Health, vaccinations and medical care in Thailand

Health, insurance and where to be treated

No vaccination is required to enter Thailand, with one exception: proof of yellow fever vaccination if you are arriving from, or have recently passed through, a country with a risk of yellow fever transmission in Africa or South America.

• Keep routine vaccinations up to date.
• Hepatitis A - recommended for essentially all travellers, because it spreads through contaminated food and water.
• Hepatitis B - worth having if you might get a tattoo or piercing, need medical or dental treatment, or expect sexual contact.

Thailand is a rabies-risk country.

• Do not touch dogs, cats or monkeys, including the habituated monkeys around temples and tourist sites.
• Any bite, scratch or licked broken skin needs washing with soap and water and immediate medical assessment. Post-exposure treatment is widely available in Thai hospitals but has to be started quickly.

Dengue is a daytime risk, year-round.

• It reaches central Bangkok and peaks in the rainy season.
• The mosquito that carries it bites during the day, so repellent is a daytime habit, not just an evening one. Use products containing DEET, Icaridin or PMD.
• Malaria is not a risk in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Samui or the main tourist islands - it is limited to some forested border areas.

Do not drink the tap water. Bottled water is sold everywhere at roughly 7 to 15 THB for 1.5 litres. Ice in established restaurants and cafés is made from purified water and is generally safe.

For minor problems go to a pharmacy first. The Boots, Watsons and Fascino chains are better stocked and more consistent than small independent shops, and pharmacists speak workable English in tourist areas. Many medicines that need a prescription at home are sold over the counter here.

For anything more serious, use a private international hospital:

• Bumrungrad International Hospital, Bangkok - the best-known, with English-speaking staff throughout and a dedicated travel medicine centre.
• Bangkok Hospital and Samitivej, Bangkok - large private networks with international patient departments.

Indicative private-hospital costs:

• Emergency department visit - from about 5,000 THB.
• Specialist consultation - 800 to 2,000 THB.
• X-ray - 1,000 to 3,000 THB.
• Blood tests - 500 to 5,000 THB depending on the panel.

Carry travel medical insurance covering hospitalisation and emergency evacuation, and keep the insurer's emergency number reachable offline. Private hospitals ask for a guarantee of payment or a card before non-emergency treatment, and evacuation from the islands to a mainland hospital is expensive without cover.

The EHIC is not a substitute for travel insurance. The EU itself states that it does not cover private care, repatriation, or lost or stolen belongings. Keep your EHIC for European trips and take out full commercial travel insurance for Thailand, ideally with coverage for traffic accidents - and scooter coverage only if you genuinely meet the licensing conditions. Sources: EU - EHIC FAQ, EU social affairs EHIC note, Smartraveller Thailand.