The number of medical tourists from Bangladesh to Thailand is increasing day by day, according to statistics of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), a Thai government agency responsible for its tourism promotion.
In 1997, approximately 32,213 Bangladeshis went to Thailand for health and medical treatment while the number rose to about 55,000 in 2011, registering average growth of about 4 per cent a year, as per the data provided by TAT official.
According to the TAT data, most the Bangladeshi tourists to Thailand went there for medical and health services.
In the overall tourism sector, about 65,150 persons from Bangladesh visited Thailand in 2011. Out of the number, approximately 55,000 Bangladeshis went for medical and health services in the same year, as per the data.
“The trend of Bangladeshi tourists of going to Thailand for health services is due mainly to better quality health services at cheaper rate there”, Runjuan Tongrut, Director, North and East India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal of the TAT, told the FE recently in Dhaka.
She also attributed the growth of Bangladeshis visit to Thailand to the ‘friendly Thai people’ and convenient travelling such as Thai Airways fly to Bangkok every day, and it takes only 2.30 hours.
Bangladeshis went to Thailand for the different medical treatments including comprehensive check-up (popular), ob-gynecology, gastroenterology, cardiology and neurology. Ms Runjuan said.
In Dhaka, there are many Thai hospital representatives or sales agents such as Bumrungrad hospital, she continued.
The TAT representative expected continuation of the growth of Bangladeshi medical tourists to Thailand at the rate of 10 per cent in the years coming.
When contacted, Mohammad Ehsanul Kabir (Bappi), deputy manager of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC), told the FE Saturday that Bangladesh’s medical services is also better. However, there is a lack of confidence and trust on the medical services in our country.
Mr Kabir also saw bright future of medical tourism in Bangladesh; for that the country need to give attention to the sector to more increase the services and amplify the people’s confidence on the facilities.
Laying stress on taking effective initiatives from both the public and private sectors in this connection, he said there are huge opportunities of saving and earning foreign currency by developing the tourism sector.
Apart from the medical tourism, in the overall tourism sector about 72,897 Bangladeshis went Thailand in 22012, recording 11.89 per cent growth over the previous year. While the number of Bangladeshi tourists in Thailand was about 65,150 in 2011, 68,018 in 2010, 53,420 in 2009 and 46,682 in 2008.
The popular destinations for Bangladeshis to Thailand include Bangkok , Pattaya and Phuket, Ms Runjuan said, adding that the Bangladeshis tourists to Thailand are mostly family, meeting and incentive group (MICE), shopping and health tourism.
Beautiful beaches, colorful Bangkok, reasonable price for shopping, suitable country for all including men, family, kid and women attracted the people to visit Thailand, she added.
source: http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com / The Financial Express / Home> FE Stock & Corporate / by Mohammad Ali / Monday, March 18th, 2013
