Hospitals in Kanchanaburi

Kanchanaburi is a provincial town of modest size that hosts an outsized number of visitors, most of them here for the Bridge over the River Kwai, the swimming pools of Erawan Falls and the long road west through Sai Yok and Thong Pha Phum to Sangkhlaburi. The medical picture matches the town rather than the visitor numbers: one large Ministry of Public Health hospital with about 600 beds in use, two private hospitals of 100 and 74 beds, and then nothing but small district hospitals for the 220 kilometres between the town and the Myanmar border. All three town hospitals sit on Saengchuto Road, the main road through town, within about ten minutes of each other.

This page lists them with the practical detail: what kind of hospital it is, roughly how big, where it is, how to call it and how to find it on a map, plus the two district hospitals a traveller on the Sangkhlaburi road would actually use. Every name opens a full page on that hospital. Details were checked against each hospital’s own website or, where a hospital has none, against two independent directories, in September 2026; switchboards do change, so if a number fails, call 1669.

The 5 at a glance

Bed counts are approximate. Tap a name for the full page.

The hospitals

Which hospital should I go to?

For a serious emergency with insurance, or anything that needs a specialist quickly, go to Synphaet Hospital Kanchanaburi, the former Kanchanaburi Memorial, on the highway at the north-western edge of town: a 100-bed private hospital with a 24-hour emergency department and international accreditation. Without insurance, or for anything grave, Phaholpolpayuhasena Hospital at the Bangkok end of Saengchuto Road is the provincial hospital, with about 600 beds in use and every major department; it is where the 1669 ambulances take the serious cases. For a minor illness or injury at a private hospital’s pace but a lower price, Thanakarn Hospital in Ban Tai is the small private option between the two. Up-country, Thong Pha Phum Hospital and Sangkhlaburi Hospital are the only hospitals for a long way in either direction. In a life-or-death emergency go to the nearest emergency room, or call 1669 and let the crew decide.

What will it cost?

Two tiers, and neither is Bangkok-priced. Phaholpolpayuhasena charges foreigners a higher tariff than Thais but still very little by Western standards: a consultation, tests and medicine typically come to less than a night in a mid-range guesthouse on the river, and even an admission is affordable. The two private hospitals charge a few times that for the same outpatient visit and expect a deposit if you are admitted; Synphaet, as the bigger and accredited one, sits at the top of the local range, though at provincial private-hospital prices rather than the Bangkok flagships’. The district hospitals up the Sangkhlaburi road charge public rates. Where the money really goes is transfer: a private road ambulance to Bangkok is several hours and a bill in the tens of thousands of baht, which is one more reason to carry insurance. Ask for a written estimate before any procedure, anywhere.

Insurance, deposits and paperwork

Thai private hospitals are used to travel insurance and will call your insurer for a guarantee of payment — but only if the insurer has a contract with them, and usually only for an admission; outpatient visits are almost always pay-and-claim, and the public hospitals rarely direct-bill anyone. If there is time, phone the assistance number on your policy before you go: it can name the hospital it prefers and open the claim. Check one exclusion before you need it: many policies do not cover riding a motorbike unless you hold a motorcycle licence, and a large share of the injuries visitors bring to these hospitals are scooter accidents on Route 323. Take your passport, your policy number, any medication you are on and, after a road accident, the rental agreement and your licence — the compulsory motor insurance on a rented scooter covers some injury costs, but only for a licensed rider. Always ask for an itemised receipt and an English-language medical certificate before you leave.

Getting there and ambulances

The national ambulance number is 1669; it is free, and it takes you to the nearest appropriate hospital, which in town usually means Phaholpolpayuhasena. Synphaet describes its emergency department as staffed around the clock and can be asked for its own ambulance on the call-centre number, +66 34 912 888. In town the distances are small: all three hospitals are on Saengchuto Road, five to thirteen minutes by car from the railway station, the Bridge or the Mae Nam Kwai Road guesthouse strip. Ride-hailing cars exist but are thin on the ground; a tuk-tuk, a songthaew along Saengchuto Road or your guesthouse’s driver is often quicker, and a motorbike taxi is no place for an injury. Up-country the distances are not small at all — see below — and out there the 1669 ambulance comes from the nearest district hospital, which may itself be an hour away.

Erawan, the Sai Yok caves and the Sangkhlaburi road

Erawan Falls is about 70 kilometres north of town, an hour and a half by road. The nearest hospital, the small district hospital at Si Sawat (+66 34 597 111), is 47 kilometres the other way round the reservoir and no quicker, so a slip on the wet rock at the upper tiers means park staff, 1669 and the long drive back to Synphaet or Phaholpolpayuhasena. Along Route 323, Sai Yok Hospital at Lum Sum (+66 34 591 300) is the district hospital for Sai Yok Noi and the Nam Tok railhead, twenty minutes away, and for Lawa Cave, Sai Yok Yai and Hellfire Pass, forty minutes to an hour back down the road; it stabilises and refers, and the provincial hospital is a further hour. Beyond that, Thong Pha Phum Hospital is the only hospital for the hot springs and the mountain road to Pilok, and Sangkhlaburi Hospital the only one for the Mon Bridge and Three Pagodas Pass, two hours further on. Malaria persists in these forested border districts, so a fever after time up-country needs a blood test, not a pharmacy.

Beyond Kanchanaburi

Serious cases go to Bangkok, about two to two and a half hours away by road, and the transfer chain is plain: the district hospital or a private hospital stabilises you, a road ambulance takes you to Phaholpolpayuhasena or Synphaet, and from there, if the case is beyond them, on to a Bangkok hospital — the international private hospitals if you are insured, the big university hospitals if you are not. Anyone hurt at Erawan, in the Sai Yok caves or on the Sangkhlaburi road should assume that sequence and its hours, and should not count on anything faster than a road ambulance; from Sangkhlaburi that means four hours to the provincial hospital before Bangkok is even in question. On the highway between Bangkok and Kanchanaburi, Makarak Hospital at Tha Maka (+66 34 542 031), a 280-bed public general hospital 30 kilometres east of town, is the nearest big hospital for an accident on that stretch.

Pharmacies

For a cold, a stomach upset, sunburn or a scooter graze you do not need a hospital. Thai pharmacies sell most everyday medicines over the counter, including many antibiotics, and a licensed pharmacist — look for the framed certificate — usually speaks enough English to advise. Saengchuto Road and the Mae Nam Kwai Road guesthouse strip have pharmacies open into the evening; the market towns up-country usually have one or two, but stock is thinner, so carry what you rely on before you head for Thong Pha Phum or Sangkhlaburi. Check expiry dates, and see a doctor rather than a pharmacist for a fever that lasts more than a couple of days: dengue is present in Kanchanaburi in the wet season, malaria along the border, and both need a blood test.

Kanchanaburi travel guide / Kanchanaburi tourist map / Hospitals in Bangkok / Thailand visa guide / Thailand destinations / Hospitals in Thailand / Hospitals in Thailand / All hospitals

Travel information, not medical advice.

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