News Forum - Final arguments Tuesday on dual pricing suit against Health Ministry

[stuhan]

16 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

Yet you choose to live in a country that won't grant you any status but get bent out of shape because you have to pay a 100baht more

Way to take a stand!  5555

Yes correct,that's my opimion and sticking with it, suggest you do the same and don't judge others opinions.It has nothing to do with status either.

[Paco]

We all know Thailand is a discriminating country, it is funny because they want to be better like Europe etc. But they still discriminating against foreigners, while a Thai living abroad does not have the issue of paying the double, as well we all know the way of thinking of this unreliable, and liar of a  

Some examples:

Foreigners are dirty

Train station not over crowded

Etc.

This guy Is a nightmare with the face of CHUCKY .. I have 100000% disrespect for this brainless...CLOWN 

 

In the mean time with his brainless talking and thinking he is educating the Thai to discriminate.. 

 

Welcome in Thailand, but we do not like you only your wallet and we will throw it in your face...

Edited September 18, 2021 by Paco

[Concerned]

I Dare You To Publish This  /////  Guys, You All as Thick as bricks.  You dont Get the Dutch sense Of Humor.  The Goat Herder is Heading to Court ,with the GOATS

[thai3]

3 years ago we went into a local hospital for the price of a full check up, went into detail to nail the cost down- 7k baht, Mrs did not let on it was for me. Next week we went in for it, price had gone up to 11k baht. They offered 9k after some argument but we refused. After over an hour of them phoning up higher people they agreed to 7k but insisted they were losing money on it!

[Marc26]

2 hours ago, stuhan said:

Yes correct,that's my opimion and sticking with it, suggest you do the same and don't judge others opinions.It has nothing to do with status either.

So you say it has nothing to do with money.

It's the principal of it.

Yet you choose to live your entire life with zero status in a country .

 

I would say it has a lot to do with the extra 100 baht 5555

[Marc26]

10 minutes ago, thai3 said:

3 years ago we went into a local hospital for the price of a full check up, went into detail to nail the cost down- 7k baht, Mrs did not let on it was for me. Next week we went in for it, price had gone up to 11k baht. They offered 9k after some argument but we refused. After over an hour of them phoning up higher people they agreed to 7k but insisted they were losing money on it!

Are local hospitals profit centers? I highly doubt they are

So they probably are losing money on providing you the same price as a Thai citizen 

Because they probably don't make money off of Thai citizens

A local hospital is a public service 

[Marc26]

59 minutes ago, yetanother said:

"But fees start to climb significantly at the third tier for people on non-immigrant visas like working foreigners and expats. And dual pricing is evident as costs often skyrocket for the fourth tier which includes international tourists and those who are retired in Thailand."

{emphasis added}

prime example why many of us , long retired here, heavily contributing to the thai economy and society feel treated as second-class citizens

But you are 2nd class, well not a citizen

You literally choose to be

 

Nothing wrong with that at all

I may be one also in the future

But you guys all willingly chose to move to a country that outwardly doesn't give you status and then complain you aren't treated properly 

 

Just think about that for a second

They were telling you all along and you agreed to it.....

[Bob20]

Just sharing this for balance.

Went into Ram (private) Hospital after a fall.

Registration, health check (BP etc.) by a nurse. Was seen by a orthopaedic surgery consultant who sent me for 3 digital x-rays. Was seen by the consultant again. No need to find your way through the hospital as a nurse will accompany you at all times.

Afterwards, off to the admin department. I was prepared for a shock!

But it actually cost 1/10th of the costs in Europe, with first class service and virtually no waiting anywhere. I didn't even bother to claim it back from my insurance, but kept the receipt as my friends had a hard time believing it.

Not all is bad...

[KaptainRob]

2 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

So you say it has nothing to do with money.

It's the principal of it.

Yet you choose to live your entire life with zero status in a country .

I would say it has a lot to do with the extra 100 baht 5555

I may disagree with you there old mate, not for the 1st time.  I took visitors to the botanical gardens and were told the prices for 1 x Thai & 3 x farangs.  I objected, "saying I live here and I'm bringing visitors, shall I just wait in the car as I'm not paying extra to (re) visit this attraction"

The official relented and said, "oh ok driver go free with car price" ... not nice to be treated like this and I would have happily stayed out in the car, on principle.

Will never take visitors there again anyway, it's gone downhill since our 1st visit.

[MrStretch]

7 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

Are local hospitals profit centers? I highly doubt they are

So they probably are losing money on providing you the same price as a Thai citizen 

Because they probably don't make money off of Thai citizens

A local hospital is a public service 

Yes, you're right.  This lawsuit is about the prices at GOVERNMENT hospitals.

Lately, I have been using a Bangkok Hospital in my city, the prices are published on their little advertising flyers and no higher for me than a local (though higher than a government hospital - quality of care, and all that).

[Marc26]

3 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

I may disagree with you there old mate, not for the 1st time.  I took visitors to the botanical gardens and were told the prices for 1 x Thai & 3 x farangs.  I objected, "saying I live here and I'm bringing visitors, shall I just wait in the car as I'm not paying extra to (re) visit this attraction"

The official relented and said, "oh ok driver go free with car price" ... not nice to be treated like this and I would have happily stayed out in the car, on principle.

Will never take visitors there again anyway, it's gone downhill since our 1st visit.

But you don't see my point KR?

 

You say it's not nice being treated that way when your whole life there is based on not being treated equal

 

I'm not ragging on anyone living there.

I may do so in the future.

But everyone acts as if this is some surprise 

You all knew this when you chose to live there 

 

[KaptainRob]

1 minute ago, KaptainRob said:

I may disagree with you there old mate, not for the 1st time.  I took visitors to the botanical gardens and were told the prices for 1 x Thai & 3 x farangs.  I objected, "saying I live here and I'm bringing visitors, shall I just wait in the car as I'm not paying extra to (re) visit this attraction"

The official relented and said, "oh ok driver go free with car price" ... not nice to be treated like this and I would have happily stayed out in the car, on principle.

Will never take visitors there again anyway, it's gone downhill since our 1st visit.

Ram is my goto hospital if ever needed, they have a good rep compared with the others, especially the big one on SuperHighway.

 

[Bob20]

14 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

I took visitors to the botanical gardens and were told the prices for 1 x Thai & 3 x farangs.  I objected, "saying I live here and I'm bringing visitors, shall I just wait in the car as I'm not paying extra to (re) visit this attraction"

The official relented and said, "oh ok driver go free with car price" ... not nice to be treated like this and I would have happily stayed out in the car, on principle.

Will never take visitors there again anyway, it's gone downhill since our 1st visit.

The official is doing as he's told...

And there's no hiding that we're foreigners, even with a   

What I now do when we get to a booth, is just show my Thai driving license straight away before they have a chance to say anything and get charged the Thai price. The official knows immediately, avoids the discussion and doesn't have to retreat.

[Lamyong]

Following with keen interest as,the principle stands,expensive ops are exponentially more financially punitive to Expats..immoral profiteering or exploitative greed?..#BOTH

[KaptainRob]

2 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

You all knew this when you chose to live there 

Actually no, I didn't.   The amount of money charged is not my concern, it's the discrimination or apparent rip-off at tourist attractions where ONE price could be displayed with a discount allowed for residents ... that method is fair and should not have to argued.

As for other double-pricing, I can't comment as I have no direct experience.  

[Haole.TH]

5 hours ago, Marc26 said:

There is dual pricing all over the world 

Residents and citizens get all sort of discounts on museums, parks, transportation, ski mountains

Pick any country and I guarantee you will find instances where they have resident/city discounts at all types of attractions

Why don't you give some examples and list the country?  Especially since you guarantee it ... 
The only area I can think of is non-residents in US Universities pay more.  This also includes US citizens from other states in some cases.

Medical is a strange area.  If you are in an accident they will take you to the closest hospital which can most likely be a Gov Hospital out in the boonies.  No choice.  If you are walking in to have a procedure / operation done then you do have a choice.

[Bob20]

20 minutes ago, Lamyong said:

Following with keen interest as,the principle stands,expensive ops are exponentially more financially punitive to Expats..immoral profiteering or exploitative greed?..#BOTH

In England the NHS is free at point of delivery, but any foreign visitor can't expect the same and otherwise call it discriminatory.

For the same reason, we can't expect subsidised treatment here.

There will be instances that you can shop around for the hospital of your choice, but there will be emergencies when you can NOT... The bills need to be paid just the same.

If you have enough funds to take care of hospital bills, by all means take the risk.

If not, choose insurance.

I wrote a small opinion piece on it some time ago:

 

[Marc26]

8 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

Actually no, I didn't.   The amount of money charged is not my concern, it's the discrimination or apparent rip-off at tourist attractions where ONE price could be displayed with a discount allowed for residents ... that method is fair and should not have to argued.

As for other double-pricing, I can't comment as I have no direct experience.  

You literally singed a contract(visa) that is blinking in red that you don't have any rights or status 

But then complain you have to pay 100baht more to ride the Merry-Go-Round 5555

 

They literally told you guys you were 2nd class "citizens" and you accepted that 

(Nothing wrong in doing that)

 

By they way, and half the guys complaining will also complain how arduous it is/was for their TG to come to their home.

And the exact reason it's more arduous is because they are treated as equal.....

[Marc26]

11 minutes ago, Haole.TH said:

Why don't you give some examples and list the country?  Especially since you guarantee it ... 
The only area I can think of is non-residents in US Universities pay more.  This also includes US citizens from other states in some cases.

Medical is a strange area.  If you are in an accident they will take you to the closest hospital which can most likely be a Gov Hospital out in the boonies.  No choice.  If you are walking in to have a procedure / operation done then you do have a choice.

Where are you from?

I'd imagine I can find some examples 

 

In Canada/US there are tons of resident discounts for all type of attractions

Skiing, museums, camping, transportation 

 

As for medical, I can't say for sure but as I said above, I would gather a public hospital isn't making money treating a Thai patient or very little

So why should they lose or risk losing money for a non-citizen?

[Marc26]

14 minutes ago, Bob20 said:

In England the NHS is free at point of delivery, but any foreign visitor can't expect the same and otherwise call it discriminatory.

For the same reason, we can't expect subsidised treatment here.

There will be instances that you can shop around for the hospital of your choice, but there will be emergencies when you can NOT... The bills need to be paid just the same.

If you have enough funds to take care of hospital bills, by all means take the risk.

If not, choose insurance.

I wrote a small opinion piece on it some time ago:

100% spot on

I can't believe people are calling it greed like Somchai Public Hospital is raking in the cash. 

They more than likely operate at a loss

So they will provide care at a loss for a citizen but not for a foreigner

They want to cover their cost

I don't see how that is unreasonable 

[Bob20]

3 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

100% spot on

I can't believe people are calling it greed like Somchai Public Hospital is raking in the cash. 

They more than likely operate at a loss

So they will provide care at a loss for a citizen but not for a foreigner

They want to cover their cost

I don't see how that is unreasonable 

Yes, I forgot how we all used to work for free

[JudyQ]

I don't mind paying more for tourist events - it is fine to allow the foreigner to pay extra.  Most of us can afford it.  But I disagree on dual pricing for medical treatment.  We should not be the source of income for the unpaid bills of previous foreigners who ditched on their medical bills.  

[Paco]

This is just another way, to give Thailand a bad name with 'ideas' they have and make... and they always try to defend themselves with press releases full of lies.. maybe they should just not do these things and then you do not have to make a lie over a lie over a lie...

[Stonker]

7 hours ago, dimitri said:

 Never saw dual pricing in the EU/Europe. 

Seriously?

You need to get out more, like @stuhan!

Try a search for "dual pricing venice" for dual pricing that puts anything here in the shade for just about anything, even public transport.

The UK's not EU anymore, but arguably still Europe, and British nationals have much easier conditions (just ordinarily resident) for full entitlement to NHS health care than non-Brits even if they're taxpayers.

The one thing Thailand is very easily verifiable as here is NOT an "exception", however much some may like it to be.

[Stonker]

2 hours ago, thai3 said:

3 years ago we went into a local hospital for the price of a full check up, went into detail to nail the cost down- 7k baht, Mrs did not let on it was for me. Next week we went in for it, price had gone up to 11k baht. They offered 9k after some argument but we refused. After over an hour of them phoning up higher people they agreed to 7k but insisted they were losing money on it!

Public or private?

No "full check up" at my local (state) hospital, has ever cost me more than a few hundred baht including blood and urine analysis, x-ray and EKG, and my quarterly "check up" /  chat with the doctor costs me 50 baht.

On Wednesday last, at my regular quarterly check up, the charming and very professional young doctor who told me she wasn't happy with my medication even though I was as it could be better, asked me how long I'd lived in Thailand and then laughed that I was "more Thai" than her as I'd been living here since before she was born.

Gen.