Sick in Pattaya: a new clinic at Royal Garden Plaza and where else to go as a tourist
A new international clinic opened at Royal Garden Plaza on October 19. Here is where to go in Pattaya with a fever or food poisoning, where staff speak Russian, which numbers to save and what to know about pharmacies.
Feeling unwell in Pattaya? Don't panic: the city center just got one more clinic, and you can walk into it straight from a shopping mall. On October 19, 2026, Vibharam Laemchabang Hospital opened an international clinic on the ground floor of Royal Garden Plaza on Beach Road. Below is where to go with a fever, food poisoning or an injury, where people speak English and Russian, and what to do at night.
The clinic works as an outpost of the hospital: GP consultations, treatment of simple cases, preventive care. If you need proper tests, the doctor will refer you to the main Vibharam hospital in Laem Chabang, on the way to Si Racha. Locals, expats and tourists are all welcome, as are patients covered by Thai Social Security (SSO). The clinic hasn't published its hours or phone number yet, so the easiest thing is to just drop by: Royal Garden Plaza on the map.
Where to go depends on how bad it is:
1. A cold, mild food poisoning, a rash, a scrape - a clinic or a pharmacy, faster and cheaper than a hospital.
2. A fever lasting more than two days, severe stomach pain, an injury after a scooter fall - go straight to a hospital with a 24-hour emergency room.
3. Someone is unconscious, can't breathe or is bleeding heavily - call 1669 rather than driving them yourself.
Hospitals near Royal Garden Plaza:
Pattaya City Hospital - public, on Soi Buakhao, under a kilometer away, cheaper than private ones
Pattaya Memorial Hospital - private, on Central Pattaya Road, about a kilometer away, 24-hour ER
Pattaya International Hospital - private, about 2 km away, 24-hour ER
Bangkok Hospital Pattaya - a large private hospital on Sukhumvit, about 4 km away, 24-hour ER
Bangkok Hospital Pattaya has interpreters for more than 20 languages, including Russian, and they stay with the patient from registration onwards. The hospital can also send a doctor to your hotel for 3,900 baht, with an interpreter and basic medicines included. Everywhere else, English is the working language.
Before heading to a private hospital, find your insurance policy and the assistance hotline number on your phone. If the hospital has an agreement with your insurer, treatment is paid directly: Bangkok Hospital Pattaya has more than 1,200 such agreements. If there's no agreement, you'll be asked for a deposit or full payment, and you'll claim the money back from your insurer yourself. So if you're well enough, call the assistance line before you go.
For food poisoning and colds, a pharmacy is enough for most people. Boots, Watsons and Fascino chains are all over Pattaya, the staff there are more likely to speak English, and medicines cost less than at a hospital pharmacy. The pharmacist will find you something suitable, but it's better not to take antibiotics "just in case" without seeing a doctor.
May to October is dengue season in Thailand. If a fever lasts more than two days, your body aches and it hurts behind your eyes, get a dengue test at any clinic. Until you have the result, bring the fever down with paracetamol, and skip ibuprofen and aspirin if dengue is a possibility.
Numbers worth saving on your phone in advance:
Ambulance 1669 - free, 24/7, nationwide
Tourist Police 1155 - English-speaking, 24/7
If you're staying in Pattaya for a while, it helps to live within walking distance of a doctor, a pharmacy and a big mall. About a kilometer from Royal Garden Plaza there's a 1-bedroom apartment in Arcadia Millennium Tower for rent: 29 m² on the 18th floor, a panoramic pool, from 23,000 baht a month on a long-term lease. How to plan your budget and what to ask the landlord is covered in our guide to renting an apartment for a month.
Traveling with family or your parents? In the same area there's a 3-bedroom apartment in City Garden Pattaya of 116 m² for rent: 40,000 baht a month on a one-year contract and 46,000 for six months.
If you need to go back for several appointments or dressing changes, a car beats hailing a taxi every time. A Toyota Vios costs 1,250 baht a day or 4,900 a week, insurance included, and you'll need an international driving permit. Let whoever is healthy do the driving: with a fever or after painkillers, it's best to stay out of the driver's seat.
In short: if it's something mild - a pharmacy or the new clinic at Royal Garden Plaza; if it's serious - a hospital with a 24-hour ER; if it's an emergency - 1669. Save this guide and send it to friends who are on holiday in Pattaya right now, so the ambulance number is on their phone before they ever need it.
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