Flying Bat

I understand the initial reaction of many will be to dismiss this, but I just want to kick it around a little.

If one was considering having some minor corrective laser eye surgery ( a very common procedure these days ) and given comparative savings £££ available on dental work SE Asia over Europe/USA, I come to wonder whether Thailand or a.n.other might be considered as a viable alternative.

There are risks wherever you go to for procedures, I just wonder whether the risk profile may be marginal or materially different.

Any costs observations welcome, and particularly anyone who has undergone eye surgery overseas,

Treatment for a pair of eyes in UK can cost in the region of US $6,000

Doc Savage

Look into Canada. They seem to have much better prices than US, and I would trust their doctors much more than the Thais, besides having expert Western medical backup if the .... hits the fan.

Really, though, do you want to skimp on eye surgery? I've seen the results when things go wrong, and it can long, painful, and cost you an eye. I'd hate to see you have to change your handle to Blind Bat.

biggestbopper

Years ago I saw a letter in one of the English language papers from a foreigner who had come to BKK for eye surgery and said he had been blinded by the very high society Thai eye doc he went to after much research.

When he looked into legal compensation he was basically laughed at. Farang against Thai-you can't win.

That story made me very wary about getting serious eye surgery in Thailand or elsewhere a long, long way from home.

Flying Bat

That's very telling, but at the risk of being controversial, bad headlines like these help to sell papers, but something like 'eye surgery operation successful' won't sell copy. Its a good point about the High Society bit, it seems to me a minimum requirement of a few personal recommendations.

I have little doubt that your legal summation is accurate.

transpac

TRSC seems to get the highest marks on thaivisa dot com, far and away. It looks like the pricing is 50,000 - 70,000 baht all in, both eyes and that allotting a total of ten days is ideal. That said, I'd go for the doctor with the most experience, regardless of price, and one near/close to where I live or spend most of my time.

When I had Lasik done - in the U.S. - there was some limitation on air travel by my doctor, but maybe that is less of a concern these days with newer procedures/machines?

Flying Bat

60k TBT is a huge saving, thanks for providing this marker. Very good point on experience, you wouldn't want to be anyone's first session post qualification.

arcticflier

I have gotten all my medical performed outside of the US for past 6 years.
Fortunately, just preventative maintenance procedures--nothing that required ER. I love to save money any way I can.

I shopped three years for corrective eye surgery and narrowed it down to South Korea or Thailand.

Visited friends in Chicago over the past holiday and one of the party guests was a D.O. and Instructor at the University of Chicago.

The cost of the procedure was $1,700/eye for Lasik, which included several hours of exams pre-op, a staff that spoke English as a first language, one year free office visits post-op, easily confirmed references by previous patients/inernet and malpractice insurance in the event of a problem.

They are your eyes. Is it worth a $1,200/eye savings to have the work performed in Asia?

It was the best money I ever spent.

LIH Prem

???

Are you advocating for doing it in Thailand or not?

"the best money you ever spent" implies otherwise?

-David

arcticflier

My opinion is the risk profile is materially different.

After having a minor medical procedure go poorly at a "Westerner" Hospital in Asia my motivation for corrective eye surgery changed from economic to risk mitigation. The totality of the services provided in the US meant a much lower risk procedure for a fairly insignificant increase in cost.

Caveat: Avoid those clinics in the US that are well advertised and want to put you on a payment plan. Their business model is more about profit than your eyes. In other words, its wise to continue DD even if a US clinic is chosen.

Cheers

EmailKid

Yes, but monetary compensation won't bring your eyesight back.

I've been in the eye business for 20 years, pretty much all of it at a teaching institution (no, not a doctor) and we see all the procedures that went wrong, because the doc who did the surgery doesn't want to deal with trying to fix it, because there's no money in that and it can be very time consuming.

So yes, it can -and does - happen in US as well. And in essence, if you have good measurements, it's an almost automatic procedure, very little for the doctor to do, it's mostly done by the machine.

But despite having access to discounted rate, I still wear glasses My colleague OTOH had it done (with discount) a couple of years ago.

EmailKid

Misnerfamily

What is the cost of Lasik for two eyes in Thailand or Seoul?

JDiver

There are several threads in various fora about medical tourism; there are also companies on the Internet (Google is your friend - and check articles published by national magazines as well) that advise those interested in medical tourism on the best places to go. In Bangkok, Bumrungrad Hospital seems to be one place to start.

Some hospitals and clinics are extremely well qualified, some have affiliations with world class institutions (Johns Hopkins, etc.) and many have European and American trained practitioners.

Your best bet is to invest some time and effort in research - significantly beyond FlyerTalk - as once a procedure is done, there is no turning back.

Moving this to TravelBuzz! for broader exposure and discussion, as the OP seems not to be strictly about one country.

JDiver
senior moderator

deniah

fyi, when i've looked into this, the top notch places in singapore, malaysia, bangkok, and hong kong, cost as much as the US.

granted, these arent exactly "3rd world" locations, and arguably they have better care than in the US (even bangkok)

jordan and israel are popular places for medical tourism, fyi.
*******
i was living in the UK at the time, and all the popular places there (e.g. OPTIMAX) were basically high volume lasik factories: deceptive a la carte pricing. prelims exams and consultations with inexperienced assistants. sit-downs with finance guys who were basically kids hired off the street. these people couldnt spell "diopter" to save their lives.
the whole low-rent experience reeks of usedcarssalesmanship. (i was paying in full.. perhaps the wrong demographics for them)

would have felt much less comfortable doing it there than e.g. a modern hospital in Singapore.
*********
to be clear, the actual operation would have not run that much different. the notion of eyeball surgery colors people's perception. its not exactly a brain surgeon working with scalpels. and not to downplay the ophthalmologist, but the actual surgery component is just supervising the excimer machine. the correction program is entered into the machine which then does its job.
********
obv the doc needs to be trustworthy in evaluating your candidacy for the procedures -- prk, lasik, etc-- based on your corneal thickness, pressure, current vision, degree of astigmatism, stability, suitability of your profile with his machine whether they be nidek, b&l, visx, etc...... but the procedure is machine.
***************
in the end, i found a doctor in BC/Canada. what sold me over was the responsiveness and forthrightness in email, over the phone, and in person. i had no discomfort. reading 20/20 the next morning. no "recovery" needed. no lingering aberrations (halos, starburst, night time difficulties, etc). nothing. 3 years later my vision hasnt drifted. basically the perfect procedure.

obviously this is specific to my eyesight and profile and is no way any guarantee for anyone else. but for me it went 100%.

pm me if you want the clinic's info.
******************

btw i spent plenty of hours equipping myself with info from here and other sources:
http://www.allaboutvision.com/

thelark

People I know in the NYC area went to Montreal

Finkface

Do it here in Canada. Less than $2,000 for both eyes, great medical care, obviously.