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Thailand's prime private hospitals are treating almost all of the countries' expatriates, and cater to international medical tourism.
Now, it is well known that Bangkok has some well respected public hospitals that are rarely used by foreigners. Chulalongkorn Hospital, Siriraj Hospital and Ramathibodi Hospital come to mind.
Why do foreigners avoid these hospitals? First of all, from all accounts foreigners are most welcome there, and services provided are much cheaper. However, foreigners are often put off by the 'hospitality' factor. Long waiting times, an overcrowded environment and less than comfortable seating areas are a turn off. If you are sick, do you want to wake up before dawn, to get to a public hospital and wait for hours and hours before seeing a physician, however competent he or she might be?
Not really, Westerners have become accustomed to a certain level of comfort and service, and it is simply inconveivable having to cope with 'third-world' treatments.
We have mentioned this problem before and suggested a solution, when visiting Chulalongkorn Hospital.
Now, the management of Ramathibodi Hospital apparently has had a similar idea. There is an open market for public hospitals, if they start giving attention to the many thousands of expatriated in Bangkok. Many foreigners nowadays are complaining about excessive costs at Bangkok's private hospitals such as Bumrungrad Hospital, Bangkok General Hospital, Samitivej Hospital and BNH Hospital.
So what about upgrading clinic services at public hospitals and charge a bit more for it (but still well below what private hospitals charge).
Ramathibodi Hospital seems to just have done that by opening its Premium Clinic. While we can not find any information on the Ramathibodi Hospital's website , a report in Bangkok's newest semi-tabloid Daily XPress (part of the Nation Newspaper) describes the new clinic.
According to the small report (17 June Issue) Ramathibodi Hospital offers a new streamlined, one-stop clinic service. Costs are somewhat higher, but there are apparently no crowded seating areas, and you can be seen without a long wait by a physician, although apparently an appointment is advised. On top of the regular fees (350 baht ?) a Premium fee is charged of 200 baht. Premium fees are to be used to cover treatment of less financially fortunate patients. The service is to be further expanded. What is disappointing in the report is the statement that clinic visitors wil be referred to other medical specialists, if necessary. That suggests that medical specialists are not working at the clinic. It would be much more convenient if some medical specialists were readily available at the clinic itself, without having to go first through a triage system, and having to make new appointments (which can be a waste of time).
Nevertheless, the idea of running a 'premium' service, comes at the right time. Hopefully, most public hospitals will upgrade their services. Surely they can already compete on a strictly professional level (the public hospitals mentioned above, are all university and/or teaching hospitals). Now if they could do away with crowded waiting rooms, put in some comfortable chairs, give the walls a fresh coat of paint, and eliminate long waiting times, they could compete on a 'service' level likewise, all at a lower price than charged a the better known private hospitals.
Ramathibodi Hospital premium clinic is on the fifth floor of the hospital's Sirikit Medical Centre and open Monday to Friday from 8 to 4. Call (02) 201 2211. Apparently the unit is part of Ramathibodi's Cardiovascular and Metabolic Centre, so we expect that the place certainly welcomes patients with heart disease and related ailments.
As most hospitals in Bangkok, Ramathibodi Hospital is not very well situated. You will have to walk a bit from the closest skytrain station (Victory Monument Station). The website also mentions a number of buses that pass the hospital.
More : Health Statistics for Thailand | Cost of Medical Treatment in Thailand | Medical Tourism in Thailand
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