3 Best Hospital Emergency Departments in Chiang Mai
Compare Chiang Mai's 24-hour emergency departments, from private trauma and cardiac centres to the university hospital, with their direct lines and ambulances. Check services, staff, fees and availability with each provider before you book.
Bangkok Hospital Chiang Mai publishes a direct 24-hour line for its Trauma and Emergency Center as well as its call centre.
Chiangmai Ram publishes separate 24-hour lines for its emergency department and its cardiac catheterisation centre.
The university's Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai (Suan Dok) emergency room triages by urgency, so less serious cases may wait.
Our method for this page
We read each provider's own web pages on hospital emergency departments in Chiang Mai and kept only statements we could trace to a source. Nobody paid to be included, and the list is not a quality ranking. Criteria:
Bangkok Hospital Chiang Mai's Trauma and Emergency Center is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and describes its role as trauma care for the whole of northern Thailand. Multidisciplinary emergency and trauma teams are on call at all times, and ambulances are kept on standby.
The hospital lists a mobile ICU team that starts treatment at the scene, and helicopter and air transfer through the BDMS network. Its FAQ page publishes a direct 24-hour line for the emergency centre alongside the call centre.
On payment, the hospital asks for a deposit on admission based on room type, and an international third-party payer team handles insurance. It may suit residents and visitors in Chiang Mai who want a private trauma centre with case coordinators in several languages.
Worth confirming: Bring your passport; a deposit is taken on admission, so ask the third-party payer team (+66 52 089 844) to contact your insurer early.
Chiangmai Ram runs a 24-hour emergency service in central Chiang Mai with its own direct line, and a separate 24-hour cardiac balloon (catheterisation) centre with another line, which matters for suspected heart attacks.
Its patient transfer service sends ambulances carrying life-support equipment, staffed by emergency medicine doctors and nurses, to collect accident and emergency patients in Chiang Mai and other provinces at any hour.
The hospital displays JCI accreditation and has an International Patient Service Center with interpreters in seven languages. It may suit people in the city centre who want a private emergency department with round-the-clock cardiac catheterisation.
Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai University's teaching hospital, runs a 24-hour emergency room on the 1st floor of the Chareum Building. Patients are triaged using the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale, so the most urgent cases are seen first and others may wait.
As the university hospital and a referral centre for the north, it has a wide range of specialists behind the emergency room. Foreign patients who are admitted can use the Foreign Center at Sriphat Medical Center, the university's private hospital on the same grounds, for interpreters and insurance guarantees.
It may suit residents who need complex care and are prepared for a busy public setting.
24-hour emergency room
Standard triage scale
University referral hospital
Foreign Center for admitted patients
Chareum Building, 1st floor24 hours
Worth confirming: No direct emergency number was found on the hospital's own pages; call 1669 for an ambulance, and Sriphat's Foreign Center (+66 53 936 910) for help after admission.
How to compare hospital emergency departments in Chiang Mai
Nobody chooses an emergency department in the moment; the choice is made, or not made, in the days before. Knowing which 24-hour department is nearest, what it can treat on site, how to reach it and how it expects to be paid saves time when time matters most.
This guide explains what to do in an emergency in Thailand, how to compare emergency departments in advance, and how payment usually works. It is general information, not medical advice: in a life-threatening emergency, call 1669 and follow the call handler's instructions.
What to do in an emergency
Thailand's medical emergency number is 1669. The UK government describes it as a free Ministry of Public Health service that usually transfers callers to the nearest available hospital, and the national emergency medical system is coordinated by the National Institute for Emergency Medicine. If someone is seriously ill or injured, call 1669 first, give the location as precisely as you can and describe what has happened.
Other numbers listed by the UK government are 191 for the Royal Thai Police and 1155 for the Tourist Police, who can also help with translation. For an urgent problem that is not life-threatening, such as a suspected fracture or a deep cut, going straight to a suitable emergency department may be quicker than waiting for an ambulance.
1669 — medical emergency (free)
191 — Royal Thai Police
1155 — Tourist Police, including help with translation
The direct emergency line of the hospital nearest to where you are staying
Hospital ambulances and the 1669 service
Many private hospitals run their own ambulances and publish a direct emergency or ambulance number. The UK guidance notes that there is usually a fee for a private ambulance. A hospital's own ambulance will normally take you to that hospital, while 1669 usually routes you to the nearest available one, which may be public or private.
Some hospitals list ambulances equipped as mobile intensive or coronary care units, helicopter transfer or, on the coast, a sea ambulance. These matter most if you live or travel somewhere remote, such as an island or a rural district, where the nearest hospital may not be able to treat serious injuries.
Choosing an emergency department in advance
Start with distance and traffic, then capability. A department that is open 24 hours is not the same as one that can manage every emergency on site. Look for what the hospital publishes: specialists on call, round-the-clock CT or MRI, an intensive care unit, a 24-hour cardiac catheterisation laboratory for heart attacks, a stroke pathway, and any trauma-centre verification. Ask which cases it transfers elsewhere, and where to.
The UK guidance warns that many government facilities outside Bangkok and the provincial capitals, particularly on the southern islands, are not equipped for major trauma. Large public and university hospitals, by contrast, often act as regional referral centres but may have longer waits and fewer English-speaking staff.
On arrival: triage and what to bring
Emergency departments see patients in order of clinical urgency, not arrival time, so a less serious case may wait. Tell the triage nurse clearly about symptoms such as chest pain, breathlessness, sudden weakness or heavy bleeding.
Bring the patient's passport: the UK government states it is required for treatment at both public and private hospitals. Bring insurance details with the insurer's 24-hour assistance number, and a list of current medicines, allergies and conditions, ideally in English with generic drug names.
Payment, deposits and guarantees
Treatment is rarely free, even in an emergency, and the UK travel advice states that hospitals require a guarantee of payment before treating patients. Contact your insurer or its assistance company as soon as you can and ask it to deal with the hospital directly. Self-funded patients should expect a deposit, especially on admission, and may receive regular, sometimes daily, invoices.
Thailand's UCEP scheme covers patients in a critical, life-threatening condition. Under rules revised in September 2026, hospitals must treat such patients without making care conditional on payment for the first 72 hours, with those costs claimed from the National Health Security Office. Whether a case is critical is decided at triage, patients with other insurance must use it first, and reports do not say how the scheme applies to foreign visitors, so it is no substitute for insurance.
After the emergency
Before you leave, ask for a medical report in English, copies of any imaging, an itemised bill and the receipts; your insurer will usually need all of them. If you are admitted and need to travel home, ask early about fit-to-fly paperwork and who arranges transfer or repatriation.
Questions to ask before you book
Is the emergency department open 24 hours every day, including public holidays?
What is the direct emergency or ambulance number, and is it answered in English?
Does the ambulance carry a doctor or nurse, and what does a call-out cost?
Which specialists are on call overnight, and is CT or MRI available at all hours?
Is there a 24-hour cardiac catheterisation laboratory and a stroke pathway?
Which emergencies do you transfer to another hospital, and which one?
Do you accept a guarantee of payment from my insurer, and can the emergency team contact it for me?
If I pay myself, what deposit is needed for emergency treatment or admission?
Are interpreters available in the emergency department at night?
Is there a separate paediatric emergency service for children?
Will I receive a medical report in English and an itemised bill when I leave?
Warning signs
No published emergency number, or a number that differs between the hospital's own pages with no explanation.
A department described as 'emergency' that keeps only daytime or evening hours.
No clear answer on which cases are transferred elsewhere.
Pressure to pay or sign for extra treatment before a critical patient has been stabilised.
Reluctance to give an itemised bill, receipts or a medical report for your insurer.
Which Chiang Mai emergency departments send ambulances outside the city?
Chiangmai Ram says its ambulances, staffed by emergency doctors and nurses, collect accident and emergency patients in Chiang Mai and other provinces at any hour. Bangkok Hospital Chiang Mai lists ambulances on standby, a mobile ICU team and air transfer through its network.
Where should I go with a suspected heart attack in Chiang Mai?
Call 1669 first. Of the hospitals here, Chiangmai Ram publishes a 24-hour cardiac catheterisation centre with its own line, which is worth saving in advance if you have a heart condition.
Do Chiang Mai hospitals ask for a deposit?
Bangkok Hospital Chiang Mai says a deposit is taken on admission based on room type and that planned procedures are paid in advance. Contact your insurer early so it can issue a guarantee of payment.
About the writer and reviewer
NC
Naruemon Chaiyasit
Health writer
Writes Thai Clinic Guide's guides and comparisons, collecting each fact from the provider's own pages and noting where it came from.
AP
Anucha Prasertkul
Health writer and reviewer
Reads each page against its sources before it is published and checks that nothing reads as personal advice.
This page sets out published information and is not medical advice. Speak to a doctor before you choose treatment. Our method.
Private tertiary hospital
