Country Article / Postcards

"Lay Off the Mango and Sticky Rice"

Date: 12/31/2003

"Everything that should be easy is difficult; everything that
should be difficult is easy."
-- What expats say about living in Thailand

Dear Reader,

Last week I had my first experience with the healthcare system in Thailand. It was a pleasure.

Thailand is a Mecca for those seeking inexpensive surgery and has a growing "healthcare tourism" industry. When I lived in Bangkok, everyone talked about the high quality of healthcare there, but now that I live in Phuket, a resort island that is decidedly more rural and less developed than The Big Mango, I had no idea what to expect.

I needed to visit a doctor to get a health certificate as part of my applications for a Thai driver's license and a work permit. To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to it. My experience has always been with American-style medical facilities: you sit in a waiting room full of pale people suffering from a myriad of diseases, with an army of runny-nosed children coughing in your face.

When I arrived at Phuket International Hospital, I found an available parking space right up front. I strolled past The Emergency Room following the signs that were printed in Thai and English to "Information". As I walked through a big open-air pavilion, I saw patients in wheelchairs enjoying the fresh air while they munched on tasty looking food and chatted with visitors. I didn't feel like I was on the grounds of a hospital at all.

Nui, a cheerful young English-speaking Thai lady helped me complete a "new patient" form. She invited me inside to an enormous waiting area furnished with leather chairs, stylish coffee tables, and large potted plants.

In five minutes, Nui gave me a laminated numbered card with my vital information on it. She told me to bring this card every time I visited the hospital and they could use it to pull my records and process me accordingly.

A nurse saw me straight away and took my vital signs, height, and weight, and after a few moments, the doctor called me in.

The doctor was an older Thai woman with a demeanor somewhere between grandmother and judge. She asked me a long list of questions, looked down my throat, listened to my heart and breathing and even administered a mini-eye exam. She asked if I liked Thai food and I responded that it was my favorite. She smiled, patted my belly and said, "Lay off the mango and sticky rice". With two quick slams of a rubber stamp, my health certificates were ready and I was on my way. The entire cost was 300 baht ($7.50).

While it wasn't exactly what I would consider a "thorough" examination, I hadn't expected x-rays and blood work for what was basically an administrative action for a driver's license and work permit. I've endured the same type of procedures in the US for various employment and licensing reasons with much more discomfort.

What would have cost at least $50 and taken four hours in the States cost me $7.50 and took 20 minutes in Thailand.

Bart Walters
for International Living