Is there a hospital on Koh Tao?

The honest version is that Koh Tao has emergency care, not full hospital care. That distinction decides how you choose insurance, and it decides how you ride a scooter here.

Koh Tao Hospital

The government hospital sits in Mae Haad, near the ferry piers. Outpatient hours run 08:00 to 16:00 every day and the emergency service is open around the clock. The Koh Tao Complete Guide lists general and chronic disease care, dental, prenatal care and deliveries, family planning, a laboratory, an X-ray room and scuba diving check ups. Black Turtle Dive puts its capacity at ten beds with its own ambulance. BAANLYY prices a public hospital visit at about 200 to 800 THB. Call 077 456 490.

The private clinics

Ocean Medical Clinic is in Mae Haad opposite Krungsri Bank, open 09:00 to midnight on 077 423 801, and handles dive medicine with a line open around the clock. Thai Inter Medical Clinic, on 077 332 511, is open at all hours for emergency care and dive illness. BAANLYY puts a private clinic consultation at 700 to 1,500 THB. For stitches, an ear infection or a reef cut gone bad, these are where most residents go.

What leaves the island

Anything that needs surgery, intensive care, a specialist or advanced imaging goes to Koh Samui, or to Chumphon or Surat Thani on the mainland. The speedboat or ferry transfer to Samui takes one to two hours and costs about 2,000 to 8,000 THB before any medical bill starts. The whole chain is in how to get from Koh Tao to a hospital on Koh Samui.

Numbers to put in your phone today

Living here well means accepting that open water sits between you and a full hospital. The healthcare section of our Koh Tao page covers the chamber and insurance, and our Thailand healthcare and insurance guide compares the policies.