In Chiang Mai, mental health care runs from hospital psychiatry with inpatient packages to university psychiatrists and online counselling. Compare their scope. Check services, staff, fees and availability with each provider before you book.
Bangkok Hospital Chiang Mai's psychiatry department sees children through to older adults and publishes fixed-price inpatient packages.
Sriphat Medical Center's Psychiatric Clinic is staffed by university faculty psychiatrists who keep set clinic sessions.
Counselling Thailand offers talk therapy only, with a choice of counsellor and language and a free introductory call.
Confirm the session language for each practitioner, not just the hospital.
Our method for this page
We read each provider's own web pages on mental health services in Chiang Mai and kept only statements we could trace to a source. Nobody paid to be included, and the list is not a quality ranking. Criteria:
Bangkok Hospital Chiang Mai's Psychiatry Department (Mental Health Clinic) is mainly outpatient and staffed by psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, specialised nurses and counsellors. It sees children, adolescents, working-age adults and older adults, as well as couples and families, and treats both Thai and foreign patients.
Listed conditions run from depression, anxiety, bipolar and psychotic disorders to eating disorders, learning and attention problems, insomnia and behavioural addictions. Individual, group and family counselling is available with or without medication. Substance use treatment covers tobacco, alcohol, methamphetamine and cannabis, and methadone therapy is offered for opiate or heroin use.
Admission is for withdrawal or for psychiatric patients with other medical conditions. Inpatient packages for adults aged 18 and over, after a hospital psychiatrist's assessment, cost THB 26,000 for one day, 71,000 for three and 149,000 for seven, covering room, nursing, meals and group therapy. Outpatient fees and session languages are not published.
Children to older adults
Methadone therapy
Fixed-price inpatient packages
Open daily 08:00–17:00
Psychiatry Department (Mental Health Clinic), Bangkok Hospital Chiang MaiDaily 08:00–17:00+66 52 089 865
Worth confirming: The inpatient packages run until 31 December 2026 and exclude other medical fees; confirm the language of your sessions before booking.
Sriphat Medical Center is a Chiang Mai University hospital, and its Psychiatric Clinic is staffed by Faculty of Medicine psychiatrists; the clinic page names seven, including professors and associate professors. One is also listed for developmental and behavioural paediatrics.
The clinic diagnoses, treats and advises on mental, behavioural, mood and personality disorders that affect daily life, work, learning or relationships, naming panic disorder, depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. The page does not describe inpatient care, therapy programmes or prices.
It sits on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the OPD Sriphat building with its own phone line, and the hospital's Foreign Center offers Japanese, Chinese and Burmese interpreters. It may suit Chiang Mai residents who want a university psychiatrist for diagnosis and medication.
Counselling Thailand provides counselling and talk therapy only. It says it is not a licensed medical practice and does not offer psychiatric or clinical psychological treatment, diagnostic assessments or prescriptions, and points people who need these to hospitals.
Its team of over 20 includes British counsellors and Thai therapists, and clients can choose a male or female counsellor and the session language, including English, Thai, Mandarin, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Korean. It sees adults, teenagers, children, couples (including Thai–Western relationships) and families, using approaches such as CBT, DBT, ACT, EFT, Gestalt, Satir and motivational interviewing, in person or online within Thailand and abroad.
A free Zoom call (15 minutes for individuals, 30 for couples and families) comes first. Sessions cost THB 2,765 for 60 minutes or THB 3,745 for 90, charged per session rather than per person, with the same rate in the evenings and at weekends. It may suit couples and expatriates who want therapy in their own language.
Free introductory Zoom call
Fees per session, not per person
Online sessions in Thailand and abroad
Choice of counsellor gender and language
Worth confirming: Cancellations with under 48 hours' notice are charged in full and insurance claims are not handled; confirm where in-person sessions take place.
How to compare mental health services in Chiang Mai
Finding mental health support abroad can feel harder than finding other care. You need someone with the right training for what you are dealing with, who works in a language you can think and feel in, and whose fees and insurance terms you understand before the first session. If you take medication, you also need a plan for keeping it going.
This guide covers the types of practitioner, language, online sessions, medication, crisis support, confidentiality and cost. It is general information, not medical or psychological advice. If you are in immediate danger, call 1669 or go to the nearest hospital emergency department now.
Psychiatrist, clinical psychologist or counsellor
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who has specialised in mental health. Psychiatrists can diagnose, prescribe and adjust medication, arrange tests and admit patients to hospital. Because they are doctors, their licence and recorded specialty can be checked on the Medical Council of Thailand's public lookup.
Clinical psychologists provide psychological assessment and talking therapies; they do not prescribe. In Thailand clinical psychology is a licensed branch of the practice of the art of healing, overseen by a professional committee under the Ministry of Public Health's Department of Health Service Support, which publishes practice standards for the profession. Ask a psychologist for their Thai licence, or for their registration abroad if they trained elsewhere.
Counsellors and therapists offer supportive talking therapy for stress, relationships, grief or adjusting to life abroad. Training varies widely, so ask where a counsellor trained, which professional body they belong to and how they are supervised.
Language and cultural fit
Therapy depends on being able to put feelings into words, so language matters more here than in most specialties. Check the language of the individual practitioner, not just the hospital or clinic.
Fit goes beyond language. You may want someone who understands expatriate life, a particular faith or culture, LGBTQ+ experience or the pressures of a cross-cultural family. It is reasonable to ask for a short introductory call first, and to change practitioner if the fit is not right.
Online or in person
Online sessions can widen your choice of language and specialism, and can let you keep seeing a practitioner from your home country. They also have limits: a practitioner abroad may not be able to prescribe in Thailand, arrange an admission or respond quickly in a crisis.
Ask an online practitioner whether they may treat someone located in Thailand and what they would do if worried about your safety, and keep a local contact, such as a hospital department or psychiatrist, for anything that needs to happen in person.
Medication and continuity
Thai drug laws are strict, even for medicines prescribed legally elsewhere. The Royal Thai Embassy in London advises that ordinary medicines can be brought in for personal use for up to 30 days of prescribed use, in their original labelled containers with a letter or prescription from your doctor. Medicines containing controlled psychotropic or narcotic substances need a permit from the Thai Food and Drug Administration, applied for online at least two weeks before travel.
Some medicines prescribed abroad may not be available or legally sold in Thailand. Ask your current prescriber about alternatives before you travel, and see a psychiatrist in Thailand well before your supply runs out. Do not stop or change medication without talking to a doctor.
Crisis pathways
In an emergency, call 1669, Thailand's free medical emergency number, or go to a hospital emergency department. The Department of Mental Health runs the 1323 mental health hotline, available 24 hours a day. The UK government lists Samaritans of Thailand on +66 (0)2 113 6789, pressing 2 for English.
Ask any practitioner you see regularly what to do between sessions if things get worse, and which hospital they would refer you to. Be aware that, according to the UK government, a person in Thailand can be admitted to hospital without consent if they appear to be a danger or need urgent treatment and cannot make decisions for themselves.
Confidentiality
Thailand's National Health Act states that personal health information is confidential and limits disclosure without the person's consent unless a specific law requires it. Even so, ask who can see your notes and what would be shared with an employer, school or insurer.
An insurer may need a diagnosis or report; ask what it will contain before you sign a release.
Costs and insurance
We have not found official fee schedules for psychiatry or therapy, so ask for the fee for a first appointment and for follow-ups, the session length, and whether medication, tests and online sessions are charged separately. The UK government describes private psychiatric care as expensive and says private psychiatric hospitals require a deposit or payment guarantee before admission.
Insurance cover for mental health varies widely between policies. Check whether yours covers outpatient psychiatry, therapy with a psychologist or counsellor, and inpatient care; whether it needs a doctor's referral; and whether there is a limit on the number of sessions.
Questions to ask before you book
Are you a psychiatrist, clinical psychologist or counsellor, and where did you train?
Are you licensed in Thailand, and with which body?
Which languages do you work in, and do you offer online sessions?
What experience do you have with the issue I am seeking help for?
What does a first appointment cost, how long is it, and what do follow-ups cost?
Can you prescribe, or will you work alongside a psychiatrist if medication is needed?
What should I do if I need urgent help between sessions?
Who can see my notes, and what would you share with my insurer or employer?
Can you provide receipts and reports for an insurance claim?
If you see clients online, are you permitted to treat someone located in Thailand?
Warning signs
A practitioner who cannot or will not say what their qualification is or where they are licensed.
Promises of a guaranteed cure or a fixed number of sessions before any assessment.
Advice to stop prescribed medication from someone who is not a doctor.
No plan for what to do in a crisis, or no local contact if sessions are online.
Unclear fees, or pressure to pay for a long block of sessions up front.
Pressure to share personal information beyond what your care requires.
Is there treatment for alcohol or drug use in Chiang Mai?
Bangkok Hospital Chiang Mai's psychiatry department lists substance use treatment for tobacco, alcohol, methamphetamine and cannabis, methadone therapy for opiate use, and admission for withdrawal. Ask for an assessment and a cost estimate.
Do Chiang Mai counsellors offer online sessions?
Counselling Thailand offers sessions in person or online, within Thailand and abroad, after a free Zoom introduction. It does not diagnose or prescribe, and points people who need that to hospitals.
How do I see a university psychiatrist in Chiang Mai?
Sriphat Medical Center, Chiang Mai University's private hospital, runs a Psychiatric Clinic with its own phone line. Faculty psychiatrists keep set sessions, so ask which day your doctor is in clinic, the fee and whether the consultation can be in English.
Will counselling in Chiang Mai be covered by insurance?
Not always. Counselling Thailand states that it does not handle insurance claims, so ask for receipts and check your policy's mental health terms before you start.
About the writer and reviewer
PS
Pimchanok Srisawat
Health writer
Writes guides and comparisons for Thai Clinic Guide, keeping a link to the page behind every detail so readers can check it themselves.
KW
Kittisak Wongsawat
Health writer and reviewer
Goes through pages line by line against the sources listed, and flags wording that could be taken as advice for one reader.
This page sets out published information and is not medical advice. Speak to a doctor before you choose treatment. Our method.
Private tertiary hospital
