Medical certificates issued on Koh Phi Phi
Certificates are one of the few things people need from a clinic while feeling perfectly well. Dive courses, work permits, visa extensions, employers wanting proof of sick leave, airlines wanting confirmation you are fit to board. A medical certificate in Koh Phi Phi is usually issued the same visit, and what decides whether it is accepted is getting the right one in the first place.
What we issue
The common ones, in rough order of how often they are asked for here:
- Fit-to-dive certificates for PADI and SSI courses
- Fit-to-fly certificates for airlines
- Sick leave certificates for employers
- Work permit medical certificates for Thai employment
- Visa extension certificates
- General fitness certificates for courses and insurers
Each has different content requirements and several have a specific form that must be used. Tell us which you need at the start of the visit rather than the end — the examination differs, and doing the wrong one means doing it twice.
Fit to dive, which is most of what we sign here
Phi Phi runs on diving, so this is the certificate we issue most. The dive schools will hand you a questionnaire, and a yes to anything on it sends you to us.
The examination covers heart, lungs, ears and your ability to equalise, plus a review of history and medication. It takes about twenty minutes and the form goes back with you signed.
The genuine blocker is a blocked nose rather than any condition on the list — see dive medical for the detail, including what happens if you have already dived and something does not feel right.
Fit to fly, and when an airline actually asks
Airlines ask in a narrower set of circumstances than people expect: recent surgery, a recent fracture in a cast, pregnancy beyond about twenty-eight weeks, a recent significant illness, or any visible injury that makes cabin crew uncertain.
A leg in a full cast is the one that regularly strands travellers. Many airlines require the cast to be split, or a certain interval after the injury, and finding that out at check-in is a bad way to discover it.
There is also a diving-specific version. If you have been treated for decompression illness, or dived heavily right up to departure, an airline or an insurer may want written confirmation you are fit to fly. That is worth arranging before you get to the airport rather than at the desk with a boarding queue behind you.
Sick leave, and being straight about what we will write
We issue sick leave certificates for genuine illness, stating the dates and a general description rather than a detailed diagnosis, which is what most employers actually require.
What we will not do is backdate a certificate for days we did not see you, or certify an illness that was not assessed. That is not primness — a backdated certificate is worthless the moment an employer questions it, and it puts the clinic’s signature behind something nobody verified.
If you were genuinely unwell earlier in the week and did not come in, say so. We can often write something accurate covering the consultation and the reported history, which is honest and usually sufficient for an employer.
Work permits and visa extensions
Thai work permit applications require a certificate confirming freedom from a defined list of conditions — tertiary syphilis, tuberculosis, leprosy, elephantiasis, and drug addiction.
The requirement is standard and the examination brief, but the form matters. Requirements vary between provinces and occasionally between offices within one, so bring whatever paperwork your employer or agent gave you rather than assuming a generic certificate will pass.
A fair number of people working a season on this island need one. Dive instructors, bar staff and hotel workers all come in for these, usually at the point the paperwork has become urgent, and the examination itself is the quickest part of the process.
What the examination involves
For most certificates: blood pressure, pulse, temperature, height and weight, a look at heart and lungs, and a review of your history and current medication.
Some require blood tests, and a few require a chest X-ray — which does not exist on this island and means a trip to the mainland. We will tell you that at the start rather than halfway through, so you can plan the day around it.
Bring your passport, since certificates carry your passport name and number, and bring any form you have been given. If you take regular medication, bring the box.
Timing, cost and how long it stays valid
Most certificates are issued the same visit, in English, signed and stamped, at any hour and at either branch. Where blood tests are needed, allow a few hours to a day.
Cost depends on the type and whether tests are involved, and it is quoted before anything is done. Certificates are inexpensive compared with the trip or the course they are protecting.
Validity varies: many Thai authorities accept a certificate issued within the last thirty days, dive schools generally want one within twelve months, and airlines usually want one issued within a few days of the flight. Check the window before coming in, because a certificate issued too early is simply wasted money.
The certificate we are asked for and cannot give
Occasionally somebody wants a certificate saying they were unfit to travel on a date that has already passed, usually to support a refund or an insurance claim after a missed flight or a cancelled tour.
If we saw you at the time, that is straightforward and we will write exactly what was found. If we did not, we cannot certify a condition nobody examined, however genuine it was.
The practical lesson is worth stating in advance: if you are ill enough that a trip is going to be cancelled, come in while you are ill rather than afterwards. A consultation on the day costs very little and it is the only thing that makes the paperwork possible later — see travel insurance claims, and a hotel visit if you are too unwell to walk in.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get a certificate the same day?
Usually within about twenty minutes, issued in English and signed. If blood tests are needed, allow a few hours to a day.
Can I come in at night for one?
Yes, both branches are staffed around the clock — though for a dive course the day before is better than an hour before the boat leaves.
I answered yes on the dive medical form. Can I still be cleared?
Often yes. Conditions like well-controlled asthma are frequently cleared after a proper assessment.
Do you have a chest X-ray?
No. Where a certificate requires one, that means a trip to the mainland, and we will tell you at the start rather than midway.
How much does a medical certificate cost?
It depends on the type and whether tests are needed. You are quoted before anything begins.
Will you backdate a sick note?
No. We certify what was assessed. If you were ill earlier and did not come in, tell us and we can usually write something accurate.
How long is it valid?
It varies — often thirty days for Thai authorities, twelve months for dive schools, and only a few days for airlines. Check before coming in.
I missed a tour because I was ill. Can you write something?
Only if we saw you at the time. Come in while you are ill rather than afterwards — that is what makes the paperwork possible.
The island arithmetic, and where we fit in it
English-speaking doctors on site, 24 hours a day. It is worth spelling out why that matters rather than leaving it as a claim. Koh Phi Phi has no hospital, no road connection and no ambulance service. Getting to an emergency department means a boat, and the scheduled boats run in daylight — so for a good part of every twenty-four hours, the island’s own clinic is not the convenient option, it is the only one. Everything about how we are staffed follows from that single fact.
Beyond the island, Doctor Phi Phi Takecare Clinic belongs to the Takecare Clinic group, which operates across Krabi and Phuket. The practical value of that is continuity: if your treatment carries on after you leave, the next clinic already holds your notes, and a referral is a phone call between colleagues rather than a stack of paperwork you have to carry yourself.
Coming in
Doctor Phi Phi Takecare Clinic is 24 hours, every day, and that is the building being open with a doctor in it rather than a phone line that answers. No appointment is needed at any point, and there is no hour at which turning up is inconvenient for us. There are 2 branches on the island, about ten minutes apart on foot, and both keep the same hours — so head for whichever is closer rather than looking for the right one. Walk in, or reach us on +66 82 140 3858 or WhatsApp. If you would rather not move, ask for a doctor hotel visit and we will come to you.
If it turns out this is beyond what the island can treat, the same conversation is where the boat and the hospital transfer start being arranged. That process is worth beginning early rather than late here, because the options genuinely narrow as the evening goes on — and a decision made at nine is a considerably better decision than the same one made at two in the morning.