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Medical Care in Thailand

I learned a lot about medical care in Thailand last year. I was in an accident and was taken to the emergency room at Chiang Mai University Hospital. I was examined by three doctors, including an audiologist and an ophthalmologist, and attended by two nurses throughout my visit. The nurses brought me iced water and covered me with heated blankets while holding my hand and chatting to me. The bill for those four hours? $27.00, including pain medication.

More recently I had a benign growth on my hand. I went to the hospital without an appointment and was seen and diagnosed within 20 minutes. A a charming, English-speaking dermatologist removed the growth using an space-age excimer laser. I walked out 65 minutes after arriving. The bill, including surgery, medication and a follow-up consultation, was $280.00. Had I been prepared with a local ID, the bill would have been $140.

Watch this video. Simon and Joan, two British expats (who had lived all their lives in one of the best medical systems on earth) talk about their experience with medical care in Thailand.

Costs vary depending on who you are and where you are – big city or country town, local or visitor – and what kind of hospital you use. Government hospitals, including university research hospitals, are cheaper than private facilities, for example. Here are some ballpark figures for major procedures:

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Because I was getting so many questions about medical insurance in Thailand I wrote a 40-page report, “Medical Insurance in Thailand”. You can download it from Amazon here.

You can pay for an entire trip to Thailand just by having your medical and dental care in Thailand. Think about it.

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