I came back to Bangkok in 1989. Before that I was in the US.

When I was in a high school in the US I had some sinus conditions and had undergone a sinus surgery. It was done by Dr. Berger; an ear, nose and throat specialist at the Brooklyn Jewish Hospital, where my mother was working as a registered nurse. The surgery was successful and I was out in 3 days; I had to rest at home for a few days then went back to school.

Later on I had another major medical situation, while I started to work for a computer giant company in New York Upstate. At that time I was admitted to the Staten Island Veteran Hospital where my sister was working as a registered nurse.

Again, I was out in 4 days, cured, and went back to work.

While I am in Bangkok I have been going to this one private hospital. They have all my medical records since I came back. I had been admitted here a few times, mostly for minor ailments like cold and fevers. Although I did have one major medical condition, a gallstone near the kidney channel. This hospital really took a good care of me. They were using an ultrasound procedure to disintegrate the stone without resorting to surgery.

At this juncture, I would like to say that this Thai private hospital is at par with the US. Here, many physicians do get their medical board certification from the US hospitals.

During the last three months, my mother was visiting me from Florida. She is now 84 and does have some medical conditions. After she had arrived in Bangkok for a week, she suffered a dizzy spell and collapsed one morning.

My sister and I rushed her to the Thai private hospital mentioned. My general practitioner then sent her to specialists and they ran a complete spectrum of tests; X-ray, CT-scan, EKG, others. She was also admitted one night for observation.

The conclusion was that they had found nothing serious and my mother was discharged. My sister felt that the whole hospital care process was impressive and possibly at par with the US. My sister is now working at the JFK Memorial Hospital in Palm Beach, Florida. She is in the heart care department. I agree with her comments.

The one area is of concern is medical prescription. My mother came to Bangkok with a big basket of prescriptions from Florida. These prescriptions have been carefully picked because of possible side effect and allergic conditions.

At this Thai hospital they do not have Demerol, a common US pain killer. There are some other antibiotic prescriptions that my mother needs and they don't carry them. They do carry myriad other brands.

This Thai hospital seems to be getting their drugs from Europe and Japan rather than from the US. I am assuming that other Thai hospitals have the same policy. However, I have been here for a long time and have been taking their prescribed drugs with no problems. So if you need exotic US brand drugs, bring them along when you come to Bangkok.

The author is an editor to http://bangkok-and-apartment-guide.com where you can check out Bangkok 's neighborhoods in detail; streets by streets.

Source: www.articlecity.com