20/20

After an all night bus trip, I arrived in Bangkok at 6:00 AM. I was splurging for the next few days. I had negotiated a 3000 baht per night hotel room down to 1000 baht per night. Air conditioning, minibar, in-room hairdryer, bathtub, TV, free continental breakfast. I was prepared just in case I needed to hibernate for awhile. I had an appointment at 2:30 that afternoon to see if I was a suitable candidate for Lasik eye surgery. Check in time was 2:00 PM but I was really hoping to get into my room sooner so that I could have a shower. After a few hours of sitting in the lobby using the internet I was able to go to my room. I showered and then ventured out to check out the neighbourhood on my way to the Lasik clinic.

I had thought about having Lasik off and on, but with my vision not being stable and me not staying put in one place for long, it hadn't really been an option. I had heard about Thailand as a place for medical tourism and thought I would investigate. It turns out that getting two eyes done in Bangkok is about what it costs for one eye in New Zealand. The idea of Lasik is a bit terrifying. This is your eyes after all. Problems do happen. But I have had quite a few friends who have had it done recently and been really happy with the results. I decided it was time. I researched to find out what clinic/hospital had the best reputation in Thailand, and also which doctor there was the most experienced. Before coming to Thailand I had even watched a series of videos on YouTube made by a Kiwi who had made the trip to Bangkok solely to have Lasik done by the doctor that I had booked my surgery with.

I had heard that hospitals were like 5 star hotels in Bangkok, but my experience at TRSC International Lasik Center was still unexpected. That place runs so smoothly it is ridiculous. As an international patient, I was given my own 24 hour Patient Counselor. During the examination process, you are moved from one room to another, one person to another, to have each test done. Somehow everyone knows you by name even though it is a very busy place. In the waiting area are drinks, snacks, newspapers (English and Thai), and even a bunch of laptops to access the internet. Not that you spend much time waiting. I had barely logged into my e-mail after the series of tests when they came to bring me to see the doctor. He told me I was an excellent candidate and described the various surgical options to me. Based on having some night vision problems which he confirmed was likely due to some aberrations (found in the testing) that could potentially be fixed with the Ultimate Lasik procedure, I opted to go for it. It is the most expensive option, but as far as I am concerned, if you are going to do something like this you don't do it halfway. You go for whatever should give you the best vision.

The next day I was rather nervous about the procedure. I had watched a multimedia presentation the previous afternoon detailing all the possible risks and complications. Of course it is everything that could possibly go wrong that runs through your head in the hours before the surgery. I tried to distract myself by shopping, but it was rather unsuccessful as there really wasn't anything that I was keen to buy.

When I arrived at the clinic for the surgery, it was the same organized efficiency as the day before. I signed the consent form, paid the money, and was given a Valium as well as my medical kit to take home. Then I was whisked off to put on a gown and sat in a chair for the anesthetizing eye drops. Once the drops had taken effect I went into the operating room and was met by the doctor. He explained again how the procedure would work as one of the staff applied tape to help keep my eyes open. The actual Lasik procedure itself took less than 10 minutes. The doctor explained exactly what to expect and what he was doing at each step, but all I felt was a slight bit of pressure for a few seconds on each eye and all I saw was a small green light and then some diffuse red light. Very bizarre that you can get such dramatic results from something that seems so simple. After the procedure I had eye patches put on to prevent me from rubbing my eyes and brought down to a taxi.

It is hard to believe that a taxi driver would try to rip a person off who has clearly just had surgery, but in Bangkok it happened to me! I had walked to the clinic two days in a row and had done quite a bit of walking around the area so was familiar with it. I could hardly see through the tiny holes in the eye patches, and my eyes were streaming with tears, but I was able to realize that the taxi driver had missed a turnoff that would get me to the hotel. Instead he carried on farther, then returned down another road in order to make a longer journey out of it. I was absolutely fuming, and I gave him an earful. I don't know if perhaps he did it on purpose because he thought I couldn't see. I paid the entire 73 baht fare anyway (it's about $3 NZD) as I just wanted to go lie down. When I returned the following morning in a taxi, the fare was just 51 baht (the flagfall is 35 baht).

As a side note, I have a nice story to counterbalance the one about the jerk of a taxi driver. The night before my surgery I stocked up on a couple 1.5 litre bottles of water and a 1 litre orange juice. As I was walking down the street the plastic bag broke and everything went flying. I didn't have just one person help me. I had three people, each picked up one item and stood patiently to return it to me while I tried to figure out just how I was going to manage to carry all of it.

I had mentally prepared myself for all kinds of pain and agony. I had heard a few horror stories so was surprised when I had absolutely no pain after the Lasik. My eyes gushed tears for the hour or so that I was awake after the surgery and that was it. When I woke up a few hours later I felt great. I had some soup and took a Valium anyway as they recommended to do so for the first night. The next day I was so happy to get the eye patches off as it was actually the worst part of the whole procedure. I had almost fallen down the stairs leaving the clinic and I tripped over a suitcase in the lobby of my hotel because I couldn't see. It was very frustrating to be so helpless and yet have nobody to look after me.

The one day post-op exam results were promising. 20/20 in one eye and 20/16 in the other. That was the result the doctor was hoping to achieve. Hopefully it sticks!

Since I was feeling like a brand new woman, it was time to spend some time exploring Bangkok. I had been told that the snake farm was worthwhile, and it was within walking distance, so off I went. The farm is part of the Thai Red Cross and is used to produce anti-venom. There is a snake museum which taught me more about snakes than I think I ever wanted to know, as well as some live snakes on display. The highlight is the snake show though, where a dozen or so snakes, many of them venomous, are brought out by handlers. After convincing myself that I should actually hold the Burmese python, I had a couple hours to kill before my evening plans to go watch some Muay Thai boxing. I talked to the guy who did the commentary for the snake show as it didn't seem like there was much between where I was and where I needed to be for the boxing. He suggested taking bus 47 to Jim Thompson's house. An American silk tycoon who mysteriously disappeared in the Malaysian mountains in 1967, Jim was an antiques and art collector. The house, which is a great example of a traditional Thai home, is now a museum to display his collection. After a quick tour there to gawk at the 6th century headless Buddha and other delights, it was off to the boxing. I couldn't come to Thailand and not check out the infamous boxing. I didn't actually think that I would enjoy it much, but I really did! It became even more fun when I started making small bets with some of the people sitting near me. I actually won all my bets and made a whole 40 baht!

Since I was feeling up to some more adventure, and didn't need to be back in Bangkok for a few days until my follow up appointment and flight back to NZ, I decided to escape the big city for awhile and head to Kanchanaburi the next morning.