Hospitals in Khao Lak and Phang Nga

Khao Lak is not a town but a string of beaches along thirty kilometres of the Phetkasem highway in Takua Pa district, and the health care follows the same line. There are three hospitals on this coast that a visitor would actually use, all of them public, all of them on that one road: Takuapa Hospital, a general hospital of around 210 beds twenty minutes north of the beaches; Thai Mueang Chaipat Hospital, a small community hospital at the southern end, nearest the Similan boats; and Phang Nga Hospital, the provincial hospital, an hour inland at the bay.

The thing to understand before anything goes wrong is that there is no private hospital anywhere in Phang Nga province — every hospital in it belongs to the Ministry of Public Health, apart from a naval one. Khao Lak has private walk-in clinics for cuts, stomach bugs and dive-medical certificates, but for private care, a specialist, a scan at midnight or a recompression chamber the answer is Phuket, roughly a hundred kilometres and up to two hours south. Details here were checked in September 2026 against each hospital’s own website and independent directories that agree; switchboards change, so if a number fails, call 1669.

The 3 at a glance

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

The hospitals

Which hospital should I go to?

For anything serious anywhere on the Khao Lak coast, Takuapa Hospital. It is much bigger than its reputation — a Ministry of Public Health general hospital of around 210 beds carrying the whole northern half of the province — and at roughly 24 km from Bang Niang and Nang Thong it is also the closest. If you are at the southern end, around Lam Kaen, Natai or the Thap Lamu piers, Thai Mueang Chaipat Hospital is a community hospital half the distance away and the sensible first stop for something minor. Phang Nga Hospital, the provincial hospital, is the one for Phang Nga town and the bay rather than for the coast. In a life-or-death emergency call 1669 and let the crew choose.

What will it cost?

There is only one tier here, and it is the cheap one. All three hospitals are public, so a consultation, basic tests and medicine typically come to less than a night in a Khao Lak resort, and even an admission is affordable by Western standards; foreigners are charged more than Thai citizens and it is still a fraction of a private bill. What the province does not offer at any price is a private hospital, so the moment you want private-room comfort, a named specialist or an English-speaking front desk, you are paying Phuket prices plus the journey. Bangkok Hospital Phuket is priced like a Western private hospital, which with insurance is fine and without it is not. Ask for a written estimate before any procedure.

Insurance, deposits and paperwork

Assume pay-and-claim. Thai public hospitals almost never bill a foreign insurer directly, so you settle at the cashier in cash or by card and claim afterwards; ask for an itemised receipt and an English-language medical certificate before you leave, which is a routine request even at the smallest of the three. If the injury is serious, telephone the assistance number on your policy early, because the insurer will often want you moved to one of its contracted private hospitals in Phuket and will arrange and pay for the transfer. Carry your passport, your policy number and a list of any medication. After a scooter accident bring the rental agreement and your licence: the compulsory motor insurance covers some costs, but only for a licensed rider.

Getting there and ambulances

The national ambulance number is 1669: free, around the clock, and it takes you to the nearest appropriate hospital, which here means a public one. Takuapa Hospital runs the emergency medical service centre for this stretch of coast and answers on that number. Everything is strung along Phetkasem Road, Highway 4, so the driving is simple even if the distances are not: Khuk Khak to Takuapa Hospital is about 24 km and twenty minutes, to Thai Mueang Chaipat about 40 km and half an hour, to Phang Nga town about 65 km and an hour over the hills. There are no metered taxis; hotels, Grab in patches and the resort minibuses fill the gap, and a motorbike is no way to move an injured person.

Diving, the Similans and the drive to Phuket

The Similan Islands lie about 70 km offshore, the park opens only mid-October to mid-May, and almost every dive boat leaves from Thap Lamu port, just south of Khao Lak in Thai Mueang district. That geography decides what happens when a diver surfaces unwell: the nearest recompression chamber is in Phuket, the 24-hour SSS Network unit at Bangkok Hospital Siriroj, hotline +66 81 081 9000, with Bangkok Hospital Phuket (+66 76 254 425) alongside it. A decompression case is therefore a boat trip and a long drive — oxygen on board, the chamber telephoned early, a run in to Thap Lamu, then roughly 90 km and 90 minutes by road. From the pier, Thai Mueang Chaipat Hospital is 24 km away and Takuapa Hospital 44 km; neither treats a bend, but both can stabilise. The coast is not bare: Takuapa is a general hospital for four districts, grown from about 180 beds a decade ago to around 210.

Pharmacies

For a cold, a stomach upset, sunburn, an ear infection after diving or a rash, the pharmacy is the right first stop and there are plenty of them along Phetkasem Road through Khuk Khak and Bang Niang, and more in Takua Pa town. Thai pharmacies sell most everyday medicines over the counter, including things that would need a prescription at home, and a licensed pharmacist — look for the framed certificate — will usually have enough English to advise. Check expiry dates. See a doctor rather than a pharmacist if a fever lasts more than a couple of days: dengue is present in Phang Nga and needs a blood test.

Phuket and Phi Phi travel guide / Hospitals in Phuket / Thailand visa guide / Thailand destinations / Hospitals in Thailand / Hospitals in Thailand / All hospitals

Travel information, not medical advice.

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