It takes about 15 minutes to drive to the district town of Ban Phang. The town is not big; it basically consists of two shopping streets and the surrounding private houses. The hospital itself is situated close to the main street. There is a small vegetable and meat market and a number of groceries and drug stores. The main traffic on the streets consists of buses, motorbikes and buffaloes. The town feels hot and dusty.

People from Ban may go to the outpatient department of the hospital in Ban Phang if they feel that the treatment from the health centre in Ban has not improved their symptoms. They may also choose to visit the hospital if they have to go into town for another reason.

The hospital can perform simple operations; more complicated conditions are referred to Udon Thani hospital.

Fees at the district hospital range from 20 to several hundreds of baht for prolonged stays in the hospital. Poor, young children and old people are according to the general rules treated for free.

The hospital has 45 beds and in July 1991 there were 72 patients. Many patients were sharing a bed. Most of the patients were from one village where everybody ate buffalo meat at a party and all the guests got serious diarrhoea. There were also cases of children with dengue fever. They were receiving IV fluid.

The district hospital is crowded, both in the in-patient department and the out-patient department. It looks clean and well-functioning. There are 4 doctors and a number of nurses. All of the 4 doctors have private clinics in Ban Phang where they give consultations during lunch hours and in the late evening and night.