Buying insulin in Bangkok

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Dani87

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi there,

I'm flying to Vietnam in January to start a 3-4 month trip backpacking around SE Asia before flying on to Australia. I use Levemir and NovoRapid and I'm planning on taking as much insulin I can carry in Frio bags however I think I will need to purchase more before I make it to Australia. I'm anticipating Bangkok to be the best place to source insulin and needles.

Has anyone had any experience with this? I'm hoping to get a rough idea of how much it will cost to see a doctor to get a prescription and then how much it'll cost to buy insulin and needles at a pharmacy.

Also, does anyone have any advice on sharps disposal in SE Asia?

Thanks!
 
Dani87 said:
Hi there,

I'm flying to Vietnam in January to start a 3-4 month trip backpacking around SE Asia before flying on to Australia. I use Levemir and NovoRapid and I'm planning on taking as much insulin I can carry in Frio bags however I think I will need to purchase more before I make it to Australia. I'm anticipating Bangkok to be the best place to source insulin and needles.

Has anyone had any experience with this? I'm hoping to get a rough idea of how much it will cost to see a doctor to get a prescription and then how much it'll cost to buy insulin and needles at a pharmacy.

Also, does anyone have any advice on sharps disposal in SE Asia?

Thanks!
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Hi @Dani87,

I was travelling for 6 months in Thailand last year and the best thing to do is to go to the hospital where you are able to purchase insulin. It is quite expensive and where I was it was around 1500bhat for one pen- so like £30. Also different hospitals such as government and private hospitals charge differently.

The thing I found impossible to get was test strips for my machine as I could only find accu-chek and only for machines that measured in mg rather than mml.

I'd recommend having a look at Thai Visa forum which has A LOT of info and many other diabetics asking the same question.
 
I'm so impressed. It'd take me all my time to get to Birmingham! 🙂
 
Welcome to the forum, Dani87. For travel related queries, I have used Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Forum, and found users knowledgeable. They may be able to help with your question about buying insulin in South East Asia.
 
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