Abstract
This was an exploratory and retrospective study, the objective of which was to study
the medical treatment provided to aliens availing themselves of remedial services, medical privileges, and the expenses paid for such services at Klaeng Hospital in Rayong
Province. The data were collected using the HIM Pro. program, which extracted data
from the medical records of this group of patients and their families who sought medical
treatment in the previous year (from October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007). The total
6,165 cases comprised 5,792 out-patients and 373 in- patients. The analysis used percentages and means. The results of the study found that the majority of the non-Thai laborers and their families were Cambodian, aged 21-25 years, with mean age being 26.5 years
old. With regard to the medical privilege, they paid the fee concerned by themselves, the
cost of which exceeded the privilages obtained. The majority of alien laborers were using
the services for medical check-ups for employment purposes, health promotion, antenatal care (ANC), immunization, family planning, etc. The major diseases or illness found
were injury, and gastro-intestinal tract and respiratory tract problems, 13.37, 7.10, 5.94
percent, respectively. The infected diseases found in the out-patient section were diarrhea, tuberculosis, syphilis, HIV, and food poisoning in 1.19, 0.22, 0.19, 0.10, 0.07 percent
of the cases, respectively. Admitted patients had diarrhea, dengue hemorrhagic fever,
HIV, appendicitis and viral hepatitis in 2.86, 1.07, 1.07, 0.54, 0.27 of the cases, respectively.
As for the expenses for the medical treatment of the alien laborers that did not have such
privileges, the study found that 54.49 percent of the patients were able to pay the fees.
The out- patients had a greater capacity to pay the fees than the patients admitted to the
hospital.
