Does Bangkok Hospital Double Charge?

[sms747]

Decided to book an appointment with the Dr I wanted at Bangkok Hospital and the website worked OK and they replied within two hours with the date and time I wanted. However, I have heard some hospitals charge foreigners more, is this the case at Bangkok Hospital does anyone know?

[nontabury]

Decided to book an appointment with the Dr I wanted at Bangkok Hospital and the website worked OK and they replied within two hours with the date and time I wanted. However, I have heard some hospitals charge foreigners more, is this the case at Bangkok Hospital does anyone know?

Surprised you have to even ask this question.

The answer is of course in many,if not most instances foreigners are charged more.

[Sheryl]

Are you referring to Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok, or Bangkok Hospital Phuket, or where?

[Morden]

I've seen no evidence to suggest that Bangkok Hospital charges foreigners more. However, it's a very expensive place. I do know of one example where the Hospital loaded the price of medication 10 times above the normal pharmacy price.

Their other trick is to attempt to persuade patients to take a private room when they expected out patient treatment. After being caught once, I was prepared when I took my wife there for a minor operation to lance a blocked saliva duct. During the consultation with a doctor, two women in office uniform burst into the consulting room and took over the conversation. They had been briefed on why we were there and wanted to book my wife into a room and suggested that a general anaesthetic was required. The doctor hadn't even got that far in what she was saying. I suggested that a room overnight wasn't necessary. Their response was that she would be tired after the operation. I mentioned that we had beds at home and that this was a matter for an out patient operation under local anaesthetic. When they persisted I let them know that I was familiar with the game and asked them to leave. The doctor agreed with my view on what was required The next day, we returned. The operation took thirty minutes and my wife was fine to travel. Beware the smiling sales ladies in navy blue uniforms.

[Satcommlee]

Don't believe Bangkok Hospital overcharges foreigners??

Get your Thai partner to enquire about the price of a MRI scan, let say for something like sinusitis.

She will be given a price, then agree the price and tell her you would like to make an appointment..

Then give her a foreigners name, sit back and enjoy the but...but...but's!!!!

[sms747]

Are you referring to Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok, or Bangkok Hospital Phuket, or where?

Bangkok, looks like they do then

[uhuh]

yes they do

[Soutpeel]

Don't believe Bangkok Hospital overcharges foreigners??

Get your Thai partner to enquire about the price of a MRI scan, let say for something like sinusitis.

She will be given a price, then agree the price and tell her you would like to make an appointment..

Then give her a foreigners name, sit back and enjoy the but...but...but's!!!!

You are of course talking through your backside, both myself and Mrs Soutpeel have had MRI's on separate occasions and the price was just about the same.

[Satcommlee]

Don't believe Bangkok Hospital overcharges foreigners??

Get your Thai partner to enquire about the price of a MRI scan, let say for something like sinusitis.

She will be given a price, then agree the price and tell her you would like to make an appointment..

Then give her a foreigners name, sit back and enjoy the but...but...but's!!!!

You are of course talking through your backside, both myself and Mrs Soutpeel have had MRI's on separate occasions and the price was just about the same.

Well My Mrs was quoted 9000 Baht.

Reading your previous post on the issue, it looks like you were both ripped off.

Or are you just going to call me a Liar?

This was Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, but the ENT consultant I was seeing was in Pattaya International.

Edited April 13, 2013 by Satcommlee

[Morden]

Don't believe Bangkok Hospital overcharges foreigners??

Get your Thai partner to enquire about the price of a MRI scan, let say for something like sinusitis.

She will be given a price, then agree the price and tell her you would like to make an appointment..

Then give her a foreigners name, sit back and enjoy the but...but...but's!!!!

You are of course talking through your backside, both myself and Mrs Soutpeel have had MRI's on separate occasions and the price was just about the same.

Well My Mrs was quoted 9000 Baht.

Reading your previous post on the issue, it looks like you were both ripped off.

Or are you just going to call me a Liar?

This was Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, but the ENT consultant I was seeing was in Pattaya International.

Perhaps it's you calling the kettle black.

Could you bring yourself to accept that some people may have had a different experience at a Bangkok Hospital from yours?

[lopburi3]

The thread is about Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok - not Pattaya.

[sms747]

I went today but found out Bangkok Hospital prapredeng nearer our home had a special offer of just 6500 baht for an endoscopy and they said I could have this price if a wanted to change. However I wanted a certain Dr to do it at Petchburi. The price including dr fee, HP test and anethesia was 11500 baht which I thought was good. The Dr was a lady professor and very good, I would certainly see her again. So I found no evidence of double charging. very pleased with Bangkok Hospital.

Edited April 13, 2013 by sms747

[Sheryl]

Practices in this regard seem to vary greatly according to the branch. I may be wrong but am of the impression that Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok does not have two tier pricing, it's equally expensive for all. Bangkok Pattaya apparently has not two but three tier pricing - a local rate, a resident expat rate and then a tourist expat rate. But oftimes a resident expat gets charged the tourist rate unless they know to protest.

[Satcommlee]

Practices in this regard seem to vary greatly according to the branch. I may be wrong but am of the impression that Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok does not have two tier pricing, it's equally expensive for all. Bangkok Pattaya apparently has not two but three tier pricing - a local rate, a resident expat rate and then a tourist expat rate. But oftimes a resident expat gets charged the tourist rate unless they know to protest.

Maybe it is because there are so many other international standard hospitals in Bangkok, that they could lose their foreign clientèle completely if they gained this reputation.

But to me 7/11 Bangkok and 7/11 Pattaya are one and the same.. "Bangkok Hospital" is the Brand name and logo after-all.

[doggie888888]

Practices in this regard seem to vary greatly according to the branch. I may be wrong but am of the impression that Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok does not have two tier pricing, it's equally expensive for all. Bangkok Pattaya apparently has not two but three tier pricing - a local rate, a resident expat rate and then a tourist expat rate. But oftimes a resident expat gets charged the tourist rate unless they know to protest.

Thank you for this. It really helped me to decide to avoid this hospital in Pattaya as much as I can.

[Sheryl]

Not a lot to choose from within Pattay itself, but there are 2 good hosps in Sri racha: Phyathai Sri Racha and Samitivej Sri Racha. Phyathai Sri Racha in particular seems to be making an effort to attract more international clientele and offers frequent promotions that are of very good value. Currently offering a 999 Baht physical check-up, for example, and last month offered cardiac calcium scans for only 1,500, a good enough deal that I drove 3 hours there for it. I found them very pleasant to deal with. Worth getting on their mailing list. There is a very helpful guy named Gavin in their international relations dept.

No idea if Phayathai and Samitivej Sri Racha have two tiered pricing or not, but in any event they are much less expensive than BPH.

Another viable option is the Queen Sirikit Naval Hospital, though long waits and red tape as it is a govt hospital mean that at least on initial visit you'd do well to have a Thai speaker with you to help navigate. I understand that they have recently started two tier pricing, possible because they were getting an increasing number of farang. Even so they will still probably be the least expensive of the 4 places mentioned, but with the disadvantage of longer waits and not being able to choose your doctor.

[mrtoad]

Bangkok Pattaya definitely has foreigner surcharges, avoid it like the plague. Bangkok Koh Chang also has a disgusting pricing scam as well. I have found there other hospitals good, and as I am on a WP, even at Koh Chang I pay local price but I don't agree with the foreigner surcharges. However, I am guessing hat surcharges will be at most hospitals in tourist areas.

[kriswillems]

Not a lot to choose from within Pattay itself, but there are 2 good hosps in Sri racha: Phyathai Sri Racha and Samitivej Sri Racha. Phyathai Sri Racha in particular seems to be making an effort to attract more international clientele and offers frequent promotions that are of very good value. Currently offering a 999 Baht physical check-up, for example, and last month offered cardiac calcium scans for only 1,500, a good enough deal that I drove 3 hours there for it. I found them very pleasant to deal with. Worth getting on their mailing list. There is a very helpful guy named Gavin in their international relations dept.

No idea if Phayathai and Samitivej Sri Racha have two tiered pricing or not, but in any event they are much less expensive than BPH.

Another viable option is the Queen Sirikit Naval Hospital, though long waits and red tape as it is a govt hospital mean that at least on initial visit you'd do well to have a Thai speaker with you to help navigate. I understand that they have recently started two tier pricing, possible because they were getting an increasing number of farang. Even so they will still probably be the least expensive of the 4 places mentioned, but with the disadvantage of longer waits and not being able to choose your doctor.

Somdej in Sri racha is also a cheap hospital with a good reputation (for a government hospital). We go there for almost everything. I think they are better and cheaper than Phayathai. But, you'll have accept the long queues. I go to Somdej because I feel like people really care. They don't have those multilingual hostesses with tons of makeup that behave like they took acting classes for 2 years before receiving you. I like a down to earth mentality when it comes to healthcare.

In almost every hospital the doctors have the habit to give extra unnecessary services when they meet a farang (even though they don't overcharge). It helps to speak Thai only and explain the doctor only to give you what is necessary. In small clinics I always ask for the price beforehand, because they are the worst when it comes to overcharging.

[Sheryl]

If you are referring to getting given an excess number of medications, this has nothing to do with being a foreigner; it is a deeplky ingrained part of Thai medical culture. Thai patients often equate the number of different medications given with the quality of the care and feel poorly treated if they don't get a number of different things. Thai doctors assume all patients feel this way.

The private hospitals actively encourage this for profit reasons, but it happens even in the government ones where the economic incentives are in the opposite direction.

[kriswillems]

Sometimes they give you other unnecessary services, f.i. samitivet likes to give you a massage for whatever bones related problem you go there. And in phayathai they try to sell you all kinds of scarf healing cream and/or laser treatments for every little scratch you have. In Somdej they don't do this.

[Sheryl]

Good grief. they don't do this in Phyathai Bkk or Samitivek Bkk, at all. Over-prescribe meds, yes, but never heard of offering massage not or pushing laser treatments and scar creams.

I was just at Phyathai Sri Racha recently with an ortho issue and didn't encounter any of what you describe at all. May depend on whom you see there.

[kriswillems]

well, last year my mother slipped on a plastic bag in the airplane. Her knee hurt a lot so immediately after arriving we decided to see an orthopedist at samitivet. He didn't find the problem and sent her upstairs for massaging her knee and heat treatment. We thought it was just a small problem, because the doctor just sent her for a massage only (that costed 3000B for about 40 minutes).

The doctor was wrong. The ligaments in the knee of my mother where torn and the overall condition was her knee was really bad. When she arrived back in my country, the doctor saw all the problems and my mother had an operation. After more than 1 year she can still not walk very well. Early detection of the problem might had prevented further damage. Not only did the doctor give an unnecessary treatment, he also didn't find the real problem.

Samitivet has standard prices for certain services, for instance about 20000 B to deliver a baby, everything included. I think these standard packages are very competitive and good (the same is true for phayathai), but for other problems I don't think I'll go there again.

Our child had a hole in his cheek from falling on a sharp object. It needed to be stitched. One, two or 3 stitches would probably do. They sent us the department that does plastic surgery in Phayathai. Just putting the stitches was so expensive we couldn't pay for it. So instead they sold us scar cream. They could have sent us to a general doctor and just stitch it or even let a nurse do it, but they didn't, in stead they sent us home without the correct treatment and a useless scar cream. I think we paid around 3000B for the cream and seeing the doctor (who cleaned the wound and put a plaster on it).

A few weeks later our child fell on the escalator in a mall. He needed stitches above his eye. We went to Somdej. The nurse at the emergency department stitched it and he had an x-ray taken. After 30 minutes everything was solved and it costed less than 200B.

I just want to add that these are personal experiences. I also had a few positive experiences at samitivet and others might also have different experiences.

Edited April 17, 2013 by kriswillems

[Soutpeel]

Reading your previous post on the issue, it looks like you were both ripped off.

Or are you just going to call me a Liar?

How can I be ripped off for something I dont pay for ?....its a company paid for medical scheme...costs me nothing dear boy...

[Satcommlee]

Reading your previous post on the issue, it looks like you were both ripped off.

Or are you just going to call me a Liar?

How can I be ripped off for something I dont pay for ?....its a company paid for medical scheme...costs me nothing dear boy...

Thank-you for clarifying that you both got "insurance rates", that clears everything up!

Are you still calling me a Liar?

[Sheryl]

At no time in this thread has anyone called you a liar. The only person to use the inflammatory term "liar" is yourself. As this type of thing is strictly forbidden in the health forum, please desist.

[steelepulse]

Bangkok Hospital Phuket definitely has two tier pricing, one for those with insurance and one for those without. A BM here with insurance had a hernia operation and it came to a total of 300K plus change,, while a friend of ours that did not have insurance paid 120K for the exact same operation. I'm sure the room bill was padded and the VIP room was given to the insured, but that's not 180K worth of difference.

[Soutpeel]

Reading your previous post on the issue, it looks like you were both ripped off.

Or are you just going to call me a Liar?

How can I be ripped off for something I dont pay for ?....its a company paid for medical scheme...costs me nothing dear boy...

Thank-you for clarifying that you both got "insurance rates", that clears everything up!

Are you still calling me a Liar?

But kinda poo poo's your conspiracy theroy that they charge foreigners more then,doesnt it ?.....as to charging a medical scheme more, this is not unique to Thailand, its a standard practice in private hosptials world wide, simply because of the typical delays in getting the hosptial invoices paid by the medical schemes directly..hence they charge them more.

Having used private hospitals in Thailand for the last 12 years cant say I have every had an occassion to think I was being charged more because of my race or the procedures I have had have been excessively expensive in comparision with private medical care I have received in other countries, in fact when I had a hernia repair done some years ago in a Bangkok group hosptial, my insurance (which is out of the UK) called me and asked if this was the total bill, as the cost was quite low, even with the private room and all the "VIP" goodies thrown in.

The fact everyone forgets is a private hosptial is run as business, its not the NHS and you are given an indicative cost upfront for a procedure and its your choice as to whether you want to proceed or not. If you feel the prices are excessive then go somewhere else.

[Soutpeel]

Bangkok Hospital Phuket definitely has two tier pricing, one for those with insurance and one for those without. A BM here with insurance had a hernia operation and it came to a total of 300K plus change,, while a friend of ours that did not have insurance paid 120K for the exact same operation. I'm sure the room bill was padded and the VIP room was given to the insured, but that's not 180K worth of difference.

Yes tiered pricing for medical insurance is common everywhere in private health care, this is not unique to Thailand, but has nothing to do with "double pricing" based on race.

[Newguy70]

You are of course talking through your backside, both myself and Mrs Soutpeel have had MRI's on separate occasions and the price was just about the same.

Just about the same and the same are not the same. Wouldn't you agree?

[Soutpeel]

You are of course talking through your backside, both myself and Mrs Soutpeel have had MRI's on separate occasions and the price was just about the same.

Just about the same and the same are not the same. Wouldn't you agree?

Oh dear a Mr Pedantic, let me put it this way within about THB 1000 of each other which is not un suprising seeing they where done about 12 months a part...happy now ?