14 Best Hospital Emergency Departments in Thailand
Compare 24-hour hospital emergency departments in Thailand: their direct lines, ambulances, trauma and cardiac cover, and how they expect to be paid. Check services, staff, fees and availability with each provider before you book.
1669 is the free national medical emergency number; hospital ambulance lines are an alternative that usually takes you to that hospital, often for a fee.
Open 24 hours is not the same as able to treat everything: look for published trauma-centre status, a 24-hour catheterisation lab and specialists on call.
Bring a passport and your insurer's 24-hour number; hospitals usually want a guarantee of payment or a deposit.
Save the direct emergency line of the hospital nearest where you are staying, copied from its own website.
Our method for this page
We read each provider's own web pages on hospital emergency departments in Thailand and kept only statements we could trace to a source. Nobody paid to be included, and the list is not a quality ranking. Criteria:
Bumrungrad's Emergency Center is on the ground floor of Building B (South Wing) and runs 24 hours a day with emergency physicians on site. The hospital lists doctors in surgery, anaesthesiology, cardiology, paediatrics, obstetrics and internal medicine for the department, and 24-hour emergency cardiac catheterisation at its Heart Center for heart attacks.
Within Thailand, the 1378 line handles emergencies, appointments and ambulances around the clock; the contact page also lists an emergency ambulance number. Transport includes a critical care ambulance fleet, a neonatal intensive care transport team, an aviation medical evacuation team and a licensed heliport.
If you do not speak English or Thai, the hospital says it will find an interpreter while the ambulance is on its way. It may suit visitors and residents around lower Sukhumvit who want a large private emergency department with cardiac cover at night.
JCI clinical care programme certifications (stroke, acute coronary syndrome, lung cancer, orthogeriatric; listed to 2027)
Bangkok Hospital's Emergency Service Center is on the 1st floor of the headquarters campus on New Petchburi Road, with a Trauma Center open 24 hours. The listed team includes trauma and burn surgeons, orthopaedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, neurologists, cardiologists, paediatricians and obstetrician-gynaecologists, and Bangkok Heart Hospital is on the same campus.
From 20:00 to midnight a 'Comfy Zone' sees non-urgent ('green') emergency cases and accepts all insurance policies; after midnight everyone is seen at the Trauma Center. The group's medevac service, on 1724, arranges transfers by land, sea or air and says it holds CAMTS accreditation.
It may suit people in central and eastern Bangkok who want an emergency department with several specialist hospitals on one site.
The Trauma Center at Samitivej Sukhumvit is on the 1st floor of Building 3 and is open 24 hours. The hospital lists a general surgeon on site around the clock, with orthopaedic, neurosurgical and cardiothoracic surgeons on call, and CT, MRI, emergency ultrasound and radiologists available at all hours.
Ambulances are described as equipped to ICU or CCU level, with an activation time of under two minutes, and the hospital arranges ground and air ambulance transfers for adults and children. It also lists 24-hour paediatric emergency care.
It may suit families living around Sukhumvit who want adult and children's emergency care from one hospital.
Worth confirming: The trauma centre page covers both the Sukhumvit and Srinakarin hospitals; when you call, make sure you are being sent to the Sukhumvit site.
BNH's Emergency Department is on the 1st floor of the hospital on Convent Road, Silom, and treats adults and children 24 hours a day. A team of emergency medicine physicians runs the department, which says it can call on every specialty and subspecialty in the hospital at any time; cardiac, sports-injury and dental emergencies are listed.
The same direct line handles emergencies and ambulance requests, and a doctor and ambulance call-out service covers hotels, embassies, offices and homes in central Bangkok. The department lists interpretation in French, German, Spanish, Italian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Japanese, Cantonese and Mandarin.
It may suit residents and visitors around Silom and Sathorn, including families with children.
MedPark's Emergency Department is on the G floor of its Rama IV Road building and runs 24 hours. Patients are sorted into five categories, from critical to non-urgent, and the department has its own CT scanners and X-ray, a dedicated resuscitation area and negative-pressure rooms. A hybrid operating room with biplane angiography is available for complex cases.
Ambulances carry advanced resuscitation equipment and can support patients on ECMO or an intra-aortic balloon pump during transfer. The hospital also runs mobile ICU and NICU transfers, aeromedical evacuation by air ambulance, helicopter or commercial flight, and has a rooftop helipad.
It may suit patients with serious illness, or those being transferred between hospitals, who want intensive care close to the emergency department.
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.
Bangkok Hospital Phuket's Emergency and Trauma Center is on the 1st floor and open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The hospital says it is certified by the Royal College of Surgeons of Thailand as a level 3 trauma centre, with trauma, general, neurological and orthopaedic surgeons, emergency physicians and anaesthetists on duty around the clock.
The centre uses a triage system, has resuscitation units, a minor surgery unit and observation beds, and keeps ambulances and a mobile intensive care unit on standby.
The hospital's multilingual coordinators and direct billing with insurers are useful for visitors. It may suit tourists and residents in Phuket Town and the south of the island.
Bangkok Hospital Pattaya's Emergency Medical Service Center is on the ground floor of Building A and open 24 hours. The Royal College of Surgeons of Thailand has verified it as a level 2 trauma centre, and it has 14 beds plus resuscitation and minor-surgery beds.
Fast-track pathways cover trauma, chest pain and stroke. A catheterisation laboratory runs 24 hours for heart attacks, with interventional cardiologists and a cardiac care unit. Transfers use doctor-staffed ambulances, a mobile CCU with cardiologists on board, a mobile ICU, a helipad with 24-hour helicopter transfer and PATSEA, a sea ambulance with a range of 140 nautical miles.
It may suit visitors to Pattaya and the islands who could need transfer by sea or air.
Pattaya Memorial's emergency room on Central Pattaya Road is open 24 hours, with life-support and resuscitation equipment, and treats fractures, dislocations and wounds needing stitches at any hour.
An on-call ambulance covers the city every day of the year, and the hospital says it works with public and private agencies at the scene when tourists are involved in major accidents. The hospital's main line, answered 24 hours, is the published contact for the emergency room.
It may suit visitors and residents in central Pattaya with injuries or acute illness.
Worth confirming: The hospital does not describe trauma-centre status or a cardiac catheterisation service; for a suspected heart attack or major trauma, ask whether a transfer will be needed.
For booked, fee-paying care, Siriraj's emergency option is the Emergency Clinic of Siriraj Piyamaharajkarun Hospital (SiPH), the faculty's JCI-accredited private hospital near Thonburi railway station. The clinic is on the 1st floor of Zone A and is open 24 hours, with emergency physicians, nurses and support staff on duty at all times and an ambulance with a medical crew.
SiPH publishes its call centre, 1474 (press 1), as the contact for the clinic, and a 24-hour automated line, +66 2 419 1000. The page does not list a separate emergency number, or details on payment, language support or specialist cover.
It may suit people on the Thonburi side of the river who want a private emergency clinic linked to a large teaching hospital.
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.
The Emergency Center of Bangkok Hospital Siriroj is on the 3rd floor of Building 1 in Phuket Town and is open 24 hours, with general surgery, orthopaedics, general medicine, paediatrics and critical care cover around the clock.
It belongs to the Ministry of Public Health's emergency medical service network and keeps five ambulances ready to leave within three minutes of a call. The centre has defibrillators, cardiac monitors and minor surgery rooms, and a plan for mass-casualty incidents.
A team works 24 hours to help emergency patients with insurance and payment, which can save time for visitors. It may suit people staying in or near Phuket Town.
Dibuk Hospital's Accident and Emergency Center, in Phuket Town on Chao Fah Road, offers 24-hour care to patients of all ages, Thai and international. The hospital describes itself as secondary care, so it is a closer option for injuries and acute illness than for major trauma.
Road-accident patients are treated around the clock under Thailand's compulsory motor insurance scheme, and social security is accepted. The website does not describe an ambulance service, specialist cover at night or transfer arrangements.
It may suit people in Phuket Town with an urgent but not life-threatening problem who want a nearby private emergency department.
How to compare hospital emergency departments in Thailand
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.
Should I call 1669 or the hospital's own emergency line?
For a life-threatening emergency, 1669 is the national number and usually routes you to the nearest available hospital. A private hospital's own line sends its ambulance and takes you there, which the UK government notes usually involves a fee.
Which emergency departments publish trauma-centre status?
Among the hospitals compared here, Bangkok Hospital Pattaya says it is verified as a level 2 trauma centre and Bangkok Hospital Phuket as a level 3 trauma centre by the Royal College of Surgeons of Thailand. Many others describe trauma teams without naming a level, so ask what is treated on site.
Will I be asked to pay before emergency treatment?
Hospitals usually want a guarantee of payment from an insurer or a deposit, particularly for admission. Thailand's UCEP rules say critical emergency patients must be treated without payment being a condition for the first 72 hours, but whether a case is critical is decided at triage.
What should I bring to an emergency department?
The patient's passport, which the UK government says is required for treatment at public and private hospitals, insurance details with the insurer's 24-hour number, and a list of medicines and allergies.
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
