I was hospitalized in Thailand for a cataract operation. A double operation (both eyes) one week apart was on an outpatient basis, and I find it quite interesting to testify to the quality of the care received.

Needing to renew my glasses and not having a very good perception outside, I looked for a good ophthalmologist in Hua Hin. For this, I asked on the one hand on a Facebook group to expatriate who have been here for longer than me, and I crossed this information with Google reviews.

Choose the right doctor

My choice therefore fell on Dr. Pairat, who has an office on Petchkasem Road, the main artery of the city about a hundred meters from the Bangkok Hospital, in which he operates.

This doctor inspires confidence. His office is not at all as modern as that of my dentist, but he is an extremely cautious doctor, who saw me in consultation twice before offering me the operation, the second time being a very long session, with an instillation of dilation drops in the eyes.

My correction being extremely important compared to the one he is used to seeing in his Thai patients, he had to order the implants outside Thailand, which caused a delay of three weeks before he could plan the operation.

First contact with the hospital

The two appointments were made at Bangkok Hospital by the doctor. I went to the hospital reception for the formalities. All I had to do was present my passport and sign a form.

I indicated the name of my insurance. In this case, it is Inter Mutuelles Assistance that takes over from MGEN for this type of operation abroad.

The hospital gave me a quote that I sent to IMA. Then, I had no steps to take, everything happened between the insurance and the hospital.

The day of the operation

The entrance to the hospital being scheduled at noon, the doctor asked to go to his office around 10:30 a.m. to prepare my eye, do the last check and markings.

At the hospital, everyone wears a mask and if we have not planned one, there is obviously some available on the reception desk.

After signing a document again for my admission to the hospital, the admissions office directs me to the nurse care office.

First difference with what can be found in France:

This nurse’s office is not in the service that operates. It is a first office in front of the reception that is charged regardless of the service in which we then go to take basic information (tension, pulse, weight, height...)

We are then ACCOMPANIED and not only directed to a waiting room, in front of ophthalmology consultations, where a nurse will come at regular intervals to put drops of anesthetic in my eye. During this time, it is possible between 2 instillations to go to the cafeteria or to the cafe in the hall.

Small coffee and French pastries.

While waiting, I have a lot of fun with the circulation of small robots that transport medicines from the pharmacy to the services.

Very funny robots

These small autonomous robots play music, talk a little, display the floor they go to when they enter the elevator and the funniest thing is that they make small noises directly inspired by R2D2 in Star Wars.

The operation

When it’s time for my intervention, a stretcher bearer arrives with a wheelchair. I obviously don’t need a wheelchair that day but I guess it’s part of a protocol and avoids walking in the corridors in shoes.

During the journey, the nurse of the block arrives to introduce herself. I arrive at a small airea where she invites me to take off my shoes and put on kinds of fangs. She then provides me with a classic outfit to tie in the back and I can undress in another small airlock, with a locker to leave all my things.

The nurse lets me into a 3rd airle in which I am invited to settle in an armchair. It is not a plastic hospital chair but a soft leather armchair. The nurse brings me a heated blanket. For a little, I could take a nap. But I only wait 5 minutes before entering the operating room.

The doctor confirms to me after about an hour that everything went well and I am taken on a stretcher to a "wake-up" room where I stay for 30 minutes. I wasn’t asleep obviously but I guess it’s in case of discomfort.

Once dressed, the stretcher bearer takes me in my wheelchair to the pharmacy on the ground floor.

Second notable difference with the hospital in France

In all hospitals in Thailand, there is a large pharmacy. We therefore leave the hospital with his treatment, packaged in small plastic bags. It is a great comfort to have the treatment directly without having to go to a pharmacy outside.

Once the medicines have been collected and paid for if necessary, the stretcher bearer immediately appears to take me outside and make sure I have a means of transport. He stays by my side, although I am with my partner, until I am in the taxi.

This is also a notable difference in the quality of care.