I'm signing-off from the USA and will be heading to the airport in a couple hours for the flight back to Thailand. It has been a great trip and I had a great time doing and eating things that are not available in LOS. As to the theme of this writing, yes, many prices are much more expensive than in Thailand and many things are the same, or even cheaper.
There are many things that are not available in either country respectively at any price. Overall, it's pretty easy to say the Thailand has a generally lower cost of living for anyone wanting a comfortable place to live...but you do give up many things, especially in infrastructure.
Having lived in LOS for a decade now, I am feeling a very strong pull to return to the USA. I am in the fortunate position where finances are not really a factor...it's more where I enjoy myself more. I have enjoyed and experienced many things in Thailand and don't regret for a minute the time I have spent there. However, I ask myself the question: Do I want to spend the next 30 years of my life there? That is the question I will be pondering over the next few months.
The cover story in the current US News and World Report weekly news magazine on the newsstands now in USA is about the medical tourism phenomenon and specifically mentions India and Thailand on the cover. It talks about American patients traveling to these countries for non-emergency chronic and elective procedures because the quality is very high and the costs a fraction of those in America.
Of course, anyone who live in Thailand already knows this and that the medical tourism market is a fast growing one in LOS.
I can't very walk into the local office here and ask them the standard price for an open heart surgery...but I did get to pop into a neighborhood dental clinic and inquire about pricing for dental services. I was almost bowled over by the prices the receptionist quoted me. Mind you, these were "rack" rates for a walk-in customer and not prices charged for dental plan or insurance clients I'm sure. You may also be able to get a discount for cash upfront.
Anyway, here are the prices: Initial (first-time) oral exam and cleaning/polishing $ 190.00 (B 6080) and semi-annual exams/cleaning $ 160.00 (B 5120). In Pattaya (and Bangkok too) the most one would pay for a cleaning/polishing would be $ 32 (B 1000) and in Pattaya, my nice farang oriented clinic charges $ 16.00 (B 500) for this. Just be sure to brush and floss your teeth religiously in America because a porcelain filling at this clinic would cost you from $ 240-$ 450 ( B 7680-B 14,400) depending of size/number of surfaces.
For fillings in Pattaya, I pay around $ 16-$ 47 (B 500-B 1500). The quality of work I get done in Thailand seems to be fine and I don't know if there is anything more to the services provided in the US or if it's just the higher MDs fees and office costs that accounts for the astromical difference. If I do return Stateside in the future, I'll still visit LOS at least once a year and I'll be sure to have my dental work done then!
