Emergency telephone numbers

No one wants to experience a real emergency themselves but the possibility can never be ruled out. Planned precautions can help avoid an emergency situation or at least reduce the effects. We should always make precautions and go through possible scenarios in our minds. At this point I will spare you from trivial pieces of advice about how to be cautious in everyday situations.

It always makes sense to store the most important telephone numbers in case of an emergency in your mobile phone. I always save these emergency telephone numbers with a specific symbol (e.g. *) and the respective name to avoid having to scroll through these numbers in everyday use of your mobile telephone. This means that all of the telephone numbers are kept together in a group so that they can be quickly found when scrolling through the telephone numbers.

Police
Telephone: 191 (national emergency number)
Homepage: http://www.royalthaipolice.go.th (Thai)

Tourist police (only in holiday resorts)
Telephone: 1155 (national)
Homepage: http://www.thailandtouristpolice.com/index.php (Thai/English/German..)
E-mail: tourist@police.go.th
This specially trained police department is available to tourists in holiday resorts. All of the officers can speak English and some can speak other foreign languages.

Fire Brigade
Telephone: 199 (national emergency number)

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) [more]
Telephone: 1669 (nationwide)

Hospital
 A list of reputable hospitals in Thailand [more]

Store the telephone numbers of your preferred clinics and the emergency telephone numbers in the contact list in your mobile telephone.

In order to be able to immediately prove your ability to pay in the hospital in case of an emergency it is recommended that you always carry your credit card. If you do not do this, there was always the danger of being sent away from hospital. You should never rely on the fact that hospitals are legally obliged to help you if your life is in danger. Discussions about whether the case is an emergency are too much for a person in an emergency situation, assuming that he is still able to discuss the situation.

The emergency ambulance service of a reputable hospital is to be favoured above an emergency service offered by regular service providers or so-called “rescue” because the workers are generally not qualified medical staff.

Blocking travel cheques and credit cards
American Express: 02+273 0022
Eurocard/Mastercard: 001-800-118 870 663
VISA: 001-800-441 348 5

Blocking telephone cards
It is recommended that you block your telephone card if you lose your contract mobile phone. Any misuse of your mobile phone can result in a very expensive telephone bill.

All mobile phones have a serial number, the so-called IMEI number, which is only issued for one single mobile phone in the world. The number can be displayed on the phone by entering *#06#. The number should then be kept in a safe place. If you lose your mobile phone you can then try to request that the provider permanently deactivates the mobile phone. This means that the thief cannot use the phone. However, the question is whether the provider is prepared to help and whether experimental technicians aren’t capable of reviving the telephone.