Bumrungrad Hospital – that “marble-floored mecca
of the medical trade” – had 55,000 American patients
in 2005, a 30 percent increase over 2004, according to an
article in the July 31 issue of Time magazine. Total foreign
patients at Bumrungrad in 2005 were 400,000, and Thailand
as a whole is expecting one million medical tourists in 2006
(Thai Day, April 20, 2006).
Bumrungrad regularly draws comments from first-time visitors,
such as, “It’s the most modern hospital I’ve
ever been in my life,” which is what a 60-ish American
residing in Bali said after an annual check-up there. A long-time
Bangkok resident – a fellow scribe and another American
– says it has better facilities than “probably
90 percent of the hospitals in the Midwest.”
This year, my son and I joined the growing stream of US citizens
seeking low-priced quality medical care in Thailand when we
became patients of Bumrungrad, and I recommend it to anyone
in need of medical services. You’ll not find anything
better or more reasonably priced -- unless, of course, you
go to Singapore, India, or Malaysia, where medical entrepreneurship
is also competing to fill the demand for the affordable healthcare
no longer available in the over-priced, bureaucratic, antiquated
medical facilities and systems of the Western world.
For US$1,200, my wife and I had complete physicals and my
son had minor outpatient surgery; that’s right, US$1,200
-- not ten times that amount. And we arranged all the appointments
for ourselves and our son by e-mail, and even had e-mailed
discussions with pediatric specialists about the likely course
of treatment for our son. Bumrungrad also provided estimates
of the surgery and treatments costs, with the actual cost
coming in less than the minimum projected.
The hospital is located between Soi 1 and Soi 3 Sukhumvit
Road, within walking distance from the Nana Skytrain Station,
although a free shuttle service runs between the hospital
and the station every 10-15 minutes. Taxi service from hotels
in the Sukhumvit Road area should be about 50-100 Thai baht.
The Web site www.bumrungrad.com is offered in 14 different
languages, including Japanese, Korean, French, Spanish, Bengali,
Arabic, and English. Also, interpreters are on hand to help
patients in several languages as they negotiate the hallways
and talk with nurses and doctors.
Our own schedule went like this: On a Saturday, we went in
to see the pediatrician and pediatric surgeon and scheduled
surgery for our son for the next Wednesday. On Monday, we
had annual health check-ups for my wife and I; we were finished
and done before the morning was old. Wednesday early, we took
our son in for pre-op, and while he was in recovery, I picked
up the results of our physicals. We were back at the hotel
by noon. From diagnosis to surgical treatment for our son
took four days. Try that in the US, the UK or Canada, or almost
anywhere else in the Western, developed world … and
come away with something left of the bank balance?
For old Asia hands, gone are the days when we had to make
do with one-doctor missionary clinics and the odd Seventh
Day Adventist hospital until home leave brought a chance for
quality medical care. The stream of the diseased and the ill
flows the other way now and some of the best medical care
in the world is only a few hours away. Save trips home for
visitin’.
See Bumrungrad’s Web site at www.bumrungrad.com for
more information on the hospital and to book appointments.
This is the final Bangkok article in this series. Coming up
in the October 25 issue, the ins and outs of getting a visa
done while on ‘home leave.’
