Pattaya City Hospital

[Gonzo]

There was a discussion at the Pattayaexpatsclub yesterday morning about alternative cheaper ambulance services than the ones from the expensive private hospitals. The Bangkok Pattaya Hospital now charges 7000 baht to pick you up in an ambulance if you ring their 1719 phone number.

 

Not so very long ago I took my partner to the Government Pattaya City Hospital in Soi Buakhao, to have a painful cyst behind one of her ears removed. A few years ago, she registered at the Government Banglamung Hospital to be entitled to the 30 baht treatments for Thais with ID cards within the Pattaya, Naklua and Jomtien area. We never went back there again, as it was a very substandard hospital in our opinion.

 

After she filled in a card at the reception desk at the Pattaya City Hospital, she was assessed by the Triage nurses and then sent to another desk, where she was assigned to a doctor at room 7. We went to the hospital early in the morning without an appointment and were lucky she was all done within two hours. I was surprised when we went to the cashier and the pharmacy, that her treatment and antibiotic medication was totally free, despite having discarded or lost her Banglamung registration card a long time ago. My partner was still registered on the Pattaya City Hospital computer as a patient entitled for the 30 baht or in her case totally free treatment at the outpatients department as her prior registration at the Banglamung Hospital was still on their records.

 

Now back to the question about a cheaper ambulance service than what the money-hungry and highly overpriced private hospitals, like the Bangkok Pattaya, the Pattaya International and the Memorial Hospital charge. When we left the hospital we noticed the four new-looking ambulances with crews ready for action. We approached the friendly ambulance crews and asked them a few questions about their services. They told us they would pick us up in an emergency for absolutely free. The emergency number for an ambulance there is 1669, but not shown on their ambulances.

 

In conclusion the Pattaya City hospital in Soi Buakhao is an excellent facility with a highly motivated staff, where the health of the patients comes first, unlike in the three private hospitals, where it is of the foremost importance to make lots of money. These are hospitals where treatment will stop should a patient not be able to prove that he has sufficient funds for further treatment. Naturally, the BPH has some excellent doctors and at times there are health issues the Government hospitals with not enough funding and overworked staff cannot handle. They have a good emergency department at the Pattay City Hospital. They can handle broken bones and many other complex treatments, but when it comes to open heart surgery or similar advanced treatments, they might have to hand you over to one of the specialists in a private hospital, as long as the patient can afford their high fees or has a very good health insurance, which can be difficult to get in Thailand for people older than 65 years of age.

 

There are two very good doctors at the Bangkok Hospital I like. One is Doctor Thitima from the Gastrointestinal/liver centre. She performed two colonoscopies on me with great skill in the last ten years, a gastroscopy of my stomach and an ultrasound of my whole abdomen and a Fibro scan to make sure my liver was still in good shape, all with positives outcomes. Another doctor I like is Dr. Ularn Janeborvom from the Heart centre, where I had an a echocardiogram (ultrasound), a stress test and vascular screening done, again with good results. The missus gets her yearly mammogram and breast ultrasound done there as well. A don’t mind paying for those outpatient services there, as the doctors there are the best suited and skilled ones I have met so far.

 

The Pattaya City Hospital is also very farang friendly. I saw lots of them there getting treatment by the friendly nurses and doctors. Farangs will have to pay for some of the treatment, but only a fraction of the cost what they would have to pay at the private hospitals.

I still like the Queen Sirikit hospital best of all for other check-ups and treatments and I don’t mind the short drive there and the long waiting times. Their eye clinic is excellent, but you have to be there early in the morning and then wait for your number to be called, which could take a very long time. They treat about 150 patients per day maximum. I have my next yearly appointment for a retinopathy check with an excellent ophthalmologist next month. Their pathologist department is excellent as well, where we pay a fraction of the price wanted by the BPH when they have those ridiculously priced check-ups at supposedly half price, twice yearly, which consist mostly of only simple blood tests.

 

I am not a hypochondriac, but I think it is rather important to stay healthy when one gets older, especially in a place like Thailand. I have drunk my share of beer over the years and probably someone else’s as well. I have now cut back on that a lot, since I tend to binge drinking here once I start and cannot handle the bad hangovers any longer. When I was still working there was no alcohol allowed at all as working on the wharves and ships in the oil industry always involved operating heavy machinery, like mobile cranes, ships cranes, container cranes, heavy forklifts, bulldozers and even articulated vehicles with Mack prime movers with up to three trailers, which are called road trains.

 

We had to undergo blood tests for drugs and alcohol on a frequent basis in the later years and even when they found the slightest amount of alcohol or any other drugs in your blood you were in big trouble. Three strikes and you lost your job. The money was great, especially when called out in the middle of the night, which happened often, as there were always problems out on the oil rigs with damaged drill bits and bent or broken steel casing, which had to be replaced as quickly as possible.

 

I worked for companies like Haliburton, BHP, Woodside Petroleum, Santos and a couple of others for more than 30 years. It was not the easiest of jobs and was happy when there was a very good redundancy payments offered when I was 53 years old. I worked my way up to the position of port instructor, but still had to work on the docks or on rig tenders trying to sleep at times next to the noisy vessel’s engines. Rig tenders never turn their noisy engines off when they are operational and it needed half a dozen cups of strong coffee, when the supervisor of an oil company woke you up at say 2AM in the morning to lift a 30 tonne anchor or other heavy equipment urgently needed out on the oil rig with a big lattice jib shore crane, often working right to its limit of its safe working load according to the radius, the length of the jib and its angle. It is a really a young man’s job to work under those conditions and can take its toll, should one decide to keep going longer than I did. Money is then not the most important consideration, when the job starts to affect your health.

 

Sorry about the long rave, but I am patiently sitting at home waiting for my brilliant Thai workmen fitting a new entrance door to the condo and a new door in the bathroom and doing a few other jobs as well, like checking out the plumbing and installing new ceiling fans. I had a new entrance door fitted not so long ago, by an idiot, who cut too much off the width of the entrance door with an electric saw, leaving a gap big enough so people could look inside our place. The missus is supervising everything the new guy seems to be doing with great skill, with me writing this lengthy and probably boring post when I only meant to mention the good 1669 ambulance service at the Pattay City Hospital in Soi Buakhao, which can also be accessed from Third Road.

 

Edited March 9, 2015 by Gonzo

[MM]

Not boring at all, Gonzo!

Good information too!

 

From a mobile

[Parkwahn]

Great report many thanks..

[Idefix]

First, Goof report Gozo. Thanks for it.

 

Happy to hear a good report about this Soi Buakhao hospital ... for once...

 

Until now I mainly heard bad reviews about it!

- by farangs because of the very high prices they now quote them

- by Thais because of the low quality services...

 

 

The last experience of this hospital is just 2 weeks old: A friend of mine get stung by an insect, and as the day after it's still very painful she goes see a doctor here. (She is registered in Pattaya).

 

She had to came here 4 times I think (4 days) and as that does not heal she decides to go Banglamung Hospital (Naklua) where she already stayed in the past. There the doctor tell us that she got a bad treatment that made the wound worse. With the appropriate treatment the mark and pain would have gone in 48h.

 

Result: big marks, a lot of pain and big trouble for her about 10 days total

 

Even if this hospital could be convenient for me (~1km from my condo),

I will NOT go there is I need to go hospital...

 

 

Below are a few pictures of what could have been avoided !

[MM]

That's some horrid infection. What kind of bug bite was that?

[Idefix]

That's some horrid infection. What kind of bug bite was that?

We don't know exactly. The doctor said it was probably a spider.

She didn't see it, didn't fell the sting, but the venom reaction later...

She was really in pain; it made me sad; but nothing I could do.

That made me really angry against these amateur doctors !

[Gonzo]

We had a very good experience there versus your very bad one. I suppose that can happen in any hospital, private or Government ones. I was misdiagnosed in all of the three Pattaya private hospitals in the last few years. I had a fall coming back from the swimming pool in 2012and was told at the Memorial I had blood clots on my brain, which was totally untrue. I had a broken eye socket with a lot of blood behind the eye socket and a broken cheekbone. A doctor called Montri wanted to operate on my brain to remove the non-existing blood clots. I refused to be operated on and was then transferred to the BPH hospital, after ringing my Allianz travel insurance company in Brisbane.

 

The neurosurgeon there, a Dr Alongkorn, did another scan and confirmed there were no blood clots. I was treated well at the BPH hospital for my large head wound, the blood in the back of my eye socket, which caused my distorted face to have double vision and the broken cheekbone.

 

What they did not pick up at the BHP when I had several MRIs, was that I had a double break in my cervical spine at C2, a hangman's neck, which is a proper medical term for a C2 break, the most serious cervical spine injury of them all. The doctors in Darwin were amazed that I made it back there without any injury to the spinal cord, when I was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital, where I was treated for that injury in their spinal unit for nearly 4 months, after I could not get out of bed one night wanting to go for a piss. I made it back to Australia, carrying a 20kg suitcase. Most people with a C2 break finish up as quadriplegic or worse. I wrote a report on this board about that incident before, after I was released from the hospital here and declared to be fit to fly back home

.

I was surprised when you complained about some people being quoted very high prices at the Pattaya City Hospital. I have an American friend who visits there on a regular basis as he suffers a lot of pain from a severe case of gout. He gets injections there and often gets blood tests there as well. The most he has ever paid was 600 baht for his injection, a blood test and other medications. All Thais registered there get treated for free and I have noticed a lot of well-dressed Thais going there for treatment, driving their late model cars into the multilevel car park. I have another German friend who goes there frequently for check-ups and his heart medication and always pays approximately 600 baht every time he visits there.

 

When I went to climb up Khao Kitchakoot again this year on January 25/26 with my missus with her strong Buddhist beliefs for her yearly pilgrimage there, we noticed a First Aid station manned by volunteers from the Pattaya City hospital providing free medical assistance to exhausted rock climbers feeling unwell for free halfway up the mountain. If things have changed that much since then I will try to find out. Changes in Thailand do seem to happen at times at short notice.

 

 

 

 

[nadia]

we went there 2 years ago our 2 girls had a ringworm infection of the family cat up country we saw the doctor and he spoke to the wife for about 5 minutes and i said what did he say she said a load of mumbo jumbo and he never diagnosed it just gave us a prescribsion for some creme we found out at a clinic near the suk rd and the consultent showed us what is was on google images

[jacko]

Hi Gonzo, thanks for the report.

This has got me thinking it is time I got my Mrs registered at a Pattaya hospital, as one day we may need her to visit. Taking her to the BHP may well put me in their cardiac unit. One problem she always tells me is she is still registered as being in Issarn. Where she was born, that is what her ID says. She is on some 'house book' there, and likes elections because she has to go back... (outside of her 2-3 times/year trips for other various silly reasons). Does that preclude her from registering at a Pattaya hospital and perhaps getting the 30 baht treatment?

 

My mind is not made up wrt the Pattaya City Hospital, since I get good and bad feedback. Someone I know with a simple wrist fracture speaks positively although the first doctor seen was apparently inexperienced and too arrogant to realise it, subscribing ineffectual treatment that wasted time and money and caused unnecessary suffering. So far it sounds like PCH is good for the simpler and accident ailments, and the International and BHP for the serious stuff. The Memorial to be avoided .....

 

Again, thanks for taking the time ....

[mike_asia]

we went there 2 years ago our 2 girls had a ringworm infection of the family cat up country we saw the doctor and he spoke to the wife for about 5 minutes and i said what did he say she said a load of mumbo jumbo and he never diagnosed it just gave us a prescribsion for some creme we found out at a clinic near the suk rd and the consultent showed us what is was on google images

I remember that boss.

Fück that hospital I wouldn't set foot in the place

[cbrib]

Great report, thanks for the info, i have been wondering about this place. Do you know by chance if they have a pediatric center, or proper dermatology department there?

[Idefix]

we went there 2 years ago our 2 girls had a ringworm infection //

2 years ago the Pattaya City Hospital was not yet open to patients... ??

It opened - slowly - around mid-2013 and stay more than 1 year in test-mode,

with only a few general practitioners and emergency service.

I think full opening (with patients allowed to stay during the night) was in second half of 2014.

[Gonzo]

Hi Gonzo, thanks for the report.

This has got me thinking it is time I got my Mrs registered at a Pattaya hospital, as one day we may need her to visit. Taking her to the BHP may well put me in their cardiac unit. One problem she always tells me is she is still registered as being in Issarn. Where she was born, that is what her ID says. She is on some 'house book' there, and likes elections because she has to go back... (outside of her 2-3 times/year trips for other various silly reasons). Does that preclude her from registering at a Pattaya hospital and perhaps getting the 30 baht treatment?

 

My mind is not made up wrt the Pattaya City Hospital, since I get good and bad feedback. Someone I know with a simple wrist fracture speaks positively although the first doctor seen was apparently inexperienced and too arrogant to realise it, subscribing ineffectual treatment that wasted time and money and caused unnecessary suffering. So far it sounds like PCH is good for the simpler and accident ailments, and the International and BHP for the serious stuff. The Memorial to be avoided .....

 

Again, thanks for taking the time ....

Hi Jacko,

Your wife will only get the free or 30 baht treatment in the Government hospitals in the Amphur she is registered in. Forgive my criticism, but she should have changed her Thai I.D card to her new address at your place a long time ago. There is actually a Thai law saying she is required to do so.

 

The same law applies for the Tabien Baan (house book). She will have to take your Tabien Baan along with her old Thai I.D. card, when she goes to City Hall to have her Thai I.D card changed to her new address at your place and have her name entered into your Tabien Baan as well. To have her name entered into your house book will not give her any more rights of ownership to your property. It only proves that she is staying at a new address, which like I said is a requirement according to Thai law.

 

To go to City Hall on Pattaya Nua and have those changes made is pretty straightforward and simple. She can change her Thai I.D card and have her name put into your blue Tabien Baan at the same time and costs very little. She won’t need any passport pictures, as City Hall will take her picture for the new Thai I.D card. Thai I.D cards will have to be renewed every 5 years just like drivers licences.

 

With her new I.D. card she will then be able to access the free Government hospitals in the Amphur she lives in. She then will also be able to vote there, without having to go back to the Amphur where she was registered before. In fact she will only be able to access the free hospital services in the Amphur showing on her new address and only be able to vote there as well.

 

I mentioned in my previous post that I liked the Queen Sirikit Hospital best of all. I went there to register quite a few years ago with my missus, as I was told they had a good eye clinic. To register there was easy and I needed my passport to do so and the missus needed her Thai.I.D. She is not entitled to any free treatment there as the Queen Sirikit as it is in a different Amphur, but what she has paid so far our quite frequent visit, was very little compared to what we paid for treatments or consultations in private hospitals before.

 

As a Farang I pay 50% more than what she has to pay, but again it is only a fraction of the cost what I would pay in a private hospital in Pattaya. The medicines prescribed there are normally priced and often cheaper than what one pays at Fascino. The doctors there we have dealt with were excellent and most of them spoke excellent English. Nevertheless, it would be better to have a Thai speaker with you, when dealing with some of the nurses and other staff.

 

I give you a couple of examples of different good experiences we had at the Queen Sirikit. The missus had a slow growing pterygium in her left eye for a few years, a growth which normally starts in the corner of the sclera of the eye, a condition quite common in Thailand, but not so common in Western countries. She was advised not to have it removed until it got larger, except at the BPH, where the ophthalmologist wanted to remove it immediately at a quoted cost of 25000 baht, again just out of pure greed in my opinion, as it is was too soon for removing a small ptrygium, especially with the outdated bare sclera method he wanted to use in 2007.

 

In 2011 her pterygium was big enough to reach the cornea of her eye and affecting her vision. We decided to have it excised by the best specialists in either the Bumrungrad Hospital or the highly recommended Rutin Eye Hospital, both in Bangkok. They gave us quotes of around 80 000 baht with additional charges for follow up treatments. I had no problem to pay that much as the delicate operation on her eye was more important and I wanted the best doctors available to fix her eye problem with the latest and best technique, a conjunctival graft using sutures, a rather complex operation. As it was rather difficult to get to Bangkok at that time due to the floods and political problems, we then went to see an ophthalmologist at the BPH.

 

I was less than impressed, as he was inarticulate and wanted to use a totally different method to remove the growth on her eye, a procedure he could not explain well. We declined, despite the missus having lost half her vision in the affected eye and having quite a lot of discomfort with headaches as well. She then reminded me that I was successfully treated for blepharitis in both eyes, after being wrongfully diagnosed with conjunctivitis at the BPH and given the wrong eye creams, which caused my eyes more problems.

 

Anyway, the missus convinced me to drive her to the Queen Sirikit, where I had a long discussion with a rather young ophtamologist, explaining the conjuntival graft procedure, which he said had done successfully several times on Thai navy staff. The recurrence rate of this complex procedure is less than 10%, compared to the bare sclera method where the pterygium grows often back within the next six months. The missus got her appointment in less than 3 months and after it was all over, with the operation involving lifting the cornea, removing the growth and then stitching the wound up again. The operation was highly successful and expertly done by that young Navy ophthalmologist surgeon. The initial pain after the operation must have been enormous, as the missus moaned for the next few days, after the injections into her eye wore off, but she has had no further problems with that eye for the last four years. BTW, the total cost for the operation, done as an outpatient, was less than 4000 baht.

 

I have never been an inpatient in the Queen Sirikit, but believe that it would cost 1000 baht per night in a shared room and 1500 baht per night in a private room. It is a good hospital with well-trained doctors paid by the Navy. The doctors often moonshine in private hospitals in their free time to earn serious money, unlike what the get from the Thai government who paid for their medical degrees. Most of them leave the Qeen Sirikit Hospital to work in private hospitals, after the required time the must spend there as the Thai Government paid for their education.

 

I remember spending two nights in a ward at the BPH after I went there after I felt really crook after a drinking session and possible eating some bad food from a street stall. They said they wanted to keep me in for observation. I agreed, which was big a big mistake. I just had a bad hangover with would have resolved itself after a couple of days. I was put into a room at floor A3, where they put all the alcoholics, late in the evening and then discharged after spending a total of 36 hours in a bed much too small with my long legs and put into a hospital gown, again very uncomfortable as it was much too small as well

 

The nurses hardly wasted any time with me other than taking my temperature and blood pressure now and then. The missus stayed with me doing all the nursing, trying hard to help me to piss into a bottle in that small bed which was difficult with that drip attached to my arm. I remember seeing a doctor once for about 5 minutes and again for another 5 minutes before I was discharged. My decision to agree to stay there for observation cost me THB 68 000. Maybe I read too much about medical conditions like Delirium Tremens on the Internet.

 

I found a couple of pictures I would like to share. One is of the missus for her eye appointment. One has to get there early to get a low number. It is first come first served unless you are a member of the Thai military or a monk. The other picture is her getting good physio at the hospital for some back pain.

 

And there is me ready to see a very nice lady doctor to refer me to have blood tests at their very good pathology department. The lady doctor's fee was 200 baht. The missus usually pays 100 baht. To get all the blood tests done at the Queen Sirikit, similar to the ones what they do at the BPH at their check-up programs, will set you back about 1000 baht. Now compare that with the pathology department costs at the BPH.

 

[Idefix]

Hi. Just a good thing about Pattaya City Hospital and the Thai Health System :

When it's too difficult or they can't cure someone, they don't insist. After a few days here and a huge quantity of drugs, they send a friend of mine to Chulabhorn Hospital, in Bangkok, that is "the" Thai hospital specialized in Cancer... I can't imagine a better place for her to be cured right now.

[Bear194]

I used the Pattaya City Hospital for 3 days on my trip in May because of it's location-right around the corner from Soi Lenkee. I had had surgery on my shin before I left Canada and timing dictated that I could get the sutures removed on arrival in Pattaya. They did remove the sutures but the wound reopened, so they cleaned the wound, dressed it and said return every day. Same same next day and on the 3rd day I asked to speak to a Doctor to ask about prognosis of getting it re-sutured and the need for antibiotics. A senior nurse said - "no need for antibiotics and just redress every day and should be better in 2 or 3 weeks".

 

At this point I wanted a second opinion, so went directly to the Pattaya International Hospital - they had my records on file from 4 years ago and I saw a Doctor withing 15 minutes - cannot re-suture because of infection and wound must heal from the bottom up therefore daily cleaning and dressing with weekly monitoring for infection and it would be at least a month (the entire length of my holiday) for it to close on its own.

 

The wound has finally healed (I have been home 17 days) and was checked by my surgeon on my return. Aside from not drinking for 3 weeks while on antibiotics and having to keep the wound dry (showering with leg wrapped in cling wrap) not too much of a damper on my holiday.

 

This whole story was to illustrate in my case the difference in service and in cost between the PC Hospital and the Pattaya International Hospital. The farang price for the daily cleaning and dressing of the wound at the PC Hospital was 360 baht and only 260 Baht at Pattaya International. And in my opinion the service for a farang is far superior at Pattaya International - better english, more information coming forward, and better facilities (one day at PCH I was in an outdoor corridor on a rolling gurney while the nurse rolled her supply cart out there to do the cleaning and dressing.

[BeerBelly]

...

The wound has finally healed (I have been home 17 days) and was checked by my surgeon on my return. Aside from not drinking for 3 weeks while on antibiotics and having to keep the wound dry (showering with leg wrapped in cling wrap) not too much of a damper on my holiday.

 

...

 

 

FYI: Alcohol can be consumed with most antibiotics.

 

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/expert-answers/antibiotics-and-alcohol/faq-20057946

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/871.aspx?CategoryID=73

 

This suggest the real reason why this advice is given:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2005/06/02/1380836.htm

 

"The VD Clinics of the 1950s and 1960s gave the somber and serious advice that alcohol should absolutely not be used while taking penicillin. But there were no significant chemical interactions between penicillin and alcohol. The real reason that this advice was given was for moral reasons, not pharmacological reasons. The medicos of the day were worried that alcohol would reduce the inhibitions of the sufferers, and that, while under the influence, they might get a little "frisky" and pass on their infection to another person, before the penicillin had a chance to cure the sexually transmitted diseases."

[midlifecrisis]

In BKK I was in the ER at a Sematajev (sp?) and admitted for two nights. Private room, IV meds, meds to go - teelak in the room (no joiners fee hehe) all for $1200 a couple of years ago. Put it on my visa card. Up front payment was required.

 

I cannot say enough nice things about the professional care I got there.

[seanss]

I went with a Farang friend to Pattaya City hospital.

He is a diabetic and was running short of some of his medication.

He was told 2 bhats per tablet but 500 bhats to see doctor.

Incidently he was registered with Pattaya City Hospital and had their card.

he got the tablets in Fascinos for 2 bhats and did not need to pay the 500 bhats to see a doctor in City Hospital.

Gonzo you declare that Banglamung Hospital is sub standard in your opinion.

The interesting thing is that the same specialists who work in private hospitals have by Thai law to donate 1 or 2 days per week to the public hospitals

so you can pay big money to see them at a private hospital or little money in a public hospital like Banglamung.

I paid about 6,000 or 7,000 bhats in International hospital to have a full body check.

I have COPD and took the cd's they gave me home to the UK

My UK specialist told me that whoever gave a diagnosis of my xrays etc did not know what they were doing. And in fact their report was rubbish.

My feet and ankles got badly swollen up during Songran so I went to Gonzo's sub standard Banglamung hospital

they took blood tests, urine sample, ECG etc and I saw 2 doctors before and after my 45 minute wait for the results

they gave me duiretic tablets to reduce the swellling and I paid 1400 bhats for everything

They also booked me in for ultrasound which I got from each thigh to ankle

The doctor in Gonzo's sub standard hospital spent over 1 hour on a thorough ultrasound scan just to check for DVT etc

4000 bhats for ultra sound 50 bhats for doctor

my swelling is gone

I have been in many private hospitals like Banglamung and International and Memorial

and the hospital that I prefer is Banglamung as I have never had any bad treatment and did not pay the outrageous prices that I paid in Bangkok Hospital

I also feel that they actually care and dont wish to see if you actually have the money to pay for your treatment

I visited Bangkok hospital in Bangkok to see the lung specialist at a mere 17,000 bhats

I wanted valves in my lungs... they said we can do for 1 million bhats

I said for both lungs? no for each lung

I will be getting these same valves inserted free in London this year

while in Pattaya I will continue to visit Banglamung Hospital as they really care about you

I will certainly not visit City hospital and pay 500 bhats to see a doctor to get 2 bhat tablets

[nadia]

2 years ago the Pattaya City Hospital was not yet open to patients... ??

It opened - slowly - around mid-2013 and stay more than 1 year in test-mode,

with only a few general practitioners and emergency service.

I think full opening (with patients allowed to stay during the night) was in second half of 2014.

it was open for us mid 2013 is 2 years