Medbelle surveyed 50 countries for its 2019 Medicine Price Index, a comparison survey of 13 medications from heart meds to Viagra, Asthma to Anti-depressants and HIV treatments. The average prices of both the brand compound and their generic versions were included in order to have a complete profile of each medication. Lastly, we normalised the dosage size in order to make the price comparable.The results range from a +306.82 % deviation in the United States, to -93.93% in Thailand, highlighting a disparity in what patients pay for the same medicine across the world. Thailand came top with a figure that its medications were 93.93% cheaper than the world average. Kenya, at 93.76% and Malaysia, 90.80%, were also money-savers. The most expensive countries were
1. USA 306.82% more expensive than average
2. Germany 125.64%
3. UAE 122.03%
4. Italy
5. Denmark
6. Qatar
7. Spain
8. Netherlands
9. Israel
10. Iceland 56.01%

First, let’s talk about Importing Personal meds into Thailand: Several months ago I had some medical items sent from my home country. They were held up at customs. On my first visit to the airport customs office I learned that unless I got a note from my doctor, the items would be considered commercial and I would have to pay a very hefty fee. I met with my doctor and went back to customs a couple of days later. I found that my note from him was not valid. It had to be issued by a public hospital doctor, not private. Fortunately, the customs officer took pity on me and let it go without the fee, provided I understood that I would need to present a correct note the next time. I recently ordered another shipment of the same product, and was worrying a bit, so I made an appointment with a doctor I had been to before, to ask for a letter. Since he has privileges at both RAM and a public hospital, and since I was told he would be unavailable for two weeks at the public hospital, I foolishly made the appointment at RAM, thinking he could give me a note from CM. After waiting for an hour I saw him, and learned that I would have to set up another appointment at CM hospital, and be careful to do it in the public section. Three hours after that I had my paper from the doctor. He told me there would be no charge. Lester Johnson, President, Chiang Mai Expats Club

I’m buying cheap meds in Thailand but my needs are pretty lightweight, so I turned to a friend, Greg Miller, who was injured when deep sea diving for the US Navy, and I asked him about his wonderful collection of meds and if they are really as cheap as people claim.  In response, he wrote me this:

When I moved to Thailand from the US I found that buying meds here is much more relaxed. Medicines that are out of the reach of many in America because of price, or not available at all because the FDA restricts their distribution, are readily available to the public in Thailand. It’s not perfect in Thailand, but it’s a lot better than in the States. Here are 16 tips for buying cheap meds in Thailand that will save you time and money:

1. If you’re coming to Thailand from the US you can save a lot of money by stocking up on your meds here. Jjust make sure you have documents when you return. It is also good to have a small supply of the “contingency drugs”, the medicine you are likely to need as things happen in the future. If you can legally buy the meds you need in the US, you can buy them in Thailand easier and much cheaper than back home.
2. You will usually find both the brand name pharmaceuticals you have in the US (running typically about 10% of the cost in the US) and generic brands (could be as low as 1%). That huge price difference can make a major lifestyle difference for many Americans. Some people even save enough to pay for their trip and holiday.
3. If while you are in Thailand you want to meet with a doctor to check out everything and get a legitimate local prescription, it won’t be a major investment as it is back home. I recently met with an excellent English speaking doctor at one of the leading Chiang Mai hospitals for annual heavy-duty check-up, giving me updated prescriptions for my blood pressure and thyroid ailments after giving a whole bunch of tests, and my charge for the doctor was 250Baht ($8.36 USD). And if you have a prescription already written by a US doctor, it becomes extremely simple for a Thai doctor to write a new prescription here.
4. By doing a little internet search on your US medications, you can get the generic or medical name for what you are taking. You should write these down to take to Thailand because they may not be familiar with the brand name used in the US. Often the big pharmas will have a different brand name for the same product for different marketing regions. In the US where they can reap enormous profit margins, they often will have a unique brand name.
5. To repeat: carrying an actual prescription — whether American or Thai — with you prevents a lot of difficulties if the medicines are discovered crossing national borders.
6. Many travelers recommend only buying medicines in the pharmacies in big private hospitals. While this can certainly be a bit assuring, it should be realized that this is the most expensive place to cheap meds in Thailand (the same as in other countries as well). You will save much more if you make your purchase through independent pharmacies. They are all pretty much licensed and have licensed, educated pharmacists who are much more helpful than US pharmacists in their recommendations. Senior Thai pharmacists usually speak ‘medical English’. Most travelers have the wherewithal and savvy not to buy from street sellers, I assume.
7. If you go to a Thai pharmacy and there is no air conditioning and it looks or smells bad, you may want to just make a U turn. Medicines do lose their potency in high heat. Fortunately, poor quality pharmacies are the minority. You have to be a wise consumer in Thailand (in anything you buy). And when you store meds at home, a good place to store them is in the fridge.
8. Birth control pills are available over the counter in Thailand, starting at a cost of a $1 for a month’s supply. You can buy the same brand as back in the US or a generic.
9. Male enhancement drugs can be much less than back home. Cialis Viagra and Levitra are available with no prescription and you will save money. There are also plenty of fakes from China (so examine the package carefully and don’t buy from street merchants or border markets).
10. There are national generics from India and within Thailand. For instance, the Thai equivalent to Viagra, which is called Sidegra, seems to be just as effective (or better) than Viagra and can be purchased in 100mg versions at a fraction of the cost is the US (less than $1 ea.). On a somewhat related note, condoms in Thailand are cheap but most (American) men complain that they tend to be too small.
11. Many anti-depressants, antibiotics, allergy meds, steroids, Valium and other pharmaceuticals that require an expensive doctor appointment back in the US are available over the counter in Thailand (but not always), so don’t be nervous to ask. If a prescription is required, the pharmacists can usually recommend a medical doctor that can take care of this at a minimal cost.
12. Or just pop into a private clinic or hospital. You can have an appointment quickly and cheaply.
13. There are also many medicines not available at all in the US that you can buy in Thailand. This does not mean that these medicines are bad for you. To introduce a new medicine into the US takes many millions of dollars and years of testing, and many companies in the world do not have the resources and inclination to go through the US process Many Chinese herbal medicines fall into this category.
14. Understand that while medicines are easily and cheaply purchased in Thailand, this does not apply to vitamins and supplements. These are generally imported and taxed heavily, so you will find these to be substantially more expensive than in the US. Whenever we go back to the US we stock up on vitamins to bring back to Thailand.
15. Not all meds in Thailand are cheap. There are several OTC meds easily available in the US that are considerably more expensive in Thailand. Simple pain relievers like Aleve and plain aspirin (which legally requires a prescription in Thailand) are expensive. Benadryl seems to be impossible to find in Thailand, and good ol’ Tums are very difficult to find. You also will not find Cortisone cream in Thailand, but Thai pharmacies have a generic brand of hydrocortisone cream that is very expensive. It seems that those medicines in the US that do not have a strong FDA and AMA control, the pricing and availability in the US is much better.
16. Also medicines that in the US might be construed as recreational by some (as in Cannabis) are strictly forbidden in Thailand and have severe penalties in this country and throughout the region. The Drug War was initiated around the world by the US (thanks largely to Dick Nixon), and while sanity is finally starting to be applied in many places in the US, Thailand and other Asian nations have been extremely slow in easing up on this. It is wise to avoid any connection with these drugs in Southeast Asia.

Videos About Thai Pharmacies and Buying Cheap Meds in Thailand

And, just in case you’re actually sick and need to talk to a Thai pharmacist, here’s a video that teaches you the basic phrases for buying cheap meds in Thailand! (Though most Thai pharmacists speak English).

For most ailments, there’s no need to see a doctor in Thailand so long as you know a good pharmacist and a good Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner. Here’s the best pharmacy for Buying Cheap Meds in Thailand right in in Chiang Mai, where I live. Its owner, the pharmacist, is Khun Mum, and she really knows her meds! She’s also an excellent diagnostician and her prescriptions almost always fix the problem.

Reading on Buying Cheap Meds in Thailand

• CDC Recommends PrEP for Injection Drug Users – AIDS.gov – The study results were released yesterday by the Thai Ministry of Health and CDC. Based on these findings, CDC recommends that PrEP be considered as one of several prevention options for people in the United States at …
• The EU-Thailand FTA: What Fate For Access To Medicines? – Civil society groups in Thailand and Europe have sounded the alarm over these negotiations in the past months. We fear that access to medicines for people living in Thailand will be one of the things traded away. This will …
• Interim Guidance: Preexposure Prophylaxis for the … – The iPrEx study was conducted in Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Thailand, South Africa, and the United States. Eligible participants were … Participants were seen every 4 weeks for an interview, HIV testing, risk-reduction and PrEP medication adherence counseling, pill count, and dispensing of pills and condoms. Every 3 months, participants …. If HIV positive, order and document results of resistance testing and establish linkage to HIV care. If HIV negative, establish linkage …
• CDC – Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) – Research … – When someone is exposed to HIV through sex or injection drug use, these medicines can work to keep the virus from establishing a permanent infection. When taken consistently, PrEP has been shown to reduce …. Web Site Icon . Antiretroviral prophylaxis for HIV infection in injecting drug users in Bangkok, Thailand (the Bangkok Tenofovir Study): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial · External Web Site Icon . Lancet 2013;381(9883):2083-90.
• The Great Flood of 2011, Thailand: A Firsthand Account – CDC – Blogs – Public Health Matters Blog – The Great Flood of 2011, Thailand: A Firsthand Account – Sharing our stories on preparing for and responding to public health events. … They need to set up their own taskforces and working groups in order to create an effective warning system and coordinate with one another. They should also have their own emergencies supplies on hand. A big thank you to Dr. Wongjindanon for sharing his experience with us and …

If your drugs are from a ‘controlled’ category, then read this post about Bringing Controlled Pharmaceutical Drugs into Thailand VERY carefully!  If you liked ‘Buying Cheap Meds in Thailand’, you’ll like

• Medical Care in Thailand.
• Medical Insurance in Thailand!
• More on health care and medication in Thailand
• More on treating Dengue Fever in Thailand 

The post Buying Cheap Meds In Thailand 16 Tips appeared first on Thai Retirement Helpers: Retiring in Thailand Made Easy.

Alzheimers assisted living in Thailand is comparable to what can provide at home and more affordable than a $12,000/month Swiss special care facility, according to one of our clients.

A Swiss gentleman, responsible for his afflicted father, approached us requesting a custom workshop designed to find an Alzheimer’s special care facility in Thailand. Caring for family members with Alzheimer’s is as big a problem for Europeans as it is for Americans: our Swiss client told us that he was facing bills of $12,000/month for his dad. We got his father  settled – in a facility superior to the one in Switzerland – for  $2,600/mo.

The  drawback is Thailand’s distance. If you can deal with this then the choice is clear: Thailand is far less expensive for  both patient and carer. Alzheimers assisted living in Thailand has five advantages:

1. Lower cost
2. Better nursing
3. Better medical care
4. Better cultural environment
5. More humane and cheerful facilities.

Care Costs Less

• Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has pledged to raise the daily minimum wage to Bt300 ($10) per day nationwide. So Alzheimers assisted living in Thailand costs 25% of the USA/UK/Europe/Australia.
• Land is plentiful and construction materials are cheap. Labor costs are low. Thais construct care facilities of extremely high quality yet quite inexpensively.
• Cost of living in Thailand is low for both the patient and carer. You can rent a nice studio apartment nearby for $250/month.

Nursing is Better

In the West patient care standards have fallen as the importance of profits has risen. Today’s harried nurses, working in deliberately understaffed facilities, have little time to devote to the bedside chats that were once an integral part of the caring process. In Thailand, overstaffing is the rule – everywhere. Staff in my favorite riverside coffee shop always outnumber customers. When the girls see me pull into the parking lot they have the WiFi switched on, a cushion on my favorite chair, my music playing, and my daily order (iced organic arabica cafe latte frappe with little ice) waiting on my table with, naturally, something to nibble, and a glass of iced water. The cost, 59 Baht ($1.99), is considered high here, but I refuse to complain. The same is true in Alzheimer’s assisted living facilities: after a recent accident I spent hours in the emergency ward. Four nurses fussed over me, covering my with a (warmed!) blanket as I lay on the gurney, bringing glasses of iced water and stroking my injured leg while chatting in charming, fractured English. They were in no hurry and, after a while, I was in no hurry to leave. The bill? 500 Baht ($17)

Better Medical Care

It seems strange to claim that medical care in Thailand could be better than in the countries where Western medical care originated, but it is. Not because of the physicians’ training – which is often identical, down to attending the same medical schools – but because of time and attitude. Thai physicians do not expect to get rich. They expect to take care of people  for the rest of their lives, and cure them. They devote themselves to that with the single-mindedness we expect in the Orient.

Thai Cultural Environment

Thailand, though officially Buddhist, has a Confucian family- and social-culture which maintains a tradition of genuine respect for older people. The elderly are almost always lovingly cared for within the family by the daughter for as long as possible. The entire family makes great sacrifices to support this home elder care, because not to do so would bring unbearable shame upon them. In Thai care facilities, seniors with Alzheimer are treated with love and dignity because that is how every Thai, without exception, has been brought up to treat older people.

Beautiful Facilities

He left intact the original building shown in the picture above because of its historical value, but the nursing facilities are 21st. century and because a Thai businessperson who constructed an ugly or cheap facility would lose respect (face: ไปแขงกแพ ขายขหนาเปลา ๆ bpai kàeng gôr páe kăai kêe ่้ ้่ nâa bplào-bplào) amongst his peers in Thai society, as would his family. Thais prefer to construct prestigious edifices with graceful colonnades and beautiful plantings, thereby gaining respect amongst their associates. Of course, there is also compelling market pressure to construct attractive facilities: customers prefer them.

General Nursing Home Care

Nursing home care in Thailand costs less than half the rate for Alzheimer’s care: it starts at $1,000/month for a good, professional facility.

If Alzheimer’s assisted living is a consideration for you, watch this short video about choosing care for your family member. It’s from the Alzheimer’s Association of America:

General Readings on Alzheimers Assisted Living

• Everyday Products That Can Contribute To Alzheimer’s Disease … – Jun 10, 2011 · … aluminum, alzheimer’s, assisted living, assisted living facilities, dementia, home care chicago. Comments (0) Trackbacks (0 … Powered by WordPress…
• Home Care for Alzheimer’s and Dementia | Minnesota HomeCare … – Jan 09, 2012 · Notify me of follow-up comments via … alzheimer’s assisted living Brain Injury CDC CMS coding dementia elderly events falls Friday … Powered by …
• DESERT MANOR IN YUCCA VALLEY SPECIALIZES IN … – Jul 01, 2011 · Comments RSS Trackback; Information. Date : July 1, 2011; Categories : Alzheimer’s, Assisted Living, … Powered by WordPress.com …
• Arizona Resource for Families Dealing with Alzheimer’s … – Apr 22, 2011 · Notify me of follow-up comments via email. Calendar. April 2011; M T W T F S S « Mar : May … Powered by WordPress.com %d bloggers like this: …
• The Cost of Alzheimer’s | Assisted Living Advantage – Sep 21, 2010 · Notify me of follow-up comments via email. Calendar. September 2010; M T W T F S S « Aug : Oct … Powered by WordPress.com %d bloggers like this: …

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So last week I had my second cataract surgery here in Chiang Mai, at Rajadev Hospital, where I’d had the first eye done. I waited 6 months between surgeries because I’d made so many first-timer mistakes that it took 6 months to recover. The second operation was a snap and I was driving happily the next day, with perfect vision. While there are probably very few others dumb enough to make every mistake, I felt that it might be useful to create a catalog of errors – like forgetting a critical question for your surgeon or getting an eye infection because you’ve been told not to let water near it for a month – so I wrote the book whose cover you see at right. (Read it on Amazon). The total bill for both eyes, including drugs and checkups, was 90,000 Baht, US$3,000. Care was superb throughout and the pre-and post-op procedures – like triple-checking before administering eye medication – were world class and very confidence-inspiring. The hospital is run by women, (men fill all senior roles but can do little operational damage). The women are charming, pretty, and really know their jobs. My surgeon was  – you guessed it – a pretty, charming woman. When I asked her, with some alarm, why she would not sedate me during the operation, she explained that the local anesthetics that are so effective for eye operations can, in rare instances, trigger a thermal shutdown that would leave the patient hypothermic in a cold operating theater. “Best to be able to talk to each other throughout the operation”, she said. Oh.

Despite my mistakes, everything turned out wonderfully. Cataract surgery has probable done more good for more people than almost any other surgical procedure. Don’t hesitate to have it done. And having it done in Thailand can save you a bundle. If you choose Chiang Mai (laid back vs. Bangkok’s hustle) my friend Aimie Paradee, the best guide to Chiang Mai, will pick you up at the airport, check you into your hotel, show you around, accompany you to surgery, pay your bill and generally care for you. That’s what she did for me. She’s a Chiang Mai native and a mother, so she knows about taking care of people. Including driving you around, she charges 4,000 Baht ($130)/day – and keeps you laughing the whole time. (Her Thai moms’ advice about healing is free. As is the scolding).

(The week after my eye surgery I went back to the hospital and I had all my actinic keratoses (minor skin lesions from youthful exposure to the Australian sun) blasted with liquid CO2. The nurses remembered me on sight and why I’d come. I was in and out in 40 minutes. Total cost was 1600 Bt ($35). It’s great to have this kind of maintenance work done promptly and cheaply).

Follow-Up: I went for my 6-month surgery follow-up yesterday. My angelic, perfectly coiffed surgeon greeted me, took my vital signs (including blood oxygen) and ran me through a battery of tests on her very cool German equipment. I was able to read down to the last line on the eye chart, without glasses! In the final one she photographed my retinas and put the images up on the screen. Then she called up my retinal images she’d taken of each eye prior to the surgery. She put all 4 images up and the difference was staggering: my pre-surgery eyes were almost opaque: you could barely see the retina and its characteristic blood vessels. In the post-op shots you could see every detail of two (very healthy) retinas.
I was in and out of the hospital’s parking lot in under an hour, even though I didn’t have a fixed appointment and the bill? 609 baht ($US15).

https://youtu.be/rUCoQzui704

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