Medical Care in Thailand

The boys were sick again last week and this meant another trip to the local medical clinic. Medical care in Thailand is a bit different to that in Australia. First, they don't have appointments so it is first in first served at the clinic. Most clinics in Lopburi open only after 5:30pm because during the day the doctors work at the local hospital and then open their clinics to make more money. So we went with the boys to the clinic at 5:20pm and generally there are at least 3 other people waiting near the entrance. This clinic is popular because the lady doctor is a paeditrician. By the time the clinic opens (around 5:30pm) there are usually around 5 children waiting and their parents. When the door opens it is a rush to the pad of paper where you put your child's name and wieght on and this determines the order the children are seen. You don't pay for seeing the doctor but only the medicines she prescribes. So our youngest came out with 4 bottles of medicines for his bronchitis. An antibotic, a mucolytic, ventolin and panadol. This was about 160 baht or just over $5! At least the medical care is very cheap. Also, all the pharmacies sell all types of medicine without a prescription. So when we spilled a bit of the antibotic and needed some more the chemist was happy to just give us another bottle.