Psychiatric patients' satisfaction with their hospital care has not been reported in the Western literature. The concept of asking psychiatric patients about their perceptions of care is relatively new. The purpose of the present investigation was to assess the satisfaction of the care received by a group of acutely mentally ill hospitalized Thai patients. This post-test design examined a random sample of 182 persons hospitalized between 1 March 2000 and 31 July 2000. Using a validated Perception of Care instrument, research assistants assessed patient satisfaction. Patients rated the care as average with none of the items achieving a very good or excellent score. The lowest scoring items were receiving information about their rights, consistency of information provided, and the ease of obtaining information. Women tended to be more satisfied with care as were patients over the age of 55 years (P = 0.02). Patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia were more satisfied with the care than other patients (P = 0.05). It is unknown if satisfaction levels are similar in other institutions in Thailand. None of the areas received excellent or very good ratings. The findings of this study were shared with the staff at the study site. There appears to be a need to develop performance improvement activities designed to address the areas identified as needing improvement. Replication of this study in other Thailand sites would provide an opportunity for agencies to benchmark their findings. By consenting to be a part of this study the staff and patients have taken a positive step forward to improve patient satisfaction with care.