Op-Ed: Thai health care better than Canadian Special

Health services in Thailand are considerably better than anything Canada has to offer. Hospitals in the Asian country offer VIP service, no waiting, international quality equipment, and U.S.-trained doctors.

When you walk into one of Bangkok's hospitals you may think you have wondered into a luxury hotel by accident. The lobby is quiet and elegantly decorated with exotic flowers and marble floors. Lovely women are everywhere, dressed in gorgeous uniforms, only their stylish nursing caps give away their role. There is little resemblance here to the often squalid conditions that are standard in Canadian hospitals Helpful attendants welcomed me in English and guided me to my doctor's offices. Once there aids offered me drinks while they took my information down. There was never any waiting. In a matter of minutes I was discussing my condition with the doctor. He was Thai, but trained in the U.S.A. and Canada. Partway through our interview, I was sent down for a MRI scan. It was all done with a minimum of fuss and I was back looking over the test results with my doctor within the hour. This was all much different from my experiences in Canadian Hospitals. There I was always waiting... waiting months to see the doctor , waiting months to get diagnostic tests, more weeks for the test results, more weeks to see the doctor again. A couple years ago, in Canada, when I went in to get an immunization, I was given a prescription for the injection but had to administer it myself. No one was available to give it. That's not something that would happen in the hospitals I have been to in Thailand. In fact, there I was often assigned an aid, who stayed by my side and made sure I was well taken care of for my entire visit. My encounter with Thai health care was an eye opener, a view into really good health care that I had never experienced in Canada. I guess you get what you pay for. In Canada health care comes with no bill, if you live long enough to get it. In Thailand you pay cash, but it's a surprisingly small fee; you might pay more for a good hotel room than a stay in a Thai hospital. I've been back in Canada for a short time and am already fed up with health care here. I need am ultrasound and have to wait six weeks to get one, a situation that appears to be standard here. I guess if I want to get treatment in a reasonable amount of time, I will need to get myself back to Thailand and the quality health services they offer there. I'll pay the small fee and smile.