Hua Hin Hospital sued for overcharging foreigners

[buksida]

A Dutch man is suing the Hua Hin Hospital for overcharging foreigners and tourists. In a novel suit, the litigant says Thai citizen are charged 50 baht for an appointment with the doctor, but foreigners are being charged 300 baht.

50 year old Erwin Robert Bucher claims this is a form of “corruption”.

Channel 3 ran the story on July 21. Erwin took his complaint to the Hua Hin Police informing that he wants to sue the Hua Hin Hospital for overcharging foreigners. He claims there are no regulations established by the Thai Ministry of Health which allows for a difference in hospital fees for foreigners.

He explained in the TV report that he had had bladder cancer since 2015 and visits the hospital every 3 months, a distance of 200 kilometres from where he lives.

He says he’s paid over 300,000 baht cash to the hospital. over four years of visits. He says he has no issue with paying the fees but resents the additional extra 300 baht charged just because he is a foreigner.

He claims that this is different from other government hospitals that only charge 50 baht for foreigners and that the Hua Hin Hospital came up with the additional fee on their own.

The hospital says they needed to add 15% and 300 THB as a service fee for foreigners. Erwin says he’s now paid 12,746 baht over the years for this extra charge and he wants the money back.

Erwin has filed other reports in the past to the Ministry of Health and the Damrongdhama Centre (for consumer complaints), but the issues bounce back and forth.

Erwin is a retired railway engineer from the Netherlands. He currently looks after goats with his Thai wife in the region.

Source: https://thethaiger.com/news/hua-hin/hua ... foreigners

[dundrillin]

I think Mr Bucher should concentrate on tending his goats and looking after his Thai wife. He has had successful treatment for a cancer that would probably have killed him in the not too distant past. His charges have been heavily subsidized by the Thai taxpayer. Rather than accuse the hospital of corruption he should consider himself fortunate and get on with his life. And what relevance is it that he lives far away from the hospital!!
Finally the hospital could argue that farangs should be charged more to compensate for those that refuse to pay.

[oakdale160]

My father told me-- If a man says , its not the money its the principle, then its principaly the money

[sateeb]

Erwin is a retired railway engineer from the Netherlands. He currently looks after goats with his Thai wife in the region.

With a work permit?

[buksida]

Jeez you're a self-righteous unsympathetic lot, pretty much condoning double pricing.

And I have no idea what work permits have to do with hospitals over charging farangs.

[sateeb]

I'm sure The Dude would see the big picture, but you obviously not.

[T.O.M.]

^^
This is an old story...Remember reading about this guy 3-4 years ago.
An the hospital has already agreed to pay repay him (ordered by the court) the overcharged amount...So I don't understand what mister Erwin is going on about.....Maybe he wants gas money as well?
Or maybe he is just enjoying his 15 minutes of fame.....Herding goats can't be very exciting or lucrative.
One thing is for sure, if a hospital had cured me from cancer, I would feel gratitude and not try spoil the hospital's reputation over a minor amount.
Yes, yes, yes I know...it is not about the money, but about the principle....

[JimmyGreaves]

^^
One thing is for sure, if a hospital had cured me from cancer, I would feel gratitude and not try spoil the hospital's reputation over a minor amount.
Yes, yes, yes I know...it is not about the money, but about the principle....

Yes if 50 baht was the thai cost and he paid 100 baht. Then if the thai cost was 1Million then would 2 million be a minor amount?

[Takiap]

Just to point out a few FACTS:

This news is old news, as someone has already pointed out, it supposedly happened a few years ago.

Also, Hua-Hin Hospital has never charged foreigners more than Thais. I find it highly unlikely that they would have charged this particular guy more but yet they have never charged me more.

Also, Thais do not pay 50 baht to see a doctor. To the best of my knowledge, the either pay 30 baht if they have registered, or the pay the full price which is 110 baht. There are in fact signs up at the hospital in Thai which clearly show this.
Now, if I were to opt for the VIP/Express service, that would cost an additional 200 baht, bringing the total to 310 baht. What a coincidence that the Dutch man was paying exactly that.

At least something has come from his actions and the fact that this story has made it back into the news. The "something" which I'm referring to is the removal of the once very fair and convenient VIP/Express service, or at least this is what I was told when I asked about the Express Service last week. The woman at the reception simply told that there is no Express Service.

If this is indeed true, then I would like to thank the Dutch guy for screwing all of us other folk over despite the fact that he was never ripped of in the first place.

[HHTel]

The 'Express' service is now run from the clinic on the 5th floor. Open to both foreigners and Thais and operates even better than the one that was situated downstairs. There is a thread with all the info. The main advantage is that apart from x-rays, everything is done in this very comfortable clinic including paying the bill.
So it's not true that the 'express' service has gone, but has actually improved.

[hhinner]

Foreigners pay a 250 baht "service" charge without using the express clinic. This is receipted separately to medical charges and is on a receipt from the office of the public health ministry permanent secretary welfare fund - hua hin hospital.

[HHTel]

Strange, as the clinic charges 200 baht express charge plus the Dr's fee. Both charges rolled into one.

[hhinner]

Strange, as the clinic charges 200 baht express charge plus the Dr's fee. Both charges rolled into one.

Maybe I should just go to the express clinic to get my 3 monthly prescription. At least I wouldn't have to wait 2 hours plus waiting time for medicine as well. Anyone do this?

[fabman]

Thais overcharging foreigners.. Never heard of that before

[Takiap]

Foreigners pay a 250 baht "service" charge without using the express clinic. This is receipted separately to medical charges and is on a receipt from the office of the public health ministry permanent secretary welfare fund - hua hin hospital.

I'm sorry to sat this mate, but you are mistaken. Assuming you don't use any express service, the fee for seeing a general practitioner at HH Hospital is 110 baht, not 250 baht.

I saw a doctor last weekend and it cost me 110 baht. This doctor booked an appointment for me with the ENT specialist who I saw on the Tuesday. That consultation was actually free and surgery was scheduled for last Friday.

Also, this morning I accompanied a friend of mine to HH Hospital, and once again, the charge for seeing the doctor was 110 baht. He now has an appointment to see the urologist on Tuesday.

I honestly don't know where you get the 250 baht service fee from because it is in fact only 110 baht.