Hospitals in Thailand
Private hospitals have 8-bed wards as well as very luxurious private rooms. Doctors visit three times a day on average, whether you go privately or not. They see you before they start their patient surgeries, then after lunch before their afternoon appointments, and finally before they go home for the evening. Emergency doctors are on hand throughout the night.
Nursing care is faultless. Caring comes naturally to a Thai. Examples of uneaten meals being removed because a patient can’t self-feed are unheard of. A Thai would have difficulty understanding that such incidents are not uncommon in western hospitals. The patient-staff ratio varies between 6:1 and 12:1 depending on how many beds are occupied. Unless there is a serious road traffic accident or a natural disaster, beds are always available.
Private and public hospitals encourage friends to visit and stay overnight.
A member of the family is encouraged to stay with the patient overnight and a flatbed is provided. Visits during the day do not suffer restrictions and can be of psychological benefit. Thais love talking and gossiping. They also know when the patient needs rest and quiet.
Friends and colleagues often come in groups, and it became clear that they see it as an automatic cultural response rather than as a duty. Thais see hospital visits, funerals, house-warmings, and other functions as a chance to socialise with friends and neighbours, and to show a caring attitude.
Some fruit and snacks are routinely brought. You may see your acquaintances more at functions and situations such as being ill in hospital than at organised dinner parties.
In the West you entertain your friends at home, and they reciprocate. In Thailand, Thais often meet up with people they know outside their own homes, normally at a restaurant. In this case, they meet around a hospital bed. Your visitors may bring food for themselves so that they can share a meal with you. It’s a social occasion.
The main downside of the State hospital system in Thailand.
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