Focus of the week: Medical Tourism in Thailand

This week, the Novasans blog will focus on one of the leading medical and wellness travel destinations in the world – Thailand. We will try to explain why Thailand has succeeded as such a popular place for international patients, and the country’s future as a medical tourism destination. Feel free to comment below or on our Facebook page!

Thailand is the largest of all medical tourist destinations, and has the highest total volume of both high-end and low-end procedures. With a long history of tourism, Thailand has in recent years translated that along with high technology medical centres into a convenient package for tourists.

Being the capital, and the largest city in Thailand, Bangkok is of course the country’s hub for medical tourism. Boosting with a large international hospital, and an immensely popular tourism region; the southern town Phuket comes in on a definite second place. Other places with a high concentration of foreign tourists are now rising as options, such as Pattaya, Hua Hin, Chiang Mai, and the island Koh Samui.

Thai prices and services

In comparison to India, the prices are about 20% higher in Thailand. But many international patients still choose the latter due to the fact that Thailand is considered to be a better tourist experience overall. While India has more specialized medical centres, Thailand offers mega-centres (such as Bumrungrad Hospital or Bangkok Hospital) with full in-house service. Many medical tourists have found this to be an advantage, and fly in to Thailand regularly for dental work, comprehensive physical exams along with minor healthcare procedures.

Popular treatments range from organ transplants, orthopaedic treatments, cardiac surgeries, to cosmetic surgeries and dental treatments. For medical tourists, Thai hospitals are very customer friendly. Many Thai physicians hold UK or US professional certification, and the hospitals offer interpreters in many of the most common languages spoken by their patients.

Thailand also offers a wide range of accommodation in all service levels, pristine beaches and plentiful good and affordable restaurants. For medical tourists searching for a number of smaller procedures, Thailand is a safe alternative. However, those who are searching for specific major surgeries should carefully weigh the benefits between Thailand and India.