Bt30 Healthcare Scheme Is Back But Not Everybody Is Happy: Thailand

[h90]

Actually shocking is that no one speaks English....how can a Dr pass University without speaking English. As well nurses. I scientific literature is in English. Not Thai.

(And I am not a native English speaker, so the literature is also not in my language).

(I got once the third shot of a vaccine rejected as they weren't sure if the European sold vaccine is good enough quality for Thailand.....so I had to gave it myself).

My Doctor spoke English, but none of the staff or nurses did (or wanted to with me, at least)

than the disorganization, that the staff doesn't ask a Doc is the same bad.

And of course a nurse should have some basic education and the power to ask a Doc for help. (or call the nurse from a different department, or find whatever solution. It is English and not Zulu)

I didn't know that the hospitals are in such a terrible shape....

[h90]

I can only assume there are huge variations on the quality of government hospitals given some of the replies. My girlfriend had her baby at thammasat university hospital after a long stay there and I thought it was a great hospital. The signs were all in thai but with a little persistance I found my way around quite easily in the end. The prices were on a tier system, you could stay on a general ward for 150 baht a day or private room with aircon tv fridge... 350baht a day against several thousand baht a day in a private hospital. The staff were brilliant big thanks to the Intensive care staff who always had a very competant english speaker every day i was in there and lloked forward to my visits probably to practise english, every day university students would pass and ask many general questions. It felt like it was one big family so I wouldn't hesitate recommending that particular hospital. They also had a black canyon restaurant if I wanted decentish coffee, several other restaurants, an onsite 7/11 and bakery shop plus a mini market on a few days of the week. I was bricking the price of the intensive care stay for the baby but my girlfriend just signed a form and paid 30 baht, i dread to think what that total stay would have been in a private hospital, hundreds of thousands i suspect. Total cost including c section, private room 10 days in icu 23000 baht.

I don't know how the private hospitals run as it was initially my intention to go to a private hospital but my gf refused saying it was too expensive and had no problems with thammasat.

My wifes sister had a bad infection on her shoulder. For I don't know 2 or 3 weeks she went every second day to the hospital where they cleaned it (which of course hurts) and it didn't got better. Actually worse. And she refused to go somewhere where she needs to pay. (yes she is kind of strange.....).

Than I decide to give her antibiotics. In 2 days everything was good. The doctor there said he never saw something is healing that fast-->what an idiot!

they obviously hadn't money for antibiotics or even antibiotic cream.

[BusyBee123]

I was bricking the price of the intensive care stay for the baby but my girlfriend just signed a form and paid 30 baht, i dread to think what that total stay would have been in a private hospital, hundreds of thousands i suspect. Total cost including c section, private room 10 days in icu 23000 baht.

I don't know how the private hospitals run as it was initially my intention to go to a private hospital but my gf refused saying it was too expensive and had no problems with thammasat.

And yet, if she had used a government hospital, she would have probably delivered naturally, and the stay in hospital would have been 3 days (cost 2 or 3k for the private room). Unless there were medical complications with the birth you haven't told us about.

One of the main problems with elective C section (worldwide), is they can get the due date wrong, in which case a stay in ICU for baby and a big bill. Why was there any charge for baby in ICU, baby is entitled to free health care too?

'My girlfriend had her baby at thammasat university hospital after a long stay there '

She was there for 4 weeks due to complications, had no option but a c section and thammasat is a government hospital hence imagine the private hospital costs! after 10 days with the baby in icu i really wasn't going to question a 30 baht charge. Yes health care is fee for babies.

The sad part was staff asking if she was going to return for the baby as many cambodians faced with bills just chose to leave the baby and do a runner. How sad is that!

[waza]

Tax increases, 30 baht scheme,rice pledging, seems the PTP are robbing the poor to pay the fat cats. Thats red democracy for you.

[hellodolly]

An absolutely foolish idea from Pheua Thai-reintroduce the 30 baht fee after the Democrats made it free,reasoning collecting 30 baht was not worth the admin cost.

So how to sell to the public? Promise better services (for only 30 baht!). It's not going to happen and will simply cause resentment amongst the patients.

The man is a idiot. The hospitals say it will cost them more than 30 baht to process the payment. The clown says 6 hospitals are set up to receive the payment. Doesn't he know that it will still cost them money just because they are set up to do it. It is in the doing that the money that could be used for better medical facilities will be going.

Let's see now you give me 30 baht and it will cost me 50 baht to receive it. Does any one still wonder why they never replaced Yingluck when she resigned her job to run for PM clone.

OK now that I have that out of my system I will go back and see how many of the usual suspects Thaksin and red shirt are saints are defending her on this.

[hellodolly]

So, if you drink, smoke or are ill, if you eat chicken, pork or rice, if you have a vehicle, or have kids that need uniform then you will be spending much more per month.

On the other hand, if you are lucky enough to live in one of the 7 (out of 76) provinces that has the 300B minimum wage then you might, possibly, work for a company that was benevolent enough to award the salary increase without strings attached.

Your child may also be one of the 800,000 (out of around 10,000,000) lucky enough to have received a cheap Chinese tablet PC that is about as much use to your child as a chalk board.

Populism at work

Does that chalk board come with chalk?

[hellodolly]

Raise the fee to 100 BHT. Enough to administer the payment and will keep the people, who are not really sick away. Unfortunately some people see the doctor only because it is free (or at least extremely cheap).

Well you do have a point there. But to many Thai's that is half a days earnings. And it is not like they make so much money they can afford a half day's salary. To them that can be three days food.

I like the idea of a donation plate.

[hellodolly]

"The fee collection will raise the public's expectations of what they will get from the services and increase work procedures and expenses because hospital staff will have to prepare the payment documents," Arak said.

If this statement makes any sense at all, it eludes me. The public will expect more.....because the staff will all be busy preparing useless paper work.....HUH?

If the service is free and then costs a buck the expectation is that it will be better than it was.

The effort involved in having bits of paper signed by doctors and nurses sent to accounts and used to create a bill, receive a buck, provide a receipt etc. is not worth it.

If you had even been in a government hospital you would realize that everyone gets an itemized receipt, even if the charge is ZERO. Issuing a receipt with 30bht as a charge will cost nothing extra to process.

Maybe it slipped by you but they are talking about setting up a whole new department to deal with the government. Every thing you say is true but you fail to realize they are talking about adding thousands of separate sets of paper work. And this dosen't even take into account what money the government will spend on receiving the 30 baht per case.

Not a bad thread the usual Thaksin worshipers didn't make an appearance here. Getting harder and harder for them to find threads where they can sing the praises of the paymaster. Even at that they have to twist 50% of it out of shape.

[Moruya]

So, if you drink, smoke or are ill, if you eat chicken, pork or rice, if you have a vehicle, or have kids that need uniform then you will be spending much more per month.

On the other hand, if you are lucky enough to live in one of the 7 (out of 76) provinces that has the 300B minimum wage then you might, possibly, work for a company that was benevolent enough to award the salary increase without strings attached.

Your child may also be one of the 800,000 (out of around 10,000,000) lucky enough to have received a cheap Chinese tablet PC that is about as much use to your child as a chalk board.

Populism at work

Does that chalk board come with chalk?

In all but 2,000 schools