Thursday, April 3, 2008

Thailand Medical Tourism

Thailand’s medical tourism industry is one of the strongest in the world, so why didn’t it make the cut for NuWire’s recently published list of the Top 5 Medical Tourism Destinations? We received an e-mail from a reader asking why Thailand was not included on our Top 5, which was a valid question. Here is some background on Thailand’s medical tourism industry:.

The main medical tourism hospital in Thailand is Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok. The hospital is state-of-the-art, equipped with top-of-the-line technology and a well-trained staff. According to Bumrungrad’s website, more than 200 of their doctors are U.S. board certified. The only difference between the care patients receive there and the care they receive in the U.S. is that it is much cheaper in Thailand. Bumrungrad serves more than 400,000 international patients annually. It is one of the biggest medical tourism hospitals in the world.

As a medical tourism destination, Thailand indisputably ranks as one of the top countries in the world, but it did not make our list because we were also considering each country’s investment potential. Thailand has been a great place for investors for years, but recent political turmoil there has been cause for worry. The military ousted the former prime minister and the new prime minister is friendly with him, so another military coup seems possible. If Thailand can prove its long-term stability, it could once again be a great place for investment as well as medical tourism.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good point NuWire, not only from an investor point of view, but very validly, from a SAFETY issue. I see everyday these medical tourism destinations with all kinds of questionable safety issues and wonder... Sometimes it is a military coup, political unrest, typhoons or storms, lack of care of their own population (yet with opulent accomodations for us "self-pays"), etc... Glad to know the "whole picture" IS being looked at.
Blessings,

Anonymous said...

A patient from Washington checked out Thailand for a procedure called Cardiac RF ablation to re-set the electrical pathways in his heart. He was quoted $70,000 in the U.S., and a range from $12,000 to $18,000 in Thailand. Through www.worldmedassist.com
he was able to get the procedure done at Apollo Hospital in Delhi India for $3300. Thailand was better than the U.S., for sure, but India was better.

Anonymous said...

As an American living in Thailand, let me reassure you on the safety issue. From personal experience I can tell you that the expats who live here and certainly the patients visiting their wonderful International Hospitals, feel perfectly safe walking around at all hours on their own. Much safer in fact than at my various home towns (Boston, Los Angeles, Ventura etc) in the States. Sure, there are isolated incidents but if you just follow CNN, University students in the USA are in much greater danger right now. Regarding Bumrungrad, my choice would be the smaller, friendlier, less expensive hospitals such as Samitivej Hospital, Sriracha - one hour South of Bangkok. More details at www.medicaltourisminthailand.com

Anonymous said...

I have been to India for my hip replacement treatment. I did a lot of research and found out about www.valuemedicare.com, a leader in medical tourism. ValueMedicare gave me excellent services. Though this company is a little expensive compare to others but then you get treated by the best doctors in the best hospitals and there services are at bar with the best.

Josef Woodman said...

...there was at least the level political unrest last year in Malaysia as in Thailand. The editorial team that researched "Patients Beyond Borders" would rate Thailand among the top five Medical Travel Destinations, if only for the presence of Bumrungrad International alone.

Joe said...

Travel to an exotic country for medical treatment may sound ideal - get needed medical treatment while taking needed rest and recuperation in a tropical setting - but caution is needed. There are certain built-in safeguards in developed countries' medical systems that are lacking in newly developed economies, particularly medical malpractice insurance coverage. An interesting article investigates Thailand's medical tourism industry and gives food for thought. The link is here: Medical malpractice Thailand

Anonymous said...

--An interesting article investigates Thailand's medical tourism industry and gives food for thought. The link is here: Medical malpractice Thailand--

Did you read at the end of the article that the characters are fictional? It's very bad to write an article like this. Other things in the article are very general and can happen anywhere.

Anonymous said...

Thailand is definitely selling its medical tourism industry aggressively. And, of course, it's backing up its selling with high quality medical treatment at low costs.

Hamster said...

I've been traveling to Thailand for medical care for the past 5 years now.
I plan to go again this November.
Normally I get a complete physical, take care of any dental work and on one occasion had surgery.
Dispite the bad press, Bangkok is a very safe city. Even during the riots the danger zone was confined to a square mile block of the city...while the rest of the city went on as usual.
Still the images of people getting shot are disturbing to view.

Unknown said...

As told in this blog, THAILAND is a place for MEDICAL TOURISM. Similarly INDIA has cost effective methods and wider range of surgical options for MEDICAL TOURISTS round the world.INDICURE is one such limited company in India offering customized health care services for medical tourism in coordination with support services of accommodation and transportation. INDICURE offers skin resurfacing

Thailand medical tourism said...

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Regards.