Adventures in Medical Tourism for those who are curious...

Before leaving the States I decided not to change off the insurance I'd had for over 20 years figuring that I may be paying a few extra dollars a month over the Obamacare options but my coverage and out of pocket when seeing doctors is much lower. Turns out I should have just gone ahead as they are raising my rates 80% to the unmanageable next month. Sigh...I know, same story for most.
While in Thailand I took care of a few things that would otherwise have cost me...well.. literally many hundreds of dollars.
I spent an afternoon at the Ram Hospital in Chiang Mai. From 2:30-5:30
During that time I got to see a Dermatologist who looked at a few questionable spots (all fine), looked my face over carefully and examined a bite, prescribed some cream for the bite and nitrogen zapped some annoying tags (something my Auburn Doc here won't do because they are harmless despite the discomfort...and if she did I'd have to pay about $130 per zap (in the past I insisted she do one that I kept cutting while shaving, boy did I regret it when I saw the bill)
After that I saw the Endocrinology specialist who did the familiar annual exam I usually have done here in Sacramento. He sent me upstairs and the pic is of the two ladies who managed to get blood for the thyroid panel from my ultra dehydrated body (forgot to bring water to the hospital and by 5 when they tried it was almost impossible...this is not unusual for me I always over-hydrate if I know I'm giving blood) I swear I almost made the one on the right cry. She brought in her friend to finish the job and I chugged a liter or more in between attempts. I would have been prepared except in the states it takes days for the order for blood draw to go through and several more for the results. Here it all happened in one place and they emailed me the results the next morning.
So all told....2 specialty doctors, cream for my bite, zapping, blood tests and delightful service $93.75 US.
My copays to see two specialists is more than that and then there's usually a sizable bill in the mail in a month for what the insurance didn't cover.

Also, Kim and I went back to the UCLA trained dentist we'd seen years ago in Chiang Mai. We had a full cleaning, polish, floss, full state of the art x-ray exam and analysis. For the two of us for all that it was $90 USD (less than what we pay for a cleaning alone for one!)
We still love our Mary at Dr Zendner's in Colfax but this time we spent the money on travel instead and I know she'd understand and take us back in 6-8 months when it's time again!