Hospitals in Udon Thani

Udon Thani is the biggest city in the upper north-east and, for medical care, the one the whole region uses. It has an airport with flights to Bangkok all day, a long-settled population of foreign retirees and their families, and, an hour up the road, the Friendship Bridge to Vientiane. Between them they have paid for a choice most provincial Thai cities cannot offer: a regional public hospital of about 1,150 beds that takes the serious cases for the provinces around it, a BDMS private hospital in the centre, an older private hospital with an international patients department, and a mid-sized private hospital whose group also runs a hospital in Nong Khai and a medical centre in Vientiane.

This page lists five hospitals — four in Udon Thani and one across in Nong Khai, for anyone coming over the bridge — 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. Every name opens a full page on that hospital. Details were checked against each hospital’s own website 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 complicated, go to Bangkok Hospital Udon on Thongyai Road: it has the trauma centre, the specialists and a national group behind it if you have to be moved to Bangkok. For something serious without insurance, Udon Thani Hospital is the Ministry’s regional hospital for the upper north-east and costs a fraction of a private bill. For a minor illness or injury where you want English at the desk, Aek Udon International Hospital on Posri Road has a 24-hour emergency department and an international patients desk, and North Eastern Wattana is the other private hospital in the centre. If you are in Nong Khai or crossing the bridge, Nong Khai Hospital is the nearest large hospital. In a genuine life-or-death emergency go to the nearest emergency room of any of the five, or call 1669 and let the ambulance crew decide.

What will it cost?

Three tiers. The public hospitals — Udon Thani, and Nong Khai up at the border — charge foreigners more than Thai citizens but still very little by Western standards: a consultation, tests and medicine usually comes to less than a mid-range hotel night, and even an admission is affordable without insurance. Aek Udon and North Eastern Wattana sit in the middle: several times the public price for the same outpatient visit, a deposit if you are admitted, and still well below what the same treatment costs in Bangkok. Bangkok Hospital Udon is the top of the local market and priced like a Western private hospital — with insurance it is worth every baht, without it a serious admission runs into the hundreds of thousands. Ask for a written estimate before any procedure at any of them.

Insurance, deposits and paperwork

Thai hospitals are used to travel insurance, and the private ones here 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. Aek Udon runs an international patient department that coordinates billing, and North Eastern Wattana publishes the insurers it accepts and keeps a medical coordination office for the paperwork; both are worth a call before you arrive. If there is time, ring your policy’s assistance line first: it can name the hospital it prefers and open the claim. Take your passport, your policy number and any medication you are on; after a road accident, take the rental agreement and your licence too, since the compulsory motor insurance on a rented scooter covers some injury costs but only for a licensed rider. Always leave with an itemised receipt and an English-language medical certificate.

Getting there and ambulances

The national ambulance number is 1669. It is free, it reaches the nearest crew, and it takes you to the nearest appropriate hospital, which for an uninsured patient usually means Udon Thani Hospital. The private hospitals run their own ambulances and will send one when you call the number on their page; Bangkok Hospital Udon’s emergency and trauma centre is +66 42 188 888, or 1719 from a Thai phone. Udon Thani is flat and spread out, but all four of its hospitals are within a few minutes of the middle of town — Bangkok Hospital Udon on Thongyai Road, Aek Udon on Posri Road, North Eastern Wattana on Suppakijjanya Road and the regional hospital on Pho Niyom Road. Grab and Bolt both work here and are the fastest way across the city; songthaews are cheap but slow, and a motorbike taxi is no place for an injury.

Nong Khai, Vientiane and the border

Nong Khai is 55 kilometres north of Udon Thani, roughly an hour up Highway 2, and the Friendship Bridge to Vientiane is a few minutes beyond it. The traffic runs both ways: Bangkok Hospital Udon describes itself as serving patients from nearby regions including Laos, and the Wattana group makes the route explicit with a hospital in Udon Thani, a second in Nong Khai by the river and the Alliance International Medical Center in Vientiane. If you are on the Lao side and something is wrong, the question is how urgent it is. For an emergency, cross and go to Nong Khai Hospital, about ten minutes from the bridge. For anything that can wait the extra hour, Udon Thani has far more specialists, and its private hospitals are set up for foreign patients and their insurers. Allow for the crossing itself: it is a border, with immigration on both banks, and it is slower than the map suggests.

Pharmacies

For a cold, a stomach upset, a rash or a hangover you do not need a hospital at all. Thai pharmacies sell most everyday medicines over the counter, including antibiotics and painkillers that would need a prescription at home, and a licensed pharmacist — look for the framed certificate — will usually speak enough English to advise. The chain pharmacies in the malls at Central Udon and UD Town are the easy option, and the independent pharmacies along Posri Road and Prajak Road stay open late. Check expiry dates, and see a doctor if a fever lasts more than a couple of days: dengue is present across the north-east and needs a blood test, not a pharmacy.

Thailand visa guide / Thailand destinations / Hospitals in Bangkok / Hospitals in Thailand / Hospitals in Thailand / All hospitals

Travel information, not medical advice.

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