Bangkok · STI panel composition · verified 25 Sep 2026
Clinics advertise these tests by a number: 7, 11, 14, 15, 28. That number counts organisms, not sexually transmitted infections. Across every panel we could verify, between 18% and 67% of the list is something other than a sexually transmitted infection.
Eight panels, five providers, composition read from each clinic's own page
A multiplex PCR panel tests one swab for many organisms at once. Clinics name the product after how many it detects. But a panel that finds Candida albicans or Lactobacillus has found normal flora. Those are organisms most healthy people carry, not sexually transmitted and mostly needing no treatment.
Sorting each verified panel by the share that are genuinely STIs puts the advertised numbers in a different order.
The largest panel in Bangkok has the lowest STI share of any we verified. Panel size and STI coverage are close to uncorrelated, which means the advertised number is close to useless as a way of choosing.
PULSE PCR-14 against PULSE PCR-28 · one clinic, two products
The clearest case sits inside a single provider's own price list. PULSE sells a 14-organism panel and a 28-organism panel. Both resolve cleanly against their published lists.
First-visit discount, pooled swab, next-day results
9 sexually transmitted infections
5 other organisms
Floor of a range to ฿19,450 by specimen type and turnaround
9 sexually transmitted infections, identical
13 further organisms, none an STI
Moving from PCR-14 to PCR-28 costs at least ฿7,350 more and detects no additional sexually transmitted infection. What it adds is a vaginal-flora profile: six more Candida species and the bacteria associated with bacterial vaginosis.
The fair reading in the other direction. PULSE's PCR-14 is the best STI coverage in this set: nine infections, more than the eight in the 15-organism assay that four other clinics sell, in a smaller and less padded panel. The criticism here lands on the upsell, not on the clinic.
A flora profile is not worthless. If you have symptoms of bacterial vaginosis or recurrent thrush, knowing which Candida species is present can change treatment. But that is a different question from "do I have an STI", and someone buying the larger panel to answer the second question is paying roughly triple for an answer they already had.
15 organisms · 8 STIs · identical composition
Four Bangkok clinics sell a 15-organism panel whose published lists are identical: the same eight infections and the same seven flora organisms, in the same order. It is one commercial multiplex assay, resold.
| Clinic | Price | What the price covers |
|---|---|---|
| Pribta Clinic (IHRI) | ฿2,500 | Lab fee only, excludes doctor consult |
| Medpro Laboratory Clinic | ฿2,970 | Promotional; ฿3,300 standard |
| WellMed Bangkok Clinic | ฿4,000 | Listed price; fee basis unstated |
| PSK Clinic | ฿4,500 | Listed price; fee basis unstated |
Read this column, not the spread. Pribta's ฿2,500 explicitly excludes the doctor's consultation; PSK and WellMed don't say either way. Until every clinic's fee basis is confirmed, the gap between the cheapest and dearest here is not a clean price comparison; part of it may simply be what each number includes.
Organisms counted toward an STI panel that are not STIs
These recur across panels. Most are normal inhabitants of the vagina or mouth; several are associated with bacterial vaginosis, which is a disturbance of that normal flora rather than a transmitted infection.
Lactobacillus is the clearest case: it is the bacterium a healthy vagina is supposed to be full of. Detecting it is a finding about normal anatomy, and it is counted toward a 28-organism sexually transmitted infection panel.
Identical organism tables published under different advertised sizes
Verification only works where a clinic publishes a real list. Two do not.
SESH Clinic advertises 2-, 3-, 7-, 15- and 18-organism PCR panels. All five pages print the same 17-organism table, while the prose on each claims a different number. There is no way to tell from their site what the 3-organism panel covers.
Chatuchak Clinic does the same across its 11- and 15-organism panels.
This is recorded as composition unverifiable, which is a different statement from "we haven't checked yet". A clinic that publishes one table under five different product names has not published its composition.
Composition was read from each clinic's own public pages and matched against a 34-organism dictionary covering Latin binomials, English names and Thai terms, with each organism classified as an STI, commensal / BV-associated flora, or other. Every page is cached with its fetch timestamp, so each figure traces back to the exact text that produced it.
tests rather than organisms. These are not the same unit. HSV-1 IgG and HSV-1 IgM are two tests covering one organism, so they are not compared against each other here.The classification of an organism as commensal rather than sexually transmitted follows standard clinical usage. Mycoplasma genitalium is treated here as a genuine STI; M. hominis and both Ureaplasma species are not, which is the mainstream position though not a universal one. Where that judgement is contested, the organism lists above let you re-count for yourself.
Composition verified 25 September 2026 · Research working document · Not medical advice