Had an experience with this hospital recently which left a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

My 3 month old son was running a fever, and although he didnt seem unwell (he wasnt distressed, he was taking milk well etc) because of his age we didnt want to take any chances so we took him to get checked over.

The doctor we saw spoke in Thai with my wife and after a check up said that he could have some sort of virus, but they were not sure what kind and because of his age they wanted to admit him and keep an eye on him.

Being a new parent and because my son was so young as i was very worried, so didnt disagree, doctors know best after all.

They then asked us what room we would like to take, they suggested a private room at 4k per night but i opted for the shared small dorm at 2k per night (with 4 beds) which it turns out was private as my son was the only person in there.

They suggested that i might want to have a thorough 'virus test' done at a cost of 5k. This test checks for every virus that a child could have and would be able to determine what was causing his fever. 'OK' i said, i was very worried and needed to know what was wrong, who wouldnt have agreed to it.

They put him on various medications for fever etc, cold baths to keep his temperature down and after 3 days in hospital the doctors said that it turns out it was just a common cold virus.

All this for the tidy sum of 32,000 baht

Now i must stress i cannot argue with the care that they gave my son, all very professional. The 3 days were awful to be honest, wondering what was possibly wrong, always thinking the worse. So when they told me he was ok and could go home i was over the moon and the thought of 32,000 never crossed my mind.

But once home i started to wonder, was it really necessary? The ward he was on was virtually empty, maybe 2-3 other children only, and i just wondered whether they push people into staying in hospital just to make money when its not really necessary . It was a common virus, surely doctors of a hospital the standard of Praram9 should have been able to see that.

I have to say for peace of mind i was happy for him to stay in hospital, but would i go to Praram9 again? Probably not

Consider how you would have felt had the Doctor simply taken one look at your child and said "It's just a common cold, don't worry"...

The 32,000 baht you paid, while excessive for a cold was the price of a detailed investigation into your sons illness. You were clearly worried.

I'd consider that excellent treatment.

what is the breakdown for 32 000 thb apart for 3 x 2000 for the room and 5000 for a test for all possible viruses?

Rest was medications, visits/time spent by doctors/specialists, the latter being 9000 baht

If we assume that the OP's description of events is accurate, then I would guess that this another example of a con being perpetrated on gullible farangs, by money crazy private hospitals.

I just cannot see any Thai accepting this kind of massive overcharging.

Surely any Paediatrician worth his salt would be able to diagnose a common cold without having to carry out all those expensive tests and taking 3 days to do so.

Medical care in Thailand is certainly becoming a huge lottery as far as costs are concerned, IMHO

I can assure you it 100% accurate, i have no reason to make it up.

It does not necessarily follow that because 1 doctor at that hospital did this, they all would. Nor can you assume that no doctors at other hospitals would. Of course any private hospital is happy to gain an admission but a physician has to make the determination that it is warranted.Individual physicians do vary, greatly.

Choose the doctor, not the hospital. And choose one who trained in a western country and is thus both fluent in English and accustomed to involving parents in decision-making. Feel free to ask questions such ass "is this (test, admission to hospital, whatever) absolutely necessary?" " Could we safely just observe him for another day?" (If so, have the doctor tell you what signs to watch out for). If the doctor reacts poorly to such questioning, get another one. There's no lack of pediatricians in Bkk including some who trained and worked in the west.

Of course, you will need for your wife to be on board with this approach, and that may be an issue Not only is it Thai culture to not question a doctor, but it is also a cultural thing to consider this type of over-treatment to be part and parcel of being upper class, i.e. status considerations come into play. To be fair, the doctor's decision to admit your son and do an ":industrial strength" work-up may have been influenced by what your wife said when they talked. Not saying that absolves the doctor, but it may have influenced things.

"Of course, you will need for your wife to be on board with this approach, and that may be an issue Not only is it Thai culture to not question a doctor, but it is also a cultural thing to consider this type of over-treatment to be part and parcel of being upper class, i.e. status considerations come into play."

Interesting! And very true !

I once offered my wife( a Thai Lady) a simple one capsule treatment for a common gynaecological condition. She was not impressed !

A visit to the a local hospital produced the desired polypharmaceutical result !

It does not necessarily follow that because 1 doctor at that hospital did this, they all would. Nor can you assume that no doctors at other hospitals would. Of course any private hospital is happy to gain an admission but a physician has to make the determination that it is warranted.Individual physicians do vary, greatly.

Choose the doctor, not the hospital. And choose one who trained in a western country and is thus both fluent in English and accustomed to involving parents in decision-making. Feel free to ask questions such ass "is this (test, admission to hospital, whatever) absolutely necessary?" " Could we safely just observe him for another day?" (If so, have the doctor tell you what signs to watch out for). If the doctor reacts poorly to such questioning, get another one. There's no lack of pediatricians in Bkk including some who trained and worked in the west.

Of course, you will need for your wife to be on board with this approach, and that may be an issue Not only is it Thai culture to not question a doctor, but it is also a cultural thing to consider this type of over-treatment to be part and parcel of being upper class, i.e. status considerations come into play. To be fair, the doctor's decision to admit your son and do an ":industrial strength" work-up may have been influenced by what your wife said when they talked. Not saying that absolves the doctor, but it may have influenced things.

Sheryl,

Thanks for the reply and i think you are pretty spot on in everything, my wife did do most of the talking and i know she would never question something a doctor said.

I will take on board your comments and certainly remember if we are in this position again.

Kind regards

Vintage

Just a few comments from someone who has spent more time than they would like both as a visitor and as a patient at this hospital.

The doctors I have spoken to there have good to excellent English, no dealings with the pediatrics department however. Just their manner suggests most were trained overseas as they had no problem with being asked hard questions, they were never offended at being questioned. One one occasion I had three different surgeons/doctors approach me to provide detailed explanations about what was going on as they wanted to assure me things would be okay and felt I needed to be told in English. My wife doesn't have a problem asking them questions either... and now anytime she is prescribed anything anywhere, the first thing she does when she gets home is to hand me the medicine so I can Google it

With regards to pricing, yes Praram 9 are not cheap and they have been getting more expensive these last few years. Yes, if given the chance they will suggest you stay overnight but that has also been my experience at times with Bumrungrad, Paolo and even smaller regional hospitals. When it comes to medications I'm of the opinion that if you are a foreigner all private hospitals here will prescribe you premium imported medicine if you allow them to. You need to tell them you want a generic version otherwise you will pay top price. With regards to testing, the pricing seems to me to have a lot to do with where the testing is done. The large private hospital have their own labs on site so you can get the results back in an hour or two while the smaller hospitals often require you to come back at a later date. While the test may be cheaper there is the inconvenience of having to attend on another day to discuss the results. Personally, for minor ailments I go to a smaller local hospital and save a few baht but if it's something major then I still go to a Praram 9 or Paolo hospital despite the pricing because the service provided is actually pretty good.

Been here a long time. Health care seems to be all about moneh. Always want you checked in a room. Do not get good feelings here, sad!