What To Do When You Need To Get An Abortion In Asia 2020

World Abortion Laws have made an excellent interactive map which you may find very useful.

If abortion is illegal or limited in your current country…

You can get help. You can possibly obtain two key medicines at the pharmacy:

Misoprostrol (Cytotec, Arthrotec, Oxaprost, Cyprostol, Mibetec, Prostokos or Misotrol)

and Mifepristone (the abortion pill, RU 486, Mifegyn, Mifeprex)

Up to 12 weeks of being pregnant, taking this medicine is the most successful and safest way you can carry out an abortion yourself. Click here to find out more and gain excellent support.

If you can afford to travel to another country, Thailand and Cambodia are two options which I, and other readers, have chosen.

Can I talk to anyone about having an abortion?

A time like this is incredibly difficult, regardless of whether you are sure about your decision or not. Sharing this situation with others can help you think, plan, manage and feel supported. This may be your best friend, your mother or a supportive phone call to an organisation. If you want to get in touch and talk things through, these guys can help. If you don’t want to talk, that’s totally OK too. Do what you feel is best.

What are the best abortion services in Asia?

This resource is here to let you know what services are available, but this does not guarantee everything will go well. Please understand that having an abortion can be incredibly difficult, physically as well as mentally; especially in the wrong hands.

If you can get yourself to abortion services, Thailand and Cambodia are both popular choices. Because of tight abortion laws in Asian countries, many women are heading to Thailand. Although not technically legal here, they do provide services that many of you have interacted with.

At the time of my abortion, I was unaware of these services and personally headed to Marie Stopes in Siem Reap, Cambodia. My experience was as positive as such an experience can be, but others have had difficulty here. You can find my story and others further down in this article to help you make a decision.

Abortion Services in Asia you can visit

Marie Stopes (in Cambodia and worldwide)

I don’t know what I would have done without Marie Stopes. They provide a full range of quality reproductive and sexual health services across the world. They provide access to safe legal abortion services, with post abortion care. I used Marie Stopes’ services in Siem Reap, Cambodia by taking a Marie Stopes abortion pill.

The price of the abortion is $100 / £70 / €80 for either the medical or surgical method. The cost includes counseling, ultrasound and all necessary medicines.

My abortion experience with Marie Stopes in Siem Reap, Cambodia was positive and smooth as possible but other readers have contacted me with different experiences: some highly traumatic. One lady explained that she had to undergo an emergency medical abortion with no anesthetic in Siem Reap. All that was available was ibuprofen: clearly a very traumatic and distressing experience.

Cabbages and Condoms in Bangkok, Thailand

‘Cabbages and Condoms’ in Bangkok is actually a restaurant, but their aim is to promote better acceptance and understanding of family planning services and to generate income for these services. Above the restaurant there is a clinic where they offer ultrasounds for 400 Thai baht (currently $13 / £10 / €10). Cabbages and Condoms offer only surgical abortions, not medical ones.

Readers have found the communication difficult here – their English is not always up to scratch. Other women have told me that the standards are unhygienic. One lady who had an abortion here told me the anesthesia was inappropriate and the care during and after, highly distressing and unprofessional.

For a much quicker, easier, professional and easy to understand process you may want to consider Khlong Tan Hospital.

Khlong Tan Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand

Many of my readers searching for safe abortion services are Filipino. As abortion in the Philippines is illegal, coming to this hospital in Bangkok for an abortion in Thailand is a safe option for you. This is if you cannot obtain abortion pills online, or require a surgical abortion.

An ultrasound at Khlong Tan Hospital in Bangkok costs 400 Thai baht (currently $13 / £10 GBP / €10). You can also do a urine test here to confirm if you are pregnant.

A surgical abortion costs 7700 Thai baht here (currently $250 / £180 / €203).

A medical abortion with pills costs 15000 Thai baht here (currently $475 / £340 / €383).

The medical abortion is more expensive than the surgical abortion, as they are required to keep you within the hospital for a couple of days and observe you whilst the abortion is happening. The surgical suction method is quicker and you can leave the same day.

You can pay by card and then your height, weight and blood pressure will be taken. A vaginal swab will be taken to check for any bacteria and then a doctor will see you to discuss if you are confident in your decision to proceed with the abortion. Here is one reader’s experience…

‘I was taken up to the ward and given medical patient wear which I changed into. I was laid on a bed and had a IV sedation drip inserted into my hand. There were 2 other girls on other beds.

I was led with the drip into the theatre room. Stirrups were used, lube was applied and a cervical speculum inserted. They covered my eyes with a cloth and I can only describe something being inserted and jiggled around. It lasted a few minutes and was like a very uncomfortable smear test. At one point I winced and squeezed one of the nurses hands, but it was bearable. Once everything was finished, they slowly sat me up. I felt a little woozy and had to be helped onto the wheelchair. I was wheeled back to the bed and told to try and sleep. They would keep an eye on me for 2 hours.

The cramping, similar to a heavy period, got less and less as time went on. I managed to sleep a little, then got up to change in the toilet. The sanitary towel attached to me was soaked, but they gave me a few pads and the bleeding became less and less.

They gave me an after care leaflet with emergency numbers, antibiotics, vitamin B and anti pain and fever tablets’.

If you decide to undergo an abortion here, this reader personally recommended staying at the cosy BBHouse Khlongtan in Bangkok. It’s just a 10 minute walk away from the hospital, a good price and a comforting place to recover.

Planned Parenthood Clinics in Thailand

Another reader has very kindly shared her experiences and research into Planned Parenthood services across Thailand. They are a pro-choice organisation. Her personal experience was at the Chiang Mai clinic: ‘They charged us about 5,000 baht for medical abortion and were professional’

Din Dang PPAT Clinic

2/11-13 Commercial Bldg.1, Prachasongkhro Rd, Din Dang, Bangkok 10400
Tel. 02 245 1888, 02 245 7382-5

Pinkloa PPAT Clinic

3/20-21 Arun Amarin Road, Bangkok Noi, Bangkok 10700
Tel. 02 4339 077

Bangkhen PPAT Clinic

8 Soi Vibhavadi 44, Vibhavadi-Rangsit Rd, Lardyao, Chatuchak Bangkok 10900
Tel. 02 941 2320 # 181

Ramkhamhaeng PPAT Clinic

2100/1252 Ramkhamhaeng, Huamak, Bangkapi, Bangkok 10240
Tel. 02 718 2752-3

Chiang Mai PPAT Clinic

200/3 Bamrungrad, Muang, Chiang Mai 50000
Tel. 053 246 347

Khon Kaen PPAT Clinic

752-754 Sri Chan Rd, Muang, Khon Kaen, 40000
Tel. 053 223 627

Ubon Ratchathani PPAT Clinic

154-156 SriNarong Rd, Muang, Ubon Ratchathani 24000
Tel. 045 243 380

Hatyai PPAT Clinic

240-242 Nipat Utit Rd, Hatyai, Songkhla 90110
Tel. 074 246 343

Online Abortion Services

Women on Waves

The most comprehensive, amazing website ever for abortion is Women on Waves. They have a safe abortion medical service and abortion by country information. They helped me immensely with this post. Women on Waves: you rock.

Women on Web

A sister organisation of women on waves is Women on Web. They are another comprehensive and amazing website which can help you get abortion pills online. It is an excellent source of support and information. Yet again: they rock.

My personal abortion story in Asia

I found out I could be pregnant over a bowl of noodles. I was eating with a French chick I’d met earlier that day and eagerly tucking into my second helping. As I shoved the long threads into my mouth she exclaimed, ‘Are you eating for two or something?’ Part of me thought she was super slim and I was just shamelessly eating but when I got back to my hostel that night, I realised I was late.

At the time, I was soaring through the north of Thailand on a motorbike. I wasn’t too concerned and told myself that travelling was just throwing my womb off and not to worry. A couple of days later I went to eat noodles again in another town. This time, for some reason, no one would serve me. I was the only white person there, my Thai was pretty much non-existent and people just looked right through me. I got upset. Really upset. I just cried and cried on the pavement until a local man saw me and demanded a seller feed me the noodles. What was always easy whilst travelling was suddenly getting harder.

I drove through the north for rest of the week. My back hurt. I kept switching between telling myself that it was period cramps and then that I was pregnant. I was a volatile yo-yo and began driving faster out of pure frustration and fear. I went to temples a lot. I prayed and begged like a broken record that I would be OK. Me and Buddha were good friends that week.

I finally got close to a place where I could buy a pregnancy test. I took it and the cold truth was revealed. I can’t really say how I felt. In fact, I felt nothing. I just instantly went into robot mode. I have never wanted children, I tell people that I’m too selfish to have children. I want to be travelling until I pop my clogs. It’s hard enough trying to travel with a boyfriend (if I ever meet him), let alone a child. It sounds crazy to say it but it pained me that I couldn’t take my planned flight to Myanmar: No abortion services there.

Instead, I told the father, researched my options and booked a flight to Cambodia, Siem Reap. I made an appointment with Marie Stopes and holed myself up in a hotel feeling terrible. I had to have an ultrasound and hear the nurse ‘congratulate’ me. I opted for a medical abortion as I was 3 weeks pregnant. I swallowed those pills and just waited. I had heard horror stories of the process being extremely painful but it wasn’t.

The worst part was that I just kept on going. I toured all the temples, carried on around the country for a month on a motorbike, headed to Vietnam for 3 months. I didn’t regret my decision, I was absolutely relieved but it was incredibly hard nonetheless. I would wake up and realise that I could be pregnant but wasn’t. It really hit me in Vietnam about 2 months later what had actually happened. It was eventually after a year that I couldn’t do it any more and had to go back to England for some respite.

When I did tell people what had happened, the response was unfortunately pretty negative. People couldn’t understand: ‘You must have caught something’ / ‘How could you do that to yourself?’ / ‘You’re stupid’ / ‘You weren’t careful at all’. Men particularly were not empathetic. Part of me gets it. It’s a difficult thing to respond to when someone tells you they were pregnant but decided to have an abortion. People just don’t talk about it enough. That’s why I wanted to write this post and give as much information as possible if you find yourself in a similar situation. Do what it right for you and make the most of the support that is available.

Update on my abortion in Asia

Firstly, I want to thank everyone for your comments and support. It is very much appreciated – even if you disagree with me. This resource is visited and accessed every day by men and women from many different countries. I hope it is providing you with valuable information and support and that you find the answers you came here looking for.

The Daily Mail, News.com.au, Matador and Huffpost kindly asked me to speak more about my abortion in Asia. If you’re interested in finding out even more about it and what I have to say, make sure to check out the articles.

I also want to thank Marie Stopes Cambodia again for everything they did for me. You can email them at hotline@mariestopes.org.kh or contact them on +85512 999 002 / +855 98 999 102.

Save and Share this vital information. Pin Me!