I had
dreaded the thought of going to private hospitals as I haven’t acquired any
health insurance and I could not simply afford the international fees. At the
same time, I had moved to a hostel further away from central Bangkok where English
is barely spoken there. I had no other choice than to visit the general
hospital nearby.
On
Monday, my hostel owner advised me to go to the Taksin Hospital located at Somdet
Chao Phraya Road. So, I took the bus,
told the bus conductor that I needed to go to Taksin Hospital and turned Google Maps on. Taking the bus in Bangkok was a quite challenging affair but I
had gotten the hang of it by then. After going on a 40-minutes ride from
Bangkok to Salaya the week before, getting dropped off at a wrong stop, trying to
catch another bus again, getting involved in a minor accident between the bus
and a car and being asked to change to another bus, I knew then how to manage
my expectation.
It was
raining when I arrived in Taksin Hospital and I had a strange feeling when I
entered the hospital as there were not many people. As far as I know, a government
hospital like this would be full by 8 in the morning. True enough, I was turned
away by the nurse in charge of registration saying that the doctors were not
available even though it was opened for 24 hours. I (and my hostel owner) had
forgotten that the Songkran festival was still going on and people were still
on holiday. All of these information were communicated to me with only a pen, a
paper and Google Translate. Khorb Khun Ka, I said to her, determined to come
back tomorrow.
The
next day, I felt like I have achieved something when I got my medicine for only
165 THB. I was there for more than three hours, trying to navigate myself from
registration, blood pressure test, getting checked by a medical assistant and a
doctor to collecting my medicine. At Taksin Hospital, I particularly stuck out
like a sore thumb because I was the only foreigner there, standing with a red
passport in hand. I used whatever means to communicate my sickness from the
very beginning: Google Translate, Google Search, Google Pictures, you name it. The
nurse in charge taught me how to say number 19 in Thai because I had to remain
alert when my number is called. Fortunately, the doctor who did a check-up on
me at the final stage spoke sufficient English for us to communicate.
I may look
like Thai (or so I’ve been told) but when I stood amidst the pregnant ladies of
Thonburi, the old people in wheelchairs, the little kids who cried and cried because
of their pain, I’m reminded that our beautiful differences are what makes us a
person. It was still raining when I hopped on bus number 48 to return to my
hostel but I’m forever thankful to everyone in Taksin Hospital for being so helpful
and patient with me.
