Healthcare in Thailand 2024 | Our Chiang Mai Hospital Visit
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 มิ.ย. 2024
- Ep.85 Ever wondered how hard it is to get medical care while traveling or worried about how much it might cost? We visit Chiang Mai Ram Hospital, which is known for its outstanding medical care in Thailand. We did a full battery of screenings and addressed some health issues. We met with specialists in cardiology, the liver, an ENT, had a CT scan, and even had some skin biopsies.We tell you what to expect, whether we'd recommend it, and what it ALL costs. ❤️
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Chapters:
00:00 - Start
01:59 - Picking a Chiang Mai Hospital
02:53 - Monday Day 1 - Testing
07:13 - Tuesday Day 2 - Testing
09:46 - Hospital Concierge Services
12:48 - Tuesday Day 2 - Results
13:23 - Tuesday Day 2 - Afternoon Testing
15:02 - Wednesday Day 3 - Testing
15:59 - Some minor issues to report
17:49 - Wednesday Day 3 - Afternoon doctor visits
18:41 - Wednesday Day 3 - Results
19:51 - Thursday Day 4 - Skin Center Testing
20:12 - Thursday Day 4 - Skin Center Results
21:42 - What we paid
22:50 - Our Thoughts
26:18 - Any downsides to our medical center experiences?
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Thank you for this - what a great general guide for a US expat planning a medical tourism visit! Especially appreciate the detail on atmosphere - maybe scheduled tightly but apparently not "pushed" through the process...seems like the professionalism was maintained.
Hi Hank, Thank you so much for watching. We really had a great experience. You frame our experience perfectly. Scheduled efficiently but not pushed through. I've had experiences with certain medical experiences (Lasik, for example) where I felt like I was part of a medical "mill," but this did not feel that way. We appreciated that doctors were thorough and took the time to answer our questions. It certainly felt that the doctors spent at least as much time with us as US doctors (and probably a bit more). -Judy
Really appreciate you sharing so much information. This is probably the most helpful "getting healthcare outside of the US" video I've ever seen. Thank you for sharing the details.
Thank you so much for watching, Christine, and for your very kind comment! We were very happy with our experience overall and so glad to be able to pass our learnings on to our viewers. -Judy
Excellent video. We had a good experience with emergency pacemaker implant for my husband in Bordeaux, France. La Clinique Saint Martin in Pessac. Numerous doctors' visits there, and a roving nurse Josiane who came to the gite to give flu shots. I had an ear infection appointment to a clinic in Budapest in 2000.
Thanks for watching and sharing your experiences, Claudia! You both have been through a lot and we always appreciate hearing how you've successfully navigated them. -Judy
Informative, helpful video that should much more than 1.4k views. Thumbs up!
Thank you so much for watching! And you are welcome to share this video if it was useful; it's the best compliment you can give us. You are so kind to leave us this comment! -Judy
We lived in Hong Kong For 3 years during Covid. Their health system is the same. It took about three hours to go through the battery of checks and tests for a woman in late 50s. They also did a stool sample which I never heard of doing as a regular check in the US. The cost was pennies compared to the US. Brilliant!!!
Thank you for watching, Tam, and for sharing your experience. We did consider Hong Kong as an option, but it’s a more expensive country for us to stay in for a month. And yes, our tests included urine and stool tests as well. So glad you had such a great experience, especially during COVID, which was a very challenging time. -Judy
Im really impressed with their medical system and the cost just wow.I refuse to use any here in Calif..USA system is corrupt beyond anything!Thank you for sharing this!Real eye opener!
The US's major problem is that profit is a driving force and everything that connects to healthcare has an ulterior motive. Insurance companies shouldn't be deciding what procedures are necessary-that should be between me and my doctor. Big Pharma builds in a ton of profit that has little to do with the R&D. It's again mostly to line pockets, and there are a lot of built-in limitations to keep prices high and some effective drugs aren't made because it's easier to keep people dependent on drugs versus being healthy and no longer needing those drugs. Unfortunately, private hospitals everywhere attract doctors who opt to prioritize $$$$ over patients. I'm not sure what the answer is, but it all is disappointing. We are grateful that our dollars are strong in other companies and these healthcare procedures are more affordable for us than they'd be in the US. Thanks for watching. -Judy
Very nice Healthcare center
We agree, Tati. Everything seemed reasonably modern, and the care was top notch! Thank you so much for watching!-Judy
Excellent! I have 3 questions:
1. If you had to pick between Serbia or Chiang Mai again, which would you pick?
2. Did they accept a Visa credit card for payment?
3. Were stool tests available for gastro health? Analysis and treatment for loose stools and/or parasites/worms?
Thanks so much for watching and for these excellent, thought-provoking questions!
(1) Probably Chiang Mai again for the same battery of tests. We were very happy with Kevin's surgery in Serbia and wouldn't hesitate to return for another surgery. We have no experience in how well a full healthcare checkup would have been, but we think it probably would have been comparable. What we preferred about Chiang Mai was that it was just a little bit better in its attentiveness to patient comfort. Kevin ended up not getting lunch after his surgery, and I don't think we left the hospital until around 4pm. It worked out fine, but the inclusion of a snack for us both during our day of healthcare was a nicety we both enjoyed. I also got a gift card for Starbucks that covered a cup of coffee and a pastry that we used the next day. So they both provided good care, but Chiang Mai was a little more attentive to our comfort.
(2) Yes, paying by Visa was no problem at all.
(3) We didn't talk about stool tests because we didn't know the comfort level of our viewers about that, but stool and urine tests were included. In fact mine came back with a small anomaly which I am attributing to some sketchy food we've eaten while we've been in Southeast Asia. The doctor suggested that I get it rechecked in a few months. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie I'm currently in Thailand and suffering from Asia belly, which is the reason I asked. 🎉 Thanks again for the excellent video
@@flutingaround So sorry you are dealing with it! And yes, you can get your stool tested and get on a protocol for getting some relief. Good luck. -Judy
Hello from Bangkok! Great video you two. Glad to hear you are both healthy. Stephanie and I (Chris) were both exhausted on your behalf after watching your multiple-day excursions to the clinic. Thanks for sharing your experience. We were fortunate that we completed our checkups and vaccinations before we started our journey in 2022, but we are now considering stopping by Chiang Mai near the end of our 2024 travels to get a basic health screening. We have been so impressed with healthcare overseas. It's amazing how much you can get done without breaking the bank. And I love that they just send your health information electronically. It's such a different experience. -Chris
Enjoy the Khao Soi!
Thanks for watching, Chris and Steph! Our decision to travel full time was partially on a whim. We dealt with a few health issues in 2022 before traveling, but they were time consuming. Also, I had been in a juror in a three-month murder trial and Kevin had to return to office, so we were more jammed up than we had hoped to be before traveling. We didn't have anything super pressing, so this ended up being a great option for us. But it made for a long week of hospital visits and a very short week for content creation, as I'm sure you can relate to! We had Hep A and Hep B shots before traveling to Egypt, but apparently we needed a B booster. We inquired about a cholera booster as well, but they weren't equipped, so we will need to visit a travel doctor for anything else we might need. How are you enjoying Bangkok so far? We opted to spend another week here and canceled our week in Bangkok because of how time consuming these medical appointments are (which are ongoing and we need dentist appointments as well!). Just want to understand how much regret we should have! We have had a lot of Khao Soi, and it's all been really good! So great to have met up with you! -Judy
Bangkok is an amazing city. We should have stayed longer than 6 days, but you never know what to expect until you arrive. It's a completely different vibe compared to Chiang Mai. We have been surprised by how modern the SkyTrain and Metro are. It's just so easy to get around. We also loved Ho Chi Minh City. It's been a whirlwind for us since we prefer slow travel so being in two major cities over the course of two weeks has been an experience. I think you made the right decision staying longer in Chiang Mai. It's so great and you can always visit Bangkok in the future. -Chris
@@388_days We completely understand! And although it's exciting to see so much, it is tiring! We certainly plan to visit more of Southeast Asia, so we're looking forward to including Bangkok when we can give it a bit more time. Where are you headed next? -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie We really enjoyed just relaxing in Chiang Mai and doing a few things here and there. It was definitely not fast paced. Now we're moving at high speed. Our next stop in Surat Thani in central Thailand. We are taking an 8-hour train ride on Wednesday. We will spend 6 days in Surat Thani, and then we will take a ferry to Koh Samui for three weeks of island life. I really hope our schedules align in the future so we can meet up again. That was so fun. -Chris
@@388_days We hope you have a terrific time! I'm not familiar with Surat Thani, so I'll look forward to your episode from there! We would love it if our paths could cross. We have finalized all of our travel until November and December. We want to be in South America in December, but we haven't figured out where, and we are going to try to be somewhere in Italy in November IF we are willing to brave the cold weather! Otherwise, our plans are pretty solid, so happy to line up schedules if we can! -Judy
That’s an excellent with depth information report.
What I heard from good sources that there are only two hospitals in Thailand that you can trust more,
with international experience medical staff.
I hope you all in a good health now.
Good luck in your next trip.💐
We felt very comfortable with the level of care we received. We are waiting on the results of my biopsy, but otherwise we are doing great! Thanks for watching. -Judy
Thank you very much God bless you🤚🏼
Same to you, Martha. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Very helpful! Thank you!
Thank you so much for watching! We are so grateful to be able to access good, safe, and affordable medical care outside of the US. We hope it puts our fellow travelers and would-be travelers at ease to know that it's not scary and is very accessible! -Judy
🎥 Thailand video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF3cqPH8_O_WDVYgoT13KJRq.html
Very useful info, especially for those living in countries without good healthcare and/or with exorbitant prices! Will share with my families and friends.
Thank you so much for watching and for your comment. Our healthcare services were quite comprehensive, and although the price wasn't cheap, it's so much better than it could have been. Our health insurance costs us $5780 per year (for both of us combined), which is reasonably low for our ages. The cost of the services we got was still very affordable when you factor in our insurance premiums. Thank you for sharing our video to people who might find it useful! -Judy
Hi Judy, what you pay for both of you in the US is quite affordable in US standards. FYI, I am 57 and pay about the same (only myself) for my Swiss insurance with a deductible of CHF2,500…many people retire without factoring the costs of insurances. Also, as one gets older, you may prefer to have additional aid, whether is just a weekly grocery trip or daily house chores. SE Asia is very common and affordable to hire maids to do this for you, but forget about NAmerica or Europe.
Bear in mind that this is not US healthcare. It’s for full time travel primarily outside of the US. It severely limits how much healthcare we are eligible for while in the US. I am working on obtaining Italian dual citizenship, which should help when we are ready to settle down someday a long time from now! -Judy
I hope you will get the Dual Citizenship soon 💪! And this US Global Tax thing is also scary, even if you don't own any assets or earn income in the US! Take care and look forward to your next video! Hello to Kevin! @@FindingGinaMarie
@@sroche2552 Thank you so much! And Kevin also says hello! -Judy
Happy both of you are A OK!
Thank you so much! We are happy too. It gave us a lot of peace of mind to have a thorough baseline. We want to be healthy enough to travel for a very, very long time to come! -Judy
Amazing video! Thank you for sharing all of this. Very kind of both of you to show all this to the world. That was amazing getting everything done within 4 days! Wow that would have been so much more even with great insurance in the USA, as you both know 😮. Do you recommend any world travel health insurance that you started since traveling or do you just have your plan from the the USA?Also, just starting to watch all your videos since my husband & I found your channel yesterday... but your story 😊 is wonderful about finding your family 🎉 thank you for sharing
Hi Carolann, we are a little weird in this way. When I had to have some of the additional tests done, it actually made me a little glad that we could share more of the inner workings of our process in the hope it could be valuable to others. We were very glad that there was nothing to worry about in the end, of course! We use Cigna global travel health insurance. It costs us around $5700 for both of us combined, which we pay yearly. It's got a deductible of around $3K, and although Kevin has had surgery in Serbia (linked below), we haven't needed it. Our costs here were too low for it to kick in, either. The insurance is for peace of mind if there is any major medical event, but for the services we've been getting, it's so much cheaper than what our insurance premiums and costs would be in the US.
Thank you for watching our early videos and our back stories. Words cannot adequately express how incredible it was to find my birth family and have them be so welcoming. We'll be in the US midyear to celebrate my birth mother's birthday and also to celebrate with my two half sisters. I've met them, but it will be the first time for us all to travel together and spend time together. It's been such a gift. Thank you so much for watching and for taking the time to leave us this heartwarming comment! -Judy
Surgery in Serbia: th-cam.com/video/A2ps2BawyGw/w-d-xo.html
Great video, great information. I would just cringe at the thought of what that would cost in the USA without insurance. Nevermind, probably $20 grand if you could even figure out how to get it done.
You're exactly right, Jay and Sarah! At one point I was starting to get worried at how much the costs might be racking up, but then I was hearing prices and then we just had to shake our heads at how affordable it all was going to be. Of course, $2K is still an expense, but when we consider how much it could cost, our minds were blown, especially when we were dealing with specialists. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Wow, I was surprised how expensive that all was. I live in one of the most expensive countries in the world and it was on par with our local costs...maybe even a bit more. I've been putting things off until we arrive in Thailand but now I see I should just get it all done here! Thanks for the video, it was very informative.
Do you really think that was expensive, Deby? We could have gotten less testing done and some of the costs include seeing specialists (cardiologist, liver specialist, CT scan, 24-hour heart monitor, bone density testing, upper body ultrasound. We had an extensive battery of tests for both Kevin and me-all done over the course of three days with virtually no wait time between appointments. I know for sure that all that would have cost significantly more in the US. What country are you in that you think the cost would have been cheaper? Thank you so much for watching and for taking the time for us to talk through this. -Judy
Looking forward to your Thailand videos!
We are excited to bring you them. But first Cambodia! Thanks so much for watching! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie great 👍
@murab18 And so glad that these are coming through now, Varun! ♥️
@@FindingGinaMarie Me too, Judy!
echocardiogram is important as well for cardio. It's easy, just an ultrasound
Thanks for this suggestion. They did an echo of my abdomen, but not my heart. I'll follow up at some later point to verify things are still all in order and specifically ask for this! Thank you also for watching, Toby. -Judy
Hello There, great video. Thank you. could you please let me know which insurance company you use? Premium. Which countries it covers? Thank you.
Sure thing, Hannah, thanks for watching! We have a global health policy with Cigna and we pay an annual premium of $5,781 that covers both of us for a year. We have a fairly high deductible of $3K, which keeps our premiums down. We primarily have this insurance for catastrophic healthcare issues versus everyday doctor appointments. It covers everywhere in the world, but you cannot be in the US for healthcare for more than three months. Happy to answer any other questions you may have! -Judy
Interesting aspects to experiencing Thailand! Curious: Why the backwards signage? Some sort of proprietary / privacy concern?
Great question, Scott! We are not adept at using our front camera of our phones, so this was the selfie side of our iPhone camera, which reverses the text that's behind us. We need to work on our front-camera skills! We ended up extending our time here in Thailand by an extra week since we are losing time to all these medical appointments. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Love your videos. ❤ I particularly find the heathcare videos informative. 😊 I am curious as to how your health care in Thailand stacks up to, say, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Would you consider doing a round of future tests and screening in Kuala Lampur? Or even just retaking some of the tests that you were disappointed with, like a stress test in Malaysia, just to compare notes? Just a suggestion but I would love to see that.
Hi Paula, We might consider doing that in a future year, but we weren't necessarily feeling Malaysia this year. I know their medical tourism is supposed to be good, but we opted to be here for what we had done instead. Which does say something versus never having considered it. But we wouldn't rule it out. Thanks for watching and for the interesting idea! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Wherever you go, whatever you do, I wish you health and happiness! 🩷🌻
@@pauladuncanadams1750 Thank you so much, Paula! We appreciate you and wish you the same! -Judy
Would you feel confident having major surgery in Thailand, at the medical centres you were in?
Absolutely. We felt completely comfortable and felt that the doctors were very competent. Plus we wouldn't be worrying about whether we'd be paying for the surgery for the rest of our lives like we might in the US. We briefly mention Kevin's hernia repair surgery in Serbia if you want to check it out. -Judy
Surgery in Serbia: th-cam.com/video/A2ps2BawyGw/w-d-xo.html
Interesting 🤔👍 Funny I can't remember the moment that medical tourism popped in my mind as a " Cool, I want to learn more about this"...😮😅😂😊
But thanks for sharing this. 👍
Not bad but do you think it would have been more thorough in a bigger city. 🤔
I was going to ask about the vaccinations.
When you can save a bunch of cash by doing it outside the US, suddenly it becomes more interesting! Kevin also had a hernia surgery in Serbia that cost significantly less than it would have in the US and it also was handled in an amount of time that the US could never match for a non-emergency surgery. -Judy
🎥 Surgery in Serbia: th-cam.com/video/A2ps2BawyGw/w-d-xo.html
Living in California, everything here is four months out. Except maybe your primary, but all they really do anyway is just send you to someone else.
That sounds about right, Paula. The US is not really geared to doing a full battery of tests like this and all the followup the way we received it (the very next day). Kevin had some excellent healthcare through the Apple Wellness Center, but even they didn't have specialists. If he would have needed to see a specialist, he would have been given a name and a referral and it would have taken at least a month or two after scheduling it himself to be seen and get results. This was a very high-touch, condensed experience, and it was very helpful for us to have done it this way. -Judy
Hi, dis they mention maybe a check for sleep apnoea for you with the stop of breathing for 1.4 seconds ?
Hi Loukia, No, they didn't think it has anything to do with sleep apnea because the pause happened during a time when I was awake. There were a few anomalies, but nothing they were overly concerned about right now, thankfully. Thanks for asking and for watching our video! -Judy
Thats good to hear!
@user-js3in8lh4c Overall, we have been very relieved at all the outcomes!
American healthcare should be like this!
We completely agree! Thanks for watching, Susan! -Judy
do you have an international-global health insurance policy?
Hi Jada, yes we do. We pay about $5500 per year to cover both of us (ages 59 and 61). It’s a Cigna global health Silver Plan, and we have a $3000 deductible. Nothing we have needed to have done has required us to hit our deductible, so we’ve been payingout of pocket. We have looked at other plans, but for our age and full-time travel, we haven’t found anything cheaper or better.
This type of billing system is the way it SHOULD be in America, but unfortunately we are beholden to big pharma who controls our medical system, which results in lack of transparency in pricing, unequal pricing depending on your insurance, tremendous overpricing, and unnecessary tests and procedures all because of big pharma. Our system SHOULD be motivated in prevention, but instead it’s motivated by the every loving $ and creating slaves to big pharma. It’s a sad state of affairs here in the US. When my son had his accident in China and was in the hospital for 3 weeks in an ICU for most of the time and included surgery on his head (removing a portion of his skull to allow for drainage and reduce swelling, the system was a pay-as-you-go system and while it was a bit difficult to come up with all the $ that was involved, the grand total was around the equivalent of $12,000 USD, which if it had been in the US would have been well over $100,000.
Hi Rebecca, Your son's situation was scary and I still can't imagine how you all managed to deal with that level of trauma. You are right about Big Pharma and it's disgusting. We are learning from some of our viewers that no country is perfect and that greed always niggles its way into healthcare in some way. But we are glad this option exists and that we can take advantage of it! -Judy
Thank you very much. Good that you are in good health 👍! Do you mind telling us what your insurance is (I am also from the US) and what the premium is. I haven't retired yet but am already worrying about healthcare costs here. Also, I did a dental cleaning and exam in Hungary, which is very famous for dentistry. Happy Travels!
We are on a Cigna global health insurance policy that we pay annually. For both of us combined, we pay $5,781. Our deductible is high ($3K), but we use it primarily for catastrophic health issues. So far anything we've had done has cost less than our deductible. I've heard that about Hungary. So glad you had a great experience! Thank you for watching and the great question! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Thank you for sharing again!
Just wondering if you got your mammogram
Hi Eileen! Yes, I did. I also had a Pap smear and an abdominal ultrasound. Overall, I felt that it was a very thorough exam! Thanks so much for watching! -Judy
Hello.
I suppose if you were American, you might find the amount of money that you paid for your services in Thailand. Interesting.
As I am in Canadian, I wouldn’t have to pay for any of those procedures in Canada. Our healthcare system isn’t the greatest we times in yours are really high now, but at least we don’t have to worry about paying for things. if I go to my regular family doctor and she wants to send me her bloodwork or an ultrasound. I don’t have to pay for it. Or let’s say, for instance, I want to be in the hospital after car accident I don’t have to pay for it. Our healthcare system is funded by, our taxes and the federal government and provincial government so we’re sick or very ill. We don’t have to worry about how much things cost we just get the procedures done.
In the US we still have to pay a deductible before our insurance covers anything, and our monthly premiums are very expensive, unless our employer covers them. Being retired means that healthcare is outrageously expensive because every step in the process has built in middle men and a lot of greed for shareholders and the people at the top of the organizations.
Certain people in the US are somewhat dismissive of Canadian healthcare because they always "know one person" who had to wait forever for a procedure. In the US the wait times for certain specialists can be four to six months. Is that any better in Canada? What also surprised us here in Thailand was that these tests and appointments with specialists all were done in such a compressed time frame. We are very open-minded and interested to hear what's working in healthcare for other countries. Thanks for watching. -Judy
I need to see a specialist last year, and yes, it did take six months to see him. I don’t know about waiting for procedures as I haven’t had any surgeries. Well, except for my eye surgeries back in 2021 I really didn’t have to wait long, but maybe that was because Covid was on the go, and people were afraid to come to the hospitals. I have my eye surgery very quickly. I think I only waited maybe two weeks.
We are glad you've had great healthcare. It's great that you can get prompt attention in a country with publicly funded healthcare. Thanks for sharing your experiences. -Judy
Hey i like your videos , I send you a email ,
Hi Adelina, I responded to you via email. Hopefully it will help you. Thanks for watching! -Judy
❤❤❤
Thank you so much for watching! -Judy