Chiang Mai Klaimor Hospital, Thailand (2/20/18)

As mentioned in the Pai post, I had just gotten to Chiang Mai airport and was waiting to fly to Bangkok to wrap up my Thai adventure.

But, as the saying goes, we make plans and God laughs. While waiting at my gate I was suddenly overcome with what some might call “Montezuma’s revenge” or “Delhi belly” (or perhaps in this case, Buddha’s revenge). Without going into detail, let’s just say that I was in no condition to get on a plane. I scrambled to find a nearby hotel and quickly took a taxi to suffer in private (though I must admit, the airport bathrooms were top-notch). Somebody certainly laughed that day, but it wasn’t me.

Hospital

Half-alive, I managed to check in and attempted to “weather the storm” in my room. After half an hour my condition deteriorated drastically, so I decided that this was no time to be a hero and went to seek professional help. I scrambled downstairs and told the guy at the front desk that I had to go to the hospital. He graciously offered to take me on his motorbike and I hopped on the back.

Safety first, so I asked him for a helmet; he said that he only had one. I assumed this meant he would wear it himself, which seemed selfish but fair since, after all, he was doing me a favor. Surprisingly, however, the guy didn’t wear the helmet either – he just left it hanging on the side of the bike! This seemed like an awful waste, but a thought crossed my mind that if we got into an accident, an upset stomach would be the least of my concerns. Thankfully there wasn’t much time to ponder this depressing scenario – the hospital was only a minute’s ride away.

I checked in, by this point feeling awful: I was super nauseous and my hands and legs were numb and swollen. To top it off there was a huge language barrier, so communication with the nurses proved challenging. This was exasperating: my extreme physical discomfort was only exacerbated by the nurses’ apparent cluelessness as to my condition. Thankfully I must not have been the first white guy to stumble into their emergency room in agony, so the staff eventually realized that I probably had food poisoning.

They quickly put me under an IV and gave me antibiotics. I was handed forms to sign, but my hands were so swollen that I couldn’t properly hold a pen, let alone write anything. They really needed my signature so we struggled for a few minutes until I half-scribbled some gibberish which, in retrospect, wasn’t any worse than how many people sign.

As soon as I “signed” I was good to be taken into the hospital, but this required me to get on a wheelchair – an insurmountable obstacle given my lack of limb control. So, after some futile attempts on my part, they rolled me over onto a mobile bed and wheeled me into a hospital room, where I was told that the doctor would see me tomorrow.

This was disappointing to hear as my condition had not improved at all – my limbs were still numb and my hands had swollen to an alarming size. The nurses just did not seem to understand what I was saying, which was perhaps the worst part of the whole experience. Eventually they injected me with something magical and after a few minutes I felt much better.

Finally getting some relief, I FaceTimed with my family and then fell asleep, though I developed a fever at night and kept getting woken up to take pills.

I spent all of the next day in the hospital, mostly sleeping. The doctor said my blood tests indicated I had bacteria, likely from eating something (must have been that fateful chocolate ice cream in Pai… never again buying ice cream from a street vendor). The antibiotics were working, though. The nurse was super nice and caring and would check in on me every few hours, bringing food and making conversation (this new nurse spoke good English). She said her ex-boyfriend was American.

The following day I felt better and my fever was gone, so I could finally go home. I checked out and paid a grand total of 14k baht – a mere $400 – for the care and accommodations. Prior to leaving for Asia I had bought Allianz Travel Insurance which covered emergencies (for only $55 for 3 months!), so before leaving the hospital I requested all the documentation regarding my stay. This was a nontrivial and lengthy process, but in the end I proudly walked away with a fat folder of documents.

Note: after my trip was done I filed a claim with Allianz to get reimbursed my $400 for the ER visit, and after some weeks of processing I got my money! Overall it was super easy since I had all the documentation, and I couldn’t have been happier with the experience. I’d highly recommend travel insurance (particularly Allianz) for anyone traveling overseas (they have domestic policies too). Hopefully you don’t have to use it but if you do, don’t forget to document everything!

After being discharged I needed a few days of rest, so my plan was to relax in my abruptly-abandoned hotel room, then fly to Bangkok and, after a few days, leave Thailand for good. I walked back to the hotel, grabbed some gas station food, then napped and watched Netflix.

The next day was more of the same – Netflix and chill. I felt much better so decided to book a flight to Bangkok for the following day.

While physically my condition had improved significantly, the food poisoning experience definitely shook me up emotionally. I even considered (just for a second) ending my trip then and there – simply packing my bags and flying home. However, thinking about it some more I decided against it; I didn’t want to be a quitter who regretted this moment of weakness for the rest of his life. I also didn’t like the idea of going through all the trouble to fly halfway across the world, having planned a grandiose adventure, to then turn back after a minor setback. There was still lots I wanted to see in Asia and I wasn’t about to rob myself of that opportunity.

Besides becoming intimately familiar with Chiang Mai airport toilets, I also experienced firsthand how good (and cheap, relative to the US) Thai medicine was. While the initial language barrier at the hospital was debilitating, I must give credit to the nursing staff who were able to quickly diagnose my condition and administer the correct treatment. I got world-class care – 2 nights at the hospital, comprehensive testing and treatment, food, and the attention of kind and caring nurses – for a small fraction of what it would’ve cost in the US. And thanks to my travel insurance, I didn’t end up paying a penny beyond my insurance policy $55. I’d say that’s a great success!

Bangkok

The next day was my big journey. Feeling much better, I flew without any more “incidents” and arrived safely in my Bangkok Airbnb in the late afternoon. I then grabbed food from a nearby 7-11 and Netflixed again. In general, for about a week after my hospital visit I played it safe with my meals, eating mostly pre-packaged food and avoiding street vendors like the plague. I did eat fast food a few times, though 😉

The next day I regained a bit of my appetite for exploration so I decided to check out Chatuchak Weekend Market in the evening (it was Sunday). The market was huge, and for good reason – it’s the largest market in Thailand! I walked around for a while and then grabbed KFC for a to-go dinner.

Since I had only a few days left of my legally-allowed 30-day stay in Thailand, I decided to take full advantage of the next day and explore Bangkok. This was my second time here (first one was a few weeks back with Alec) but there were still a few places I wanted to see but hadn’t.

I first headed to Wat Traimit, which houses the Golden Buddha statue (made of solid gold).

Next I visited Wat Saket, which offered a fantastic view of Bangkok.

The temple’s name roughly translates to “wash hair,” since it is believed that after King Rama I (1700s) once returned home from war, he stopped at this temple to wash his hair before entering the inner city.

After the temples I walked around and stopped by another market.

In the evening I was craving sushi – a potentially risky endeavor considering my recent bad luck in the food department – so I chose a place on the expensive side (though not horrible as far as US prices go – about $50 total).

The next day was my last full day in Thailand, so I spent it shopping for souvenirs.

I first tried Pratunam Market, with no luck, so then checked out the nearby Platinum Fashion Mall and ended up getting a bunch of stuff there. Then I took a taxi to a yarn store to pick up something for my sister, and finished the day off with a nice Thai restaurant where the mango sticky rice was majestic.

And with that, my crazy month in Thailand came to an end. It didn’t quite finish the way I had anticipated, but after a week of recovery I was ready to dive headfirst into more adventures. Next stop, Cambodia!