Lamphun’s Princ Hospital: Private care at public prices

By Citylife | Thu 13 Mar 2025

Lamphun, which sits a stone’s throw away from Chiang Mai’s city centre, is now home to two private hospitals; one working closely with the National Social Security Office while the other, Princ Hospital which opened its doors over the pandemic, has been positioned to provide private hospital care to the general public at very affordable prices.

“Princ Hospitals, part of the Principal Healthcare Company, were originally founded to support second-tier provinces across Thailand,” explained Dr. Athiwat Noiprasit, Director of Princ Hospital Lamphun. “Princ Hospitals have created a unique network of hospitals here in Thailand which are adding value and offering opportunities to private patients who previously would have had to travel to primary cities such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Phuket for a visit. There are currently a total of 15 Principal Hospitals scattered across 12 provinces in Thailand.”

Dr. Athiwat himself has come to Lamphun from Bangkok, taking over operations last year. He has a very clear vision for Princ Hospital, and is working to realise it by creating a top-tier private hospital, drawing upon all of the expertise, purchasing powers, technical tools and personnel shared across all 15 Princ Hospitals.

“We are fortunate to have such good doctors here in Thailand. Medical schools in Thailand are highly recognised and accepted in terms of quality and standards. They are comparable in matters of capabilities which means that our medical standards at Princ Hospital are competitive. We are also close enough to the Chiang Mai medical hub to be able to attract top doctors, and being a network hospital, we can draw on the expertise of affiliate physicians across the country. The philosophy of our founders was to provide excellent medical care to help local people while also nurturing companionate people to give it forward. We both build as well as take over existing hospitals, and here at Princ we took over a long standing hospital while at the same time also building or own Princ Hospital Lamphun close by. This means that people here in Lamphun no longer have to leave home to go to Chiang Mai for hospital care.”

Dr. Athiwat continued to explain that while investment in technology and personnel has been heavy, the hospital itself is not a five star property, and the fact that much of the hospital services and goods are provided locally, costs are lower than in Chiang Mai’s private hospitals by about 20%-30%.

“When you are paying for your own healthcare, 20%-30% is a lot of money,” he explained, adding, “Before we came to Lamphun the only options were either to go to a high end private hospital in Chiang Mai or a government hospital for free. We provide a middle ground.”

Princ Hospital Lamphun’s 300 personnel, which includes 28 permanent resident doctors and approximately 200 independent or part-time doctors, provides 59 beds as well as many other specialised medical services. It is also very deeply embedded in its surrounding local communities, hiring locally, buying locally and providing health care locally.

“Our positioning is that we provide advanced secondary health care services,” continued Dr. Athiwat. “90% of illnesses can be treated here. Primary hospitals can attend to easy matters such as flus, secondary hospitals such as ours can provide more complex care and treatments such as for cancer patients or major operations. The third level up from us is tertiary care to meet and provide highly specialised and extended diagnostics, procedures and treatments while super tertiary levels of care are only available at places such as at Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital. The good news is that with our vast network of hospitals, we can level-up through consultations and can find the right physicians and right hospitals for special needs patients.”

Princ Hospital’s main area of expertise is in trauma and emergency, Lamphun’s residents unfortunately finding themselves involved in a great number of traffic accidents. There is also a 24 hour paediatrics department to respond to all child-related health crises. Not only that, Princ performs between 200-300 cataract surgeries per month, practically subsidised by the government.

“We currently see between 7-10 international clients per day, and now have a dedicated nurse staff who can speak English.”

Elective surgery is also a Princ Hospital strength, Dr. Athiwat saying that many patients choose Princ Hospital after shopping around for the best prices for their surgeries, whether knees, shoulders, spine, brain, or even minimally invasive surgeries, which are practiced at Princ Hospital daily. Two full time obstetricians, a urology expert, specialists in pancreas and hepatobiliary diseases and a visiting oncologist are just some of the expertise offered at Princ Hospital.

“Thailand is renowned for our excellent medical care, and the good news is that it can now be found even in second-tier provinces such as Lamphun,” expanded Dr. Athiwat. “Doctors now can choose to live in different places and have different priorities in their careers—it is the same syllabus, same standard, same qualifications. We have an ambulance that can come pick up patients in Chiang Mai and while our rooms are not like a luxurious hotel, they are very spacious and properly equipped with everything required of a private hospital room.”

Princ Hospital can work with international insurance companies, coordinate with specialists and provide all of the services needed for excellent medical care.

With their own in-company laboratories, as well as outsourcing to the same laboratories for specialised needs that is used by Thailand’s major hospitals, Princ Hospital is as competitive as they come.

From the 10^th of March until the end of the year Princ Hospial Lamphun, in partnership with Citylife, will be offering a 10% discount to all international patients of Princ Hospital. Simply reference this announcement to claim.