Lamplaimatt hospital

[davureborn]

I have to put the finger on this place. I have been there as a taxi service with family members many times and my initial impressions were yesterday dramatically confirmed. My wife's 18 year old grandchild had an motor bike accident about three years ago (that was the first time I visited this place at 3am). About a week ago he started feeling unwell and he eventually showed us his leg which was swollen and looked infected to me. Due to past experience in Lamplaimatt I got him to Buriram hospital where they took his case seriously (abscess) and started a series of injections immediately, after one day they said he should be ok and sent him to Lamplaimatt, leaving someone with a bill.
I have in the past noticed that the nurses there rarely come out of their Facebook zone to look after patients, and apparently in the two days he was there, the only loving care he got was from a nurse that told him he was losing his leg.
So back in Buriram now where the difference is very evident, there were nurses and doctors buzzing around him all day and he was actually washed. Doesn't look good.
Our local village clinic is even worse, son in law got metal splinters in his eye and was treated with a nice bandage, no attempt to remove the splinters, and sent home.
So there you go.. you definitely need an escape plan if you aren't living near a good hospital. I know a few people that have no medical coverage at all. There must be many cases involving Farangs in a desperate state with no one to look after them.

[DeputyDavid]

Wishing your family recovers quickly.  Thank you for posting this.  Having worked in medicine for 18 years, I find it to be deplorable that the nurses are even ALLOWED to have their phones with them on duty.  Patient CARE should be first and foremost.

[Geertg]

I hope your family is oke now. But i can not agree with you about the hospital in Lamplaimat. I have been there myself a few times and nurse and doctor treated me very good.

[davureborn]

Things are still in the balance, thanks.
 I agree that a Farang or a Thai with good private health insurance will be treated well and probably get a private room. I have rarely seen the nurses outside of the Facebook zone, most care is done by relatives and people die right there on the public wards.
Believe me, I have seen some horrible stuff there which I can only put down to laziness and negligence. Buriram hospital is excellent by comparison.

[Geertg]

First of all i believe you had bad experience in Lamplaimat. But you cannot compare a small country government hospital with a private hospital like Ekachon. I was in Ekachon today and i saw nurses on facebook too. Also its normal in Thailand governments hospitals that family and relatives take care the patient.

[jmcet]

Just recently spent 2 days in Lam Plai Mat hospital for an infection in my feet. Diabetic so it was serious... No insurance as such, I must pay first and then apply for reimbursement. Cost of a private room 600 TB per day. (Possibly expensive for a Thai but quite reasonable for an expat.) IMHO the care was excellent. Food left a bit to be desired but was eatable. All in all a good experience. I often see some of the nurses when in the market and they always ask how I am doing and remind me that I must take good care of my feet. I would have absolutely no problem returning to this hospital again (with the exception of for major surgery) even though I am 100% reimbursable for all medical care and medication costs.

[Geertg]

I was with a friend in Bangkok Hospital Korat. Beautiful place, good sofasand very friendly nurses, but no doctors in the morning. You have to wait till 18.00 and they wanted you to stay there at least one night. Before they are helping you, they tell you what you have to pay for one day waiting and one night a privat room. They do not care about your health They only want your big money. I never go there again. I will stay in the gouvernements hospital where the same doctors are working.

[davureborn]

Just recently spent 2 days in Lam Plai Mat hospital for an infection in my feet. Diabetic so it was serious... No insurance as such, I must pay first and then apply for reimbursement. Cost of a private room 600 TB per day. (Possibly expensive for a Thai but quite reasonable for an expat.) IMHO the care was excellent. Food left a bit to be desired but was eatable. All in all a good experience. I often see some of the nurses when in the market and they always ask how I am doing and remind me that I must take good care of my feet. I would have absolutely no problem returning to this hospital again (with the exception of for major surgery) even though I am 100% reimbursable for all medical care and medication costs.

I am not talking about Farangs that have the money to pay for a private room. and have medical insurance.
Case 1: daughter in law asks me to take her to Lamplaimatt in the middle of the night, 'because she is dying'. (She wasn't). I left town for three days and coming back we visited her. She was still on a stretcher in the corridor and she had an empty drip feed in her arm. No nurses to be seen (well there were, they were playing with their phones in their refuge). I eventually got my wife to drag one out to at least examine the drip, it was changed. They didn't like that.
Case 2: as said, young lad nearly lost his leg, but not thanks to treatment in Lamplaimatt where they were talking about taking his leg off. He is ok now.
Case 3: A family member had to have an abortion because she is HIV positive. She got pregnant again and this time was able to give birth to a perfectly healthy baby boy, one year old last month, I paid for her to get treatment and medicine in Buriram.
Case 4: Hysterectomy instead of even attempting to treat a prolapsed womb.
People die in the wards without as much as a curtain being drawn around them ('because it worries the other patients') and I have seen urine dripping to the floor. Any food they get is crap, generally rice soup. I have a lot more really juicy details but I will spare you.
Obviously I don't have the precise medical details behind these cases but things do sort of become suspicious after a bit, don't they? If you want to know something at this place you ask the cleaning staff, anybody else treats you with disdain, even emergency staff at three am. I waited for three hours and was eventually told 'get your car' in an unfriendly, even hostile manner.
Unless you have monet for a private room of course.
In Buriram hospital and Buriram Clinic things are very different I can assure you. I am registered at the clinic and will be heading there for sure.
The whole point of my original posting is that not having an escape plan for all but minor problems while living in rural Thailand is not necessarily a good idea. Older people find their health insurance gradually being priced out of their budget and risk having it terminated from one year to another. I already had to pay a 50% rise in annual premiums and am up for another rise in 5 years time. I have luckily, a repatriation insurance. I know several expats that have no funds available for treatment at all and have absolutely no idea what will happen if they get really ill. Die in a place like Lamplaimat? No thanks.

[jmcet]

Just recently spent 2 days in Lam Plai Mat hospital for an infection in my feet. Diabetic so it was serious... No insurance as such, I must pay first and then apply for reimbursement. Cost of a private room 600 TB per day. (Possibly expensive for a Thai but quite reasonable for an expat.) IMHO the care was excellent. Food left a bit to be desired but was eatable. All in all a good experience. I often see some of the nurses when in the market and they always ask how I am doing and remind me that I must take good care of my feet. I would have absolutely no problem returning to this hospital again (with the exception of for major surgery) even though I am 100% reimbursable for all medical care and medication costs.

I am not talking about Farangs that have the money to pay for a private room. and have medical insurance.
Case 1: daughter in law asks me to take her to Lamplaimatt in the middle of the night, 'because she is dying'. (She wasn't). I left town for three days and coming back we visited her. She was still on a stretcher in the corridor and she had an empty drip feed in her arm. No nurses to be seen (well there were, they were playing with their phones in their refuge). I eventually got my wife to drag one out to at least examine the drip, it was changed. They didn't like that.
Case 2: as said, young lad nearly lost his leg, but not thanks to treatment in Lamplaimatt where they were talking about taking his leg off. He is ok now.
Case 3: A family member had to have an abortion because she is HIV positive. She got pregnant again and this time was able to give birth to a perfectly healthy baby boy, one year old last month, I paid for her to get treatment and medicine in Buriram.
Case 4: Hysterectomy instead of even attempting to treat a prolapsed womb.
People die in the wards without as much as a curtain being drawn around them ('because it worries the other patients') and I have seen urine dripping to the floor. Any food they get is crap, generally rice soup. I have a lot more really juicy details but I will spare you.
Obviously I don't have the precise medical details behind these cases but things do sort of become suspicious after a bit, don't they? If you want to know something at this place you ask the cleaning staff, anybody else treats you with disdain, even emergency staff at three am. I waited for three hours and was eventually told 'get your car' in an unfriendly, even hostile manner.
Unless you have monet for a private room of course.
In Buriram hospital and Buriram Clinic things are very different I can assure you. I am registered at the clinic and will be heading there for sure.
The whole point of my original posting is that not having an escape plan for all but minor problems while living in rural Thailand is not necessarily a good idea. Older people find their health insurance gradually being priced out of their budget and risk having it terminated from one year to another. I already had to pay a 50% rise in annual premiums and am up for another rise in 5 years time. I have luckily, a repatriation insurance. I know several expats that have no funds available for treatment at all and have absolutely no idea what will happen if they get really ill. Die in a place like Lamplaimat? No thanks.

Please note that I did indicate that this "MAYBE EXPENSIVE for a Thai". Also note that I said the food left a lot to be desired, however it was eatable.Possibly you missed where I stated  I would not use Lamplaimat hospital for a "major surgery". In fact my wife's nephew just had open heart surgery. I would not allow this to be performed in a state hospital and we sprung the cost in a private hospital in Korat.
I agree with you completely about having an "escape plan" and you can believe I do in fact have several. However, in some instances state hospitals, including Lamplaimat, are perfectly acceptable in most "minor asese.
Thank you for your input and let's all hope in rains soon...
good day