Maarten Vasbinder lives in Isaan. His profession is general practitioner, a profession that he mainly practiced in Spain. On Thailandblog he answers questions from readers who live in Thailand.
Do you have a question for Maarten and do you live in Thailand? Send this to the editor: www.thailandblog.nl/contact/ It is important that you provide the correct information such as:
- Age
- Complaints)
- History
- Medication use, including supplements, etc.
- Smoking, alcohol
- Overweight
- Optional: laboratory results and other tests
- Possible blood pressure
You can send photos to [email protected] everything can be done anonymously, your privacy is guaranteed.
Dear Martin,
I am a man who will be 69 years old and currently a candidate for an AAA infrarenal procedure with an sGFR between 30 and 25,5. There is a very good chance that after an abdominal or endovascular procedure I will have to undergo hemodialysis, 3 times a week.
Now my question of course: is there reasonable access to dialysis in Thailand, also in Isaan more specifically Nakhon Phanom and what are the estimated costs of treatment, if any?
If not possible, we will never be able to travel to Thailand again! The only hope is then a transplant and not easily allowed in Belgium given the past lifestyle: smoking, even if that is at least up to 3 a day.
Hopefully a positive answer. In anticipation much respect for your column.
Regards,
P.
Dear P,
I passed this question on to the readers, because I honestly have no idea.
If you have to pay yourself, you should count on a minimum of 400.000 Baht per year. There may be additional costs for medicines, complications, etc.
No doubt there are readers with experience in this.
Sincerely,
Dr. Maarten
Do you have a question for Maarten and do you live in Thailand? Send this to the editor: www.thailandblog.nl/contact/ It is important that you provide the correct information (see list at the top of the page).
Dear P,
My wife's mother does hemodialysis 3 times a week. In the early days we paid for it ourselves. Now she falls within the standard Thai insurance and fortunately everything is reimbursed.
She went to a small clinic right next to the Maya shopping mall in Chiang Mai. The first time costs were about 2500 baht due to the purchase of some personal equipment, but after that it was a fixed 1800 baht per time.
This is undoubtedly the same for Thai and farang.
And a quick google shows that Anutin in Nov. 2020 opened a dialysis center in Nakhon Phanom
Dear P.
the question you ask is a very serious one and, since Dr Maarten forwards it to the readers, I take the liberty of answering you.
First of all: kidney dialysis is very accessible in Thailand. In the medical field, there is no problem here in Thailand.
The question is: how long do you want to come to Thailand? As a 'tourist', for example for a month or longer to visit family? If this is the case, you must decide for yourself whether you can bear those temporary costs yourself or not.
The answer above from Hans with a price tag of, say 2000THB is for the Thais and not, as he assumes, for the Farangs. After all, the Thai people can appeal to the 30THB rule and can insure themselves against other costs, such as additional medication costs. You, as a foreigner, cannot appeal to this and will therefore also have to pay the lying costs per admission (3x per week) plus the cost of medicine. So I would rather rely on the price of 400.000THB/y which Dr Maarten specifies. You will be able to take out hospitalization insurance here, but you can count on it that an 'existing condition' will be excluded.
Appealing to the Belgian health insurance will, unfortunately, despite the fact that you are insured 'worldwide' as a social security paying pensioner, will pose a problem. One of the crucial conditions for reimbursement is that the admission or care received must be 'URGENT', which is not the case in your case, as you leave with a known problem and your medical history is known to the Belgian health insurer.
So I can only give you advice: contact the NIHDI, which can be done via your health insurance fund, and ask the question there. However, I fear that the answer will be: you must have yourself treated in Belgium, then we will reimburse you.
I'm sorry to have to give you this answer, but that's the reality.
Dear Lung Addie,
As explicitly stated, in the period that we paid ourselves, so outside the 30 baht insurance, we paid the standard price. This is undoubtedly the same for Thai and farang.
After that, since she went the official way of health care here, she is now within the 30 baht scheme, and is reimbursed.
But the only way to know for sure is to call or email the local hospital.
There are 2 host hospitals that provide peritoneal dialysis services: Nakhon Phanom Hospital and Sri Songkhram Hospital.
At the bottom of the page are email and phone number.
http://www.nkphospital.go.th/
http://www.sskhospital.net/index.php/map
And also ask them if there is a local clinic, as I estimate that for a similar price this will be a slightly more pleasant experience.
Sri Songkhram is no more, it has now been merged with Dr. Chularat's clinic. Nakhon Phanom hospital and clinic provide dialysis services. The costs for a Farang and a Thai are the same in the clinic, I speak from experience. In 2018, before I was transplanted, I paid Bahr 2500 per time with a new artificial kidney each time.
Before my transplant, I had dialysis 3 times a week for 1 1/2 years in Nakhon Phanom in Dr. Chularat's dialysis clinic. The costs I incurred were Baht 2500 each time because I wanted a new artificial kidney each time. If you get an artificial kidney that is cleaned and reused afterwards, it will be much cheaper. The artificial kidney is used until the cleansing function falls below a certain percentage. The clinic is clean and the staff knowledgeable. The doctor also has consultation hours there. Definitely worth recommending.