Hello from Thailand 😀
Today is Chulalongkorn Day (King Chulalongkorn Memorial Day), which is an important day and a public holiday. This includes some service adjustments at government hospitals, and Tha Sala Hospital, the community hospital where I live, is no exception. My husband had a dental appointment here today. Normally, it would be free, but today he had to pay because it was an out-of-hours dental clinic.
At Tha Sala Hospital
He chose to schedule his appointment for today, even though it involved a fee, for several reasons. Reason 1: Fewer patients. This means he didn't have to be amidst the usual crowds of patients and their accompanying relatives. Reason 2: He wouldn't waste time waiting in line. Reason 3: We were guaranteed a parking spot for our car. And the final reason: His company was closed for the holiday, so he wouldn't be worried about his consulting team calling him while he was at the hospital.
He asked me to come with him today, and I was happy to keep him company. This meant his mother stayed at home with our children. Actually, they are old enough to be on their own.
His appointment was at 1:00 PM. We left home 20 minutes early, and as expected, the car park at the back of the hospital was very empty. While walking in, I took some pictures of the quiet and peaceful atmosphere on this holiday.
The open space between the buildings is arranged as a seating area with large trees providing shade. On a normal day, these seats would be full of people.
There's an Amazon cafe, a Five Star shop selling ready-to-eat chicken dishes, and inside there's a cooperative store, a fruit shop, and a clothing store. I didn't take pictures of some of the shops.
We checked in with his appointment card before heading to the Dental Department. Before entering the room to see the dentist, they took his temperature, weighed him, and measured his blood pressure with the automated machine you see. It looks quite modern, doesn't it? You can follow the instructions and do it yourself. Once finished, a paper prints out with the results of all the measurements.
This hospital has modern medical equipment, such as MRI, CT Scan, X-ray, and Ultrasound machines, and they perform modern surgeries.
When we went to sit in the waiting area of the Dental Department, it was very empty. Later, about 4-5 more patients came in.
Today, my husband had two fillings. It took no more than 20 minutes, and he made an appointment for a scaling in six months. Both of my children have regular dental check-ups here every 6 months. We can choose the day and time, and I've scheduled their next appointments for the school break in April next year.
I am also a regular patient here. I have a yearly appointment to monitor a thyroid gland tumor. I had surgery five years ago, removing one lobe of my thyroid along with a large mass. I was lucky it was just a benign growth, but I still need to come for ultrasound appointments as scheduled by the doctor to monitor the remaining lobe, which has some small nodules. If any grow larger than 3 centimeters, I will need to have another surgery to remove them.
The artificial waterfall ( Ta Phan Bun Waterfall ) is very beautiful.
Now, everyone in our family are regular patients here. We all have the "Gold Card" universal healthcare coverage provided by the government. We don't have to pay anything, or only pay 30 Baht (0.92 USD), if the service is covered and the prescribed medicines are on the approved list.
Thanks for stopping by!Here's the story from this post about the holiday and the hospital's quiet atmosphere. Wishing everyone good health.❤️
