosis was bang on. The price wasn't! It was TWICE what Ram charged, so I can not agree with Orang37!

I find it rather useless to price shop too precisely although I do some checking, as above. Diagnoses may vary. Surgery costs vary !!!!! It depends on your condition, et cetera, et cetera.

Anyway, to keep it simple, I believe that Dr. Rachada knows what she is doing. And I have that from other people, too. There are other qualified ophthalmologists in town. Check them out. This isn't Laos!!

By the way, the new young doc at Ram also seems to know what she is doing and is very efficient. And, as seems important to some TV posters, she is very pleasing to the eye!

As another idle thought, seems a lot of women surgeons go into opthalmologic surgery instead of general surgery because they really can't stand the sight of blood !!! (That ought to fire up a few distaff readers!!)

Edited October 26, 2012 by Mapguy

[endure]

Friend reports to me that she forego surgery and used cataract eyedrops, brand name "Similisan, and her symptoms. went away.

But did the cataracts go away too?

[cheeryble]

As for St Peters.

1. He did my LASIK at his then clinic in Suthep Rd and I now have dry eyes. This may have nothing to do with his competence but I got no risk warning. It is also possible warnings about dry eye were not given 8 years ago, I don't know. So it may not have been unprofessional.

2. I went to St P asking for punctual plugs for my dry eyes. He said sure no problem, and checked my eyes.

He asked the nurse to deal with the plugs but when I heard the price I said Ahh I'll come back tomorrow. I had previously asked about this price in the Changpuak clinic reception and it was a third or quarter, but the doctor was out of hours. I then went straight back to that clinic to ask the doc for plugs. She said not so fast. She also inspected my eyes, very carefully, and the first thing was she pulled out what looked like a small tuft of carpet from way under my eyeball.....within an hour or two of being checked in St P!

After some testing she said punctual plugs are not indicated in any way, I have underactive Meibomiam glands (oil glands).

All in all I was pretty appalled.

As for Lanna being much cheaper than Ram that is unlikely to be true as they are part of the same group.

I must say I find 43,000 seems very high indeed for what is a quick and simple procedure......surely way less effort than doing say a root canal. I can't say I like the way surgeons think they deserve so much. I happen to know

Thais are charged exactly the same in Ram so unless they're doing pro bono work half the time I see no excuse apart from greed.

Edited October 26, 2012 by cheeryble

[Dellboy218]

Avoid Ram like the plague! Money making place! Sure procedures are carried out well for eye problems, but from my experience any other issues should well be avoided by this place. Lanna is by far cheaper and far more competent!

Any other issues? IT is a business, most of them are. I could hardly walk a couple of years ago but thanks to a local doctor well known for his spinal work and a Ram operating theatre and its team I have had only minor discomfort on the odd occasion since. What price can you put on being able to walk? What price can Gladiator put on being able to see? As Gladiator says, take it as you find it, you have a choice.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Dellboy218

[Rancid]

Ram have gotten greedy and they especially rip off on the drugs. Half of us could retire in style on their daily markup on paracetamol alone. However if you have a serious ailment and your short term goal is not testing death then perhaps it is worth a few hundred dollars more. There are cheaper brake pads, cheaper hookers and cheaper doctors, they do the job but rarely do you get satisfaction. Avoid Ram for minor ailments and use them only for what is important.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Rancid

[market trader]

Ram have gotten greedy and they especially rip off on the drugs. Half of us could retire in style on their daily markup on paracetamol alone. However if you have a serious ailment and your short term goal is not testing death then perhaps it is worth a few hundred dollars more. There are cheaper brake pads, cheaper hookers and cheaper doctors, they do the job but rarely do you get satisfaction. Avoid Ram for minor ailments and use them only for what is important.

You think the Ram is a rip off on drugs. Well I would like to relate a little story on drug and hospital costs. I have a non curable but treatable form of blood cancer that requires maintainance drug treatments periodically. Last year when in Canada my health care card expired on my birthday and 2 days prior to my birthday I went and renewed it. On the day of my birthday I went to the hospital for my treatment. However they told me that my medical card had now expired and I would be billed for the treatment. Cost of the drug Rituximab $8935.00 (268,000 bahts) Hospital cost to administer the drug intravenously $2250.00 (67,500 bahts) One week later I received the new card and the hospital reversed the charge. A few months ago I as advised by the government that they would no longer pay for maintainance therapy and I would have to cover the cost myself. Considering that my wife and I had been living 1/2 Canada 1/2 Thailand I decided to go to the Ram and see how much they would charge. I saw Dr. Rattiya the oncology hemtologist. She said the cost of the drug was 110,000 bahts and the hospital would mark it up by 20% for a total of 132,000 bahts. She told me cost to administer the drug would be under 4000 bahts. Now compare the total cost. Canada 335,500 bahts. Ram 136,000 bahts. In my mind I am getting a bagain at the Ram. As a side note I have called Dr. Rattiya 3 or 4 times and she ALWAYS calls back within an hour or two. So in addition to bargain pricing I am getting excellent service.

[jackr]

^^ Wow, that is expensive, but that is Canada. What is the cost between Muang Thai and a similar country, say North Korea? ()

[NeverSure]

Glad your surgery went great. Good for you.

Cataract surgery in the US costs about 100k baht, and the presbyopia correcting lenses add about 50%. To save the math, that's about US$3,000-4,500 per eye. I doubt it's any better than Thailand surgery. The only benefit is most in the US have insurance to cover the cheaper, but not the more expensive lenses. For the more expensive, the patient would have to make up the difference as "not medically necessary." I agree because older people without cataracts usually need reading glasses anyway.

I agree, if someone's going to do my eyes, I'm not going with the low bidder as my main criteria.

That said, about 10 years ago I had lasik monovision done on my eyes and at 66 I'll never need reading glasses or any glasses. That cost US$3k then - no idea now. Best money I ever spent, to never wear glasses again. It was like a miracle.

If I was dropping the dime, I'd go with the high end lenses. It's my vision. It's real freedom to not need reading glasses to see something close for the rest of your life.

[circusman]

Glad your surgery went great. Good for you.

Cataract surgery in the US costs about 100k baht, and the presbyopia correcting lenses add about 50%. To save the math, that's about US$3,000-4,500 per eye. I doubt it's any better than Thailand surgery. The only benefit is most in the US have insurance to cover the cheaper, but not the more expensive lenses. For the more expensive, the patient would have to make up the difference as "not medically necessary." I agree because older people without cataracts usually need reading glasses anyway.

I agree, if someone's going to do my eyes, I'm not going with the low bidder as my main criteria.

That said, about 10 years ago I had lasik monovision done on my eyes and at 66 I'll never need reading glasses or any glasses. That cost US$3k then - no idea now. Best money I ever spent, to never wear glasses again. It was like a miracle.

If I was dropping the dime, I'd go with the high end lenses. It's my vision. It's real freedom to not need reading glasses to see something close for the rest of your life.

I will second that thought. Monovision is great. At 70 I don't need glasses.

[NeverSure]

Glad your surgery went great. Good for you.

Cataract surgery in the US costs about 100k baht, and the presbyopia correcting lenses add about 50%. To save the math, that's about US$3,000-4,500 per eye. I doubt it's any better than Thailand surgery. The only benefit is most in the US have insurance to cover the cheaper, but not the more expensive lenses. For the more expensive, the patient would have to make up the difference as "not medically necessary." I agree because older people without cataracts usually need reading glasses anyway.

I agree, if someone's going to do my eyes, I'm not going with the low bidder as my main criteria.

That said, about 10 years ago I had lasik monovision done on my eyes and at 66 I'll never need reading glasses or any glasses. That cost US$3k then - no idea now. Best money I ever spent, to never wear glasses again. It was like a miracle.

If I was dropping the dime, I'd go with the high end lenses. It's my vision. It's real freedom to not need reading glasses to see something close for the rest of your life.

I will second that thought. Monovision is great. At 70 I don't need glasses.

Very much. Having monovision makes me wonder if someone who needed cataract surgery in both eyes could go with the standard lens in one eye, and the high end lens in the dominant eye, be able to read with the dominant eye and not notice the other dragging?

It sure works that way with my monovision. ??

[scorecard]

Lanna is by far cheaper and far more competent!

I wouldn't even park in Lanna, unless I really had too!

I know of too many cock up's..

I suspect many old hands can share the successes and horror stories of many hospitals, and not only in Thailand.

I've been here over three decades and i have adult children and grandchildren born in Thailand.

For many years we lived in Bkk, and had several serious issues with the big B, and at two other so called 5 star venues. (One example, 3 year old granddaughter given the medicine for 2 days for another patient, head nurse for the ward scolded by the doctore, then head nurse abused my son for talking direct to the doctor, full MRI scan 24,000Baht, 2 weeks later another doctor said, 'why MRI, a modern ultrasound (about 600Baht) would provide better information for this ailment'.

Also, my son got injured severly in a rugby game (16 years old) and was taken to and operated on, against his wishes, at the P........... hospital.

His coach insisted on going to this hospital and insisted on the operation being performed immediately, my son tried to insist that he call me to come to the hospital, but was prevented from making a call. Coach signed all the documents without any authority or any questioning by the hospital staff.

We discovered later this was all connected to a health insurance scam (the coach knew that my son had top level BUPA cover).

[market trader]

Lanna is by far cheaper and far more competent!

I wouldn't even park in Lanna, unless I really had too!

I know of too many cock up's..

I suspect many old hands can share the successes and horror stories of many hospitals, and not only in Thailand.

I've been here over three decades and i have adult children and grandchildren born in Thailand.

For many years we lived in Bkk, and had several serious issues with the big B, and at two other so called 5 star venues. (One example, 3 year old granddaughter given the medicine for 2 days for another patient, head nurse for the ward scolded by the doctore, then head nurse abused my son for talking direct to the doctor, full MRI scan 24,000Baht, 2 weeks later another doctor said, 'why MRI, a modern ultrasound (about 600Baht) would provide better information for this ailment'.

Also, my son got injured severly in a rugby game (16 years old) and was taken to and operated on, against his wishes, at the P........... hospital.

His coach insisted on going to this hospital and insisted on the operation being performed immediately, my son tried to insist that he call me to come to the hospital, but was prevented from making a call. Coach signed all the documents without any authority or any questioning by the hospital staff.

We discovered later this was all connected to a health insurance scam (the coach knew that my son had top level BUPA cover).

I'm surprised and disappointed to read that a hospital would allow an unrelated person to sign documents for an operation without your knowledge and acceptance.

[elektrified]

Also, my son got injured severly in a rugby game (16 years old) and was taken to and operated on, against his wishes, at the P........... hospital.

His coach insisted on going to this hospital and insisted on the operation being performed immediately, my son tried to insist that he call me to come to the hospital, but was prevented from making a call. Coach signed all the documents without any authority or any questioning by the hospital staff.

We discovered later this was all connected to a health insurance scam (the coach knew that my son had top level BUPA cover).

I'm surprised and disappointed to read that a hospital would allow an unrelated person to sign documents for an operation without your knowledge and acceptance.

Me too.