Hospitals in Krabi

Krabi is a province of coastline and islands rather than a city, and its hospitals are laid out accordingly. Krabi Town, twenty kilometres inland from the beaches, has the two that matter for anything serious: the 447-bed provincial hospital and a 100-bed private international hospital. Ao Nang, where most visitors sleep, gained a proper hospital of its own when the Wattanapat group from Trang opened a 56-bed branch there with a 24-hour emergency and trauma centre, and Koh Lanta has a small public community hospital on its east coast. Railay has clinics and longtail boats, and nothing else.

This page lists all four 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 a section on what happens when the patient is on a beach with no road or an island with no bridge to the mainland. Every name opens a full page on that hospital. Details were checked in September 2026 against each hospital’s own website, or against two independent directories where a hospital publishes little; switchboards change, so if a number fails, call 1669.

The 4 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 complicated, go to Krabi Nakharin International Hospital in Krabi Town: it is the province’s international private hospital, with a 24-hour emergency room and English-speaking staff. Staying in Ao Nang, Nopparat Thara or Railay? Wattanapat Hospital Ao Nang is the only general hospital on that side of the province, has a 24-hour emergency and trauma centre and is half an hour closer than anything in town. Without insurance and facing something serious, Krabi Hospital is the 447-bed public referral hospital and costs a fraction of either. On Koh Lanta, Koh Lanta Hospital is the first stop for everything, and transfers what it cannot handle to the mainland. Krabi Town also has a smaller private hospital, Jariyatham Ruampat Krabi on Utarakit Road (+66 75 664 455), which many Thai insurers list. 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, with a gap between them. The public hospitals — Krabi Hospital and Koh Lanta Hospital — charge 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 Ao Nang hotel, and even an admission is affordable. The two private hospitals charge several times that for the same outpatient visit and expect a deposit if you are admitted; Krabi Nakharin, as the international hospital, is the most expensive in the province, though at a provincial hospital’s prices rather than a Bangkok or Phuket flagship’s. Where the money really goes is transfer: a road ambulance to Phuket, or a flight to Bangkok, for anything the local hospitals cannot treat is billed on top, and that is the strongest argument for insurance in Krabi. Ask for a written estimate before any procedure at any of them.

Insurance, deposits and paperwork

Both private hospitals publish lists of the insurers they work with and will call yours for a guarantee of payment — but only for an admission, and only if the insurer has a contract with them; outpatient visits are almost always pay-and-claim. Phone the assistance number on your policy before you go if the situation allows: it can name the hospital it prefers and open the claim. Krabi has two exclusions worth checking before you need them: many policies do not cover rock climbing unless it was added, and diving cover often stops at a set depth or requires a certification. Take your passport, your policy number, any medication you are on and, after a scooter accident, the rental agreement and your licence — the compulsory motor insurance pays only for a licensed rider. Ask for an itemised receipt and an English-language medical certificate before you leave; divers should keep their computer and logbook with them.

Getting there and ambulances

The national ambulance number is 1669; it is free, and it takes you to the nearest appropriate hospital, which for an uninsured patient usually means a public one. Krabi Hospital, Krabi Nakharin and Wattanapat Ao Nang all run their own ambulances; Wattanapat publishes a direct line, +66 96 635 3046, and the other two are reached through their switchboards. Distance is what makes Krabi different from a city: Ao Nang to the two Krabi Town hospitals is about twenty kilometres and half an hour by road, the airport is a further fifteen minutes east of town, and Phuket’s hospitals — where the most serious cases and all diving injuries go — are about three hours away. For anything that can wait, Grab works in Ao Nang and Krabi Town and the white songthaews between them run through the day; a motorbike taxi is no place for an injury, and neither is the scooter you arrived on.

Railay, Koh Lanta and the boats

Railay has no road. From Railay West a longtail reaches Ao Nang in about fifteen minutes, from Railay East the Ao Nam Mao pier in about ten, and an ambulance or taxi completes the trip; resort staff will find a boat at any hour, though at night and in the May-to-October monsoon it is slower and rougher. Aonang Medical Clinic runs a small clinic at Railay Bay Resort for minor injuries; a climbing fall goes to Wattanapat Ao Nang, or on to Krabi Town if serious. Koh Lanta’s hospital is small; anything beyond it means the Lanta Noi vehicle ferry, which runs from early morning until about ten at night, then ninety minutes to Krabi Town, a transfer the hospital arranges. Divers: Krabi has no recompression chamber. The nearest is at Bangkok Hospital Siriroj in Phuket, run by Hyperbaric Services Thailand, 24-hour diving emergency line +66 81 081 9000 — about three hours by road from Ao Nang.

Pharmacies

For a cold, a stomach upset, sunburn or a mild coral scrape 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. Ao Nang’s beachfront road and Krabi Town’s Maharat Road have pharmacies open into the evening, and Saladan and Long Beach on Koh Lanta have several; Railay has only resort shops, so carry what you need across. For a doctor without a hospital, Aonang Medical Clinic on the beach road is open 24 hours (+66 93 149 6554) and makes hotel calls. See a doctor rather than a pharmacist for a fever that lasts more than two days — dengue is present in Krabi — for a coral cut that reddens and swells, and for a jellyfish sting that does not settle.

Krabi and Railay travel guide / Krabi tourist map / Ao Nang tourist map / Railay Beach tourist map / Koh Lanta tourist map / Thailand visa guide / Thailand destinations / Hospitals in Thailand / Hospitals in Thailand / All hospitals

Travel information, not medical advice.

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