Any expats going to Bangkok Christian hospital, make sure you do not see this doctor: Dr Pakawee Savanglned.
I went to Bangkok Christian hospital in Silom, last week ( Nov 8th 2015) Being a Christian myself, I thought that going to a Christian hospital would be a safe place to go. Unfortunately I was sadly mistaken. I saw a doctor called Dr Pakawee Savanglned.
She is quite young, very rude, has too much pride and ego and is very unprofessional.
She abruptly said "so why are you here"? I said that I though that I might have deng fever.
She rolled her eyes and pulled an patronizing expression at me.
She asked me " why do you think you have that" ?. I told her my symptoms. Which were: aching bones and joints, exhaustion, unable to move very far, a feeling of pain, heaviness and stiffness a round my shoulder, a feeling like something was inside me sticking pins in me, depression and anxiety, runny nose, headaches, aching eyes...and and more.
She pokes me in the cheeks and said "does this hurt?". I said "a bit".
She wrote something down and said that I need to have a face X-ray.
I said " will that help diagnose the bone and joint ache"?
She sighed, huffed and puffed and said aggressively "so would you like a blood test?" I said " yes please"..
She wrote out a note for the nurse and gave instruction to her and then asked he to take me and my friend outside.
We were in there about 5. minutes overall, the nurse took me to the pay counter. They said " 2,200 baht" at the counter.
I still did not have any reassurance at all about what I was having being tested for and felt like before I part with my money, I should at least know what I am paying for.
I asked the person who was doing the blood test "what am I being tested for?" she looked at the paper and said " dang fever" .....I said " anything else...or just that" ....shine said " blood count"
Thankfully the friend I had with me just happened to be a nurse when she was younger and was able to explain to me about the blood test.
Dr Pakawee Savanglned- Round Two
So after an hour we went back to get the results of the scan and blood test. The doctor said. You have a infection in your nasal area.
The blood test came back clear.
The doctors level of understand the English language is poor. She can pronounce words properly...but she could not understand the context or reason why I was asking the questions. She could not see the logic behind the question so instead of being humble and trying to understand and help....she became increasingly aggressive and her attitude became so stroppy that I was totally shocked that she could even be allowed to do this job.
The university she came from is clearly not teaching their students about patient care or basic human compassion.
As I could see that she was not understanding why I was asking the question ( because I wanted to know 1) what I had been tested for and 2) what I had been diagnosed with) She could not understand my questions and became angry and extremely rude in response to me asking.
She wrote down the prescription and her writing was not readable. I was planning on buying the drugs outside and wanted to make sure that I bought the right ones. I asked her if she could spell out the name of the drugs so I could write them down. She said " it's ok" then huffed and puffed and stared at me directly in the eyes as though we were in a boxing ring or something, which I found very strange.
I didn't ask if it was ok...I asked her to spell the word to me. Again...she didn't understand the question.
More stroppyness and more attitude, huffing, puffing, sighing, rolling her eyes, talking to the Thai nurse in Thai.
I just paid 2200 baht for a doctor to treat me like a criminal.
Eventually I managed to squeeze the correct spelling of the drugs out of her...after lots of hard work and effort.
I asked for her name, she pointed her finger in the air.
I asked her again for her name....she said " outside" I asked he again for her name she said " up there" I asked her " where up there" she said " yes" ...my friend said " is it on the door" she said " yes".
After feeling exhausted with such an unnecessary battle to get basic but I mportant patient information from the doctor, we left the room and a nurse came up to us asking us which drugs we need. At this point, I still did NOT know what I had been tested for and what I had been diagnosed with.
We told the nurse about our experience of the doctor and explained that I still had not been given a diagnosis and do not know what the drugs were for.
Luckily for me, the nurse has had the same symptoms that I had and she recognized the medication and said that I have sinusitis. I asked..."does this effect bones and joints", she said " yes" .....alleluia !!!
Then just to end on a high note, we got charged 1200 baht for medication :-(
I was just happy to leave :-)