Tag: review

St Louis Hospital Bangkok

Posted on by
St Louise hospital bangkok review

Some people find the thought of having to visit any of the Bangkok hospitals daunting, maybe it’s the prospect of a confusing language barrier or the association with the vermin filled streets outside! Well, on the contrary, Bangkok hospitals have a pretty squeaky clean reputation and even attract people from across Europe and America, making Thailand one of the leading countries for medical tourism.

Hospitals in Thailand are mostly private and offer a selection of differently priced hospitals to choose from… but this leaves people confused as to which Thai hospital to choose. In rare cases, some of even the most expensive hospitals in Bangkok have been known to delay proper treatment in order to keep patients longer and make more money for them.

Well, I’d say I’ve become quite an expert on Bangkok hospitals during my 7 months living in Thailand and numerous unfortunate mishaps. I’ve suffered torn ligaments, broken toes, infected bug bites, dog bites and much more! Woe is me! However I have loyally used the same hospital in Bangkok, St Louis Hospital, and I’m guessing it’s also one of the cheapest hospitals in Bangkok.

Bangkok Hospital Review

St Louis Hospital Bangkok is a non-profit, Catholic hospital located right next to BTS Surasak in Sathorn. During lunchtimes, you can find a busy little market in the courtyard at the front of St Louis Hospital selling clothes, treats and cooked lunches. When you enter the main doors you’ll find an impressive, huge, shiny lobby with a welcome desk. The staff are helpful and speak reasonably good English to register you and point you in the right direction. You don’t need to make appointments and despite turning up without a reservation, you can usually be seen within 20 minutes of arriving. Amazeballs!

Did I mention how big and shiny St Louis Hospital is? I’ve visited St Louis Bangkok about 3 or 4 times altogether now – Orthopaedics, dermatology and A&E – and every single time, the doctors and nurses have shown compassion, concern and confidence in their own abilities. They are enthusiastic to help, patient with your questions and knowledgeable about the course of action. St Louis hospital is way cheaper than most of the other Bangkok hospitals and I think I trust the staff there more because of the fact that it’s not for profit.

Each time I have visited St Louis Hospital Bangkok, my hospital bill has averaged around 1000 baht (that’s a little over £20 or $30). I have had cheaper hospital experiences in Thailand up north but this is the capital city and St Louis Hospital is quite shiny. My first visit, the doctor gave me a splint for my torn ligament which was 800 baht plus the doctor’s and staff fees at around 300 baht. When I went to A&E I was prescribed antibiotics for a couple of hundred baht plus maybe 250 baht for the doctor’s time. Another time I had to pay 1500 baht for some fancy medicine.

Read about my other hospital experiences outside of Bangkok – Bitten by a dog in Pai and Maharaj Hospital in Chiang Mai.

My review of St Louis Hospital Bangkok:  10/10

 

Sathorn Saint View Serviced Apartments, Bangkok

Posted on by
sathorn saint view bangkok

Sathorn Saint View is both a long stay apartment complex as well as a short stay hotel in Bangkok. If you’re looking for some cheaper budget accommodation in a convenient location, then Sathorn Saint View can be a good choice of apartment to rent in Bangkok. Including the more expensive rooms, all apartments in Sathorn Saint View are open plan studios with no kitchen, just a fridge (and microwave in the better apartments). Rooms are relatively cheap and vary from between 5000 (£100 or $150) and 12000 (£250 or $400) baht per month or from 600 baht per day.

 

The Area Around Sathorn Saint View

Sathorn Saint View is in Sathorn, just a 5 or 10 minute walk to the Surasak BTS sky train station. Just four stops away for 25 baht on the skytrain is the Siam interchange, the hotspot of Bangkok. Alternatively, about a 20 minute walk from the apartments is the central pier, where you can catch a ferry from about 10 baht which will take you to the old district of Bangkok where Khaosan Road and all the main areas for sightseeing are. Also within easy distance, there’s Silom Road which has plenty of choice of restaurants and shops, just about a 15 minute walk away.

 

IMG_2195

 

A review of Sathorn Saint View serviced apartments

With this convenient location and low price in mind, you can’t have everything for nothing in life.

The downside of Sathorn Saint View:

  • Some of the staff are quite nice but a lot of them aren’t particularly helpful and just aren’t particularly enthusiastic or welcoming for some people’s tastes.
  • The professional images on the hotel website are very deceiving. The gym is somewhat ill-equipped in comparison to the these images. Personally, I’ve completely written off the gym. It comprises of a rusty old, dirty weights bench, 3 treadmills and an even rustier pull down cable bar machine. And maybe the odd dead cockroach. It’s real grubby… and to top it off, not only is it located in a boiling hot, green house stylee room on the rooftop but it’s got no aircon either. It’s pretty unbearable during midday in Bangkok. The swimming pool seems okay but it’s just a bit on the small side.
  • The cleaners don’t really do their jobs so well and the dirt can really accumulate after a while. They also tend to skive off on the roof and perv on any of the female guests either sunbathing or using the gym.
  • Directly outside the building, there are some dodgy alleys you need to walk through to get to the main road. Being a lady, I felt a bit nervous on my own after dark.. Maybe a more seasoned traveller might scoff at this and survive just fine.. but for those of a more nervous disposition such as myself, you might want to bear this in mind. Bag snatchings and crime can be a more common occurrence in the sois around here and this is particularly bad for tourists who are bigger targets and more at risk of falling victim to this.
  • The internet can be frustratingly slow. If you need internet for anything important, then bare this in mind. It was a big problem for us. There doesn’t seem to be a limit on the internet usage so even though you have to pay 750 baht per month for wifi in your apartment, you may still be sharing it with somebody downloading ten movies a night.
  • The food in the restaurant is rather greasy. The sandwiches are the only thing on the menu that I could eat. I am not a fussy person at all, but let’s just say eating here has put me off fried rice for life. Every time I think of that greasy meal I feel nauseous…

 

IMG_2198

 

On a more positive note though!

  • There is a a really cool looking temple and grave yard behind the apartments – it’s nice to hear the chants from the nearby mosque and the birds singing throughout the day. It’s a peaceful area compared to staying on a main road.
  • The more expensive apartments are also quite nicely furnished, with a nice lobby area downstairs and a roof top garden.
  • There is an awesome little restaurant directly next door which is lovely and cosy, and on top of this you can buy a really tasty meal from about 40 baht to eat in or take away.
  • In terms of location and size, Sathorn Saint View is decent value for money for long stay residents being within easy walking distance of the BTS.
  • You do not need to sign a long contract. You can pay monthly to stay there and just give two weeks notice when you wish to leave.

 

Sathorn Saint View has so much potential, it just seems a bit neglected. For apartments to live long term in Bangkok, you can find cheaper and better value for money if you don’t mind staying further from the centre. However it is not a bad price really when considering the convenience and closeness to the BTS and Silom. If you don’t mind basically living in a hotel room then it’s a good bargain. However, if staying in Bangkok on holiday, I think that there are much better value for money hotels in Sathorn. The charming youth hostel, Saphai Pae down the road looks better value. Or Eastin Grand, complete with it’s own walkway to the sky train station! How I envied those tourists…

 

 

Language Express Bangkok – A Review

Posted on by
Language Express Thailand

A Review of Language Express School Bangkok

In an earlier post I wrote about joining a language school whilst you stay in Thailand and mention that myself and my girlfriend joined Language Express and warned of a pending review, well here it is.

We’ve been at the school at the time of writing this for two months, so I may update this post at  later date if my opinion changes.

How many Stars out of five?

I wanted to add a star rating for Language Express but as I’ve only ever studied with one Thai language school this seems a little unfair, so I have decided to skip the star rating as I have nothing  to compare it to, except for the education system in England where I spent my school and college days.

First Impressions

Language Express have Education Consultant’s to assist you in the enrolling process and ED VISA process (where applicable), in essence, they are sales-people and there main aim seems to be to get you signed up. They are not the slippery,  suited, snake-oil sales-people we have in England, it’s nothing like buying a car – they seem to be friendly, helpful, polite and not at all pushy.

Their spoken English is good and although you probably pay for the privilege, they are a useful contact. They are always around to answer your questions pre-enrollment and seem to be available to help with things after you enroll, if you do.

The main part of the Language Express building is nice, clean and air conditioned. The class rooms too.  The place is literally right on the steps of the BTS in Phloen Chit, a pleasant and busy part of town, walking distance from Siam. Language Express have their own small cafe, which is very affordable and a good place to sit around chatting or making the most of the free wifi.

Welcome Pack

When you  enroll you get a Language Express bag with your school books (included in the price) and some vouchers to give to friends for a free week and a coffee card allowing you to have five free coffee’s in their cafe. You also get access to the school’s wifi.

On the Language Express website, as well as on the marketing information we were shown prior to joining there were some other goodies promised, such as a Language Express Notebook, a 100 Baht BTS voucher and some other little things I forget now. We never got this. Not a big deal as their value are questionable, even with that in mind, you do feel a little let down when you miss out on something you are previously promised. No doubt we could ask for the missing items and be given them, we chose to write about it online instead because the pen is mightier than the sword (we’re too lazy to ask).

You also get a study ID that you can use to log in to their online booking system to book your Thai lessons, this is actually quite a neat feature of Language Express.

How much does Language Express Cost?

We both signed up for a Thai course consisting of 200 lessons within a year. This includes help and paperwork to get an ED VISA. There are cheaper schools, there are more expensive too – In my experience this is one of the mid-high range prices, but we’re happy paying it for a clean, friendly and helpful place to learn.

They have shorter courses too which are cheaper however do not cover a ED VISA. They also offer various other things such as teaching qualifications and private tuition.

How Busy are the Classes?

We generally go in the day time on a week, I’m on level one and the classes usually consist of 3-7 people. Plenty of room. My girlfriend is on level two and classes there at this time are usually 1-3 people.

From speaking to other people, evening classes tend to get much busier, seeing 12 or more people in a class. Apparently these classes are much more interactive yet harder to get personalised teaching. Preference I guess.

Is the Course Material and Structure Good?

The material is O.K. There are better books to learn from on the market I believe. The books have quite a few errors apparently, not that I have spotted any myself since writing this review I’ve started to notice these mistakes more and more. In fact, I have become a little disheartened by the written material, every page is the same – Different words of course, but other than that, every page is the same and it gets a little tiresome.

The source structure is a tricky one. Because the school doesn’t run strict terms, you may be joining a class where people have been studying for months – The first handful of lessons I sat there confused at what was going on, I could have used an “introduction to Thai” of some kind and even more useful would of been an introduction to how the classes are taught. I went home and tried to work a few things out that confused me and then settled in nicely. Now I’ve been there a while I see the same puzzled look on almost everyone that starts, for at least a few weeks.

This is especially true with the writing classes. My first few lessons we opened book one half way through and starting drawing letters. I could draw a letter a million times, but if no one explains why I’m doing it or what it means, it’s useless. I had to do quite a lot of study on writing at home to catch up and understand. You can buy some pretty decent flash cards in any of the bigger book stores for a couple hundred baht that really help with this.

This is actually quite a problem and I think without studying outside of the class, you may really struggle to learn Thai well here. I guess you should be studying outside of school anyway?

Are the Teachers Good?

Yes, awesome. I’ve had three different teachers so far and think they were all good, very friendly and if you had questions, they are happy to answer.

Teaching styles and the personalities of each teacher are obviously difference, so explore as many teachers as you can and try and follow their schedule.

Taking Tests to Track your Progress

Apparently you can take a test every 8 weeks to track your progress and see if you need to move up a class. This has never been explained to me, and most other students I have spoken to who have been going to the school for months are in the same situation – all confused or entirely ignorant of any tests. When you feel you are ready, you need to go and arrange the test for yourself, no one will approach you about it (unless you get an awesome teacher that really thinks you should go up a class and takes you to reception to book a test – I’ve seen this happen, that’s cool.

Some people really do not like tests, so maybe Language Express’s approach explained above is actually genius, maybe not – It’s down to preference again I guess.  I’m happy with how it works, but then I’l do everything I can to avoid any type of test.

Summary of learning Thai with Language Express in Bangkok

PROS

Friendly staff, nice building, good atmosphere, online booking system for classes.

CONS

Hard as a beginner to settle in to classes as the rest  of the class may be somewhat ahead, course literature not the best.

This school seems much more focus on learning English rather than Thai. They hold activity days every Friday, where games are played or workshops are held. Some times I see a cooking class or something, which is a nice idea but I’ve not attended any, they really seem geared the English learners so I’ve never felt that welcome to attend.

Overall, I’m happy enrolling at Language Express and would recommend it – But only to people who are happy putting some effort it themselves to get moving in Thai.

Try It Out, Let Us Know

They offer free trail lessons so try one out to see what you think  for yourself and if you have comments on Language Express or any other Thai language school in Thailand, post your experiences below or contact me to write a full post on here about it!

Cheers,

Happy