Licensed Pharmacist Needed?

[Jingthing]

So yesterday I needed to buy my usual asthma inhaler but recently there seems to be more enforcement of needing a licensed pharmacist to sell meds at some shops, so the medicine section was closed as the pharmacist wasn't there. So I asked for an item and they said the man was having a snack, so I said, OK, I don't really need it right now and started walking away, and then they stopped me and had the snacking man run up to sell me my item. I called out the item, then needed to point to it as the name wasn't understood, then he handed it to me, then I paid a regular clerk. No questions were asked. In my experience, no questions are EVER asked, and when YOU have a question, often the response is absurd and you could do better searching on google.

I did feel a little sheepish interrupting the man's snack for such a trivial action, handing me something I pointed to though.

This licensed pharmacist rule -- what's the point really? OK, my guess is the licensed pharmacist lobby ... am I right? I don't see the benefit to patients if my experience with this is typical.

Don't get me wrong. I love being able to buy so many meds here without scrip.

Edited September 23, 2013 by Jingthing

[Jasun]

I hope it was a one-off, or Dr Google could be out of a job.

[Jingthing]

To clarify a bit, I totally understand the value of a professional pharmacist in a system where they have a record of all the meds you take and can alert to drug mixing issues, etc. But the way I use pharmacies here, shopping around for price, never buying anything needing a scrip, that potential benefit doesn't exist. I reckon my experience is pretty typical.

Edited September 23, 2013 by Jingthing

[Sheryl]

It really depends. I have found many pharmacists to be quite thorough and careful, explaining dangers, making sure you understand risks and how to use, etc.

may also depend on language ability i.e. those who cannot speak much English may not even bother to try when they see customer is farang.

[Jingthing]

Interesting. I have found it doesn't depend. I am never asked questions and I go to a variety of places. I buy lots of meds for chronic conditions so I have a lot of experience with this. When there has been any conversation at all with the licensed pharmacists I have talked to in Pattaya, they DO speak English. Again, I'm not really complaining. But I guess it's good to hear that sometimes people are getting more service if they actually want more service (I actually don't usually).

[Sceptict11]

The local Boots branch will not sell medication if no Pharmacist is available.

[Bluetongue]

What medication does need a scrip in Thailand, I agree with what you are saying just wondering, that's all.

[manarak]

Let me guess JT... this was Big C Pattaya Tai ?

Their pharmacy has really good prices for many meds, but it is mostly closed!

The point of the licensed pharmacist rule... ummm... I guess the point is that they want to stop Thailand from being the country where one can buy any med OTC.

Sheryl may have a point when she hints at a language barrier.

Pharmacists may do ok in common English conversation, but medical speech is highly technical, I'm not sure they can all express themselves in a precise manner.

I too would wish more meds to be available OTC in any country.

The regulations were seemingly made to ward off the dumbest possible customers with the worst possible intentions.

In Switzerland, it's even impossible to buy more than 20 500mg paracetamol at a time.

Of course the extra packaging and the added administrative overhead per article inflates the price to ridiculous levels.

100 para cost 27 baht in Thailand, and the equivalent of 800 baht in Switzerland.

I wish some countries would issue an official "responsible citizen" ID card which would allow to bypass a lot of the "dumb protection" bullshit that has been incorporated into the system. We are paying for the idiots. Indirectly, but heavily.

Edited September 23, 2013 by manarak

[Sheryl]

What medication does need a scrip in Thailand, I agree with what you are saying just wondering, that's all.

there are several categories of medications in Thailand.

There are drugs considered non-dangerous and OK to sell by non-pharmacist - thee are few in number and include the things you see at a 7-eleven for example.

The largest category are drugs that can only be sold in a licensed pharmacy with a licensed pharmacist on the premises, though not unusual in small pharmacies to see this ignored (or else "on the premises" taken to include out for lunch, owns the place in name only etc etc). There seems to be an effort afoot to crack down on this.

Then there are prescription-only categories and special controlled drug categories where a hospital pharmacy can provide.