Health
Anyone visiting Bangkok, as any city away from home,
is probably well advised to have personal health insurance. Having said that,
except in the event of serious illness or accident, health is not usually a
problem. Scares of malaria are unfounded since malaria is today unknown in
Bangkok itself. Pharmacies, clinics and hospitals abound and access to good
medical assistance is a relatively easy affair.
Note: drink only bottled or boild water. Fortunately
bottled water is plentiful and cheap.
Pharmacies
Pharmacies or chemists are marked with a large green
cross and can easily be found on every street. A very wide selection of
medecines can be bought over-the-counter at relatively low cost, including many
of those that in Europe or the USA might be prescription only. Many pharmacists
will give you advice for minor ailments without the need to go to a doctor.
Clinics
In case of illness or general health problems, you
can simply go to a clinic (doctor's surgery). You can find clinics in most
areas quite easily. Although they don't have a special sign, they usually look
like a small shop with a white interior and a simple counter in front of
shelves with a few medecines (not to be confused with a pharmacy, which has a
large green cross and many more medecines). There will probably be a woman or
man dressed in white at the counter. The word for clinic in Thai is ran
maw (maw means doctor), but Thais also say clin ik. To ask
where a clinic is, you can say:
- clin ik yoo tee nai, khrap/kha ?
You could also go to a pharmacy and ask where the
closest clinic is.
A basic consultation at a clinic should cost about
B200-300, but an injection or other treatment would be extra of course.
Hospitals
Thailand's leading hospitals - both private and
public - are world class, with many people flying to Thailand for major surgery
at affordable prices. If cost is an issue, go to Chulalongkorn University
Hospital, Rama IV Road (Tel: 02 252 8181), a public hospital with some of the
best doctors in Bangkok. If you need to get to hospital quickly, jump in a taxi
and tell the driver:
- by rong paya baan mi shun row row
(That's row as in rowing with your spouse,
not rowing a boat.)
Here's a selection of public and then private
hospitals:
Bangkok General
Hospital¤
2 Soi Soonvijai 7
New Petchburi Road
Bangkok 10320
Tel: 02 310 3101
Fax: 02 310 3367
Central General Hospital
362/114
Pahonyothin Road
Bang Khen
Tel: 02 552 8777
Fax: 02 552 0666
Lad Prao Hospital
2699 Lad Prao Road
Tel: 02 530 2244
Fax: 02 935 0021
Mongkutwattana General Hospital
34/40
Chaeng Wattana Road.
Tel: 02 574 1000
Fax: 02 574 4856
Rajavithi General Hospital
Rajavithi
Road
Tel: 02 281 1246
Fax: 02 246 8270
Thonburi Hospital
34/1 Soi Saeng Suksa
(Soi 44)
Issarapharp Road
Thonburi
Tel: 02 412 0020
Fax: 02 412
7343
Private Hospitals
Bumrungrad
Hospital¤
33 Sukhumvit Soi 3 Wattana
Bangkok
10110
Tel: 02 667 1000
Fax: 02 667 2525
Bangkok Christian Hospital
124 Silom
Road
Tel: 02 264 0560
Fax: 02 236 2911
Bangkok Nursing Home
9 Convent Road.
Sathorn Nua (North) Road.
Tel: 02 632 0560
Fax: 02 632 0577
Phayathai Hospital 1
364/1 Si Ayutthaya
Road
Tel: 02 245 2620
Fax: 02 245 5488
Ramkhamhaeng Hospital
2138 Soi 34,
Ramkhamhaeng Road
Tel: 02 374 0200
Fax: 02 732 3977
Saint Louis Hospital
215 Sathorn Tai
Road
Tel: 02 675 5000
Fax: 02 675 5200
Dental Hospital
88/88 Soi 49, Sukhumvit
Road
Tel: 02 260 5000
Fax: 02 260 5026 |
