Traveling is great. A world tour much better. First of all, you dream of the spirit of optimism, the courage to visit any desired location on your own. Then the time has finally come: You are on the plane, are incredibly excited and just happy. You arrive at your first destination and your dream of traveling the world begins.

And then … you wake up the next day and look like a crumble cake because you are allergic to the bedding from the hostel. You hang over the toilet for three days because you can’t handle the spicy food from Thailand. Or you get involved in an accident and suddenly find yourself in the hospital. All of this at the other end of the world.

I don’t want to scare you with this post or keep you away from your next trip. But I would like to tell you from my experience what a hospital stay in Asia can look like and what you can do if medical care is insufficient. And that you may not always do everything on your own and need the support of your fellow human beings or other travelers.

– HOSPITAL STAY IN BANGKOK
– MEDICAL CARE | Tears, frustration, helplessness
– LESSONS LEARNED | Stay strong & find motivation

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You hear a lot about many scooter accidents from Asia. They happen every day and are often not even your own fault. I know there are some readers here who also like to travel or maybe are on the go. It’s not that I want to advise someone not to sit on a scooter. I know it’s an amazing feeling to ride through the rice fields.

But what do you do if someone has an accident in your hostel? Do you just think “Hopefully the person will be fine soon and luckily nothing happened to me”?
In the worst case, the person is alone in the hospital. Fears and feels lost. In such situations, there is nothing more terrible than being alone.

My cousin Maike had a scooter accident in Vietnam two months ago. I was on my way to my next destination in Malaysia when she wrote me that she was going to a hospital in Bangkok, that she needed surgery, and that she was scared.
Fortunately I was only a few hours away from Singapore and with the financial support of my dad I didn’t have to worry about the spontaneous flight costs to Thailand.

After an eight hour bus ride and ten hours at the airport, I was on my way to Bangkok. I had actually imagined my return to Thailand to be different. Nevertheless, I was quite positive: Maike should be taken to a hospital that is among the top 10 in the world. What could go wrong with the supply?

The truth: everything. The following week was the worst, most emotional and nerve-wracking time for me during my trip so far. And I wasn’t even the one lying in bed with third degree burns miles away from home.

The Bumrungrad International Hospital where we ended up is a huge private medical center that specializes in a variety of areas of expertise. At first I was a little overwhelmed with the many different buildings – but after my request they helped me very friendly. I found Maike’s room without any problems and I was allowed to stay there day and night. Only in the evening I had to write down my name on a list when I entered the building.

There were cafes and small shops in the buildings. In addition, there was a small kitchen on each hall, which everyone could use freely. At first, that doesn’t sound too bad for a stay of several days.

The hospital room was also modern and well equipped. Fortunately, the horror scenarios in my head from dirty beds in rooms that were much too small were immediately gone.
In addition to the four modern hospital beds in the large room, there was a couch for each visitor, which was also suitable for sleeping. There was a TV above each bed and the WiFi was free and very fast. The bathrooms were also large and modern. Definitely better than my hostel.
Of course, the sickroom is not the most important criterion for health problems, but it is reassuring to know that the patients and visitors have the opportunity to feel good after all. Except the other room mates set the air conditioning to 30 degrees. No fun – I saw the temperature display …

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The doctors spoke English well in general. Unfortunately, the situation was different for the nurses. Sparking and basics like measuring blood pressure always went well. However, in addition to the basic hurdle of communication, there was a bigger problem: The nurses did not seem to have been told exactly where Maike’s injury was. While trying to help, they put their hands on Maike’s wound and were completely overwhelmed.

But what do you do when the nurses are unable to care for the patient properly or provide the desired help? How do you react if you don’t see a doctor in charge for 48 hours and you don’t even find out what happened during the previous operation? What do you do when the person who is very dear to you is lying in the bed and screaming in pain for over an hour and the staff is not getting pain medication?

Then you can no longer stay strong and find motivation. Although you should actually.
You sit at the bedside and just cry. You haven’t slept properly for hours. You don’t feel taken seriously. The doctors smile at your questions during the examinations or talk to their colleagues in Thai and laugh. You just feel like you’re being fooled.
You put all hope in the help of German health insurance – transporting home could be so much easier. None. Communication between hospital, health insurance, patient. None. You feel lost.

We definitely didn’t want to stay here!
After endless discussions and infinitely long days, we (finally!) came to another hospital: Bangkok Hospital. And there the word empathy was known! The doctor placed his hand sympathetic on Maike’s shoulder right at the pick-up. AHA! There it is. A little spark of sympathy.

In the end, the treatment there was a little more orderly and understandable for us. They communicated with us properly! After a few days, Maike was even classified as airworthy for an ambulance. Jackpot! Seems like a good end.

No way. Give the doctors a go says the health insurance no. After all, Maike’s care is well guaranteed in Bangkok, so why initiate a complex, expensive patient transportation?! Thanks for nothing.

Have you ever thought about the whole psychological stress at the other end of the world? Without parents, without friends? You see, my hatred to health insurance is still there.
Maike had to stay in the hospital for three more weeks until she was finally able to fly to Germany. I take now everything back what I said in my savings plan: definitely get Netflix for such a situation like this …

Call mom and dad. In the end, that always helps me. No matter how bad a situation is. So I sat in despair in the hospital lobby and talked about the incidents – of course, they couldn’t do that much from Germany. But their experience with insurances and tips on how to proceed further motivated me. It gave me new strength to hear that we will get through this. And that it is good and right that I am with Maike and that we fight together.

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• Even if Maike’s health insurance was a letdown in this situation … you still need a foreign health insurance. Even if you are only on the road for three weeks, unfortunately accidents happen faster and more unexpectedly than you ever think.
• If your health insurance does not take care of it theirself: Get a daily update for the health insurance in Germany! So the situation can be better assessed despite the distance.
• The treatment costs are usually very high. If you have to stay in the hospital for several days or even weeks, your eyes will pop out of your head when you look at the bill. Due to our bad experiences with the health insurance company, or the poor communication between the hospital and the health insurance company, you should definitely always have a sufficiently covered credit card with you. In this way, you can cover the costs yourself first, so that urgent action is taken quickly and you do not have to wait three days for the response from the health insurance company before an operation.
• There is a telephone service in almost every hospital. It may take some time, but you definitely have the option of communicating with your health insurance company or a doctor in your home country and not having to pay for your own telephone costs at the same time.
• If you feel that you are not being treated fairly, you can also make an uprising. 🙂 After waiting for an hour for morphine, I went out into the hall and shouted at the doctors (some of whom were unknown to me and might not be able to help) that I would not leave here until we got this morphine. Zack – they went into the room next door and a few minutes later there was the pain reliever. Thanks for that.
• If your feeling continues that you are not in good hands, request a transfer to another hospital. Be sure to trust the opinion of your German doctor and health insurance!