In the process of shrugging off its reputation for cheap back-alley plastic surgeries, Thailand is quickly catching up to South Korea as the world’s prime destination for cosmetic surgeries and treatments. Home to 64 JCI-accredited medical facilities – three times more than Singapore and 6 times more than Malaysia.
JCI is the industry standard in global healthcare, where facilities are benchmarked against US standards and practices.
In an industry of massively over-inflated figures, it’s difficult to really gauge the size of the Global Medical Tourism market or even the Thai market. According to the TAT, a whopping 9% of Thailand’s 35m annual visitors are ‘Medical Tourists’, but it’s believed this figure doesn’t account for tourists who happen to visit a medical facility during their stay and it doesn’t disregard multiple visits or expats. A more honest assessment by the International Medical Travel Journal suggests the global market is worth around $13bn, with Thailand being the joint third biggest beneficiary, taking $600m in revenue each year.
The top 25 medical travel destinations by value:
Source: International Medical Travel Journal
But what is Medical Tourism and why is Thailand so popular? A loose definition of a Medical Tourist would be someone who travels to another country with the primary purpose of undertaking some form of medical, cosmetic or dental procedure. Common procedure types, include plastic surgery, dental procedures, tertiary medical care and fertility procedures.
It’s estimated that Thailand receives 350,000 dedicated Medical Tourists each year, spending an average of $1,700 in hospitals and clinics across the country, with Bangkok seeing the majority of this money. South Korea still leads the way, but for how much longer?
Darren Lyons of MyMediTravel, a Singapore based Medical Tourism information and referrals platform (best comparison being, the Booking.com of global Medical Tourism), states that half of their requests are for cosmetic procedures in Thailand. Darren explains:
“We work with hospitals and clinics in 43 countries across the world and yet 48% of all enquiries are for Thai facilities, with the vast majority of these being cosmetic procedures. Breast Augmentation procedures in Thailand are by far the most common, but other more ‘modern’ procedures are on the rise, for example CoolSculpting, the Brazilian Butt Lift and the Labiaplasty.”
We asked Darren why he thinks Thailand is such a popular choice for Medical Tourists:
“Reputation. Thailand invested so heavily over the last 20 years, it’s now reaping the benefits of having 60-plus gold standard facilities and hundreds of smaller but well-established clinics. And a huge amount of the surgeons are internationally trained with many years of experience. Gone are the days of everyone sniggering at Thailand for its botched plastic surgeries. Of course, there’ll always be ill-informed people who still say this, but with so much information and first-hand accounts and reviews available online, such ignorance is being disregarded now.
“And cost is an important factor. Outside of the major hospitals, Thailand is so competitive, not just in the region, but globally. Other more affordable hospitals are quickly gaining ground, for example Sikarin Hospital and Bangpakok9 International Hospital. Smaller, more niche clinics like KTOP Clinic are gaining a reputation for the ‘Korean Style’ facial plastic surgeries, attracting patients who’d previously only ever considered South Korea as a viable destination.
“Finally, no waiting times. Prospective patients will say ‘I want my procedure done on this day’, and nine times out of ten, that’s when it’s booked in for. Failing that, it’ll be the following day.”
Darren went on to explain how emerging nations like Thailand were able to undercut hospitals in Western / developed countries, and it comes down to simple economics. Where the cost to build, run and maintain a multi-disciplinary hospital and pay the staff is much lower, and this huge saving is passed onto the consumer.
Price comparison of some popular procedures:
| Procedure | US | Singapore | Thailand |
| Coronary Angioplasty | $28,200 | $13,500 | $4,200 |
| Heart Bypass | $123,000 | $17,200 | $15,000 |
| Hip Replacement | $40,300 | $12,000 | $17,000 |
| Gastric Bypass | $25,000 | $13,700 | $16,800 |
| Hysterectomy | $15,400 | $10,400 | $3,650 |
| LASIK | $4,000 | $3,800 | $2,310 |
| Dental Implant | $2,500 | $2,700 | $1,720 |
| Breast Augmentation | $6,400 | $8,400 | $3,500 |
Source: medicaltourism.com