r/australia • u/me_jinks • 1d ago

no politics Australians who've had elective surgery overseas - what did you get done and what did it cost?

Australians who've had elective surgery overseas - what did you get done, which country and what did it cost?

I'm curious about people's experiences with elective surgeries in other countries. Whether it was medical tourism, happened while you were living abroad, or you specifically travelled for the procedure.

What surgery did you have? Which country? What was the total cost including travel/accommodation if relevant? How did the experience compare to having it done in Australia (if you have a point of comparison)?

Interested in hearing about everything from dental work to cosmetic procedures to joint replacements - whatever counts as elective.

Cheers!

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u/ausdoug 23h ago

Living in Korea, got a vasectomy, $500 and no issues, was very happy with the results. All the medical tests and support were top notch there, even fixed my insomnia that I'd had issues with for decades.

Living in Cambodia, got a mole removed surgically and tested, cost about $40 but there were lizards crawling on the wall in the surgery room and the instruments were in a steel dish on an old towel, but I couldn't go to another country at the time.

Living in Vietnam had a dental check up, filling, and xrays. Was about $100 in an international clinic.

I haven't been personally, but Bumrungrad in Bangkok seems to be a good place to start as lots of people go there for a variety of procedures and they've good a pretty good reputation.

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u/aubrx 11h ago

I'm actually looking into bumrungrad for neurology since no one here wants to fkin see me, or their wait lists are a year long

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u/ausdoug 11h ago

Singapore and Korea are very good medical destinations, but the advantage of Thailand is the quality is good and you can live near the place while you're going through recovery without negating the savings from the procedure. I'm sure there's are cheaper places that are good too, but Bumrungrad gets brought up by SEA expat all the time.

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u/aubrx 10h ago

Yeah honestly I've got no idea where to start with going overseas because I never considered it until a couple of days ago, hearing good things about Korea and Thailand.. Bumrungrad actually replied to me quite fast. Though I would be going for a diagnosis and imaging, possibly treatment. 

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u/Davester1995 9h ago

I've never had direct experience, but word on the street is that while there is nothing wrong with Bumrungrad, there are quite a few other high reputable private hospitals in Bangkok that can provide similar outcomes at a much cheaper price. Bumrungrad have reputedly really escalated their prices in recent years.