We also stumbled upon an event of sorts and got to see a few ladies dressed in traditional Thai outfits; very elaborate and so different to anything else we’ve seen.
Today, being Mother’s Day in the US and South Africa, we enjoyed a cooked breakfast at one of the waterfront restaurants, Dean and Deluca, before returning to Paw Paw to get ready for Elaine’s hospital appointment. Roy, however, did manage to wash the decks before we went for breakfast.
A short Grab ride got us to the private Bangkok Hospital Phuket and, once again, Elaine experienced a different process and level of care. After registering and waiting a short time, she was ferried off to see a nurse who took her vitals, did her blood work, requested a urine sample and escorted her to the imaging department for a chest x-ray, all completed within half an hour and even before she’d seen the doctor, although her medical records had been provided ahead of time. The test results were available within the hour, following which she saw the doctor. It’s always a bit unsettling when seeing a specialist for the first time, but Elaine was definitely not disappointed. Although slightly younger than her other specialists, he was very proficient, asked a lot of questions, completed a physical examination and, best of all, he was very calm; nothing felt rushed and Elaine learnt about an aspect of one of her more serious conditions which had never been explained before. A major overall benefit was that the process was similar to Singapore, where you receive an appointment versus the Malaysian system of “first come-first serve”, which resulted in a lot of hanging around a hospital for hours on end, usually an entire morning, for a 10-20 minute consultation. Within two hours of arriving at the hospital today, we’d left.
Over these initial few days, though, we’ve tried to compare Thailand to other countries we’ve had the good fortune of visiting during our sailing adventures and, as far as first impressions go, we’ve found services to be efficient, medical care to be very proficient, the people very friendly and humble, the shrines everywhere remind us of Bali, albeit that these are Buddhist as apposed to Hindu and everything is just a little bit more discerning, upmarket and luxurious somehow, from the restaurants to the Grabs that took us to and from the hospital. Food is artfully presented, even if it’s just bacon and eggs, cold beverages like an iced raspberry tea had an extra touch of fresh raspberries added, at the hospital, the general seating was comfortable leather chairs or sofas versus a hard metal seat, not to mention the opulent marble floors and oak panelled walls, as well as the Grabs that were luxury vehicles with leather interiors and spotlessly clean.
There are obviously more impoverished areas like the little fishing village across from the marina, but the long-tail fishing boats are all beautiful decorated and adorned.
As for the marina, there appears to have been no shortage of money, evident by the number and variety of crewed charter boats. We can only imagine how busy everything must have been before the pandemic hit and how Thailand and, in particular, Phuket, catered to every need and budget, the latter still very evident.
We wrapped up our day with a phone call to the folks in Ireland, but not before we’d enjoyed a delicious meal at an Italian restaurant, La Taverna, a short walk from where Paw Paw is berthed; Roy was dying for a calzone.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful mothers out there. What you do everyday for your children is reflected for generations.
