As Thailand is becoming a destination for medical tourism, attempts are being made to promote Thai health facilities quite actively. However, the average Thai is not deriving any benefits from the medical tourism as there are certain shortcomings in healthcare and hospital facilities which provide medical treatment to the locals.
Efforts are underway to improve the healthcare system in Thailand but a lot has to be done before we see some concrete results.
The first shortcoming in the healthcare system in Thailand is that there is no primary healthcare system. Most doctors in Thailand are generally specialists. So, it usually becomes difficult to find good general practitioner for minor ailments. If a person is suffering from common cold and cough, a visit to the general hospital means being examined by a doctor who is specialized in one of the medical fields and the doctor may not be able to handle such a small ailment.
However, critics beg to differ. They say they most private and university hospitals have general practitioners and one only needs to ask for them.
The other problem is that most doctors working in hospitals in Thailand do not do so full time. Most physicians and surgeons end up working in several hospitals across Bangkok. Besides this, these doctors also have their own private clinics. Therefore, post-operative care can be a nightmare if you doctor is communicating with the nursing staff on a mobile phone. Another grievance that a Thai patient might have is that he does not see his doctor as often as he would like during his stay in the hospital. And if he does, it is at unusual hours after the doctor finishes his clinics in various other places.