Update on getting an OLF medical at BPH

[mark131v]

I asked about any changes to the Noggi OLF and the OGUK medicals at Bangkok Pattaya a while back and got nothing back so I thought I would pass on my experiences from today...

I went in last week to find out the score and after a lot of head scratching I was advised that BPH do Norwegian medicals but not the OGUK ones, they were unable to tell me how long the medicals lasted for or anything else really other than it is on the 5th floor and costs Bt 7,900, they also advised me not to eat or drink anything from the night before and they also warned not to drink any alcohol for a couple of days prior to coming in as well

Attended for my appointment this morning bright and early and got through by about lunchtime, the medical itself consisted of a round robin of various examinations concluded with a very rudimentary Doctors examination, on completion of this I received a certificate for 1 year, I queried this with the Nurse as It is meant to be good for 2 years, long story short even though all my results where good the Doctor can pretty much do as he pleases

I had a chat with him about why he had only issued a 1 year certificate when ordinarily unless you are over 50 or have some serious pre-existing condition it is meant to be valid for 2 years, basically he said because one of the blood results was very very borderline he recommended me to see him again in a years time!..I work as a medic offshore so I have a bit of knowledge about the subject of medicals in different parts of the world as well as medicine itself but when I mentioned that to him he got all defensive and when I asked about specific levels he clammed up

In summary I would not go to BPH for a medical again even though it is convenient as I reckon it is being treated as a bit of a money spinner with very little you can do about it, I was told that there is a Doctor who does the OGUK at Bangkok Hospital Rayong or else Bumungrad so I will try them next time.....

[cloghead]

Just a wild guess but maybe the good doctor only granted you a one-year cert because you gave the nurse (and him) some 'attitude'

Dr Newin in Rayong usually gives a two-year cert if you have a heartbeat and 2 legs and 2 arms

[misterphil]

I asked about any changes to the Noggi OLF and the OGUK medicals at Bangkok Pattaya a while back and got nothing back so I thought I would pass on my experiences from today...

I went in last week to find out the score and after a lot of head scratching I was advised that BPH do Norwegian medicals but not the OGUK ones, they were unable to tell me how long the medicals lasted for or anything else really other than it is on the 5th floor and costs Bt 7,900, they also advised me not to eat or drink anything from the night before and they also warned not to drink any alcohol for a couple of days prior to coming in as well

Attended for my appointment this morning bright and early and got through by about lunchtime, the medical itself consisted of a round robin of various examinations concluded with a very rudimentary Doctors examination, on completion of this I received a certificate for 1 year, I queried this with the Nurse as It is meant to be good for 2 years, long story short even though all my results where good the Doctor can pretty much do as he pleases

I had a chat with him about why he had only issued a 1 year certificate when ordinarily unless you are over 50 or have some serious pre-existing condition it is meant to be valid for 2 years, basically he said because one of the blood results was very very borderline he recommended me to see him again in a years time!..I work as a medic offshore so I have a bit of knowledge about the subject of medicals in different parts of the world as well as medicine itself but when I mentioned that to him he got all defensive and when I asked about specific levels he clammed up

In summary I would not go to BPH for a medical again even though it is convenient as I reckon it is being treated as a bit of a money spinner with very little you can do about it, I was told that there is a Doctor who does the OGUK at Bangkok Hospital Rayong or else Bumungrad so I will try them next time.....

A few years ago I recieved a 1 year NMD and next year a 2 year one. Its just a rip off to make more money. That hospital is well known for over pricing expats.

[Soutpeel]

I asked about any changes to the Noggi OLF and the OGUK medicals at Bangkok Pattaya a while back and got nothing back so I thought I would pass on my experiences from today...

I went in last week to find out the score and after a lot of head scratching I was advised that BPH do Norwegian medicals but not the OGUK ones, they were unable to tell me how long the medicals lasted for or anything else really other than it is on the 5th floor and costs Bt 7,900, they also advised me not to eat or drink anything from the night before and they also warned not to drink any alcohol for a couple of days prior to coming in as well

Attended for my appointment this morning bright and early and got through by about lunchtime, the medical itself consisted of a round robin of various examinations concluded with a very rudimentary Doctors examination, on completion of this I received a certificate for 1 year, I queried this with the Nurse as It is meant to be good for 2 years, long story short even though all my results where good the Doctor can pretty much do as he pleases

I had a chat with him about why he had only issued a 1 year certificate when ordinarily unless you are over 50 or have some serious pre-existing condition it is meant to be valid for 2 years, basically he said because one of the blood results was very very borderline he recommended me to see him again in a years time!..I work as a medic offshore so I have a bit of knowledge about the subject of medicals in different parts of the world as well as medicine itself but when I mentioned that to him he got all defensive and when I asked about specific levels he clammed up

In summary I would not go to BPH for a medical again even though it is convenient as I reckon it is being treated as a bit of a money spinner with very little you can do about it, I was told that there is a Doctor who does the OGUK at Bangkok Hospital Rayong or else Bumungrad so I will try them next time.....

A few years ago I recieved a 1 year NMD and next year a 2 year one. Its just a rip off to make more money. That hospital is well known for over pricing expats.

All offshore medicals are a rip off irrespective of where you do them in the world but Thb 8k for the cost ain't bad its pretty much comparable to other places

[mark131v]

Just a wild guess but maybe the good doctor only granted you a one-year cert because you gave the nurse (and him) some 'attitude'

Dr Newin in Rayong usually gives a two-year cert if you have a heartbeat and 2 legs and 2 arms

Yep you are right buddy it was a very wild guess....

Saw the Doctor for about 1 minute then received the certificate just before leaving so no time for any 'attitude' with anybody and when I asked about why he got all defensive

From the reply I have received from the Norwegian regulating body if anybody else thinks they have been ripped off (more than usual!!) drop me a pm and I will pass you the guys email

Dear Mark

I am the right person to contact in this issue.

Todays health regulation says that at a age of less then 50 years is Health certificate valid for two years. By next week, actually, will this regulation be changed to that health certificates every second year also for seafarers of more then 50 years. This change has been made due to new STCW code and to be in consistence with most flag states in the world. This new regulation will be implemented 1st July this year. This is the general answer

Please send me the name of this doctor. We are very interested that all our doctors work in accordance with Norwegian intention of the health regulation. Thank you for informing us

Best regards

T

Head of section

Working and living condition unit

[cloghead]

That must have been a 'New York Minute'

And yes, you did get ripped off--Dr Newin charged me 4400 baht for the two-year OGUK medical...

[NanLaew]

Nice to know that the OLF has been cranked back up to 2 years for the over 50's. That makes it handier to keep them in sync. However, since they gave me the 1-year OLF and 2-year OGUK at BHP Pattaya last October (I am chronologically challenged), I guess I am doomed to having an annual checkup of one form or another from now on unless I skip the OLF. Then sods law will dictate I will get my first ever North Sea, Norwegian sector job.

To be honest, I wasn't impressed by the BPH setup as they were picking the bones out of the results and pointing out things that they reserve for health tourists checkups instead of the the much narrower constraints of the offshore medical. Maybe that's what the OP's doctor was doing; quoting irrelevancies. I reckon I will get them done back in Aberdeen when I am home again... in November.

[mariner16]

Bumrungrad International - Vatana Supromajakr M.D. does OLF and OGUK at reasonable price and in a similar manner to Abermed etc. have never had any problem there. Unfortunately last few years have been working in Malaysia and PETRONAS will only accept medicals conducted in Malaysia or Singapore, so have been using The Ming Clinic in Singapore who include OGUK with the PETRONAS medical.

[NanLaew]

Bumrungrad International - Vatana Supromajakr M.D. does OLF and OGUK at reasonable price and in a similar manner to Abermed etc. have never had any problem there. Unfortunately last few years have been working in Malaysia and PETRONAS will only accept medicals conducted in Malaysia or Singapore, so have been using The Ming Clinic in Singapore who include OGUK with the PETRONAS medical.

Just out of interest, is there anything that the Petronas medical covers in addition to OGUK or OLF? I avoid them like the plague (they told me that my day rates are too high) but I know several contractors that have to jump all their crew through that Petronas hoop even if they are just a partner and not the field operator.

I will keep Bamrungrad as an alternative for this years OLF renewal if local work precludes the Aberdeen trip.

[mariner16]

Bumrungrad International - Vatana Supromajakr M.D. does OLF and OGUK at reasonable price and in a similar manner to Abermed etc. have never had any problem there. Unfortunately last few years have been working in Malaysia and PETRONAS will only accept medicals conducted in Malaysia or Singapore, so have been using The Ming Clinic in Singapore who include OGUK with the PETRONAS medical.

Just out of interest, is there anything that the Petronas medical covers in addition to OGUK or OLF? I avoid them like the plague (they told me that my day rates are too high) but I know several contractors that have to jump all their crew through that Petronas hoop even if they are just a partner and not the field operator.

I will keep Bamrungrad as an alternative for this years OLF renewal if local work precludes the Aberdeen trip.

Petronas require ECG performed but was all done at Ming Clinic, however late last year went off to do a job for Conoco Phillips in Indonesia and had to do their medical which as well as everything else also included abdomen scan (for tumours, kidney stones etc.) and "stress test" (15 minutes running at increasing speed on treadmill while hooked up to heart monitor)

[NanLaew]

The NOGEPA (Dutch) offshore requires an ECG but only bothered with that once in Aberdeen. I get the ECG, the ultrasound scan and treadmill when I do my own annual personal health test at BHP. So if Petronas wants me, I am fit. They just need to pay me more!

[liddelljohn]

OLF is no longer sufficient for work in Norway it only applies for platforms ,if you are on any other vessel or facility you must now have Norweigan Seafarers medical and most companies only accept them if conducted in Norway it costs about £230 and can be done in one day , i spent 4 days getting one done in UK for £420 and it was worthless .. had to redo it in Stavanger , fortunately deep ocean paid 50% .

[diggerdo]

Anyone know if its possible to get a Eng1 / Seafarers medical in Thailand or nearby?

Apparently all crew members of UK registered drill ships now come under new MCA rules meaning the OGUK and OLF medicals are no longer accepted.

[Franky Bear]

I had mine done at Bkk Rayong for about 8k about 4 months ago. No hassles. Waited 2/3 hours for full results

[NanLaew]

Point of note: I was at the dentist and popped over to the health desk at BHP last week and asked if they did the Norwegian OLF medical and she said that they did but I would need to make an appointment. When I did one there last year, it was only available on certain days that the OLF-approved doctor was in the building. I will check again for details of dates and cost.

The first I have heard about the OLF certificate now only being good for fixed installations in the North Sea. I will check with my business partner in the UK if he has heard as much and how that affects the UK/Norwegian offshore seismic crewing.

[merijn]

Bumrungrad International - Vatana Supromajakr M.D. does OLF and OGUK at reasonable price and in a similar manner to Abermed etc. have never had any problem there. Unfortunately last few years have been working in Malaysia and PETRONAS will only accept medicals conducted in Malaysia or Singapore, so have been using The Ming Clinic in Singapore who include OGUK with the PETRONAS medical.

For the last 8 years I use Doctor Vatana for for my basic OGUK medical without any problems.

The first time they tried to include unnecessary checks but after explaining which checks where required for a OGUK medical they agreed.

This discussion was done with one of their advisers via email before i saw the doctor.

From then on never a problem and always have my certificate within 2 hours.

Note to myself, Book a new medical for Jan. ;-)

[parky632]

I am needing an ENG1 or NMD medical, is it possible to get one in Pattaya or is it a trip for me? also any contact details of places that do them if possible.

[parky632]

Just a wild guess but maybe the good doctor only granted you a one-year cert because you gave the nurse (and him) some 'attitude'

Dr Newin in Rayong usually gives a two-year cert if you have a heartbeat and 2 legs and 2 arms

Have you an address or contact details for him please.

[diggerdo]

I am needing an ENG1 or NMD medical, is it possible to get one in Pattaya or is it a trip for me? also any contact details of places that do them if possible.

I had the same issue, and in September at the Bangkok pattaya hospital I got a "medical certificate for personnel service on board Republic of Panama" the company I work for is uk based and I am on a UK registered ship covered by the MCA and they have accepted this as an eng1 medical cert. there appears to be some sort of international agreement between panama and uk regarding Medicals.

[JonCalvi]

+1 for Dr Vatana.

Renewed my NMD two days ago with him for 5405bt (Dr fee 2000bt within that price)

For that you get quick once over from Dr V, basic vitals, blood & urine test, chest x-ray, vision and hearing test.

2 years ago he did my OGUK & NMD for 5920bt (Dr fee 3000bt)

I choose him back in 2013 because I needed both certificates and he appeared as a registered doctor with the relevant organizations.

As mentioned above you'll get the certificate within 2 hours of starting the tests.

I asked for an appointment at his earliest convenience. He replied within an hour asking me to turn up 08:30 the following morning.

[NanLaew]

My OGUK medical will expire during my next trip offshore so I have been shopping around. I checked with Bangkok Hospital Pattaya last week and they have a 4-tier pricing system with arbitrary price increases placed at less than 35 years old and greater than 35 years old. OGUK does not discriminate or require any extra tests for this latter age grouping and certainly doesn't require an EKG (that BHP includes for older guys) so it is just another money maker for BHP. BHP charges 4,700 baht for the under 35 year old OGUK, 5,900 baht for over 35 year old OGUK and a whopping 9,400 baht for the OLF/NMD certification.

Despite living in Pattaya, I have decided to go to Bamrungrad and Dr. Vatana on the basis that he is OGUK certified and will only conduct (and charge for) the tests that the OGUK examination requires.

[merijn]

Despite living in Pattaya, I have decided to go to Bamrungrad and Dr. Vatana on the basis that he is OGUK certified and will only conduct (and charge for) the tests that the OGUK examination requires.

Just be sure that the health advisory who is doing your appointment does not include unnecessary checks.

She tried that one time with me and after i supplied them with the requirements she agreed and no problems after this.

If i remember correctly i paid 3900 B. (took 2 hours total)