Hospitals in Bangkok

Hospitals in Bangkok
A list of hospitals or medical service providers in Bangkok that I have been to, with some comments. All within 5 km of Sathorn/Silom. My focus is on general medicine, vaccinations and STD.

Bangkok Christian Hospital
Would be my recommendation for reasonable price and good service catering to foreigners.

BNH Bangkok Nursing Home
Already from walking past I can tell it will be expensive. But I had a recommendation from a friend for a doctor who works there, so I went once. Reception and interior decoration like a 5-star-hotel. And such are the prices! Later I found that the medicine I got there costs 5 times as in pharmacies elsewhere.

Mission Hospital
Similar to Bangkok Christian Hospital, I went following a recommendation for a doctor.

Chulalongkorn Hospital
With my hand swelling from broken bone (which I didn't know at that time, before going to hospital, previous post https://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2023/08/quiz-what-happened.html), I asked friends where I should go and two recommended Chulalongkorn Hospital. Great views of Lumpini park and former Dusit Thani hotel. Waiting area is (German: wie im Bahnhof, direct translation: like in a railway station, meaning people are coming and going, announcements are made, hubbub/pandemonium/turmoil). There can be 100 people, some on wheelchairs or stretchers, and their family in the waiting room. No complaints about service and prices, I guess the best value for money you can get in central Bangkok.

Thai Travel Clinic
In 2021/22 I went on a vaccination spee from rabies to HPV. HPV vaccine Gardasil 9 is rather expensive, Thai Travel Clinic was the 5,593 THB per injection, three needed. And their website https://www.thaitravelclinic.com is the most clear of all I have come across in the search for cheapest Gardasil 9. They are not out for a sale: I mentioned on two visits to two different doctors that I want to get vaccinated for meningitis (required for Hajj - not on my bucket list -, and recommended for gays after recent outbreaks in California) but they advised against and I followed their advise.
https://www.chprc.org/news/why-arent-gay-men-getting-a-meningitis-vaccination/

Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute
Snake farm is on their grounds. I was looking for Yellow Fever vaccination. It's in their list, but not available when I asked in person.
https://saovabha.org/service_saovabha/Available-vaccines-in-our-Clinic_2021

Pulse Clinic Silom
I have been going there for my annual or bi-annual (here in the sense of twice per year) STI test. But after discovering that Gardasil 9 is cheaper in Thai Travel Clinic, I went to look for other cheaper places for STI testing.
https://www.pulse-clinic.com/pcr-dna-test-for-14-infections
PCR for 14 Infections (STD Multiplex) Online results 7 days 4450.-

Thai Red Cross
I had been to Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre near Lumpini park about 10 years ago, but found registration and waiting areas confusing.

Pripta Tangerine Clinic
I was searching for a cheaper, but still catering to foreigners and in Silom area, alternative to Pulse and came across Pripta in Chamchuri Square. Good views of Rama 4 road and Wat Hua Lamphong.
https://pribta-tangerine.com/en/pribta-home-en/our-service-en/
Multiplex PCR for 11 STIs 2,400

Bumrungrad Hospital
No personal experience, but from reputation and location I would guess that you can get treated cheaper elsewhere. The following quote confirms my assumptions:
https://www.stickmanbangkok.com/readers-submissions/2023/02/around-the-traps-in-southeast-asia-part-24/
Six days later I was on the plane to Bangkok and, although the swelling had reduced, there was still a good deal of pain and redness around the knee. After checking into the Nana Thai Mansion (a good budget hotel at the bottom of Sukhumvit Soi 4) I made a beeline to Bumrungrad Hospital, a place which is notorious for up-selling. I should’ve known better. Why I went there, I’ll never know. Possibly because it’s close to the accommodation area of lower Sukhumvit and is easy to access. When I went up to the 15th floor to check in, the place was jam-packed with Arabs all paying over the top prices for medication they probably didn’t need. After a bit of waiting time, and the scam “blood pressure check,” I was ushered into a ward and attended to by a doctor who seemed clueless. After a bit of prodding around the knee he announced, he was going to prescribe me another week of antibiotics and book me in for an ultrasound scan on the leg. When I inquired as to why I need the ultrasound, I was told I might have thrombosis as well as an infection. The price of the ultrasound was quoted at 9,500 THB. It was then and there that I determined I’d never go back to Bumrungrad Hospital.

A friend does all his medical business in Bumrungrad. He has health insurance, so price is not an issue, and he trusts their placement among the 150 best hospitals of the world.

Rutnin Eye Hospital
No personal experience, but a friend advised against going there because they have been resting on their laurels for decades and you can get same or better service for cheaper elsewhere.
Update: https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?23132-Eyeglass-Recommendations&p=295602&viewfull=1#post295602

Pharmacies
I do most of my business in those on Rama 4 opposite Chulalongkorn Hospital. A friend is vary of buying medicine in Asia and brings everything from Germany. I have no such concerns, everything I bought was effective. Even the few cases I bought ED medicine on the street in Pattaya, worked fine.

Medical service Thailand vs. Germany
I try to do all my doctor/hospital visits in Thailand. It's cheaper than in Germany and you get served quicker and it's closer. To see a dermatologist, my father had to wait 2 months for an appointment and travel 50 km a few years go (would be the same now)!

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