I really do believe that with medical costs or insurance it is a case that if you can't afford it you haven't budgeted wisely for living here. I appreciate its harsh but if you can't afford the whole meal don't sit down at the table.

Doubling down on the smugness, are we? People have different economic circumstances, they have different ability to get medical coverage here or back in their home country, and yes as adults they are subject to the consequences.

[That's what makes it so expensive for those without insurance. The hospitals know they can get away with murder when an insurance company is paying so we havethe never ending cycle of increasing hospital fees followed by an increase in insurance premiums.

He is my response to that....unless you have recourse to free public health services ie NHS or similar by virtue of being a national or PR of that country, very irresponsible for someone to go and live in country that doesnt provide free medical services without making provision for personal medical treatment ie medical insurance....so please dont start not be blaming the insurance companies over the costs, if some one couldnt be bother to look at this aspect when they first came to Thailand, its their problem, nobody elses...

he is perfectly entitled to share on here what he thinks - if you don't agree with what he says then fine just say that, I happen to agree with his comments, Medical care has become big business here in LOS and a lot of proceedures are now more expensive than in the west, add to that the suspected malpractise of some of these hospitals trying to extort money for stuff that was never needed or misdiagnosed and you have an environment that spells disaster in an unregulated industry - try taking a malpractice claim and they will laugh in your face, I've had personal experience and heard many many more absolute disaster stories- the Private hospitals are as corrupt as everything else is here, I have absolutly no doubt they put money as a top priority over healthcare and having insurance could possibly make it even worse

Edited December 16, 201213 yr by Rimmer

There will always be a place that costs more and costs less. I have considered going out of town in the past, but have found my home at Pattaya Memorial. For both a 5 days stay a couple of years ago, and clinic visits since. Convenient location in town, knowledgeable staff members, courteous service, at what I believe is a reasonable charge. I recommend them.

There will always be a place that costs more and costs less. I have considered going out of town in the past, but have found my home at Pattaya Memorial. For both a 5 days stay a couple of years ago, and clinic visits since. Convenient location in town, knowledgeable staff members, courteous service, at what I believe is a reasonable charge. I recommend them.

Yes, exactly. Some of us sadly have to consider costs in making decisions about where to go. Others don't.

a friend was taken into pattaya memorial last week, he was here

on holiday and produced his insurance paperwork to the staff at the hospital

after an hour or so he was told he needed an operation and would need to provide

cash before the procedure could begin,i'm not sure what reason was given but he

was told nothing would happen till the money was produced.

he sent his gf back to the room to empty the safe of near 100kbht he had in cash.

the operation was completed that night,the next morning i spoke to the insurance

companies 24hr emergency hot line,and was told that no phone contact had been made by

the pattaya memorial hospital.

in this case it wasn't a life or death operation although he could of had complications as a result of the infection/blood poisoning

i suppose?all i know he was in great pain and discomfort.

so it looks like in some cases the pattaya mem wants insurance on insurance?

I'm assuming your friend had no credit cards, or at least not ones with enough of a limit, that he had to pay up front in cash?

I can see Pattaya Memorial, or any Thai hospital, not dealing with overseas insurance companies unless they have a prior agreement with them. I believe, for example, Bumrungrad has an agreement with Blue Cross/Blue Shield in the USA and will accept BC/BS coverage the same as with a local Thai insurer.

My perspective is that how would ... could ... a Thai hospital know that payment would be guaranteed from an overseas insurer? e.g. Would an American hospital unconditionally accept a Thai patient who had a health insurance with a Thai company, or an Indonesian company, or a Sudanese company? To accept a foreign policy, the Thai hospital would have to know exactly what is covered and at what rate, so they'd know how to bill the patient for any excess charges beyond the policy when the patient checks out. Not realistic.