Hospitals in Hat Yai

Introduction

If you have a medical or dental problem, Hat Yai is a very good place to be as there is a big emphasis on healthcare. In terms of education, the Prince of Songkla University has highly respected medical, dental, nursing, pharmaceutical science, traditional Thai medicine and veterinary faculties. There are also a couple of independent nurse training establishments elsewhere in town and a nursing college in nearby Songkhla.

There are hundreds of pharmacies, and a host of small medical and dental clinics in the town. There are two public hospitals, four private hospitals and some military hospitals.

Where do you go if you have a problem? If anything, you are a little spoilt for choice and consequently it can be a little confusing. Here's a very quick overview.

Public hospitals are where the majority of Thais go for their free healthcare and they are extremely busy places. The doctors and nurses do a good job, but they are overworked. You can wait all day to see a doctor for five minutes - I know this from experience.

Public hospitals are heavily subsidised or free for Thais. Foreigners are charged, but the fees aren't generally expensive. As a foreigner you will need to register. The staff will probably speak Thai and all the documents you need to complete will be in Thai. If your Thai skills aren't very good and you don't have a Thai person to help you the process might be a little daunting.

If you are admitted to a public hospital the wards are basic and normally full. At Hat Yai hospital I always see a lot of people on stretchers in the corridors.

Private hospitals such as the Bangkok Hat Yai Hospital are quite different. As you walk in it looks like a five star hotel and attractive girls are employed to greet you. Registration is never a problem because there will be lots of people to help, some of whom speak English.

The private hospitals only have private rooms, not wards, and you will be very comfortable. Private hospitals employ full-time doctors, but they also have a lot of doctors from public hospitals who work part-time. Everything is easier for foreigners and more upmarket, but the healthcare is basically the same.

A stay in a private hospital can be very expensive. Most patients who attend private hospitals are fairly wealthy or have medical insurance.

Not everything about private hospitals is better than public hospitals. For example, the Prince of Songkla Hospital has better laboratory facilities and Hat Yai Hospital has the best Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the south of Thailand.

Salaries are low in Thailand, even for doctors, and many doctors run private clinics that open in the evening and at weekends. You receive the same healthcare from the same doctor whether he or she is working at a hospital or a private clinic.

Seeing a doctor at a private clinic is a lot cheaper than seeing the same doctor at a private hospital and you don't have to wait as long compared to a public hospital.

For my own and my family's healthcare I use a combination of public hospitals, private hospitals (I have medical insurance) and clinics.

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Hospital Listings

I have listed Dental Clinics, Beauty Clinics and Medical Clinics separately.

If you have been treated at one of the hospitals listed on this page, please consider providing some patient feedback.

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Bangkok Hat Yai Hospital

Address: 75 Soi 15 Phetkasem, Hat Yai, Songkhla, 90110
Telephone: +66 (0)74 272800
Web Site: Bangkok Hospital Hat Yai
E-mail: ContactBhh@bgh.co.th
Map: Map 2

Latitude: N 07° 01' 00.5" (N 07° 01.008')

Longitude: E 100° 28' 59.6" (E 100° 28.993')

Google Maps: Street Map or Satellite View

Comments: As you walk in, you will think you are entering a five star hotel and you will be greeted by one of the many attractive greeters the hospital employs.

You won't have to wait very long and everything will be taken care of for you, including your hospital registration. If you need to be admitted, you will be taken to a separate department where you can view and choose the kind of private room you wish to stay in.

Private hospitals in Thailand want foreign patients and therefore the staff will always speak good English. It is a completely hassle-free experience, but it comes at a price. Compared to the West, the cost will be a lot cheaper but it is expensive by Thai standards. I have medical insurance, but a trip to this hospital always exceeds my claim limit and I end up paying some of the bill myself. If you are unfortunate enough to need to spend a few days in ICU and don't have insurance, it will cost you a LOT of money.

The individual tests in the health check packages are too many to list here. More expensive packages obviously include more tests. These prices were obtained in March 2012.

Freshy (up to 35 years old): Bt2,600 (normally Bt4,500)
VIP Working (age 35 - 45 men): Bt5,200 (normally Bt9,500)
VIP Working (age 35 - 45 women): Bt7,900 (normally Bt13,500)
VIP Golden (age 45 - 50 men): Bt10,900 (normally Bt19,800)
VIP Golden (age 45 - 50 women): Bt13,600 (normally Bt23,800)
Premium (age over 50 men): Bt25,500 (normally Bt36,300)
Premium (age over 50 women): Bt28,200 (normally Bt40,300)

Patient Comments: No patient comments yet. Be the first to comment. If you've been a patient here and wish to provide some feedback, send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

Important - Please read the following carefully before sending me your comments: I am not a doctor or dentist, and neither am I affiliated with any clinics in Hat Yai. If you have any questions about procedures or prices please contact the establishment directly using the information provided. Use this form only if you have used a clinic and wish to give some feedback.

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Rajyindee Hospital

Address: 119 Rajyindee Road, Hat Yai, Songkhla, 90110
Map: Map 4
Telephone: +66 (0)74 200200
Web Site: Rajyindee Hospital

Latitude: N 07° 00' 05.9" (N 07° 00.098')

Longitude: E 100° 28' 48.7" (E 100° 28.812')

Google Maps: Street Map or Satellite View

Comments: Cheaper and not quite as plush as the Bangkok Hat Yai hospital, but I've always found the service excellent and I've had better treatment here than at the other private hospitals. For this reason, Rajyindee is my own personal preference among the private hospitals in Hat Yai.

Here are the prices for their health checks. To find out what is included in each check, you need to contact the hospital directly.

P1 Basic Health Check Up (age up to 30): Bt900 (normally Bt1,780)
P2 Standard Health Check Up (age 30 - 40): Bt1,500 (normally Bt2,680)
P3 Quality Health Check Up (age 40 - 50): Bt2,100 (normally Bt3,880)
P4 Executive Health Check Up (over 50): Bt3,100 (normally Bt5,280)
P5 Platinum Health Check Up (men over 60): Bt4,400 (normally Bt7,340)
P6 Platinum Health Check Up (women over 60): Bt4,700 (normally Bt7,850)

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Sikarin Hospital

Address: 169 Niphatsongkhro 1 Road, Hat Yai, Songkhla, 90110
Map: Map 1
Telephone: +66 (0)74 366966
Fax: +66 (0)74 366955
Website: Sikarin Hospital, Hat Yai
E-mail: contact@sikarin.com

Latitude: N 07° 01' 24.3" (N 07° 01.405')

Longitude: E 100° 28' 14.4" (E 100° 28.241')

Google Maps: Street Map or Satellite View

Comments: Similar to Rajyindee hospital but I prefer Rajyindee. Sikarin Hospital offers a range of health checks. The individual checks are too extensive to list here, but the more expensive the package, the more checks. These prices were obtained in March 2012.

Basic: Bt900 (normally Bt1,600)
General: Bt2,300 (normally Bt3,400)
Special: Bt3,400 (normally Bt4,800)
Platinum (men): Bt4,700 (normally Bt7,350)
Platinum (women): Bt5,400 (normally Bt8,000)
VIP Gold (men): Bt7,300 (normally Bt10,600)
VIP Gold (women): Bt8,200 (normally Bt12,250)

They also offer a pre-marriage check where they do some basic checks and blood tests and specifically test for HIV.

Pre-marital (men): Bt2,000 (normally Bt2,500)
Pre-marital (women): Bt2,400 (normally Bt3,000)

Specific tests can be included individually if they aren't included in the package - at an additional cost, of course.

This hospital has improved in recent years. When my daughter was a baby we took her there one night when she wouldn't stop crying and she obviously had a problem. They told us there were no pediatricians and to come back at 9am. I was not impressed. At all.

Several years later I went there with my wife for a problem she had and the response was a lot better. However, with the Bangkok hospital being so expensive, my first choice of private hospital in Hat Yai remains Rajyindee.

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Friendship Unity Hospital

Address: Saeng Sri Road, Soi 8, Hat Yai, Songkhla, 90110
Map: Map 2
Telephone: +66 (0)74 352900-3
Web Site: Friendship Unity Hospital

Latitude: N 07° 00' 34.0" (N 07° 00.566')

Longitude: E 100° 28' 30.4" (E 100° 28.506')

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Comments: The private hospitals listed above are characterised by their plush interiors and pretty nurses and reception staff who seem to have been selected for their looks rather than their ability. These places are also relatively expensive for Thailand.

This hospital is private but it looks just like a Thai public hospital. I've listed it as the Friendship Unity Hospital, but I can guarantee that the locals won't know what you are talking about if you use this term.

The official name is 'Mitra-paap-saamuk-kee' Hospital but Thais tend to refer to temples and other places by nicknames rather than official names. Colloquially, it is known as 'Siang-Teung' hospital.

They can treat most things and there is also a dentist hospital and children's clinic. There is also a 24 hour emergency facility. It is just like a small public hospital, apart from the fact it is private.

This is where my son was born. My wife was looked after by an obstetrician called Dr Suwit at his private clinic (I think he is retired now). This hospital is where he worked full time and therefore this is where the delivery was carried out. Unfortunately, my lad was born with pneumonia and was transferred immediately to the excellent NICU facility at the Hat Yai hospital.

They have been building a new wing at Siang-Teung for many years and when it is finished it will be a huge improvement, but it is still in progress. It is taking forever to build.

This hospital also offers a variety of health check programs to suit individual requirements and budgets. You can see that prices are a lot lower than the fancy private hospitals.

Program 1: Bt550 (normally Bt650)
Program 2: Bt1,050 (normally Bt1,330)
Program 3 (men): Bt2,400 (normally Bt2,800)
Program 3 (women): Bt2,100 (normally Bt2,500)
Heart program: Bt2,900 (normally Bt3,550)

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Hat Yai Hospital

Address: 182 Rattakarn Road, Soi 8, Hat Yai, Songkhla, 90110
Map: Map 1
Telephone: +66 (0)74 273100

Latitude: N 07° 01' 00.3" (N 07° 01.005')

Longitude: E 100° 28' 02.0" (E 100° 28.033')

Google Maps: Street Map or Satellite View

Comments: Hat Yai Hospital, near the fresh market, is another public hospital. It is located in a very 'Third World' area of Hat Yai and one correspondent referred to it as a 'zoo'. I went there a few times to get paperwork for my daughter's free medical care and it was a zoo. However, what you see on the outside in Thailand is never the whole story.

Our second child was born with pneumonia and transferred to Hat Yai Hospital. At first I was disappointed with this decision because my opinion of this hospital wasn't good. I was therefore surprised and very pleased to find that Hat Yai Hospital has the best Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in the south of Thailand. You would never guess this from looking at the hospital from the outside.

The NICU is a project of the HM the King's daughter-in-law and it is very impressive. It contains state-of-the-art equipment from the United States, Europe and Japan. The doctors and nurses working there are all specially trained to deal with new infants and the level of care is excellent.

Without access to this unit our son may not have survived. He is now fine and I therefore owe everyone involved at the hospital and the royal princess a huge debt of gratitude. Babies from all over the south Thailand who were born prematurely, or born with serious health issues, go to the NICU at Hat Yai Hospital.

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Prince Of Songkla Hospital

Address: Kanchanawanit Road, Hat Yai, Songkhla, 90110
Map: Map 2
Telephone: +66 (0)74 455000

Latitude: N 07° 00' 29.0" (N 07° 00.484')

Longitude: E 100° 29' 46.3" (E 100° 29.771')

Google Maps: Street Map or Satellite View

Comments: The Prince of Songkla hospital is a university hospital and has an excellent reputation. People from all over the south of Thailand come here for treatment. It is referred to locally as PSU or Mor Or.

The hospital has access to the latest technology and lab facilities exist which don't exist at the private hospitals. It's a lot cheaper than the private hospitals but there are disadvantages. Thousands of Thais have treatment here and there is no special treatment for foreigners.

You will need to wait to see a doctor and you may have to wait for a long time. You won't be greeted by a pretty girl who holds your hand all through the registration process. You will need to do this yourself and if you don't speak or read any Thai the experience can be a little daunting.