Farang doctors in Thailand

[Dr Mike]

One small addition, there are several foreign Drs who speak and read and write Thai who are licensed. One a good friend of mine a female Dr from the UK who is licensed. But as a proportion of Drs in Thai the number is minute.
THere are more and more Thai Drs going to english speaking countries for fellowships which is good, in that they will come back with good English.
Sadly, very few female Thai Drs go abroad. A lady that I know, 33 years old surgeon was offered a fellowship in Australia, but her mother would not let her go!!!!

[Roel]

To avoid hijacking another thread I took the quote here under from "Local Thais have no interest in learning English" and started this one.

I happened to be talking to a Thai doctor and recruitment specialist for the medical profession, yesterday. They claim that the language barrier will actually work in both directions.

Currently doctors in Thailand need to pass their examinations in Thai language, all of the examination papers etc are in Thai language and they have no plan to change this in the future. I was told that there is only one foreign doctor permitted to practice, alone, in Bangkok and that he was able to both speak and read/write Thai perfectly. Apparently there are more foreign doctors practicing medicine here but if they have not taken their examinations in Thai language they must be supervised by a Thai doctor at all times, which of course makes the practice prohibitively expensive in most cases. The doctors have already been promised by the government that the current practice will not change under AEC. This would appear to be a major stumbling block if Thailand does indeed intend to join.

There is a German guy working as a doctor in a state hospital here in Phuket. He told me that he is the only farang doctor allowed to practise independently in Thailand and he did all the necessary exams in Thai. He said all the others he knew of who had tried to pass the medical exams had failed. A shame really he said as many of these doctors are highly qualified specialists and could have contributed considerably to the Thai health care system if it was not for these tests.

I also remember that many years back when I worked in Pattaya there was a Swiss dentist who was highly recommended in the expat community although personally I never met him. He seemed to work independently and was doing so high profile as he advertised his services everywhere.

Maybe Dr Mike (or others of course) can shed some light on these observations. And another question he might be able to answer. It is 'common knowledge' that in Thailand the best doctors work at the private hospitals because of the higher salaries and the not-so-good ones end up in state hospitals. Is this really in general the case or is this more of an urban legend because it is obviously logical reasoning.

[Big Boy]

Because of the forum sorting by date/time, the OP of this thread is the second, with the reply appearing as the first

[midlandmike]

You can keep quoting the German Dr and his claim that he is the only farang Dr in Thai but it is NOT true.
I am a personal friend of two more but do not have their permission to mention their names.
One is from Bangladesh , the other is a lady Dr from the north of England.

[Bristolian]

You can keep quoting the German Dr and his claim that he is the only farang Dr in Thai but it is NOT true.
I am a personal friend of two more but do not have their permission to mention their names.
One is from Bangladesh , the other is a lady Dr from the north of England.

As I stated clearly in my first post, I was told that there was only one foreigner practicing medicine in Bangkok as a fully qualified (Thai) doctor. I would be surprised if this were really true for Bangkok but it was confirmed to me today by the owner/publisher of the largest Thai medical tourism magazines.

[midlandmike]

It is not a big point, I give up.
I have worked along side the farang Drs that I am talking about--why would I lie about such a matter?

[richard]

I've been treated by two in the Bumrungrad

[Bristolian]

It is not a big point, I give up.
I have worked along side the farang Drs that I am talking about--why would I lie about such a matter?

It's of no issue to me, I only posted what I had been told, right or wrong. I only mentioned Bangkok, not the rest of Thailand.
If there is one or twenty... It's still a very small number.

[richard]

How about a new thread.... 'Farang doctors in the UK'

[Bristolian]

I've been treated by two in the Bumrungrad

Richard, like you I have also been attended by, in my case, a French doctor at Bumrungrad but at least for me he was accompanied by a Thai doctor. He was not permitted to work alone.

[richard]

So if the farang doctor is the expert why are they to be accompanied by a Thai doctor as opposed to a senior nurse (cheaper option)?

[Roel]

So Bristolian was told there is only one doctor in Bangkok who DID THE THAI MEDICAL EXAM and is thus qualified and licensed to work independently. A doctor here in Phuket told me he is the only one qualified in Thailand. As I found this hard to believe I posted the question initially for our expert Dr Mike who kindly answered (even before I posted the question!). So the conclusion appears to be that there are a handful of qualified and licensed farang doctors and many more who work alongside Thai doctors but cannot do so independently.

The farang doctors that some of the members met are probably from the last category. They can work but need the signature of a Thai doctor for all decisions they make. Just a formality.

[Dannie Boy]

It's all quite logical really - patient doctor interface relies on 2-way communication and if you have a farang doctor who cannot communicate when treating a Thai speaking patient, it needs the local doctor to ensure there has been no misunderstanding. I'm sure it's a similar principle to our home countries where in the UK, doctors must be able to speak a reasonable standard of English to practice within the NHS.