Since we're talking about medical miscalculations: Two years ago, I noticed some very thin, wriggly lines on my left arm over my wrist. It all came after a mosquito had bitten me, so I observed it for a few days and found out it's moving. I researched a bit and found a parasite whose description was nearly identical with what I had observed.

So I went to the Yanhee Hospital somewhere on Charansanitwong in Bang Phlat because it was the closest one to my home. 10 minutes After registration I was called into a tiny room that was just big enough for the doctor, my girlfriend and me. So I showed her my arm and she looked at it for a while. When she was done, I told her about my suspicion that I might be a parasite. "No way", she said, "can not be parasite. It's inflammation, skin must recover." I asked her if she was really sure. She was. She sent me out with a prescription for anti-inflammatories, paracetamol and three different types of cremes.

Even though I was quite sure this won't help a thing, I went with the creme and the anti-inflammatories for a week and took a picture of my arm every single day to record the progress. Result: The lines grew just as before.

After that I went to the Bangkok Hospital. First, the doctor said she doesn't think it's a parasite, but she'll extract a sample of my skin and send it to the lab for testing. When I came back a week later, she said I was right, it was a parasite. She gave me some pills that would kill the parasites and after a week or two everything was gone.

How can I trust hospitals whose doctors are apparently not able to diagnose the simplest things? How would it have been if I hadn't made any researches on my own? Would I have been prescribed one useless creme after another? This time it was only a quite harmless parasite, but what if I once have something more serious?

Since we're talking about medical miscalculations: Two years ago, I noticed some very thin, wriggly lines on my left arm over my wrist. It all came after a mosquito had bitten me, so I observed it for a few days and found out it's moving. I researched a bit and found a parasite whose description was nearly identical with what I had observed.

So I went to the Yanhee Hospital somewhere on Charansanitwong in Bang Phlat because it was the closest one to my home. 10 minutes After registration I was called into a tiny room that was just big enough for the doctor, my girlfriend and me. So I showed her my arm and she looked at it for a while. When she was done, I told her about my suspicion that I might be a parasite. "No way", she said, "can not be parasite. It's inflammation, skin must recover." I asked her if she was really sure. She was. She sent me out with a prescription for anti-inflammatories, paracetamol and three different types of cremes.

Even though I was quite sure this won't help a thing, I went with the creme and the anti-inflammatories for a week and took a picture of my arm every single day to record the progress. Result: The lines grew just as before.

After that I went to the Bangkok Hospital. First, the doctor said she doesn't think it's a parasite, but she'll extract a sample of my skin and send it to the lab for testing. When I came back a week later, she said I was right, it was a parasite. She gave me some pills that would kill the parasites and after a week or two everything was gone.

How can I trust hospitals whose doctors are apparently not able to diagnose the simplest things? How would it have been if I hadn't made any researches on my own? Would I have been prescribed one useless creme after another? This time it was only a quite harmless parasite, but what if I once have something more serious?

Indeed, self diagnosis is often a better bet in Thailand