Deputy Mayor Manote Nongyai defended the transfer of a pregnant Cambodian migrant laborer from city-run Pattaya Hospital to a government facility, saying the woman’s condition was not urgent and she only had insurance coverage at Banglamung Hospital.
Social media keyboard warriors without all the facts had accused Pattaya of discriminating against the 32-year-old woman because of her ethnicity. Manote explained why that wasn’t the case.
She had been sent to Pattaya Hospital by her employer due to experiencing contractions, even though she wasn’t due to deliver for at least seven weeks. However, after determining she was in no danger of going into labor, she was transferred to Banglamung Hospital for observation.
Manote said the employer’s insurance did not cover Pattaya Hospital and, had the woman prematurely delivered her child at the city hospital, she would have had to pay the bill. There is no cost to the patient if she is treated at Banglamung Hospital.
Manote emphasized that Pattaya Hospital turns away no one in need of emergency treatment, Thai, expat or migrant. Once patients stabilize, however, they can be transferred to facilities where they have insurance coverage.
