News Forum - Thai woman mistaken for foreigner and charged 100,000 baht more by hospital

[Thaiger]

A Thai woman asked a hospital located in the Pak Kret district of Nonthaburi province, near Bangkok, to explain a 250,000 baht bill related to her four-day medical treatment. The hospital later returned 100,000 baht, acknowledging it had mistaken her for a foreigner. The woman in question was 66 year old Jamlong Ninlakorn, the owner … …

The story Thai woman mistaken for foreigner and charged 100,000 baht more by hospital as seen on Thaiger News.

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[WilliamG]

Only a private hospital would charge that much for treating flu. 

And she should have had mental treatment for not showing her Thai ID card.

But I guess it was a Government hospital if she had a shared room

I just had gall bladder removal via keyhole at P'lok Govt Hospital, 2 days in bed. Total Bht 45,000 !

[Nigel_Farang]

Ah, the old "100,000 baht foreigner's surcharge" scam. Not exactly an endorsement for the Thai medical system.

[BigHewer]

It goes both ways. My wife is often mistaken for a Thai (provided she doesn’t speak) and we have saved  quite a lot on entry fees to various attractions over the years

[WilliamG]

1 hour ago, BigHewer said:

It goes both ways. My wife is often mistaken for a Thai (provided she doesn’t speak) and we have saved  quite a lot on entry fees to various attractions over the years

Do you mean that they treat her in hospital without asking for any formal ID?

[BigHewer]

8 minutes ago, WilliamG said:

Do you mean that they treat her in hospital without asking for any formal ID?

No. Not in hospitals. 

“…we have saved  quite a lot on entry fees to various attractions over the years ”

[WilliamG]

1 minute ago, BigHewer said:

No. Not in hospitals. 

“…we have saved  quite a lot on entry fees to various attractions over the years ”

OK sorry, a misunderstanding. 

[BigHewer]

3 hours ago, WilliamG said:

OK sorry, a misunderstanding. 

No probs

[garyknrd]

5 hours ago, BigHewer said:

It goes both ways. My wife is often mistaken for a Thai (provided she doesn’t speak) and we have saved  quite a lot on entry fees to various attractions over the years

When I was living there a Chinese friend of mine used to laugh all the time. He could not speak any Thai, but always was charged Thai prices as long as he did not speak.

[AdrianHolger]

I am an European and I am proud that this discrimination by nationality is ILLEGAL in Europe.

[bkkmac]

Even the tone of the article endorses the fact to surcharge foreigners. So to be fair, there should be reciprocities.

[Sparrows]

Parallel pricing is just low class, plain and simple

[Vigo]

26 minutes ago, bkkmac said:

Even the tone of the article endorses the fact to surcharge foreigners. So to be fair, there should be reciprocities.

There are. In western countries with state sponsored health insurance, foreign visitors who do not have resident status, or visitors from countries without a reciprocity treaty,  pay higher medical  fees than nationals. For example, a US national is snow boarding with a Canadian friend at Whistler, BC. Both fall and break a leg. The Canadian national is treated without charge at a hospital. The US national must pay whatever fees the hospital and  province have set for the care provided.  If I go to visit a Dutch national friend in Amsterdam and we both get food poisoning and must seek medical care,  my Dutch friend receives free health care. I must pay all medical fees and expenses.  If I become a Dutch resident, I have 4 months to obtain health insurance or I will be fined.

Thai hospitals both public and private are either directly or indirectly subsidized by the Thai public. This can be done through the government paying for infrastructure and services or in the case of private hospitals, through tax policy, grants and subsidizing the education of medical personnel. Therefore, it is not unreasonable that the Thai healthcare system charge non residents a fee for services rendered. in plain language, Thai people have already contributed to their cost of healthcare, and foreign residents have not.

[Vigo]

29 minutes ago, Sparrows said:

Parallel pricing is just low class, plain and simple

No. it is equitable and protects  a country from becoming a dumping ground for the world's ill and diseases.  Two countries demonstrate what happens when there is little screening:  Canada and the UK.  UK and Canadian hospitals cannot refuse to provide healthcare service. Every year, foreigners show up requiring complicated and expensive healthcare. It can be people who stick the countries with the cost of a hospital child birth, or it can be  people who have chronic expensive disease who show up for treatment and when pursued, abscond, or demand refugee status.  Thailand has to be vigilant or else it risks being over run be dead beat Europeans or visitors from countries with no public healthcare.

[Marc26]

3 hours ago, Vigo said:

No. it is equitable and protects  a country from becoming a dumping ground for the world's ill and diseases.  Two countries demonstrate what happens when there is little screening:  Canada and the UK.  UK and Canadian hospitals cannot refuse to provide healthcare service. Every year, foreigners show up requiring complicated and expensive healthcare. It can be people who stick the countries with the cost of a hospital child birth, or it can be  people who have chronic expensive disease who show up for treatment and when pursued, abscond, or demand refugee status.  Thailand has to be vigilant or else it risks being over run be dead beat Europeans or visitors from countries with no public healthcare.

I live in Canada.

They won't refuse service but they are vigilant in going after payment to those who don't have insurance 

 

Although I do find it a bit negligent, on their behalf, that they allow visitors to stay 6 months without having to have any insurance at all

[oldschooler]

3 hours ago, Vigo said:

There are. In western countries with state sponsored health insurance, foreign visitors who do not have resident status, or visitors from countries without a reciprocity treaty,  pay higher medical  fees than nationals. For example, a US national is snow boarding with a Canadian friend at Whistler, BC. Both fall and break a leg. The Canadian national is treated without charge at a hospital. The US national must pay whatever fees the hospital and  province have set for the care provided.  If I go to visit a Dutch national friend in Amsterdam and we both get food poisoning and must seek medical care,  my Dutch friend receives free health care. I must pay all medical fees and expenses.  If I become a Dutch resident, I have 4 months to obtain health insurance or I will be fined.

Thai hospitals both public and private are either directly or indirectly subsidized by the Thai public. This can be done through the government paying for infrastructure and services or in the case of private hospitals, through tax policy, grants and subsidizing the education of medical personnel. Therefore, it is not unreasonable that the Thai healthcare system charge non residents a fee for services rendered. in plain language, Thai people have already contributed to their cost of healthcare, and foreign residents have not.

“……must pay whatever fees the hospital …… have set for the care provided”

Exactly and and there it is. The solution to these problems. If you are covered by govt free healthcare you pay nothing. If not, you are subject to an official tariff of charges which will have nothing to do with nationality.
If you have private health insurance they will review & negotiate the bill and again in principle you pay nothing. Otherwise you must match the hospital price list with your bill and actual treatment ( usual 3 way validation for all invoices in fact).

Therefore it is simply not possible to be liable for arbitrary fabricated  “ surcharges” as these are not on the tariff so easily identified, disputed & withdrawn. 

[Boonmee]

I used to think if a Farang held the Pink Card ID they'd get a break on fees at a government hospital?

[Tippaporn]

I recall when I opened a business here back in '04 needing a full physical.  I walked into a public hospital in Bangkok, was attended to in less than half an hour, and the total bill was 590 baht.  At a time when the exchange rate was USD 1 : THB 43.5.

[bkkmac]

15 hours ago, Vigo said:

There are. In western countries with state sponsored health insurance, foreign visitors who do not have resident status, or visitors from countries without a reciprocity treaty,  pay higher medical  fees than nationals. For example, a US national is snow boarding with a Canadian friend at Whistler, BC. Both fall and break a leg. The Canadian national is treated without charge at a hospital. The US national must pay whatever fees the hospital and  province have set for the care provided.  If I go to visit a Dutch national friend in Amsterdam and we both get food poisoning and must seek medical care,  my Dutch friend receives free health care. I must pay all medical fees and expenses.  If I become a Dutch resident, I have 4 months to obtain health insurance or I will be fined.

Thai hospitals both public and private are either directly or indirectly subsidized by the Thai public. This can be done through the government paying for infrastructure and services or in the case of private hospitals, through tax policy, grants and subsidizing the education of medical personnel. Therefore, it is not unreasonable that the Thai healthcare system charge non residents a fee for services rendered. in plain language, Thai people have already contributed to their cost of healthcare, and foreign residents have not.

I agree with you but point is not about nationals paying less than foreigners, point is the price, in other countries, price is the same whatever your nationality. Why a treatment would cost more for a foreigner than a national?

Actually we shouldn’t even refer to nationality but more about residency: a national living abroad most probably doesn’t participate in the local healthcare system when most foreigner working here do participate. But there are several cases when those foreigners are still charged higher price just because of nationality

[anotherme]

18 hours ago, Vigo said:

There are. In western countries with state sponsored health insurance, foreign visitors who do not have resident status, or visitors from countries without a reciprocity treaty,  pay higher medical  fees than nationals. For example, a US national is snow boarding with a Canadian friend at Whistler, BC. Both fall and break a leg. The Canadian national is treated without charge at a hospital. The US national must pay whatever fees the hospital and  province have set for the care provided.  If I go to visit a Dutch national friend in Amsterdam and we both get food poisoning and must seek medical care,  my Dutch friend receives free health care. I must pay all medical fees and expenses.  If I become a Dutch resident, I have 4 months to obtain health insurance or I will be fined.

Thai hospitals both public and private are either directly or indirectly subsidized by the Thai public. This can be done through the government paying for infrastructure and services or in the case of private hospitals, through tax policy, grants and subsidizing the education of medical personnel. Therefore, it is not unreasonable that the Thai healthcare system charge non residents a fee for services rendered. in plain language, Thai people have already contributed to their cost of healthcare, and foreign residents have not.

Nonsense. I work in Thailand and have paid in all those years way more tax and social premiums than most Thais.  Yet, they charge me double.

[Vigo]

7 hours ago, anotherme said:

Nonsense. I work in Thailand and have paid in all those years way more tax and social premiums than most Thais.  Yet, they charge me double.

Are you a legal resident of Thailand, and are you residing in Thailand for more than a180 days in  the year?

[Boonmee]

On 12/9/2023 at 11:22 AM, Tippaporn said:

I recall when I opened a business here back in '04 needing a full physical.  I walked into a public hospital in Bangkok, was attended to in less than half an hour, and the total bill was 590 baht.  At a time when the exchange rate was USD 1 : THB 43.5.

Yup, that was then and this is now.  Government Hospitals ain't cheap anymore...

[Boonmee]

20 hours ago, anotherme said:

Nonsense. I work in Thailand and have paid in all those years way more tax and social premiums than most Thais.  Yet, they charge me double.

Do you have the Pink Card?  With that ID, the fees are more than what a Thai ID holder pays but still less than 'retail'.

[QECE]

1 hour ago, Boonmee said:

Do you have the Pink Card?  With that ID, the fees are more than what a Thai ID holder pays but still less than 'retail'.

No such beast as a pink card [in essence] any longer. Has no bearing on anything anymore - they ignore all.

The theoretical pink card, among other things, was a clever fabrication to sucker in Farang over and again.

BTW....is that really you, Boonmee? 

[Boonmee]

14 hours ago, QECE said:

No such beast as a pink card [in essence] any longer. Has no bearing on anything anymore - they ignore all.

The theoretical pink card, among other things, was a clever fabrication to sucker in Farang over and again.

BTW....is that really you, Boonmee? 

It's really me!   Veteran of Thai Visa forum going back to when dr. pat pong & George were running the show.  Veteran of Teak Door and Dirty Dog's minions etc.  As the saying goes, it's been real but not especially fun.

As to the Pink Card, there is most definitely such a beast and it's handy for the farang to have. Jing, jing, mai go hok! 

Easier than carrying around a bulky passport