Public hospital, Nai Mueang, central Korat. Emergency room open 24 hours.
Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital
The health ministry’s largest hospital in Thailand — a 1,478-bed public regional centre in central Korat, and the referral hospital for much of the north-east.
Ambulance and medical emergency: 1669. Tourist Police: 1155. Police: 191.
Show this to your driver
โรงพยาบาลมหาราชนครราชสีมา
Say “rong phayaban Maharat”. On Chang Phueak Road in the middle of Korat, near the old town and the Thao Suranaree monument; every driver in the city knows it.
- TypePublic — Ministry of Public Health regional hospital for Nakhon Ratchasima province
- BedsAbout 1,478
- Address49 Chang Phueak Road, Nai Mueang, Mueang Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000
- Switchboard+66 44 235 000
- Websitemnrh.go.th
- HoursEmergency room open 24 hours
- LanguagesThai; some English
- Opened1909
- On the mapOpen in Google Maps
The anchor of medicine in the north-east. Maharat has close to 1,500 beds, every major department, a 24-hour emergency room and a clinical teaching centre attached to Mahidol University’s Ramathibodi medical faculty, and it takes referrals from across the region. Prices are public-hospital prices; the cost is queues, crowded wards and paperwork in Thai.
What it is known for
Scale, and the range that comes with it. Maharat is the largest hospital the Ministry of Public Health runs anywhere in Thailand — around 1,478 beds — and the regional referral centre for Nakhon Ratchasima and its neighbours, so it takes the serious road trauma, the complicated births, the cancer and cardiac work and the long admissions that smaller hospitals send on. It is also a clinical medical education centre affiliated with the Ramathibodi faculty of medicine at Mahidol University, which is why it has specialists a provincial hospital would not normally hold. It has been on the same ground in the middle of Korat since 1909.
Who it suits
Anyone without insurance who needs real care at a price they can pay, anyone whose condition is beyond a small hospital, and anyone brought in by ambulance — 1669 will usually bring you here. It is not the place for a quick consultation in English: outpatient queues start early and run long, wards are crowded, and forms are in Thai. A Thai-speaking friend, a hotel staff member or a translation app on your phone will make the difference. For something minor, one of the private hospitals will be faster.
Cost and insurance
Public-hospital pricing. Foreigners pay more than Thai citizens and still a small fraction of what a private hospital charges for the same treatment, and even an admission stays within reach of an ordinary traveller. Settle at the cashier in cash or by card before you leave. Insurers rarely direct-bill a Thai public hospital, so plan to pay and claim, and ask at the desk for an itemised receipt and an English-language medical certificate; both are ordinary requests and both are far harder to get once you have flown home.
Getting there
On Chang Phueak Road in the middle of Korat, a few minutes from the Thao Suranaree monument and the old town, and easy for any driver to find. Grab and Bolt both operate in the city; songthaews run past on the main roads and cost very little. The switchboard is +66 44 235 000. In an emergency call 1669 rather than driving yourself — the ambulance will bring you here anyway, and the streets around the hospital are congested for most of the day.
Details checked against the hospital’s own website, September 2026. Call before a non-urgent visit; in an emergency call 1669 or the hospital’s own emergency line above. Travel information, not medical advice.
The other 4 hospitals in Korat and Khao Yai
- Pak Chong Nana HospitalPublic, about 303 beds, Mittraphap Road, Pak Chong — for Khao Yai.
- Bangkok Hospital Pak ChongPrivate, Mittraphap Road, Pak Chong — for Khao Yai.
- Bangkok Hospital RatchasimaPrivate, Mittraphap Road, Korat city.
- Saint Mary’s HospitalPrivate, Mittraphap-Nong Khai Road, north Korat.