Price confusion , fort Prajak hospital

[Hoopoe]

My friend has just had a spine operation ,plastic inserts,& fusion , on the many discussions on cost's with the surgeon , he was quoted at first , 40,000 bht - 70,000bht , then 40,000bht - 60,000 bht ,then finally NO MORE than 50,000bht , so onward with the operation , on entering the hospital he was asked for 20,000bht up front ,then a further 30,000bht ,and again 20,000bht ,before the op ,so now for the op , the service ,op , room ,food etc all excellent , now time for discharge , the admin came with the med's for out patient care , also two bill's totaling 97,000bht on top of what has already been paid ,which now = 167,000bht , after further discussions this total was reduced to about 130,000bht ,( it's not so much about the money as more about the inaccurate info you get ) , on realising he has not got this money they take the meds of him and refuse to let him out of the hospital untill the bill is paid , (at this point i hasten to add ,his wife is a school teacher ,so most if not all the cost's will be covered ,they have given her teaching license ,& their marriage cert's to the admin far in advance ) so we are at a stalemate , it's Saturday ,the banks are not open , only he can access his bank account , So now his wife has to drive all the way home to get her teaching license and marriage cert , again as admin dont believe it ,on production again of the documents they finally release him some 12 hours later , So beware ,i once quoted 50,000bht for for a knee replacement ,i'm now wondering if that's for everything or just the operation , ON The upside of all this it would seem the procedure has been a success as he's no longer in pain ,only from the operation itself , and is up and about already ,be it very carefully .

[Faraday]

Hmmm... that's a bit concerning.

What did admin say when your friend said he'd been quoted 50k baht, & they asked for more?

My experience there has been only good, with prices quoted as accurate.

I'll pm you.

[gprit]

Probably a good idea to get all quotes (with description of what is being done/provided) IN WRITING beforehand.

[Hoopoe]

Probably a good idea to get all quotes (with description of what is being done/provided) IN WRITING beforehand.

Now i'm/we are aware of this , yes this is the best thing you can do , if i end up going there , I WILL get a full estimate of all costs ,

[Faraday]

I might just email the Surgeon for my proposed Surgery in March, to get a firm quotation.

They have to allow a certain leeway I think; this was explained to me, when I had my last op. But 'leeway' doesn't mean as much as your friend had to pay.

It's all a bit odd, because I had a Cauda Equina injection last week, was quoted a maximum of 3k baht, but when we went to pay they explained as it was so straightforward, the total bill was........

1500..baht!

I'll update this when I get a written quote.

Send your friend my best wishes.

[Hoopoe]

I'll update this when I get a written quote.

Send your friend my best wishes.

Yep something seriously has gone amiss with his costs ,if there are any further developments i'll also up date on it , as this is info for all

[Faraday]

To add to this however....

I have the utmost praise & respect for the Drs & Nurses at the hospital.