Cheapest Travel Vaccinations in Bangkok: Step-By-Step With Photos 

As expats in tropical Thailand, we should keep up to date with our vaccines to prevent common diseases especially foodborne ones like hepatitis and typhoid. And as worldly travelers, we have to know the risks of the destinations we are jet-setting off to, and be prepared to protect ourselves. 

All countries have different risks, but rabies, yellow fever, malaria, and tetanus are common risks which are easily preventable. Talk to your doctor about which vaccines you need before you travel. Some shots, like yellow fever, last a lifetime!

Why Do You Need Travel Vaccinations? 

It is important to protect yourself when traveling to new countries. Different parts of the world carry different risks and the last thing you want is to come down with a bout of an avoidable tropical disease to ruin your holiday. 

Also important is the fact that, at the time of writing, any travelers who have been to Africa or South America MUST have a yellow fever shot to return to Thailand. Passengers arriving in Thailand from those areas are diverted upon landing to a control area before customs and immigration. 

Rules and regulations when entering Thailand will always be changing, so keep informed before your trip. 

Entering Thailand T.8 Application Process 

Airport staff will ask to see your yellow booklet and proof of a yellow fever vaccine. Photos are accepted if you are not carrying the book. You must then scan a QR code to go to a website which is a new digital version of the T8 Health Declaration Form. You will need to show the T.8 certificate to the border control agent with your passport and boarding pass. 

This new online version will ask for you to take photos of your passport and vax certificate and upload them for approval. The whole process will take some time – about 20 minutes – as there are many pages of personal and travel info for you to fill out. You can do this in advance before your flight home to Thailand by scanning the QR code below. The certificate you receive is valid for 2 weeks. 

Most Affordable & Easy Travel Vaccinations in Bangkok 

In Bangkok, it is easy, fast, and affordable to get all the shots you need for travel. After evaluating all of the options, we have compared costs, convenience, location, and other factors to recommend one location as a fantastic choice for all expats and locals: The Thai Red Cross. 

Here is your guide to walking into the clinic and getting everything you need at some of the best prices in the whole city. 

Step 1: Get to the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute Building 

The whole area which comprises Chulalongkorn University/King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital/Thailand Red Cross is massive. Be sure to get this bit right or you will be wandering for hours. 

Enter from Henri Durant Road near the intersection for Rama 4 Road. Walk straight up the little covered alley (it was under construction at the time we visited) until you see the stunning art deco building which is the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute Building. 

Don’t be freaked out that the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute Building also just happens to be a snake farm! When you see the venomous snake sign, you know you are in the right place. 

Step 2: Walk Right In & Give Your Passport to the Staff 

As soon as you enter the pillared doors, you will see a small reception desk in front of you, give the nurses your passport or driver’s license and they will give you a registration form and a health declaration form. 

There are pens available at the desk which also has a pile of laminated numbers. Fill out the forms, and take your own blood pressure on the automated machines. Then take a queue number and hand those things together back to the nurses. They will ask you to take a seat. 

Step 3: Pay a Fee and Get a Card 

The staff will call you to go to a small room to pay the 20 THB registration fee and give you a patient card in return. Return to your seat and wait to be called into the next room. 

Step 4: Doctor Consultation

Once your name is called, you will go into a room and sit with a doctor. He or she will ask you all kinds of questions about your travel plans. This doctor spoke perfect English and was incredibly knowledgeable about different African countries, all of their requirements, as well as all the precautions this writer would need to take. 

She asked me about the types of accommodation I would be staying in in Kenya, and what rural areas I would visit, she asked about the duration of the trip and about my medical history. She was friendly, smart, kind and reassuring. We went through all of my options, and I decided to be on the safe side and get 5 shots that day; rabies (shot 1 of 2), yellow fever, hepatitis a, typhoid, and a 4-in-1 shot for tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, and polio. 

Step 5: Buy Your Vaccines 

Take the prescription the doctor gives you and go to the pharmacy (by the front door of the building) to settle the bill and receive your vaccinations in a little basket. 

You can pay with cash or QR code. There was no debit or credit card accepted at the time of our visit. 

Take your basket of medicine back to the doctors’ room and take a seat until they direct you into a smaller room.

Step 6: Get Your Shots 

A new nurse will meet you in a small exam room and administer the shots for you. It is clean and sanitary and the staff are friendly and calm with efficient and well-practiced techniques. 

Step 7: Get Your Yellow Book & Go! 

You are done. Go back to the doctor’s room reception desk, the person at the counter will have your paperwork ready for you, including the essential yellow book. Take it and leave, nothing left to do but thank the nice staff. 

Timing Your Visit

The whole process from walking in to walking out took around 45 minutes. Of course there will be busier times and quieter times. Note that this section of the hospital is only open Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 4:00pm with an hour lunch break at noon.

Saturday they are open 8:30am to noon only. Sundays they are closed. Knowing it will take at least an hour, arrive no later than 3:00pm. 

The gorgeous buildings of the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute were built in the 1920s and have retained their old world charm. The snake farm houses thousands of some of the most venomous snakes in the world and is also a popular tourist attraction. But don’t worry, the snakes are out the back, you won’t bump into any on your trip to get vaccinated. 

Alternative Options

In addition to the Thai Red Cross, you can also get affordable vaccinations at the Thai Travel Medicine Center. Fees are generally similar.

Talk to the doctor about your travel destinations to find out exactly which vaccines you need. Also check the official government websites of the countries you are visiting to make sure you meet all entry requirements.

If you do not want to travel there, you can also get vaccinations at private hospitals such as Bumrungrad Hospital and Bangkok Hospital. However, fees can be two to three times higher.

Now, on to You 

Imagine leaving Thailand for a beautiful safari holiday on the Maasai Mara in Kenya and then not being able to return to your home in Bangkok because you didn’t get a shot before you left. 

Be a smart traveler, get your shots and your paperwork done with plenty of time before you get on that plane. Take photos of all paperwork and email it to yourself as well! 

Lucky for us, expats, Thailand is one of the most affordable places in the world to get precious travel vaccinations. 

If your health insurance covers these things, you can visit any hospital in Bangkok where you have coverage, but be sure to call them first as not all of them stock all vaccines at all times. If your insurance does not cover them, no problem, it is only a small investment in your health and your travel freedom.