OK – so a review of a visit to the hospital isn’t the most riveting of subject matters. But since we did get a fair few queries about what the standard of healthcare would be like when we told people about our plan to travel in Thailand long term, I thought it was worth setting the record straight. We got to sample it early on in Bangkok, and it blew us away!

Our little tot has been a bit susceptible to ear infections in her short life. And so, after picking up a cold on the plane and then waking up from a terrible night’s sleep our second night in complaining that her ear was sore, we wanted to swap our worries with the all important Parental Peace of Mind by getting her checked out by a doctor.

So we picked up the car seat we’d brought with us all the way from London (and pat ourselves on the backs for having had the foresight, when moving to the next stage car seat, to get one that was light and would fit into any car, making it perfect for our Thai escapade) and hailed a taxi to the closest hospital, which happened to be Bangkok Nursing Home Hospital.

“Wow” was our first reaction, as we stepped inside the five star hotel-esq lobby and various people scuttled up to us to direct us where to go and took our car seat off of us for storage (so we didn’t have to look ridiculous lugging it round!). We filled in a single form and were then sent up to the paediatric ward, where a friendly nurse whisked Maddy onto a scale and took her temperature. She then barely had any time to discover the play area with, not one, but two yellow versions of “Peggy” (the prized Little Tikes rocking horse she had had to leave behind in London) before being taken in with another nurse to see the doctor. He was gentle and kind and spoke perfect English and was trusted enough to get a resounding “bye bye, Doctor” from Maddy on the way out. After another quick rock on Yellow Peggy, we were on our way out, not more than 30 minutes after arriving, and having paid a little over £40 in total (which we can claim back from our zero excess health insurance).

I really appreciate our national health service and, while not all my experiences with the NHS have been as positive, my maternity care was exemplary and I’ve always sung its praises. But after this experience with an unscheduled GP appointment at the hospital’s A&E division, there’s definitely something to be said for private healthcare – if you have insurance, of course.

So we didn’t get to go back to Veganerie for breakfast as planned, but sometimes our tummies and tastebuds have to take a back seat for our little munchkin, who was bouncing around again in no time.