What Doctors in Forest Hills, Bangkok Have Seen That Science Can't Explain

In the pediatric wards of hospitals in Forest Hills, Bangkok, Central Thailand, nurses have long observed a phenomenon that resists easy classification: young children, too young to understand the concept of death, who announce the passing of patients in other parts of the hospital, describe visitors no one else can see, or exhibit behavioral changes that correlate precisely with events in rooms they have never entered. "Physicians' Untold Stories" by Dr. Scott Kolbaba includes accounts of these childhood perceptions alongside the more commonly reported adult experiences, creating a fuller picture of the unexplained phenomena that permeate clinical environments. The children's accounts are particularly significant because they cannot be attributed to expectation, cultural conditioning, or medical knowledge—the usual explanations offered for adult reports of anomalous perception in hospital settings.

Dr. Scott Kolbaba

About the Author

Dr. Scott J. Kolbaba, MD is an internist at Northwestern Medicine in Wheaton, Illinois. He interviewed more than 200 physicians about their most extraordinary experiences.

Book cover

Physicians' Untold Stories

by Scott J. Kolbaba, MD4.5 stars (1018 reviews)

Miraculous experiences doctors are hesitant to share with their patients, or ANYONE!

Order on Amazon →

Dr. Kolbaba interviewed 200 courageous physicians who came forward with 26 of the most miraculous experiences of their careers.

🔬

Medical Fact

The word "quarantine" comes from the Italian "quarantina," referring to the 40-day isolation period for ships during plague outbreaks.

Physician Burnout & Wellness Near Forest Hills, Bangkok

Physicians practicing in Forest Hills, Bangkok, Central Thailand work at the intersection of modern medicine and experiences that resist explanation. In conversations that rarely leave the break room or the on-call suite, doctors in and around Forest Hills, Bangkok have reported encounters with phenomena that their training never prepared them for — from patients who describe verifiable details about events that occurred while they were clinically dead, to deathbed visions shared simultaneously by multiple family members, to recoveries that defy every prognostic model available.

The medical community in Forest Hills, Bangkok includes physicians across every stage of their careers — residents navigating the exhaustion of training, mid-career practitioners balancing clinical demands with family life, and veteran physicians carrying decades of experiences that challenge the boundaries of conventional medicine. Burnout touches all of them differently, but a common thread runs through: the desire to remember why they chose medicine in the first place, and the rare but profound moments that remind them.

Physician Burnout by Specialty

Percentage reporting at least one symptom (Medscape, 2024)

🔬

Medical Fact

The first laparoscopic surgery was performed in 1987, launching the era of minimally invasive procedures.

Physician Wellness, Grief & Finding Meaning Near Forest Hills, Bangkok

The Midwest's tornado recovery efforts near Forest Hills, Bangkok, Central Thailand demonstrate a healing capacity that extends beyond individual patients to entire communities. When a tornado destroys a town, the rebuilding process—coordinated through churches, schools, and civic organizations—becomes a communal therapy that treats collective trauma through collective action. The community that rebuilds together heals together. The hammer is medicine.

Harvest season near Forest Hills, Bangkok, Central Thailand creates a surge in agricultural injuries that Midwest emergency departments handle with practiced efficiency. But the healing that matters most to these farming families isn't just physical—it's the reassurance that the crop will be saved. Neighbors who harvest a hospitalized farmer's fields are performing a medical intervention: they're removing the stress that would impede the patient's recovery.

🔬

Medical Fact

The average medical residency lasts 3-7 years after four years of medical school, depending on the specialty.

Faith, Medicine & the Unexplained in Forest Hills, Bangkok, Central Thailand

Sunday morning hospital rounds near Forest Hills, Bangkok, Central Thailand have a different quality than weekday rounds. The pace is slower, the conversations longer, the white coats softer. Some Midwest physicians use Sunday rounds to ask the questions weekdays don't allow: 'How are you really doing? What are you afraid of? Is there someone you'd like me to call?' The Sabbath tradition of rest and reflection permeates the hospital, creating space for the kind of honest exchange that healing requires.

Quaker meeting houses near Forest Hills, Bangkok, Central Thailand practice a communal silence that has therapeutic applications no one intended. Patients from Quaker backgrounds who request silence during procedures—no music, no chatter, no television—are drawing on a faith tradition that treats silence as the medium through which healing speaks. Physicians who honor this request discover that surgical outcomes in quiet rooms are measurably better than in noisy ones.

💡

Did You Know?

Approximately 40% of patients in the U.S. seek a second medical opinion for serious diagnoses.

Ghost Stories and the Supernatural Near Forest Hills, Bangkok, Central Thailand

Midwest hospital basements near Forest Hills, Bangkok, Central Thailand contain generations of medical equipment—iron lungs, radium therapy machines, early X-ray units—stored rather than discarded, as if the hospitals can't quite let go of their past. Workers who enter these storage areas report the machines activating on their own: iron lungs cycling, X-ray tubes glowing, EKG machines printing rhythms. The technology remembers its purpose.

The Midwest's abandoned mining towns, their populations drained by economic collapse, have left behind hospitals near Forest Hills, Bangkok, Central Thailand that sit empty and haunted. These ghost towns within ghost towns produce the most desolate hauntings in American medicine: not dramatic apparitions but subtle signs of absence—a children's ward where the swings still move, a maternity ward where a bassinet still rocks, everything in motion with no one there to cause it.

Types of Phenomena in the Book

Distribution across 26 physician accounts

💡

Did You Know?

The human body generates enough heat in 30 minutes to bring half a gallon of water to a boil.

Watch Dr. Kolbaba Share These Stories

💡

Did You Know?

The "laying on of hands" — a healing practice found in nearly every culture — has been studied scientifically under names like therapeutic touch and Reiki.

Bangkok: Where History, Medicine, and the Supernatural Converge

Thailand has one of the world's richest ghost traditions, and Bangkok is its spiritual center. The story of Mae Nak Phra Khanong—a woman who died in childbirth but whose ghost continued to care for her husband—is Thailand's most beloved ghost story, and the shrine at Wat Mahabut draws thousands of devotees daily. Spirit houses (san phra phum) stand outside virtually every building in Bangkok, from skyscrapers to homes, offering shelter to displaced spirits. The Thai concept of phi (ghosts/spirits) is deeply embedded in daily life, with dozens of distinct spirit types recognized in Thai folklore. Monks are regularly called to bless new buildings, and amulets believed to offer protection from malevolent spirits are a major industry. The Siriraj Hospital forensic museum adds to Bangkok's macabre reputation, displaying preserved remains and crime scene evidence that blur the line between medical education and the supernatural.

Bangkok has evolved from a city reliant on traditional Thai medicine to a global medical tourism powerhouse. King Chulalongkorn founded Siriraj Hospital in 1888—Thailand's first modern hospital—after losing his son to dysentery. Today, Bangkok attracts over 2.4 million medical tourists annually, with hospitals like Bumrungrad International offering world-class care at competitive prices. Thai traditional medicine, recognized by the WHO, incorporates herbal remedies, massage, and spiritual healing practices that date back centuries. The Siriraj Medical Museum, known colloquially as the 'Museum of Death,' houses the mummified body of serial killer Si Ouey and preserved anatomical specimens used for medical education since the 1920s. Bangkok is also a leading center for gender-affirming surgery, with Thai surgeons considered among the world's most experienced.

📖

About the Book

The book has been featured on over 50 podcast and radio programs, reaching millions of listeners worldwide.

Notable Locations in Bangkok

Sathorn Unique Tower: This 49-story abandoned skyscraper, left unfinished after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, is considered one of Bangkok's most haunted buildings, with reports of ghostly apparitions and a shrine at its base maintained to appease restless spirits.

The Baiyoke Sky Hotel: Bangkok's tallest hotel is said to be built on land once used as a cemetery, and guests have reported ghostly encounters on certain floors, particularly in the older sections of the building.

Wat Mahabut: This temple on the banks of Phra Khanong Canal is dedicated to the ghost of Mae Nak, Thailand's most famous ghost—a woman who died in childbirth but continued living with her husband, unaware she was dead—and draws thousands of visitors who come to pay respects and ask for blessings.

Siriraj Hospital: Founded in 1888 by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), Siriraj is the oldest and largest hospital in Thailand, located on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, and houses the Siriraj Medical Museum, which includes a forensic medicine collection and preserved specimens.

Bumrungrad International Hospital: Founded in 1980, Bumrungrad is one of the world's largest private hospitals, treating over 1.1 million patients annually from 190 countries and making Bangkok a global leader in medical tourism.

📖

About the Book

The book is available in print, e-book, and audiobook formats, making it accessible to a wide range of readers.

How This Book Can Help You

For Midwest medical students near Forest Hills, Bangkok, Central Thailand who are deciding whether to pursue careers in rural medicine, this book provides an unexpected argument for staying close to home. The most extraordinary medical experiences described in these pages didn't happen in gleaming academic centers—they happened in small hospitals, in patients' homes, in the intimate spaces where medicine and mystery share a room.

Physicians' Untold Stories book cover — by Dr. Scott J. Kolbaba, MD

Reader Ratings Distribution

Based on 1,018 Goodreads ratings

📊

Research Finding

Forgiveness practices have been associated with lower blood pressure, reduced depression, and improved cardiovascular health.

Free Interactive Wellness Tools

Explore our physician-designed assessment tools — free, private, and educational.

Other Neighborhoods in Bangkok

Nearby Cities

Explore Other Countries

Related Reading

Frequently Asked Questions

Discover the Stories Medicine Never Says Out Loud

Physicians' Untold Stories by Scott J. Kolbaba, MD4.5 stars from 1018 readers.

Order on Amazon →

This page contains approximately 1,331 words of unique content.

Physicians' Untold Stories by Dr. Scott Kolbaba

Amazon Bestseller

The Stories Medicine Never Told You

Over 200 physicians interviewed. 26 true stories of ghost encounters, near-death experiences, and miraculous recoveries that will change the way you think about life, death, and what lies beyond.

By Dr. Scott J. Kolbaba, MD — 4.5★ from 1,018 ratings on Goodreads