PattayaMale Posted June 13, 2010 Posted June 13, 2010 Yesterday, I went to see a friend that has been in Chon Buri Hospital for a week so far. My friend told me that he is getting very good care. The doctors have explained what is needed, the nurses are caring and efficient, and the special medication he needs and could not immediately get at Pattaya Bangkok Hospital were immediately available. One of his Drs. is Philippe Suer (Heart2000). This was the first time I had been to Chon Buri Hospital and I was astonished by the over crowding. Patients filled the hallways with their hospital beds. Only fans to keep them cool. Some of the medical equipment looked liked it was from the Vietnam conflict era, complete with military medical markings. Electric cords ran across the hallway floors and my friends oxygen lead had to go through a window to the next room where a patient was not using the oxygen supply by his bed. In one ward there were over 50 beds with no room to walk between all the beds. No privacy at all. Some of the patients that had diarrhea had plastic bags tied around then to catch the waste. But through it all they still smiled and nodded as I walked through the ward and hallways to get to the 4 person room my friend was in; A non air conditioned room with one small window at the far end. Bathroom facilities consist of a bed pan. My friend is getting much better with the care being given by the wonderful dedicated staff. But I can't help but think that just a day before, I was at Pattaya Bangkok Hospital which has only private a/c rooms with, flat screen TV, small dinette ares with microwaves, refrigerators, sink....even a sofa so a friend can spend the night with patients and private toilet and shower area. Having this experience gave me a better understanding of the great divide here in Thailand between what some call the elite and poor. I have seen how farmers and the poor live in villages with a tin roof and dirt floor for a house. My own BF's family use to stand in mud in their house when it rained, before we built them a proper house. But I now think I just shut this out and considered it "rustic". How naive I have been! When I read about the "political" division of the country, my view is changing. How can a country spend the billions it does on things for the military like a hot air balloon to watch the war in the south. Build a "high speed" train system from Bangkok to the airport, without first providing a decent hospital system. Yes "Amazing Thailand"!!! Quote
Guest HeyGay Posted June 13, 2010 Posted June 13, 2010 I would be very careful of waking up in Chom buri Hospital, I know of 5 People who were sent there, because their Insurance ran out and they had no funds to pay from further treatment, but were very sick, all of them die mysteriously, with in a day of arrival, the last one the father of a dear friend, lasted 5 hours recently, who was sitting up chatting in Bangkok Pattaya, a few hours earlier. I strongly believe they do euthanasia on patients, who look as though they are going to cost money and have less than 6 months to live, in the hospitals eyes, with out the means to pay for life saving treatment. Quote
KhorTose Posted June 14, 2010 Posted June 14, 2010 My friend is getting much better with the care being given by the wonderful dedicated staff. But I can't help but think that just a day before, I was at Pattaya Bangkok Hospital which has only private a/c rooms with, flat screen TV, small dinette ares with microwaves, refrigerators, sink....even a sofa so a friend can spend the night with patients and private toilet and shower area. Having this experience gave me a better understanding of the great divide here in Thailand between what some call the elite and poor. I have seen how farmers and the poor live in villages with a tin roof and dirt floor for a house. My own BF's family use to stand in mud in their house when it rained, before we built them a proper house. But I now think I just shut this out and considered it "rustic". How naive I have been! When I read about the "political" division of the country, my view is changing. How can a country spend the billions it does on things for the military like a hot air balloon to watch the war in the south. Build a "high speed" train system from Bangkok to the airport, without first providing a decent hospital system. I would like to title you compassionate thinking above as "meet the RED shirts." However, you are only talking about one group of the red shirts. It is not just the poor who are impacted by the great divide, but many in the educated middle class. This middle class does not have the money for Pattaya Bangkok Hospital either, and they are educated enough to be disenchanted by the money that is spent on the military and to line the pockets of the very rich. Had they a voice in their government much of that money would go elsewhere. Quote
Guest lvdkeyes Posted June 14, 2010 Posted June 14, 2010 While I would not disagree that the hospital conditions are unequal for the rich and the poor in Thailand, take a look at government hospitals in the US. Cook County Hospital in Chicago is deplorable. Nurses would be picking up breakfast untouched trays to deliver the lunch trays. The breakfast trays were untouched because they didn't have the staff to help patients who couldn't feed themselves. Beds were placed in the halls and wards were overcrowded. Quote
